Clare is Running

For my event this month I signed up for the Heart of Gold virtual 5K to benefit the Joyful Heart Foundation at virtualstrides.com. This charity was created by Mariska Hargitay who plays Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The content of the scripts, the work she did to prepare for the role, and the letters she received from her viewers opened her eyes to the epidemics of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse. Sadly:

One in three women report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend

Every two minutes in the United States, someone is sexually assaulted

More than five children die every day in this country as a result of child abuse and neglect and up to 15 million children witness domestic violence in their homes each year

The mission of the Joyful Heart Foundation is to transform society’s response to sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse, support survivors’ healing, and end this violence forever. A worthy cause indeed...

Lu and I have been doing Couch to 5K together over the past few weeks and it's felt great to get back into our old routines:). We were so happy when we realized that the Miles for Milk 5K - one of our all time favorite races - was towards the end of our training schedule so we signed up!

Miles for Milk is to support the creation of a much-needed Milk Bank for Florida. It's at Bill Frederick Park which is close to home and so pretty and on Mother's Day weekend, naturally:)


We both had such a great time. No pressure (it was a training run for us), plenty of chatting and thanks to some misleading signs we ended up with an extra half a mile at the end to take in the scenery:)


And we made a new friend too - hi Leslie!


All that fun calls for a sweaty hug :)


Love ya sister!

The year is flying by and I have made little progress with my 2014 health goals:(. I've been wondering how to get back on track and whether or not these goals are even relevant to me any more? It feels so strange but I just haven't felt motivated to race lately and I'm not even sure if I ever want to get back to running at all. I have been dabbling with it the past few weeks on the treadmill for a couple of miles a couple of times a week but that is all. I don't have the confidence for an in-person 5K right now but I don't feel ready to throw in the towel yet either. I think I'll have a last 'push' and then decide if I want to continue with running or try something else completely. So here are my original goals and a new plan:):

1. Work out more often (3 times a week at least) - I'm doing much better here lately:). I am still walking regularly and even managed to hit the work gym for a run at lunchtime this week. Working a midday run in twice a week when my energy levels are goo will really help me fit in my activity more regularly.
2 14 in-person events in 2014 (one each month and a couple of extras). I think it's unlikely at this point that I'll get this done if they are all in-person :(. So rather than give up, I'm going to sign up for a virtual event so that I can still align with a good cause, have accountability to record my time, and share the experience with other runners, albeit electronically:).
3. Any three of the following: 10K, sprint tri, bike 25 miles. I need to get started here - Biking once a week shouldn't be that much to ask surely!
4. Either PR or complete a 5K in under 30 minutes during an event. I'm not even going to think about this one for now...let's see how I feel after a month.
5. Lose 15 lbs! So I am about 2 lbs down. Eating clean and staying active is the right way so I need to knuckle down and get it done!

2014 has been an amazing year so far with a fantastic new career start for me! I would love to end the year re-energized physically as well and there's still much of the year left. Rebuilding the habit will be tough but I know I will feel great and I have done it before so I know it's possible!

So it's June 1st and this is the month that I traditionally slack off a bit (OK a lot) from running. Thanks to Denise at Run DMT, this year I've found Juneathon (see link on RHS) - a virtual, international network of people who are committed to working out (and blogging about it to stay accountable) every day for the whole month of June! This is exactly what I need, particularly now that Lu is not in town for a month and I feel lost without her all of a sudden! I'm prepared to commit to a minimum of 20 minutes a day (with longer sessions for training days) - and while I'm in the spirit of making commitments I'm going to shoot for eating 'clean' for a whole month too after reading this inspirational book:

Day 3: Ran: 3.0 miles, 32:09 mins

Insanely hot. But totally my fault - I had to run in the evening since I didn't get my arse out of bed this morning at 6 liked I'd planned after staying up chit-chatting until nearly 2 a.m. But still - crazy hot. But I'm not whining. Because nobody likes a whiner. Not even other whiners...


Day 4: Bike: 8.0 miles, 48:58 mins
Day 5: Ran Treadmill: 4.4 miles, 40:00 mins, Weights: 20 mins
Day 6: Bike: 10.40 miles, 49:36 mins

Had a bit of a slip on the clean eating front today and had two (yep that would be two) protein bars and a piece of cake today. I had a ton of 'safety fruit' to hand so I have absolutely no excuses. I can't even say that I didn't enjoy it or felt guilty:)

Day 7: Gym Bike: ?? miles, 45:00 mins

Very lame workout after a horrendous eating day too. I can't seem to decide on my next event or which training to focus on. Feeling lost to be honest. A good night's sleep will help for sure...

Day 8: Nothing
Day 9: Nothing
Day 10: Nothing

Oops :). Well it looks like pesky Juneathon has gotten the better of me after only 7 days! This weekend was horrendously busy and I have been so exhausted. I feel like I've been lurching from one place I had to be or task I had to do to the next. In short, life got in the way. And I let it happen :(...So what now? Well, I was thinking that maybe I can rewrite the rules a bit and give myself credit for 'doubling' up sessions? So basically I can 'buy back' a missed day if I do two different activities on one day?? It's worth a shot...now I really want to see if I can do that! And there's that 'eating clean' thing that I haven't stuck to...Juneathon - I'm coming BACK!

Day 11: Swim: 11.5 laps, 20:00 mins, Ran Treadmill: ?? miles, 25:00 mins

Great workout and one session bought back. Two more to get back on track...:)

Day 12: Gym Bike: ?? miles, 40:00 mins
Day 13: Nothing :(
Day 14: Gym Bike: ?? miles, 45:00 mins

OK so I'm still 3 sessions behind so I'm going to need to step this up if I'm going to be able to claim victory over Juneathon!! I have nothing major scheduled for this weekend so I have a perfect opportunity to catch up completely if I can just stay motivated! This 'daily' thing is so much tougher than I thought:).

Day 15: Ran 5:1 Intervals: 6 miles, 1:06:06 mins

I was totally dreading tonight since I haven't ran 6 miles on my own for a very long time and I've really been struggling to stay on track. It's often on nights like this that the Running Gods intervene and I see something really special and tonight was no exception. I've lived in Florida for nearly 15 years but I've never seen a Scarlet Kingsnake before...


OK so that's not my picture but mine looked exactly the same! I nearly stepped on him and for a second I wondered if I would be able to run to the hospital before certain death. Then I remembered 'If red touches yellow, it can kill a fellow. If red touches black, it is a friend of Jack' and realized he was harmless. And he didn't bite me anyway :). About 10 minutes later I caught the Epcot fireworks too. Florida is certainly hot but you get to see some amazing things when you're out for a run. Lucky me..:)

Day 16: Swim: 19.5 laps, 35:00 mins, Bike: 8.1 miles, 38:46 mins
Day 17: Swim: 13 laps, 20:00 mins, Ran Treadmill: ?? miles, 25:00 mins
Day 18: Swim: 13.5 laps, 20:00 mins, Bike: 7.5 miles, 33:18 mins

All caught up now:)

Day 19: Swim: 18.0 laps, 30:00 mins
Day 20: Run: 5.0 miles, 54:11 mins

Day 22: Gym Bike: ?? miles, 45:00 mins
Day 23: Swim: 15 laps, 25:00 mins

Just one more week to go and one session to catch up!

Day 24: Nothing
Day 25: Ran Treadmill: ?? miles, 45:00 mins

Great run tonight after a lethargic weekend. Feeling really motivated to catch up the two sessions I've fallen behind on and end the week strong :).

Day 26: Swim: 13 laps, 20:00 mins, Gym Bike: ?? miles, 30:00 mins

Just one more session to catch up and 4 days to go :)

Day 27: Ran: 3.0 miles, 32:25 mins
Day 28: Nothing :(

Day 29: Ran: 7.0 miles, 1:19:68 mins
Day 30: Swim: 12.5 laps, 20:00 mins, Ran: ?? miles, 20 mins, Gym Bike: ?? miles, 25:00 mins

All done...Juneathon verdict to follow...!

I've made some great progress over the last month or so. I went to Boston for a conference and Mike and Maddy came too. On one of the days there, I actually got up first thing in the morning to work out at the hotel gym (I've never seen the inside of a hotel gym before, let alone before 7 in the morning). I was totally shocked that there were 16 people in there - who knew! I have been trying to run the block by my house (it's about 0.8 of a mile) and so far have been able to increase my distance from the end of the street to about half way before I need to stop. I'm still not really 'running' when I'm in the gym but I am forcing myself to stay on the elyptical for 20 minutes solidly. It is boring though...The weights class at work every Monday is helping and at least I'm talking to runners about running. We met Scott and the kids in Cape Cod and he gave me some really critical advice: "If you hate it - you are running too fast." So, I have slowed right down and that is really helping. When Gail came to visit we ran together at the hotel in Orlando and at LA Fitness and I can see I'm getting better each and every time! Thank you Scott - you are a great mentor!