The Mindy-K Training Plan

So I found out about this a little too late, but I am coming up on my PR'd 5K. My hope is to beat my time from last year, running a sub 10 minute mile 5K would be my key to success.

Mindy Kaling, a Newton native has a little soft spot in my heart.  I personally think she is hilarious and she also recently put out there that she wanted to run a sub-30 minute 5K. Runners World stepped up to the plate to make her a training program. With only 2 weeks left before my 5K I might have to pick this up somewhere towards the end.

Cheers to some tempo runs in my future!

After that, then onto knock a few books off my reading list... (notice Half-Marathon is also included)

Castle Island Run Behind Gavin

Both Gavin and I are signed up for the Smuttynose Rockfest Half Marathon.  It is the same weekend that the Rock N Roll San Jose is, so I guess we are staying local this year.

He is very excited about training all ready, which is great for me and gets me motivated. Yesterday we went down to Castle Island in Southie.  He tried to start the run with me, but I could tell I was going just a little slower than he wanted so I told him not to worry.  He then became my slowly shrinking carrot.

As long as I meet my distance goal, I am not going to beat myself up over the pace.

And who is going to argue with the calorie burn! 

It is a little crazy that I see this 75 Thoughts Every Runner Has While Running this morning while flipping through Facebook. It isn't terribly far off from where my head was at, only there were lots of other runners and lots of puppies.

Then I joined some of my girls to watch the UCONN game and have jalapeno mango margaritas and taco night. Which was followed up by this...

Unfried Froyo! So delicious! 

Band Wagon... I think I am figuring this nutrition thing out

First off, let me say Happy Home Opener to the Boston Red Sox!!! (I am a proud hometown team supporter. Don't hate me, I grew up here! Also they are Awesome!)

A couple shots of Gavin and I experiencing the Run To Home Base 9K

Running and losing weight has been tricky these days, (since I approached my 30s).  Balancing my calories and also fueling my body for longer runs has alluded me. Now I am not hitting any earth shattering weight loss numbers yet, I feel like I am making progress doing both calorie counting and I have really hit my stride with running. (Again nothing earth shattering, but my runs have been strong thus far)

If I stay around 1600 calories for the days I run I think I still have the energy to run 5 miles or cross train but create enough of a deficit to lose weight.

I will keep plugging away at it, I am feeling really good about my running lately.

My Scale Can eff Itself

So I just told my scale to go eff itself, although the vernacular was a bit different. I think my anger is misplaced, but I am going to keep it there for now.

Maybe I shouldn't have weighed in after I ate my dinner leftovers for breakfast... Lesson learned.

My Second Ras na hEireann

Beer is yummy, there are different opinions on the subject but that is my view. Although it has kept me from running on occasion, in this case it was a motivation to finish.  Not necessarily as strong as I had hoped, but run the whole 3.1 miles to the end. This might be my slowest (PW) while still running the whole course. I will say that my training has not been what it was in past years.

You know what, I am not going to beat myself up about it.

Now back to beer! So you finish the race in Davis Square, Somerville where there is not really a shortage of bars until you finish a race with 5000 people and they all want a few drinks and breakfast. So we waited about 15 minutes to get into the Joshua Tree and went straight to the bar for many a few beers.

if only my eyes were open for these pictures.

I Have Surprised Myself

Usually when the new year comes around and I hit the treadmill after the holidays I have to start right back at the beginning.  I can barely make a mile on my first run back.  This year after barely running during November - February, I have been able to do a slow 3 miles, which feels great! I have already started my 10K training program.

With my success on the treadmill this far I have not been gun shy about pulling the trigger on race sign ups. I have signed Gavin and I up for our 3rd annual Energize the Earth 5K in Beverly, MA (My PR course).  Also, since running the half in San Jose last year I have been debating on which half to run this year. The one that stands out the most from seeing friends run it last year on Facebook and since it was my backup if I couldn't make the California trip work, was Smuttynose Rockfest Half in Hampton, NH. Gavin and I are all signed up for him to run his first half. Everyone I know that ran it in the past said it is a great flat course. Tomorrow me and 5 other girls are going to enter the lottery for the Harpoon 5miler, last time I ran that was 2005... Oh, how things were different 9 years ago!

One week from today I will be running my first 5K of the year, Ras na hEirearnn.  It is my second year in a row running it. My time last year was 35:03 and although my training has been lacking this year, I want to beat my previous time. Last year was all about firsts, this year it is all about competing against myself.

Zombies, Run!

So one of the things that kept me busy this winter was binge eating watching. I managed to catch up on Walking Dead and love it! (Orange is the New Black and Chuck were also on the list) Netflix is really a productivity killer, but I am not sure I will ever give it up.

In previous years the changing of the calendar and the thought of spring really gave me that push to hit the gym after a long holiday season. The whole month of February was consumed with the move, knowing that my January was a wash, with the though, I will just start back when the move is over.

I have been working on trying to motivate myself and after my many hours sucked into the life of Rick Grimes and others, I wondered if I should look into those Zombie running apps the kids are talking about these days. I went over all the reviews and found Zombies, Run!  and while they are running a new years special I snatched up for the bargain price of $3.99 on iTunes.

After reading all the reviews I was planning for a few glitches, but it seems that they were all written so long ago that the creators/developers have worked out the bugs. So far so good, I don't use the GPS feature because I run with my iPod on a treadmill (for now) and not my phone. I have turned on the accelerometer and although it could use a little calibration I have no complaints.

The story is distracting and keeps my ADD brain entertained enough and it shuffles my songs in between the "transmissions from Abel Township". After your run you see all the things you have collected and you can build up the town. I am currently on season 1 episode 7 and definitely think I will stick with it for the long "run".

Today's Run: Random Hill Mode Treadmill - 30 minutes 2.64 miles, workout 2 of my 10K training program