Leaping Into Madness

Sporadic Winey Runner has returned!
New Obsession:  Pure Barre.  Think ballet movements that kick your arse.  Who knew 2-3lb weights could be so heavy!   While I say new obsession, to be honest I have been going to Pure Barre classes pretty regularly for the past few months.  When I travel, it is relatively easy to find a nearby Pure Barre that I can catch a class.  Not the most economical, but it is much more motivating to attend a class when you pay for it versus skipping a run for a glass (or few) of vino.  Also, I have noticed some major strength benefits, primarily in my core, that have helped with running.

So... starting tomorrow morning, 6AM, I am starting the Pure Madness Challenge - 20 classes in 31 days.  This is going to be tough!  Luckily I'm not traveling much the month of March so I'll be able to give this a solid shot.  Thanks to the New Client Special at Pure Barre Uptown, I was able to purchase unlimited classes for the month.  Score!  I am still going to try to get a couple runs in every week, but no crazy distance training while I'm in this challenge.

To supplement all the hard work I'll be putting in at the barre, I'm going to focus on the following areas:

1. Clean and healthy foods.  No crazy diet, just focus on the good stuff.  There are so many resources online, I'll be utilizing those and posting some to this blog and my Instagram.
2. Watching my alcohol intake.  Definitely not eliminating it, just regulating how much I drink.  (Stupid empty calories.)
3. Sleep.  Yeh, yeh, yeh.  I know I need more.  Going to work on that.

Vino Consumption: 0
Last Night's Sleep: Not enough

MIA (Not the band)

Sooo... I've been MIA for a week.  A long and tedious work project has kept me very busy.  Since I missed my long run on Saturday, I'll need to move a few long runs around in the plan.  It's early in the training plan, that should be easy enough. 

Yesterday, Wednesday, I started City Surf as my strength training.  I took the "City Surf" class; it is a 30 minute class where you complete several sets of a few exercises.  It was only 30 minutes, so I thought it wouldn't be too bad to take a tennis lesson after.  Wrong!  By the end of the hour and a half of tennis, I was exhausted - huffin' & puffin'!  Needless to say, it was an early night to bed. 

I woke up this morning with the intention of running before it got too hot.  Yeh, that didn't happen.  Luckily it was an overcast afternoon.  The temp was low 80's but very humid.  Not a good run - turned into a long walk.

Workout
3.88 mi
55:50

Wine Consumption
2 Glasses Trader Joe's Block Red Wine  (Might go up if we win our flag football game tonight!)

2 Days In A Row

Day 2:  Today was Speedwork.  Die.  The schedule called for 5 x 400 at 5K Pace.  In normal people terms, run 400 meters 5 times.  To figure out my goal pace, I use the McRun app.  You enter your last race time or if you know how fast you run a mile, and it will give you your workout pace for the 400 meters.  You get to walk/jog in between sets to catch your breath.  

Here are my times for each set:

1) -:-- (I took off too fast and forgot to check my watch.)
2) 1:45
3) 1:47
4) 1:43
5) 1:44

It was definitely not easy, but I got through it.  Glad I finished the last 2 sets a bit faster than the first 2!

PS A shirtless Troy Aikman definitely helps the motivation before you start.  And it's a nice reward to see him after!

Vino Count:  0

What Am I Thinking?!

In a recent 'Runner's World' article, it described how one woman blogged and tweeted about her running training in order to hold herself accountable.  She felt that if her journey were out there for people to read, she couldn't let them down.  I need something to motivate me; I completed the Austin Half Marathon in February, Texas Independence Relay was months ago and I haven't scheduled anything to work towards.  To be honest, I have no desire to train for anything in the summer.  It's hot.  It's humid.  And I don't want to.  But... I need to have something on my plate.  A goal to drive me - I function better that way in life. 

Sooo... here we are, back at good ol' Hal Higdon Training Programs.  This time, however, I'm mixing things up a bit.  I don't just want to train to complete a half, I want to really see how well I can do.  (Maybe see if I can hit close to a Boston Qualifying pace.  If I do, we'll see about doing a marathon.)  Part of me doesn't want to tell anyone about my "secret" goal.  The fear of failing is terrifying.  I don't want to have to admit to people, friends and loved ones, that I failed.  My cheat tactic is to only tell a few people and the few people who stumble across this blog.  Hey, you're in on the little secret!  Ha!  My plan is to document my training AND my wine over the next 12 weeks.

Today was my first run - 3 miles.  First half felt strong.  Then the boozing from the long weekend caught up to me. I walk/ran the second half.  Three miles took 34 minutes.  Could've been worse.  Now I need to find a race in midAugust that doesn't contain "Hottest Half," "Hades Half," or "You're Not Smart It's 10,000 Degrees Half."

Wine Consumption: 1.5 Glasses (Trader's Joe's Block Red Shiraz)

The Winey Runner

The Winey Runner... I consider myself a runner, but it can be tough and whining gets me through it.  Whining and vino at the end of the day.  This blog will go through my experiences running through life and the vino that helps me get through it. 

For the majority of my life, walking has been my primary form of exercise.  As a child, my mom took us on walks on our road.  In college, I would walk the Bear Trail for stress relief, exercise and scoping hot guys.  The Bear Trail is a path around Baylor University that students can walk/run.  I would walk the trail until my legs fell off.  Once my best friend literally flagged a classmate to pick her up and drive her home so she didn't have to finish the trail.  Several of my friends ran and tried to convert me from walking to running, but it didn't work.  It wasn't until a couple years after college that I decided to seriously try running.  

Hal Higdon has several free training plans online and I printed one for a 5K.  I set my sights on the Dallas Turkey Trot 5K.  Race day came and it felt good!  I loved the experience and completed several more 5Ks in the months following.  My 5K races were fun and doable.  I couldn't quite comprehend running any further than that.  Lots of people talked about 10Ks and half marathons, but running further than my daily drive to the office just seemed insane!  Insane until I decided to register for a half marathon.  Granted, there was some peer pressure involved, but still I committed to running one.  I was super excited and felt that I accomplished quite a feat.  

After my first half, my running took a bit of a hiatus.  It wasn't until my looming 30th birthday that I realized I needed to tie on the running shoes again.  The Dallas Half Marathon is a month before my birthday and I went full force with training.  I found a great running group and the running bug has bitten again. 

I don't think I'm one of those people who can constantly train and I certainly don't aspire to run a full marathon or complete a triathlon/iron man - but I do like to set goals for myself and enjoy the journey.  The goal of this blog is to document my running journeys and to enjoy my vino along the way.