Email....Oh, Cursed One!

I hate email!

As much as I check in everyday, every minute, to see what comes in, I'm beginning to think that email is the wretched evil mistress of the devil (catch my unintentional Halloween theme?).

There's just way too much of it that it'll take me forever to weed through...yes, when Hell freezes over, I might just be done!

Like many folks, I have a number of email addresses. I have a Hotmail one, which I relegated it to filling out contest forms, Facebook notifications and signing up for various newsletters that I may never read, in anticipation of the notorious Spam that always seems to coincide. I have my ISP-provided one, that used to be for "serious" emails, one that you can still contact me with, and will read because it's feeded into my Gmail account, which is the account I check daily.

And because I can't be bothered to check my Hotmail address for the newsletters I'd like to check in on more frequently than never, I've started to give away my Gmail address to prospective websites.

Based on the kinds of emails I'm sucked into reading each day, I have come to the realization that I actually may have no friends but dozens of social-media philes who send me their newsletters, blog entries, contest details (which I NEVER win! -- that's another post!), coupon/shopping deals-of-the-day, and my choice, not theirs, at that.

I'm inundated!

And because Gmail allows me to "Archive" my emails, and being the obsessive-compulsive person I am, I HAVE to label each received email with a tag (family, friends, funnies, newsletters -- oh, the bain, those newsletters!) before archiving.

You can tell this topic is a major scratch-in-my-ass when I finally take the time to blog and I blog about something like this!

So, now I'm off "reading my emails" again, as I always do each hour, each day, each week of my existence.

Oh, and in case you're wondering...every comment posted sends me an email too! But I like those kind, and will read those first! :P

How I Do Run: Let Me Count The Ways..

Ok, so that was a take on my favourite poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I doubt you could ever interpret her Love in her poem was for running. Who am I kidding? Most people HATE running. Those that do run have a love for it that's often unexplainable.

Me? Yeah, I can't explain it either. You either like it (because you CAN run) or you don't (because you haven't learned yet and you CAN'T). Everyone falls in one camp or the other; there is no in-between.

So, for those who can't stand running and would rather throw themselves under a bus before even considering donning runners for their true purpose, stop reading! You'll fall asleep anyways...

For the others, here's my training schedule I've planned out:

* Run Days are Tues/Wed/Thurs/Sun (long run), in that order
* Mileage is stated in Miles not Km

2.5/2/2.5/3
2.5/2/2.5/3.5
2.5/2/2.5/4 <--- This is where I am right now.
3/2/3/4
3/2/3/4.5
3/2/3/5

Repeating each week twice takes me until the end of the year, where I'll will have built up from 10 miles per week to 13 miles per week. But after today's long run, I think I'm going to adjust this schedule so that I'll be upping my mileage just a bit more than this.

This is what I'm thinking...

2.5/2/2.5/3
2.5/2/2.5/3.5
3/2/3/4 <----- This is this week's workout!

3/2/3/5
3.5/2/3.5/5
4/2/4/6

This schedule will actually take me to Week 5 of the 12-Week training program I'm planning on following in the New Year. This is the same schedule which I followed in 2003 to train on my own for the Half Marathon I did that year. I really works! I was considering moving from this Novice schedule to the Intermediate schedule, to achieve a PR (personal record), but seeing that I haven't ran this far in a long time, it's like I'm going in as a novice anyways. Besides, if I really wanted to, I go throw in a few fartlek speed workouts on the occasional Wednesday.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Weight Loss Journey: Complete! Next Challenge...

I finally did it! As of October 1st, I officially weighed-in at 120lbs, a 33-lb loss from when I started Weight Watchers on May 28, 18 weeks earlier.

I had been about 2-3 lbs within Goal for about 5 weeks straight, and I was certain that I would have another week at 122 lb. Without much resentment, I stimulated my metabolism by eating more than I usually would and, lo and behold, that seemed to have done the trick!

I'm currently on what's called Maintenance, where I get a few more extra points each day (5 pts), to up my caloric intake. Funny, after one week of Maintenance, I happened to lose ANOTHER 2 lbs, so that I now sit at 118. Apparently it may take a while for my body to re-stabilize, so a weight loss here and there may occur.

So, what's next, you ask? Now that I've reached my weight-loss goal, what do I do next? Other than go shopping (which I soooo have to do. I kid you not: the size 8 jeans I have are swimming on me that I can literally pull them down to my knees without unbuckling them! I'm now fitting my size 4 Gap khakis once again!), I'm concentrating on developing a good, solid running base so that I can train for that half marathon I've been raving about recently.

I had been taking kickboxing classes since the beginning of July and decided that for the month of October, I'd quit for a while and go invest in another pair of runners. My last pair has definitely seen 500 miles and would never see me through another training season. So, I hit up my local running store with a friend and bought these pretty little toe-covers:

Hot Pink! The NB 769's. Love them! Going for a run in them is awesome. They feel a bit different than the other New Balance shoes I used to use, the 1022's from six years ago.

(Technical notes: 769 is for mild overpronators, a cushioning, moderate stability shoe. Not as technical as the 1224's in terms of cushioning, but remains reponsive.)

So, with these, I'm hoping to run 3-4x a week, logging between 10-13 miles. I figure the next 12 weeks will take me into the New Year with a good conditioning base on which to start my Half Mara training. I probably have an extra 5 weeks in the New Year before the "official" training schedule gets followed, so I still have a buffer, should I need to repeat some training weeks if my body needs it.

I started running outdoors this week, and have only ran about 6 miles so far. Plotting my run routes, logging my miles and strength training (lunges, pushups, squats, etc) is occupying much of my time now. Not to mention that I had to figure out my plan-of-attack when it came to deciding when to run and how far and how often. I don't want to over-train (nor under-train!) or not schedule my runs in at all (since how likely will I go out and do them, then?).

I'm feeling sleek and fast, even though I'm still a snail by a racer's standards. I'm enjoying myself, in my own skin, more aware than ever how my body moves as I walk, run. My larger clothes serve as a reminder of the miracle that has occurred; my depression has lifted. I can move around my bedroom without banging my hips against the footboard and howling in pain and crying about not clearing it. I am less concerned about the once-apparent muffin top I carried and more concerned about which muffin recipe to try out.

I'm happy.

Now, I'm a happy, running fool.

"Run, Forrest, Run"