Rate: Christmas is [Mr.] Wonderful

I just wanted to take a minute to announce......

I GOT AN AWESOME HEART RATE MONITOR!
 
Mr. Wonderful did good.

I am now the proud owner of a Suunto M5 heart rate monitor and foot pod (which measures distance and speed). Isn't she cute (see above)?

On top of that, my mother (aka Santa Claus) got me a nice pair of running capris and and a running shirt and long-sleeve top layer. And I must say, she bought it for me just in time... it's like 40 Degrees here today! I know all you East coasters are facing a blizzardy death, but I've been enjoying the breezy and beautiful 75 degree weather.. until now. Ah, but I do love the built-in hand warmers in my top later. Delightful.

Well at 5AM this morning I sported my new clothing and my new Suunto and all the passing cars and pedestrians may have mistaken me for a pro... until I started running at turtle pace. 


But good gear = good runner... right? 

I'll be super fast in no time... right?  

I WISH.  However I have been diligently doing my PT exercises and I am feeling better and better. I'll bring you up to speed in the next post. Promise.


Now here' s a question for y'all.... How does one start rowing?! I would really like to try rowing and my knees would greatly appreciate it if I took it easy on them sometimes. So please rowing experts, advise!

Run: 5K FAIL

Pre-race. I'm on the left.

First of all, Hello running friends! I miss you! I've been a very bad blogger, but you've all been there so let's just forgive me and move on. Splendid.

As of December 18th, 2010 at 9:30 AM (MST), I have officially run my third race. Clearly, I can now go pro.

Clearly, I can now run a six minute mile without breaking a sweat.

Clearly, I weigh 95 pounds and my diet consists of only rice, beans and vegetables.

Clearly, I have arrived.

.......

................
 

........

....Oh wait, I lied.

Today was in fact, a BUMMER. Let me explain. Problem number one lies in the fact that I have no monitoring device. I have no shiny Garmin on my wrist and no Nike chips in my shoes. I do have an ipod, but the app I downloaded most definitely does not work (I know I'm slow, but a 30 minute mile is a bit ridiculous, right?!). So basically I have no way of training efficiently. I base my times off of MapMyRun, a stopwatch and a hunch (ex. I feel like I was running pretty fast today. Must have been a 9 minute mile kind of day). This is a very ineffective way of doing things and I do not recommend it. Basically, I may be much slower than I thought.

Problem number two: I came down with a cold last week. Perfect. And the fun little thing about being an asthmatic is that most head colds turn into chest colds... AKA BRONCHITIS. So although yesterday I was feeling springy and almost 100% over my cold, today I woke up with four pounds of phlegm in my chest and a wicked cough... cough cough.

And so I head to the Jingle Bell 5K ready to rock it, thinking that I clearly run 8 minute miles. I end up coughing my way through the first mile, and spending the next two miles wincing away my chest pain and desperately trying not to vomit due to lack of oxygen. Already phlegmy asthma lungs covered in new phlegm just don't work they would they are supposed to. I couldn't run fast if my life depended on it.
 

And so I ran an embarrassing 30 minute 5k. I know many of you run 15 minute 5ks so please don't laugh. I'm fragile. And I have bronchitis. Probably. So there.

So here's the plan. With any and all Christmas money I get this year (got to love the grandparents) I'm buying a Garmin. Then, I am going to COMMIT to 2-3 days of speed work a week along with my regular workouts. I am not going to focus on distance for now because my knees just aren't ready for it. My goal is to run two more 5Ks in January and at least a 10K in February (if my budget will allow). I'm also going to drink a lot of vitamin C so that I never get sick again.

The end.

Rate: Asthma in the cold

I'm a firm believer than physical activity and exercise substantially minimizes asthma symptoms. I believe this for a number of reasons, but the most recent being that since I have started running by asthma has improved greatly. I used to have attacks weekly, and I was constantly using my inhaler, and now I rarely have a major attack and for the most part, I only use my inhaler before and after runs.

Well that was until winter came. But for some dang reason the cold air really gets my asthma riled up. (that may not be a scientific statement... but I swear it's true!). And this has really affected my running routine. I'm trying to incorporate speed work into my running schedule (did a fartlek workout yesterday-- so much fun!) but it's difficult when I start wheezing within a half a mile with no other logical explanation besides the cold air is making my lungs angry.

So what's a girl to do? Just keep running.

So now I'm learning to continue running, even after I am wheezing and slowly bringing my shoulders to my ears as it becomes difficult to breathe.

Well it's always good to have a new challenge to over come :)

And that's all, I just wanted to share. Any one else have trouble breathing in the cold (especially any of you asthma folk)?

(Disclaimer: I'm on my lunch break and therefore didn't have time to proofread this thoroughly so I apologize for any typos or poor grammar).