Long Run Saturday

I belong to a group that goes out weekly for long runs on Saturday mornings, Runner's Edge of the Rockies. I was able to attend this past Saturday's group run, because it was Brian's turn to take Samuel to Occupational Therapy.

We met at 6:30am at the Runner's Roost location in Lakewood, about a 40 minute drive from me. It was definitely worth it. I ran 7+ miles and felt pretty good the entire time. I was also able to purchase an Amphipod hydration belt before my run since my old one broke on Friday afternoon.

After my run, I also purchased a new pair of Brooks Addiction 10 running shoes at a 20% discount through this group. This means that I'm able to take my full price shoes back to the other store that I purchased them.

It was partly cloudy during the run and about 40% humidity. What a nice combination for a run.

What did you do to exercise this weekend?

Welcome Fitness Followers

Multiple Directions Available Ahead

I have abandoned my other blog "Mission Probable" since I have been unable to post regularly to it, while posting to this blog as well.


Therefore, I'm combining these two blogs together to tell our entire story. Here are some things that will be included in this portion of our blog.

• My marathon training information
• Discounts that I find on fitness activities and equipment
• Motivational quotes
• Interesting running articles
• Information on Brian's Century Ride training

To access only these areas, I have included the following labels.

• Articles
• Discounts
• Fitness
• Motivation
• Racing
• Training

I hope that combining these two blogs isn't confusing, but to tell the whole story of our family, we need to put everything together.

Thanks for understanding.

30% Off Fitness Items & Apparel

Please visit one of my other blogs Mission Probable to take advantage of 30% off at See Jane Run.

Today, I'm Committed to Helping a Worthy Cause

Today, I signed all of the paper work to fund raise and train with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training program to complete the Canyonlands Half Marathon on March 19, 2011 on my way to complete my first full marathon Colfax Marathon in May 2011.

During my training, my goals are to:

1. Increase my pace.
2. Continue to lose weight and get to my goal weight by the half marathon.
3. Raise $2,500 to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives.
4. Have fun and continue to make regular fitness a permanent part of my life.
5. Make new friends.

If you wish to follow my fundraising progress or donate to this wonderful cause, please visit my Fundraising Page.

Wordless Wednesday- Around Mile 4 of 2010 Crossroads Half Marathon

First Half Marathon of 2010

Not my best, but not my worst.  Read all about it on my other blog.

A Family Turn

I have not been up on this blog as much as I have been in the past. Our family has taken a turn toward healthy living and we are committed to that right now.

I started my current weight loss journey in mid-May and have lost over 23 lbs in 11 weeks. The #1 reason for my success, running. I am training to run the Rock 'n' Roll Denver Half Marathon in October and you have to put the miles in to train effectively.

The #2 reason for my success is that I have changed the quality (and quantity) of food that I eat and when, during the day, that I eat. I have pushed protein to breakfast and snack on garbanzo beans instead of potato chips and carbs throughout the day. I stay fuller, longer and have a much more sensible dinner.

My husband is becoming more fit, too. He does not follow his weight as closely and I have, but he can tell that his clothes are fitting better. His success has been training for a 50k (31 mile) charity bike ride for the Diabetes Tour de Cure. Weekly, I map out 10, 15, 20 and (this weekend) a 25-26 mile course to help him get used to being on a bike for several hours. He race is in Longmont, CO on Saturday, August 21st. If you are in the Denver area, come out to support the cause.

With my training, I have become preoccupied with my other blog, Mission Probable which I collect fitness, nutritional and racing articles. I also use this blog to record my training sessions and record my weight, weekly.

I have also adjusted the blogs that I read (which used to be about family related issues and are now about running and fitness), the twitter feeds that I follow and the Facebook pages that I "like."

The one thing that is currently missing from my fitness routine is weight lifting. Within my building, there is a small fitness room which has some weight machines, a stationary bike, a treadmill, elliptical machine and a stair stepper (which I will probably not EVER got on). Cardio is a great way to start to get to my goal, but I know that I will need to add weight bearing exercises as well.

We have free weights at the house. I should probably pull some out and bring them upstairs so that I don't have any excuse not to use them. I just need to make sure that Sam does not start playing with them. Steel is not a food group.

Please feel free to visit my fitness blog and if you are interested in donating to charity, here is a link to support Brian's charity bike ride for Diabetes.

Auction Items Still Available for Bidding- Colorado AIDS Walk

Auction Blog

1. Night Out #1 (Value $318.00)
-2-Night Stay at Hotel VQ at Mile High and Comedy Works Tickets

2. Night Out #2 (Value $325.00)
- 2-Night Stay at Red Lion Hotel Denver Southeast and Comedy Works Tickets

3. Night Out #3 (Value $90.00)
- $50 Happa Sushi Grill/Sake Bar Gift Certificate and Two (2) Comedy Works Tickets

4. Night Out #4 (Value $87.00)
- $25 Maggiano's Little Italy Gift Certificate, Two (2) Passes to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and Two (2) Comedy Works Tickets.

5. Night Out #5 (Value $62.00)
- Two (2) Passes to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and Two (2) Comedy Works Tickets.

6. Chauncey Billups Autographed Nuggets T-Shirt (Value $50.00)

7. Two (2) Arapahoe Basin Lift Tickets (Value $130.00)

8. Two (2) Passes to Elitch Gardens Theme Park. (Value $81.98)

9. Two (2) 60 Minute Massages at Renaissance Aveda Spa & Salon. (Value $85.00)

10. $30 Wahoo's Fish Taco Gift Certificates (Value $30.00)

11. $45 Gift Certificate to Grease Monkey (Value $45.00)

12. $45 Gift Certificate to Grease Monkey (Value $45.00)


Please bid as high as you can. 100% of proceeds are donated to the Colorado AIDS Project and are fully tax deductible.

Silent Auction Fundraising Blog for 2010 Colorado AIDS Walk

As many of you might know, I have signed up to run and raise fund for the Colorado AIDS Project.

To raise funds, I have contacted local businesses to donate items for a silent auction to be held at a local eatery. Unfortunately, I have been unable to secure a location for the event. Because of that, I’m going to do the auction from a blog.

After contacting local businesses, I have received generous donations in the form of restaurant gift certificates, amusement park tickets, autographed sportswear, museum tickets, spa gift certificate, lift tickets, a 2-night hotel stay and Comedy Works tickets.

I have put together a blog to showcase these 9 packages and would like for anyone interested in viewing and bidding on these items, please visit http://CO-AIDSWalk-Fundraiser.blogspot.com.

To secure a bid, please leave a comment with your bid amount on the item that you would like to win. Please also include your name and contact e-mail address to contact the winners at the close of the auction, Friday, July 23rd.

All donations to this fundraiser go to support the Colorado AIDS Project and are 100% tax deductible for federal income tax purposes.

Please feel free to contact me at awilson.aidswalkco2010@gmail.com if you have any questions or you wish to donate funds without bidding on an item.

Momma Update

I know that it has been a while since I posted something. I’m sorry about that.

I currently have a new aspect of my life that I am working on and it has taken a large chunk out of my days when I would normally post on this blog. I have decided to train for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Denver Half Marathon in October. To do that, I have been running and cross-training on the stationary bike at my office during my lunch hour.

So that it doesn’t take me 3.5 hours to complete the half marathon (which it did in 2007), I am eating healthy and losing weight as well. Running is one of the cheapest and easiest activities to lose weight. As long as you have the right shoes for your feet and specific running movement, you can run without many problems.

I have been writing down my caloric intake and daily activity so that I can be very conscience of what I am doing and am able to review if I hit a plateau.

Since starting this adventure, 2 weeks ago, I have lost 8 lbs and am running 4 days a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays). My Saturday run is my long one. This past Saturday I ran 4.92 miles in 78 minutes. I know that isn’t fast for most people, but at my size, that’s pretty good. This Saturday, I’m planning on running for 1.5 hours which should put me over the 5 mile mark. I’m hoping for 5.25 miles. These Saturday runs are supposed to be easy, endurance runs. These runs will build up the time that I’m able to stay on my feet running. During the week is when speed workouts, hills and fartlek (which means "speed play" in Swedish) helps with conditioning.

During the weekdays, I have been working on my form and stride length which has allowed me to increase my pace to a 13.66 minute mile over 2 miles. For me that’s unheard of. I need to continue to work on my speed and form if I hope to complete the half in the time frame that I want (under 3 hours) which would put me at a pace of around 13:15 over the course of 13.1 miles.

If anyone is more interested in my training and articles that I have compiled to help me train for this adventure, please feel free to e-mail me at wilberta2006@yahoo.com and I can forward you my training plans and/or give you my training blog address.

____________________________
Over the course of my training, I may use some or all of the following jargon and I wanted to make sure that I offer the definitions early.

Running Jargon | Running Acronyms

5k - distance of 5,000 meters or 3.1 miles

10k - distance of 10,000 meters or 6.2 miles

Bonk crashing in a race attributed to running out of fuel

Cross Training training strategy which uses other forms of aerobic exercise such as swimming, cycling, cross country skiing

Fartlek Swedish term ("speed play") for workouts where you vary the pace of your running – a mix of slow, moderate, and quick paces at different intervals.

Half Marathon- distance of 13.1 miles

Intervals system of training using repeated short distances at greater than or near race pace

Marathon- distance of 26.2 miles

Negative Splits running the last half of a race faster than the first half

PR Personal Record.

Pronator running form with moderate inward rotation of the foot, likely to have medium arch height (I have flat feet and severely pronate)

Taper Scaling back mileage prior to a big or long race. Tapering helps muscles rest so that they are ready for optimum performance on race day.

Tempo Runs Training runs, usually 30 to 45 minutes in length. A warm up progresses to more intense pacing ranging from one minute per mile slower than 10k race pace to 15 seconds slower than 10k pace at the latter stages of the run.

Ultra An "ultra-marathon". Any race that's longer than the marathon distance of 26.2 miles.

What an Inspiration

An ad was hanging out on the right side of my Facebook page and it was very intriguing- "Sean's 40 in 40 Teams." I’m not one to click on the ads, but this one mentioned Teams in Training and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, so I had to click.

As some of you know, in 2007, I trained with Teams in Training to run the Denver Half Marathon. I was initially inspired to do this to help me not start smoking again. (Back Story—I smoked for 16 years and quit in February 2007.) I met several wonderful people who had battled and were winning the fight against Leukemia and Lymphoma and it endeared me to the organization. Whenever I have the ability, I try to give to individuals who are training with this wonderful group.

“Sean’s 40 in 40” ended up being about a man who, starting in May 2009, began a series of 40 races, culminating with the 40th race being on or around his 40th Birthday in 2010. During the course of this endeavor he plans to complete the following:

Running
5K - 10
10K - 10
Half Marathon - 2 (or 3)
Full Marathon - 2

Cycling
Metric Century - 3 (or 4)
Century - 2
Multi-day Ride - 1

Triathlons
Sprint - 5
Olympic - 4
Half Iron - 1

Sean is also looking to raise at least $40,000, introduce 400 new members to the Team In Training Team with LLS - and more importantly - raise awareness of the LLS Mission and honor 40 honor patients.

As of this past weekend (01/23/10), he has completed 31 of the events and has raised over half of his goal, $20,940.11.

You can read his blog, which includes information about the reasons, the races, his training and more by clicking HERE.

You can contribute to his goal by going to his fundraising website HERE .

I am planning on donating to this man’s fundraising effort, not only because this is a wonderful charity that needs all of the donations that they can get. I am doing so because he has chosen to take on such an ambitious goal and I am jealous of his resolve to help his fellow man in need. I try to do my part, but I know that I could do more to help the world.

Wordless Wednesday- Future Goal- Run Another Half Marathon in 2010

Hunting Weekend

We arrived in Almont, CO on Friday night (late). I told myself that I was going to recommit to running since I haven't done much since completing the Denver Marathon.

Unfortunately, I only ran on Saturday morning for 45 minutes and we were there through Monday morning. I did do some hiking with my MIL on Saturday and Sunday afternoon which was nice. It was a lot more than we did while the boys were hunting last year.

I packed my workout clothes in my Trailblazer so that I could go straight to the gym after work. Let's see if that's what I do.

Wish me luck.

The next paragraph is pretty gross. I warned you!!




Last year during hunting season I wouldn't even take a good look at the animals, but I was proud of myself this year; I took pictures of Brian and his dad skinning the animals. These are the grossest pics that I have ever taken. If you need any picutres for next year's halloween, let me know and I will send them to you.

New Fitness Goal

I saw a NOVA episode today about marathon training. I'm going to continue my training to go from the half marathon to a full marathon by April. Since I have already completed the half marathon (and the schedule starts in July) I'm going to start the training today (October).

I need to adjust the schedule because they have the long run on Sunday and it was always better for me to do the long run on Saturday. If anyone is intersted in starting a marathon training program, here is another good one.

For more information:

PBS Marathon Training

Denver Marathon results

If you have not heard about my 5 month training for the Denver half Marathon through The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, please feel free to catch up on it at http://angie-training.blogspot.com/. I chronicled my weekly training adventures.

To take a look at the Half Marathon 5+ month training schedule, please see the following:
May 07- Month 1, June 07- Month 2, July 07- Month 3, August 07- Month 4, September 07- Month 5, October 07- Month 6


To take a look at the Full Marathon 5+ month training schedule, please see the following:
May 07- Month 1, June 07- Month 2, July 07- Month 3, August 07- Month 4, September 07- Month 5, October 07- Month 6


I'm so excited that I successfully completed this event. I'm going to keep on training. There are always shorter races all during the year (5k, 10k, 10 miles, etc.) with small entry fees.

I'd love to complete a full marathon before I get too old. I'll probably train for that after we have our first baby.

Welcome

Here is the inaugural posting to the Wilson Family Adventure blog. This blog will keep everyone updated as to what is going on with the Wilson family residing in Aurora, CO (Metro Denver).

Current adventure- Angie is running the Denver Half Marathon on October 14th with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We will post pictures as they come.



Please check back frequently for new adventures.