The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[DogMa]

It was an interesting race for me. My morning started at midnight, when an explosion woke the dogs and me. The power went out, and I was freaked out (as were they), but went to check and make sure nothing had crashed into the house (it was also pouring out). I found out later that a transformer right outside had blown. So anyway, I called the power company to report the outage, calmed the dogs as best I could, and tried to get back to sleep.

Gave up around 5:30, after just dozing a little. The lights were still out, but I coaxed the dogs into going outside anyway. Heading for the door, I discovered that Teemu had thrown up during the night (and yes, I found out the hard way). So I cleaned up the floor in the dark, fed the dogs, called the power company again, and tried to figure out what to do. I disabled the garage door opener and tried to open it manually. Didn't work. Sat for a while since it was so early. Tried the door again. Nope. Finally, the sun started to come up and at the same time I saw that my phone battery was almost done. So I tried the garage again, thinking I couldn't use the car to charge my phone unless I could open the door (carbon monoxide poisoning wasn't really an option). Finally got the door open, so I went in and got ready for the race in the dark. By the time I was done, a tech guy was in my yard, working on the transformer. I felt bad about leaving the dog in the dark, but the guy said that if what he was trying worked, he'd have the lights on in a few minutes. So off I went.

Got to the race, and they hadn't prepared the packets ahead of time and were out of shirts and free zoo passes (they had me fill out a form and said they'd mail them out later). Met my friend, waited for the start, and of course it started raining again. It wasn't too hard, though, so off we went. Just before the race started, I turned on my Shuffle, which was supposed to have a 30-minute coached run plus a couple of extra songs to get me through the whole race. The coached run was missing, so I had to run the whole way with just three songs playing over and over (at one point, I heard Rockin' Robin four times in a row).

I ended up taking about three short walking breaks (none more than two minutes), but still set a personal record - by more than a minute and a half! Finished in 35:33.

[oksoonergirl26]

Great job! How good did it feel to set that PR? It sounds like you have a pretty good idea of your abilities. I need to figure out how to manage mine. Tonight for example I walked for about 1/4 mile and then jogged for almost 2 miles with a speed interval in there, and then jogged another mile and a half. I only walked about 3/4 of mile total. I actually felt good while doing this. I think I am going to break down and get a Garmin Forerunner to help me with my pace. The Body Bugg would be great, but it doesn't really help with the running, which is what I want to focus on now.

[DogMa]

I actually don't think I have a good idea of my abilities at all. I think I could do a lot more, but I have some sort of mental block about it. I'm hoping the coach can help me.

And right now I'm just peeved. Out of the thousands of photos they posted, apparently they didn't get ME.

[katieb920]

Just have to say, I am still very impressed with your work out regime.

[DogMa]

Thanks, Katie. I'd be more impressed if I did more strength training, like I used to, but I've gotten a little better about it recently.

[oksoonergirl26]

How did the Race for the Cure go? I am sorry about the picture, that would make me angry. I am still upset at my half marathon pics because they got these two idiot girls who are giving the camera stupid grins and crap and I can't crop them out.

[DogMa]

About 30 seconds slower than the Zoo Run, but my friend who also ran it says it was a much tougher course. And I confess, I psyched myself out a little. I passed the 1-mile marker and was doing OK, but then I saw a HUGE hill ahead of me and decided to walk it. And as usual, once I started walking, I had a hard time sustaining any kind of a run.

I meet with the coach Saturday, and then I think I'm going to mostly walk Heels and Hills on Sunday to keep another friend company. And then the week after that, I'm doing an Arlington Highlands race with the same guy who did the Zoo Run and Race for the Cure.

No photos posted yet from Race for the Cure. It took a lot of searching just to find the results over the weekend (the stupid Komen people didn't post 'em until sometime Monday, and they have no info about photos, so I don't even know which company shot it). Heels and Hills actually tells you ahead of time where the photogs will be and how to get a good shot.

[Karli]

ooooo ... just read your post about your last race ... what a night !! Sounds frustrating, but from my end, it sounds like a real life ! All I do is sit in a house and practice, practice, practice, teach a little, and then sit on the couch, stunned . If I am reading and understanding correctly, you are around 123 right now ? That's fantastic !

[DogMa]

Welllllll ... not so much lately on the 123. I gained some in the past few months, partly because of my hamstring injury. I'm cracking down, though, and getting it off. I'm about where I was when I finished Medifast. Sigh.

[oksoonergirl26]

Did you do Heels and Hills? If so, how was it?

[DogMa]

H&H was awful!! It was right in the middle of all the construction near Texas Stadium, so it took me over an hour to get there. And then I sat in line to park for 45 minutes!! I would have just turned around and gone home if I didn't have my friend's bib with me. So I met her, gave her her race number, started to walk with her even though the race had already started ... and was just too darn irritated about the whole thing. So I turned around, went back to my car and LEFT.

But the good news is I met with the replacement running coach today (the Saturday guy was a huge jerk, as it turned out; he e-mailed me Friday to go over what we would do the next day and tell me he'd give me a training plan then, and I said again that I train mostly on the treadmill and asked if the plan would take that into account, and he e-mailed back that the treadmill is fine for fitness but it's impossible to train on one, so he would not be there the next morning to meet me!! I told him I'd find someone more creative and flexible to help me.). So anyway, I found a bunch of coaches on the Road Runners Club of America site and e-mailed them to see if any of 'em were interested. Talked to three Saturday and met with one this morning. She lives nearby, so we met at the Albertson's down the street and went for a run together. And ... I RAN 3 MILES!! A little more, actually. And could have run more, but we were back at our cars by then. I even chatted with her the whole way, and my heart rate topped out at 187, which is awesome for me. My hamstring didn't even hurt!!

So she gave me a questionnaire to fill out and return, and then she said we'd talk about cost and a training plan. I'm already rethinking my training for this week, and I'm going to try to rearrange my mornings a little so that I can run outside as soon as it's light enough (I figure maybe I can make my running days my SHORT workout days, and just run a few miles and come home, and maybe go for a walk at work later in the day). And I'd better be able to run the whole way at my race Saturday; now I know it's mostly mental, so I just need to push through. Of course, thinking of the first coach helps; spite is a powerful motivator in my case. And I have a Rangers game that night, so just MAYBE, if I run all the way and have been good all week, I can have a little treat at the game. I know, food shouldn't be a reward. But I don't care.

[DogMa]

Well, mixed results on my race yesterday. First of all, the course wound up being too short. Apparently after it was measured and certified, some twit moved the turnaround, so it was only 2.87 miles. The other bad news: I still ended up walking a little bit of it.

The good news: my time was 29:38. But of course it was short. If the course had been a full 5K, my time would have been 32:00. So a personal best by FAR. But I'm upset that I still walked a little (I got almost to the top of the one big hill, but I was SO hot by then - because the race wasn't till 9:30 and because we lost the cold breeze after the turnaround and the sun was strong). So I've signed up for one last race, next Sunday in Dallas. After that, it'll be too hot and I'll be done till Disneyland in September.

My plan is to run outside as long as it's still cool enough at 6 a.m. (hopefully with Coach Pat), and to run more hills and a little longer than we ran last week. After that, I'll be on the treadmill with the incline set at 2 or 3 and strengthening my legs and core.

[Tawanda]

Robin congratulations on doing so well!

[oksoonergirl26]

Yes, but even with the walking you did really good! So far, only 2 of the people I contact from RRCA have gotten back with me. One is too booked with Team in Training and the other wants an awful lot of money for nothing other than a plan, email, and phone conversations. If I am going to pay that much money I want someone to come and run with me, at least on the long runs. I am getting frustrated. I am about to just go to Run On and haul my booty out of bed at 4:45 am to get to the training facility by 5:15 and hope I can clean up and get back to work before 7:45 when school starts....I don't really see that happening. Plus, I would have to drive to Dallas every Sunday for long runs and with gas going through the roof it really doesn't seem plausible. I may just need to buy a Garmin Forerunner and forget training with someone who knows what they are doing. I did it once, but for a much shorter distance.

[DogMa]

I desperately want a Garmin, too. I already told my brother it's what I want for my birthday. Meanwhile, my prospective coach didn't call me this weekend like she was supposed to. I talked to her at the race, but she was supposed to call about a training plan and prices and stuff, and hasn't. And one who I talked to was supposed to get back to me last week with more info about the group starting in June, but hasn't. I think I'm heading back to the treadmill after this next race. It's getting too darn hot and humid out there for me.

But yeah, I'm pretty proud of my time, but I still want to finish one without walking. Sigh. But it's a respectable time for my age and everything.