Carmel 5k for Haiti recap

I can't believe I ran the whole thing!

I met my goal of running the entire race, and my tentative hope that I would finish in under 40 minutes! 

Time was about 36:40, but I was a little overexcited when I looked at the clock and am guessing a bit on the seconds.  I'll update once they post official times.

It was warm and humid, but it did rain last night (finally!) so it wasn't as hot as it's been.  Plus it was still completely overcast, which was nice.

Notable moments include:

• Using the 'mobile restroom'...technically a porta-potty with multiple stalls, but it legitimately looked like a fancy bathroom.  There was music piped in and automatic sinks and everything.  Color me impressed.
• Running my first mile under 11:30
• Passing a number of people who appeared to be more fit than me, but they fizzled out and had to walk.
• Discovering how hard it is to drink from a cup and keep running...gave up and just poured it over my face.  That's about what I would have accomplished anyway had I continued trying to drink it.
• Following a gentleman in a neon yellow tank the entire race, but sprinting at the end and passing him just before the finish line.
• Almost shoving people out of my way after the finish.  Folks just stopped right there to chat, but I had to keep walking and cool down or I was going to throw up on somebody.

They were taking pictures in a few places along the way, so hopefully I will have some to post soon.  You'll get to see how red and sweaty I am when running, hooray!

For now, here's my new tech shirt and my race bib.  :)

Workouts for the week of 7/23-7/29

Saturday, 7/23/11 - PALA 1/2 plan, Day 4 - cross training - Zumba class, 1 hr


Much fewer people in class because there was a substitute instructor.  She was fun!  Some difficult steps, but I like learning new routines and it's more fun in a way when I have to think and figure it out.

Sunday, 7/24/11 - PALA 1/2 plan, Day 5 - 3.68 miles in 48:00 (13:02 pace)


My first long run day on the 1/2 marathon training plan.  Since just completing short runs while maintaining pace and not stopping to walk is a challenge, I've decided to do long runs using the Jeff Galloway method.  I alternated a minute each running and walking for the whole 45 minutes I had on the schedule, and it kept me right on my desired pace of 13 min/mile.  My calves were veeeery tight after this, which I found odd...maybe because walking more changes what muscles are used?  No idea.

Tuesday, 7/26/11 - PALA 1/2 plan, Day 6 - 2.73 miles in 34:00 (12:34 pace)


Actually got a break from the oppressive heat this day...it was 70° at dawn rather than 80°.  Essentially the same route I took last Thursday, and the same pace, but it wasn't an epic struggle this time.

Wednesday, 7/27/11 - PALA 1/2 plan, Day 7 - 2.41 miles in 29:00 (12:01 pace)


Schedule called for hills, so I went to the park.  The elevation change is actually not much different than in my neighborhood, but the hills are a lot steeper, it's not as gradual.  I am shocked at my 12 min/mile pace!  Maybe having people to pass helps me to go faster?  For the record, I was definitely the fastest person out there.  Yes, everyone else but 1 or 2 others were walking, but hey...when you're slow like me and you get the opportunity to lap someone, it's a pretty big deal. :P

Wednesday again - Zumba class, 1 hr


I hadn't been to Zumba on Wednesday before, but made an exception this week because the instructor offered a free class for her 1 year anniversary teaching at the gym.  Yes, FREE!  They opened up the indoor half basketball court to us to accommodate more people.  There were 60+ ladies there shaking their booties and having a great time.  It sort of felt like we were on display because the court is open save for fences around it, so all the folks using the weight machines could see and hear us.  Some even stood and watched for extended periods, lol.  She handed out raffle tickets and gave away some Zumba merchandise...I didn't win, my ticket was a mere 1 number away for one of them though.

I gave myself a break for Thursday and Friday so my muscles can be refreshed and ready to go for the 5k tomorrow!  Starting to get a little nervous...I really hope I can run the whole thing.

Weird story - my dad offered to drive me to the race tomorrow (offered out of the blue - at no point did I hint or ask anyone to be my mode of transportation to this shindig), but he expressed no desire to cheer for me on the course or at the finish.  He wanted to just sit in the car for the 2 hours it will take for packet pickup, race, and awards.  He said if I wanted him to stand outside at the finish then I could drive myself.  Uh, wasn't I going to do that anyway?  So it's as if he was *trying* to be supportive, but not really, lol.  Still baffled.

Change in the schedule

Since I'm doing the 5k on Saturday morning, I decided to go to a meeting and weigh in today.

Weigh in:  Thursday, 7/28/11 - 197.2 - 2 lbs lost, 53 total


Woohoo!  2 days early and still 2 lbs down!

But I'm taking these numbers with a grain of salt since this was not at my normal meeting location and was therefore on a different scale.  WW calibrates their scales, but you never know...


EDIT:  I just realized that my BMI is now exactly 30.  I am very, very close to no longer being 'o-beast'!

I must have lost my mind.

Who just registered for a 5k that's less than 4 days away?  Yeah, that'd be me.

It's for a local church's Haiti ministry.  Not that I'm religious in the least, but giving a few bucks for helping out Haiti makes me happy.

Race website: http://www.carmel5kforhaiti.org/

The goal is to jog/run the whole thing.  Finishing in under 40 minutes would rock, too, but that's secondary.

Oh, I was already going to register anyway, but I called the coordinator to find out about the shirts so I knew what size to request.  "Unisex?"  Nope, men's & women's specific.  Cool.  "Are they just cotton or...?"  Tech.  Yes, tech shirt for a 5k that only cost me $23 to register.  Yippee!  I done good.

I have arrived!!!!!!

Ok, so the Healthy Choice Café Steamers teriyaki steak I had for lunch wasn't quite as exciting as tea with the Mad Hatter.  But nonetheless, I am in ONEderland!!!

Weigh in:  Saturday, 7/23/11 - 199.2 - 1.6 lbs lost, 51 total

Weight Watchers awards.
Clockwise from top:  Keyring for 10% of
starting weight lost; -25 lb washer;
'Stay & Succeed' charm for attending 16
meetings; 5k completion charm; -50 lb washer

I didn't cry on the scale when I saw the number the receptionist wrote down, but I did tear up a little this morning when I jumped on the scale at home before the meeting.  (I do this every week, don't ask me why...I know it doesn't really do me any good!)

I got a new charm for my keyring for losing 50 pounds!

It's been nearly 2 months since my last set of progress pictures.  2 months to lose 11 pounds...it's acceptable, certainly, but that sounds quite slow to me.  I was spoiled with my quick loss at the beginning.

I still have an issue recognizing the weight loss in myself.  Logically, I know I'm a lot thinner because I can wear smaller sizes, and my measurements are getting smaller, but I have some sort of mental block when it comes to actually *seeing* it.

I have now lost 20% of my starting weight of 250.2.  My BMI has dropped from 38 (nearly morbidly obese) to 30.3.  I am still "o-beast" (I always say it like that when I'm talking to my mom, I feel it is an appropriate descriptor, but amusing at the same time...sometimes you gotta laugh at yourself!).  But I am inching ever-closer to the 'overweight' range of the scale.

Weight Watchers' BMI calculator on their website doesn't use decimal places, so they say I'll be overweight (BMI of 29) at 193 lbs.  More precise online calculators that count the overweight range up to a BMI of 29.9, tell me I'll be there at 196.8 lbs.  I've settled on 193.4 as my next mini-goal, and I'd like to hit that by September 3.

My full weight record.  I'm averaging 1.9 lbs lost per week.

Personal goal for the rest of my life:  Never see a number on the scale or on my pants that starts with a 2, ever again!

Workouts for the week of 7/16-7/22

Saturday, 7/16/11 - Zumba class, 1 hr


I already mentioned this class in last Saturday's weigh in post.  First time going to a class by this particular instructor, it was packed and very high energy.  Definitely the most fun Zumba class I've been to so far.  My friend Elisa who joined WW around the same time as me attended class with me and we both had a blasty blast!

Monday, 7/18/11 - PALA beginner 1/2 marathon plan, Day 1 - cross training - Zumba class, 1 hr


Zumba twice in a week!  Elisa told me she was going, so I said 'why not?!'  Same instructor, same packed class, still fun, but it was the sweatiest Zumba EVER.  I was absolutely shiny by the end, and it's the first time I've ever felt even remotely like I was going to be sick during a class (it was really hot in there and I'd just eaten beforehand - bad idea).

And yes, I've moved on from the 10k plan...it's half marathon time baby!  I'm using the plan from the active.com partnership with the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award.  It's free, you can find it here.  So most of my runs will be a little shorter than usual at the beginning here.  I'm still deciding if I want to sign up for the Indianapolis Women's Half Marathon, which I would walk most of because it's only a little over a month away.  The one I'm more seriously considering, as it would coincide more with the end of my training plan, is the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon/Half Marathon.  I would be tacking on a few weeks to the program due to the fact that I'm a slowbie and need more time to cover the appropriate distances, and then still have 2-3 weeks for taper.  Ooh, look at me mentioning tapers like I know what I'm talking about.  Special!

Tuesday, 7/19/11 - PALA 1/2 plan, Day 2 - 3.22 miles in 43:00 (13:21 pace)


I recapped this run already in this post.  I really picked a helluva time to start running outside.  It is so damned hot!  When I got back home and stood in the driveway to stretch, I had my own little puddle of sweat that dripped off my face onto the pavement.  Lovely!

If I'm running outside I probably won't break down when I ran and when I walked, because frankly, it's a lot harder for me to keep running for the designated amount of time outside, and I have no way to keep track of the time of my walk breaks.  I've mentioned before that I have pacing problems - to give you an idea, while on the treadmill I was doing easy run days at 4.5mph, which was right on target for my pace this day.  BUT (big but), I walked about 15 minutes of this!  How fast was I running?  No idea, but it's safe to say it was too fast for me to maintain, especially in the heat.

I think I'm going to try the Galloway method (walk breaks at intervals) for long run days and see how I like it - first one will be this coming Sunday.

Thursday, 7/20/11 - PALA 1/2 plan, Day 3 - 2.53 miles in 32:00 (12:38 pace)


Nasty hot again, and the city told everyone to stop watering their lawns for the rest of the week because we haven't had rain in forever and there's a water shortage...I didn't encounter any refreshing sprinklers.  That's not to say that everyone paid attention to the request, because I heard some sprinklers running, they just weren't on my path.  Sadface.

And hello?  Under 13 min/miles?  This felt harder than Tuesday even thought it was shorter, and once I got home, mapped it out, and discovered my pace, that made sense.  I did manage to run 25 minutes straight, which was exactly what my plan called for!  Go me!


This post got really long...sorry to all dozen of you who read this!  I'll leave you with a poor quality cell phone photo of my makeshift sexy Hogwarts uniform that I wore to see Harry Potter.  Elisa and I went together...bless her for not calling me crazy for dressing up for a movie that had already been in the theater for nearly a week at that point.  I just pieced it together from my wardrobe and yoinked a necktie from my dad.  Please take note of the giant locket, which would of course represent the Slytherin locket horcrux...duh.  I'm a huge nerd, clearly.  (PS - I did NOT wear Spanx under my pencil skirt!  Though I'm unsure if that's a result of improved body confidence, or just the fact that it's too darned hot.)


I have always preferred the books, and this was no exception - there were some things that I loved that were completely left out or downplayed, and then the standard adding of random stuff by screenwriters.  I won't go into it, in case you haven't seen it.  All that said, though, I still REALLY enjoyed it.  I had tears streaming down my face for the whole pensieve sequence.  I can't believe the story I grew up with is over!

Won't you be my neighbor?

I did my first outside run in a long while this morning.  I almost chickened out when I woke up at 6 and looked at the temperature - it was already 80 degrees, 80% humidity.  I dawdled until the sun came up (I won't run in the dark around here), then got dressed and brushed my teeth and headed out, figuring if it was absolutely miserable I could always turn around and come home.

That didn't happen though, I finished!  It was hot, but there was a nice breeze for a lot of it and I got to run through a couple sprinklers along the way.  I did manage to temporarily short out one of my earbuds from sweat and the water I splashed on my face from my water bottle, but it's fine now.

I was meant to run 30 minutes.  I got to about 20 before I had to stop and walk for a minute, but I'll count it as a win since that's twice as long as I've ever run at once outdoors.

The neighborhood is pretty sleepy and quiet around 7am, but once I was about halfway done people started leaving for work, and coming outside to take care of their yards and such.  And now we get to the title of this post:  If I take a second out of my labored huffing and puffing to nod at you and say 'Good morning!', and you're just standing there looking at me like 'Why is she so sweaty?', AT LEAST you could say hi back to me!  Unfriendly neighbors...

*While looking for stock photos to put up with this post, I stumbled across this article:  The Runner's Waving Dilemma - it's about runners waving/not waving at other runners, I thought it was a fun read.  :)  I'm definitely a 'waver' (or I nod, say 'hey', etc).  For me there is generally some form of acknowledgement to the others that are out walking or running, trying to better themselves.

Great day!

Weigh in:  Saturday, 7/16/11 - 200.8 - 0.8 lbs lost, 49.4 total


Better than I expected!  One pound away from ONEderland, and a itty bitty 0.6 lbs away from 50 lbs lost!  Also, the weight on my driver's license is 200...I'm no longer lying when someone cards me!

I fit into a smaller bra this morning.  You might not think that's something to be excited about, but for someone who pretty much HAS to shop for bras at Lane Bryant because of her cup size, it's very exciting to go down one.

I went out in public in spandex workout gear, and didn't feel the least bit self-conscious.

Elisa came with me to Zumba, and the class was *packed*!  It was super fun though!  Really high energy, I'll definitely go to the Saturday morning one again.

Workouts for the week of 7/9-7/15

Saturday, 7/9/11 - 10k plan, Day 21 - 2.87 miles in 40:00 (13:57 pace) - 5 min warmup/cooldown walks @ 3.7, 30 min jog @ 4.5


Sunday, 7/10/11 - Zumba class, 1 hr


I was one of TWO people in class this past Sunday.  I'm just glad someone else showed up because that would have been awkward if it was just me.  I went on a campaign on facebook to get some of the folks on my friends list to come, after which I found out that the Sunday class is now cancelled for the rest of the month due to lack of attendance.  The regular instructor is in grad school and will be graduating soon, so she hasn't had time to promote the class.  She teaches at a couple local YMCA branches, but they charge $8 or so for admission for guests...I really cannot swing nearly $10 a class.  So I'll be going to the Saturday class at the gym this week, which is a different instructor, but I don't wanna just stop going for the rest of July!  I believe I've got my buddy Elisa coming with me to class tomorrow after our WW meeting!  <3

Been feeling blah and had some drama go down early in the week, so I wasn't feeling the working out, took Monday and Tuesday off.


Wednesday, 7/13/11 - 10k plan, Day 22 - 3.99 miles in 55:00 (13:46 pace) - 5 min warmup/cooldown walks @ 3.7, 45 min jog/incline work @ 4.5


Thursday, 7/14/11 - 10k plan, Day 23 - cross-training on air resistance bike - 4.8 miles in 30:00


Again, just pedaled and read a book - Hit List, the newest novel in Laurell K. Hamilton's 'Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter' series.

Tried to get on the treadmill on Thursday evening but it was acting up again.  Dad and I know how to temporarily fix it, but even that has stopped working.  We have an appointment sometime next week for someone to come look at it, from a more legitimate source than our random repair guy.  Clearly the motor and belt we replaced were not the issue back in March, because that fix only held out 3 months, and now we have to tighten stuff every few times I use it (or in the case of this week, we tightened it after my run on Saturday, I used it Wednesday, and then it was back to crazy on Thursday).  Bleh.

I really need to start running outside anyway, but that means I'm going to have to get up super early right when the sun comes up.  I will not run around any portion of Indianapolis in the dark, and it's 90+ degrees with 129478% humidity during the day.  Time to become a morning person - fat chance on that one!

Weigh in tomorrow - I stuck religiously to my daily points this week but I don't think I'll see much of a loss, if any.  It's hard for me to pull more than a fraction of a pound after a big loss like last week!

BLTs!

No, I'm not talking about the 'Bites, Licks, and Tastes'...those evil little downfalls of all who are watching their food intake.

I said I'd try to keep posting meals, so here's one.  This was dinner a couple nights ago.  A regular ol' BLT, but rather than mayo I used a Laughing Cow wedge, and rather than regular toast I used a Thomas Bagel Thin.  I obviously got excited and had a couple bites before it occurred to me to take a picture.

Weight Watchers PointsPlus:  13

Thomas 'Everything' bagel thin - 3pp
3 slices of bacon - 4pp
Laughing Cow garlic & herb spread - 1pp
lettuce & tomato - 0pp

baby carrots - 0pp
lite ranch dressing, 2 Tbsp - 2pp

Chip'ins - 3pp

And now I've reminded myself to tell you about Chip'ins by Popcorn Indiana.  They look like Doritos, they're made from corn, with a taste reminiscent of buttered popcorn.  They're decent on PointsPlus values, at 3pp for an 18 chip serving.  I like the Hot Buffalo Wing flavor best.

More Fiber One goodness

I sang praises for their new chocolate fudge brownies (2 PointsPlus!).  I love their 90 calorie chocolate peanut butter bars (also 2 PointsPlus...I usually take one with me, along with a piece of fruit, to my Weight Watchers meeting since I put off eating until after I've weighed in).

I have never purchased their cereal because I have always found it to be very expensive (almost $5 a box, and the box is quite small) in comparison to my standby of Multigrain or Cinnamon Cheerios.  Not to mention most of their flavors are 'flake' based, which I cannot eat, because soggy cereal grosses me out.

I've been saving coupons for their new 80 calorie Honey Squares cereal, hoping that it would go on sale so I could buy it for relatively cheap.  Lo and behold, it is on sale this week at my preferred grocery store, so I finally bought a box.

In a word:  Yum!  I still prefer Cinnamon Cheerios, but the Honey Squares are very tasty!  They remind me of Golden Grahams.  A 3/4-cup serving is 2 PointsPlus and 10g of fiber (40% of the daily recommended value)!  I poured myself a full cup, which came out to be 3 PP.  Add your low-fat or fat-free milk and some berries and it's a great breakfast or snack.  I'll probably go back to the store and buy another box or two while it's still on sale and I have coupons.

I'm so close I can...

...not 'taste it', surely.  I need to come up with a non-food-related analogy.  'Feel it' doesn't seem descriptive enough.  'Smell it' maybe?  Yes, I'm so close I can smell it.  What is 'it', you ask?  Why...ONEderland of course!!!  I'm officially looking down the rabbit hole.

Weigh in:  Saturday, 7/9/11 - 201.6 - 4.6 lbs lost, 48.6 total


Nearly 5 lbs!  And that's after my cream cheese and pretzel binge early in the week.  I drank water like it was my job and made sure to get in my fruit and veg servings every day.  Proof that if you screw up once or twice, your whole week/month/life doesn't have to go to pot!

I got my 45 lb star sticker at the meeting yesterday...once I hit 50 I'll get another and a new charm for my WW keyring.  There were some murmurs at the meeting about my large loss this week, as if it wasn't a big deal since I'm young (and look even younger).  I know they were just joking, but I still get a little touchy.  It's not as if I don't try at all and the weight just falls off  - I'm working my ass off (literally)!

Workouts for the week of 7/2-7/8

Zumba class was cancelled on Sunday due to the holiday weekend, and I was feeling somewhat lazy after cleaning the house before company came over on the 4th, so I didn't work out until Monday.

Monday, 7/4/11 - 10k plan, Day 17 - 3.67 miles in 50:00 (13:38 pace) - 5 min warmup/cooldown walks @ 3.6, 40 min speed work/jog: 4.4, 4.8mph intervals - 10 min, 10, 5, 10, 5


Hello, under 14 minute miles!  What is going on here?!  I know the distance isn't there, but it gives me hope that I'll one day be able to do a Disney run and still have time to stop and take pictures!


Tuesday, 7/5/11 - 10k plan, Day 18 - cross-training on air resistance bike - 4.7 miles in 30:00


I've pretty much been skipping the cross-training days on the plan up until now, but I realize that I need to do other exercises lest my running muscles get overdeveloped and start pulling my kneecaps out of line and other lame injuries.  (I worry about that one in particular because last week my right knee was cracking and feeling off track.)  
I *HATE* our air resistance bike with a passion.  It's ancient and ugly, but that doesn't really have anything to do with it.  It doesn't matter how slow I pedal (and clearly this was quite slow), I get all sweaty and worn out.  And my butt always hurts the next day, even though we installed one of those huge padded bike seats on it.  I didn't really put much effort into this, I just pedaled at a very comfortable pace and read a book (paranormal romance novel, actually...one of my many guilty pleasures) rather than using the moving handles on the bike.


Wednesday, 7/6/11 - 10k plan, Day 19 - 3.62 miles in 50:00 (13:49 pace) - 5 min warmup/cooldown walks @ 3.7, 40 min jog/incline work @ 4.5


I've been bumping my speed up by a tenth of a mile per hour each week recently.  I may hang at 4.5mph for a while, I'm not really sure yet.  I was supposed to do 6x100m at the end of this run but I spaced it.


Friday, 7/8/11 - 10k plan, Day 20 - 5.52 miles in 1:15:00 (13:35 pace) - 5 min warmup/cooldown walks @ 3.7, 60 min jog/incline work @ 4.5, 4x100m @ 5.3


For anyone that may be keeping track - ok, who am I kidding, it's just me - I jogged 4.5 miles without stopping this evening!  That's like...over 1/3 of a half marathon!  :P  It was not easy though...I was at our local casino today - I came home with more $$ than I arrived with, don't worry!  I was using freebie credits to play - and ate at the buffet for a late lunch/early dinner and am now aware that I should never eat heavy on the day of a long run, regardless of how long I wait in between eating and exercise.  I seriously pondered throwing up multiple times during my time on the treadmill.  It didn't happen, but I have a feeling one day it's going to as my runs keep getting longer.


Speaking of marathons, I've been thinking about how unrealistic Disney is in my current financial situation (no job and all).  BUT the first-ever Indianapolis Women's Half Marathon is coming up right here in Indy on Labor Day weekend!  I know that's really soon, but I am seriously debating registering.  The time limit is 4.5 hours, which is a 20+ min/mile pace...I do believe I could leisurely walk the entire thing and still finish in time as long as I didn't collapse or anything.  I'd like to run some of it, but running the whole thing would not be realistic right now.  What do ya think?  Anyone interested in joining me?  I can offer you a twin size bed or queen size air mattress here at my parental units' house for accommodations!

Trigger foods

Pretzels and cream cheese.  

I seem to be physically unable to have these two things in my house at the same time and not just open the bag of pretzels and the container of cream cheese and go to town with the dipping.  It is absolutely delicious.

And I've eaten FAR too much of it the past two evenings.  But now both things are gone (into my belly), so I can't do that anymore.  I won't be buying those at the same time again.  I knew better, but I was testing myself and clearly failed!

For the rest of the week I'm going to stick to 29 points a day (my current daily allowance in 34 but I believe I've used most of my weeklies at this point).  And more water than my usual gallon per day.  I was a couple pounds up when I checked this morning, gotta get it together!

Ruh roh

At this rate I'm not going to get to my 'ONEderland by August 6' goal.  Lame.

Weigh in:  Saturday, 7/2/11 - 206.2 - 0.8 lbs lost, 44 lbs total

To meet my goal I have to lose an average of 1.3 lbs a week.  My average for the last 4 weeks is 0.8 a week.  I'm glad I'm still losing consistently but I'm bummed it's slowing down!  I know that's part of the process, but I still have so far to go, it's starting to feel like I'll be paying for my WW monthly pass for a looong time.

Obligatory workout log post

I logged 41 miles in the month of June!  Over a mile a day on average...for someone who was essentially sedentary only a few months ago I think that's pretty good!

This week's workouts:

Saturday, 6/25/11 - 10k plan, Day 13 - 3.2 miles in 45:00 (14:04 pace) - 5 min warmup/cooldown walks @ 3.5, jog/speed work: 10 min @ 4.3, 8 min @ 4.7, 2 min @ 4.3, 8 min @ 4.7, 7 min @ 4.3

Getting faster...

Sunday, 6/26/11 - Zumba+Abs class, 1 hr

Again there weren't a lot of people in class, and there were 2 ladies who stood in the back of the room and talked the entire time until we did abs at the very end.  What is up?

Tuesday, 6/28/11 - 10k plan, Day 14 - 3.49 miles in 50:00 (14:19 pace) - 5 min warmup/cooldown walks @ 3.6, 40 min jog/incline intervals: 2.5 min incline @ 4.4, 5 min flat @ 4.3

Wednesday, 6/29/11 - 10k plan, Day 15 - 5.26 miles in 1:15:00 (14:15 pace) - 10 min walk @ 3.6, 50 min jog @ 4.4, 10 min walk @ 3.6, 4x100m strides @ 5.2

This was pretty heinous...the dreaded side stitch struck a few times.  Also I noticed over the course of the week that my right knee has been popping and almost feels as if it's off track, if that makes any sort of sense.  During this run it started aching, so I iced it immediately after I was done cooling down and stretching.  It stopped hurting after that evening but is still popping. *frowny face*

Friday, 7/1/11 - 10k plan, Day 16 - 2.8 miles in 40:00 (14:17 pace) - 5 min warmup/cooldown walks @ 3.6, 30 min jog @ 4.4

Believe it or not the treadmill started stuttering AGAIN just as I tried to start this one.  Had to have my dad help tighten the belt on the motor like the repair guy showed us.  Seriously, it's been less than a week since he was here.  Temporary fixes that we have to take the damn thing apart to perform every time - that's just not gonna cut it.  I may be giving up on it and running outside soon, in which case I will probably have to backtrack on my training and/or get a Garmin to help with pacing.  The middle of summer in the Midwest is not what I would call ideal running conditions...boooo.