My favorite treadmil workout

I love running out doors, but today was on the windy side so I decided to run on the "mill". I workout during my lunch break so, I don't have time to do a long run.

I warm up with one mile of easy running at a 6.8 pace then I start to increase the speed in small increments every 3 minutes.

1 mile warm up at 6.8
9 minutes into the workout increase speed to 7.0
at 12 min increase to 7.2
at 15 min increase to 7.5
at 18 min increase to 7.7
at 21 min increase to 7.9
at 24  min increase to 8.1
at 27 min increase 8.2-8.4 (and hold on for dear life )

The "cool down" starts immediately after. But this is really the tail end of the workout. I knock the treadmill back down to 6.2 but I kick the incline up to 2% and then I increase the incline every two minutes. The speed stays the same.
30 min 6.2 at 2% incline
32 min 6.2 at  3% incline
34 min 6.2 at 4% incline
36 min 6.2 at 5% incline
38 min 6.2 at 6% incline

I like the uphill part at the end because, my legs are tired and it feels good to practice running hills on tired legs. The whole workout takes about 40 minutes and it's a good option if you are pressed for time

Wow January went by fast!

I'm feeling much more positive this week. I figured out why I was on a roller coaster emotionally... Good ol' PMS. I used to suffer from this aliment for a long time. I hadn't gotten my cycle back  yet either, because as a nursing mom it delays the onset of ovulation. I've been in the process of weaning my son as well. So I'm pretty sure that's what caused my violent mood swings last week. I felt like I was throwing myself the world's biggest pity party. Normally I'm a pretty optimistic person.

One  good thing did come out of that funk. It was my decision to join WW (I'm not trying to promote Weight Watchers, because they are not paying me to do so). I went to my first weigh-in / meeting last weekend and it went fairly well. I never ever intended for this to become a weight loss blog. My passion for running is what made me decide to jot down my thoughts and such on this blog. On that note my running has been OK. Nothing spectacular to write about. I've been doing short runs (3-6 miles) a couple of times a week. I'm still lifting too. Future race plans keep dancing around in my head. I am thinking of running a half marathon at the beginning of April. 

Weight Watchers here I come......

I haven't blogged in the last two weeks because I have been on a roller coaster, physically and  emotionally.  The weekend of the Olympic Trials I was very excited to watch the race on television, but a few days before that I came down with a stomach virus that was horrible! I want to spare you the gory details and everything but, it was NASTY! That being said I had very little energy to work out or run. So I kind of fell into a funk about myself.  The inner voices in my head are not being kind  to me right now. They keep telling me how "fat and lazy" I am.
At the same time too, work and my home life has been super demanding. I was so sick two Fridays ago but, I had no  choice but to go to work. I was taking the following Friday off from work to prepare for my son's 1st birthday.  On that front I feel so grateful to have my husband and my beautiful baby boy.

But right now I don't feel that I am taking very good care of myself. Most of my meals are either standing up for breakfast and dinner while I have my son in his highchair.  My lunches aren't much better sitting in front of my computer at work.
How do I reward myself for working so hard? By drinking beer and wine of course! I know it's one of the big factors of me hating my body so much right now.....

Well I finally decided to do something concrete about it. I'm signing up for Weight Watchers this week. I discovered that they have a weekly meeting at a church less than a half mile from my home. I need to be accountable to someone other than myself right now. Because I feel like I'm in a vicious cycle of mommy guilt, self loathing, and indulging just because.
I think I have always had a little bit of body dysmorphia. When I was younger and a size 5, I was still pretty hard on myself.

I think what is motivating me the most right now is my running. I fell like I am still getting faster, but I know carrying all of this extra weight is just making me less efficient. I definitely took for granted how fast I used to be.

2012 Olympic Marathon Trials this weekend

I enjoy all things running. I especially love the Olympic Trials.  Even though there will only be three men and three women representing the U.S. at the Olympics it will be a great opportunity for many amateur runners to be on one of the worlds biggest stages.

In 2008 I was in Boston for the marathon but, it was also the site for the Women's Olympic trials. It was awesome to watch the last hour of the race unfold in downtown Boston. Magdalena Lewy Boluet was the rabbit for the race and she took off at a fast clip. Deena Kastor was the favorite to win the race, she had won a Bronze medal in 2004 in a performance that brought tears to my eyes. I like Deena Kastor a lot. She grew up in Southern California in Augora Hills, I knew her as Deena Drossin because most of the cross country course records and track records for distance running were held by Deena. She ended up catching Magdalena and winning the race overall.


 A month before the race  Runners World had done an article on the trials and it included a few lesser known runners such as Desiree Davila and Zoila Gomez. Desiree had been in the chase pack in 8th place, she eventually finished in 13th. Zolia ended up finishing in 4th after an amazing kick past Terra Moody.

I am an American but, I am of Latin decent.  I'm kinda of partial to Hispanic runners. I feel that we are often underrepresented in the running community. (I'm sorry to bring up race I hope I don't offend anyone.) I also got to witness Joan Benoit Samuelson race the trials. She got the loudest cheers. She is my definition of a "Rock Star" She ran a 2:51 that day. In case you didn't already know she won Olympic Gold in 1984 in Los Angeles. This was the first time the ladies were allowed to race the marathon distance at the Olympics.

24 years later she is still kicking ass and taking names.

I am especially excited for the women's marathon this year. We have one of the fastest fields ever and I hope it is an exciting race. My favorites are Desi Davila, Kara Goucher, and Amy Hastings.

Desiree Davila, just blew my socks off last year when she ran Boston. It was a gutsy and awe inspiring performance. She broke the American course record and she lost by the narrowest of margins. I watched it at my desk at work online and it was unreal.


Kara Goucher, she started racing the marathon in 2008. Her debut race was the New York City marathon and she placed 3rd. In 2009 she also came really close to winning Boston and placed 3rd again. In 2011 she was the 2nd American behind Desi at Boston with a PR of 2:24:XX. Not bad for having a baby less than 7 months earlier.


Amy Hastings, She is not as well know as the big dogs (Shalane, Kara, Desi) But she made her debut at the LA marathon in 2011 in monsoon conditions and ran a 2:27. That's faster than Shalane's debut marathon in NYC, and LA is just as hilly as NY. She ran a gutsy race and took second.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LRuNFej11M
Here's a link to the race she ran last year in LA.

I'm bummed that they will not be showing the race live. They will be showing the Men's and Women's races later on that day on NBC Sports. However, I will glued to my computer on Saturday morning watching the Runner's World Blog page.

10 more miles and strength training

I started off my New Year with a bang! Ok so I took the first off to recover from my 13 mile tempo run but it gets better. I ran an easy 10 on the 2nd. I'm so glad we were given the Monday off from work. I wasn't going for speed at all. My legs were trashed from the previous tempo run. But, I can honestly feel that I am turning a corner here. I remember vividly a few months ago that I was struggling through 10 mile runs. Now I feel stronger and I feel that I am eager to tack on distance in the later part of the run. The route I chose starts out flat then 3 miles in we begin to go uphill slightly. Then two miles later we begin to climb. Here is a picture from a few years ago

The next two miles feature rolling hills here's another picture

Then the last three are all downhill. I brought a packet of coconut water/ energy thing. It was super sweet but it had a much lighter consistency than an energy gel. I liked  it because I didn't need to drink water with it. Even though I was sore, it was a nice run. I wore compression sleeves on my calves and I didn't feel as tired as I thought I would.
Tuesday was strength training. I went to the gym at my workplace. I don't have a gym membership right now so this works out perfectly. The equipment is OK. But, it's free so I can't complain. I worked upper body, core, and I threw in some lower body for good measure.  I'm an impatient person and I want to see results right away. But, this is not going to be an overnight transformation. This will take months of consistency and hard work. I'm so up for this challenge.

13 miles. It's a nice way to end the year.

I met up with my running buddy to run 6 miles last Saturday. She hosts a running club and I hardly ever get to run with her anymore. Our schedules are so different, we live on opposite ends of town and it's hard to get together. We met up at 6 am to run 6 miles together and  to catch up. For the first half mile we chatted but, then it was time to put on our ipods  and "go to work" I love running with my friend because she can push me to my limits. We have been running together for so long that we are evenly paced and we won't let each other slack off.  I didn't realize how much faster I could run until I was running next to her. We did our six then we met up with other runners from the group to do another seven miles. The first couple of miles were downhill and I still wanted to keep up the tempo. So did my running pal. It was awesome to feel the burn in the legs and the lungs. The last four miles were uphill and my legs were beginning to feel like spaghetti.  But, I had other runners around me to keep me motivated. Training runs like this are worth writing about because I don't want  these memories to fade.

11 Miles around Oxnard

I went home over the Christmas weekend to see family. My husband and I are from the same hometown and we haven't  been back for the holidays in a few years. It would also be our sons first trip to California.  

I always bring my running gear with me because, I can't not run when I am in town. I look forward to running through my old stomping grounds. I ran cross country in high school and I remember when my coach would push us to our limits with 6-7 mile training runs. There is something wonderful about the salty sea air that makes me feel like a kid again.

I took off with just my watch. I left my parents house and headed towards the farm fields. When I was growing up, Oxnard was a farming town. It is most famous for its Strawberries

In the spring time you could smell the strawberries in the air when you ran. You could also smell the fertilizer in the winter. Even though California is know for it's gridlock it is nice to know that there are still some areas with a sense of calm.


Here is an aerial view of the area that I ran through.

 Today there are a lot less farm fields and a lot more developments, business and residential areas.