getting to the finish line one inch at a time.

I have blog post envy…..

I think I’ve told you before, I read a lot of other people’s blogs. According to my blog reader I’m subscribed to 72. I know you also won’t be surprised when I tell you that the majority of the blogs surround the topics of weight loss and fitness. At least I’m consistent right?

On Monday morning I logged into review the day’s posts and I saw the headline “I’ve written this post in my head many times….and now I get to post it.” I was intrigued. I clicked through to learn that one of my comrades in weight loss had hit the 100lb goal. My brain and heart battled with conflicting emotions of “yeah for her!” and “it should be me”. The green eyed monster was running rampage.

Did you know I’m only 25lbs away from losing a total of 100lbs. 100 lbs PEOPLE! I’ve written that post in my head a million times before too.

Why am I telling you this - other than the obvious “holy crap 100lbs!”? I’m telling you this because I’m having a hard time staying focused on getting to 100lbs loss goal. What’s even more frustrating is that 100lbs is just my first goal, it’s not my final goal.  I’ve been telling myself for a couple of months now, “THIS month I will focus, THIS month I will get closer!” And yet here I am, weighing pretty much the same thing I did back in August. For a while back I posted my weight online.  It didn’t accomplish what I had hoped.  While I was telling everyone, I wasn’t being held accountable.

So is it THIS month? Well lets’ start holding me accountable. Everything I’ve read tells you to focus on small goals. Not to worry about the big goal. Keep your eye on the little goals and as time passes you reach the little goals. Then, more time passes and the little goals add up until you reach your big goal.

So how will I be held accountable? I’m not sure. I’m going to try all sorts of different ways and see what works for me. Actually, I’m going to borrow again from my fellow bloggers. This month it’s about telling you my monthly goals.

There’s only 10 days left in the month so this is the list for December. I’ll let you know how I do…

1.    Make it to weights class 2x per week when I’m not on the road (quite a bit I’m afraid)

2.    When I’m on the road get out and run

3.    Run a personal record (anything less than 2:22:29) at the Las Vegas Marathon

4.    Be less than 20lbs away from my goal

I’ll keep you posted on the measurement to my goals throughout the month. Let me know if you have other ideas for goals I should set. I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below.

Now do me a favor. Help me bury the green eyed monster. Click on A Forty Something’s Weight Loss Journey  and tell her how awesome she is. Seriously, 100lbs. Now that’s impressive.

3 strikes you’re out? …or… 3rd time’s a charm?

Have you heard the news? My year of abstinence has come end. As of November 8^th 2009, I was officially training for the 2010 Virgin London Marathon.

I’m going to refer to it from now on as the VLM a) because that’s what the cool kids call it and b) because I’m worried that creepy people on the web searching on the word Virgin will find my blog.

Yes, I’m officially entered to run the VLM and if you haven’t figured out, this is my 3^rd time to run it. For my hard core readers, you’ll know that it was training for the 2008 (my 2^nd) London marathon that got me started writing this blog. You can read all about the nonsense here: http://inchbyinch.typepad.com/my_weblog/london_marathon_2008/

I have to confess however, if you go back and look you’ll also see that I “threw down” with my readers. I told them that I would run a sub 5 hour marathon. Well life got in the way, in a way that none of us ever expected and I ended up running just to finish. Running in memory of a much loved and missed brother-in-law. I ended up finishing just shy of a 6 hour marathon and frankly at some points on the race my “throw down” was more like a “throw up”.

When I entered the race this year I knew it was time to make the time. As you know from my last couple of posts, I’m back to my running ways and cutting some time off the clock. According to my current ½ marathon pace I could handily finish a marathon in under 5 hours. I’m running faster than I’ve ever run before. So the throw down this time?

I’m going to run a 4:25:10 (that’s 4 hours 25 mins 10 seconds) on April 25^th 2010 (04:25:10)!

Pretty cool don’t you think?

Now before you toss your hands in the air with shock and dismay at my lofty goals let me lay it out for you. I’ve gone from a 12+ min/mile pace at the beginning of this year to a 10:54/mile pace at my last race. That’s a whopping 1:06 minutes faster per mile, maybe even more. I’ve also figured it out; to run a 4:25:10, I have to maintain a pace of 10:06/mile. That’s only 48 seconds faster per mile. Don’t get me wrong, this is still going to be hard. 48 seconds is actually quite a lot, AND I have to maintain that pace over 26.2 miles. But I’m motivated like never before to finally conquer the marathon and do more than just finish.

One more thing…did you know you could help? Yes! I’m running again for the folks at SPARKs! Sparks is the children’s medical research charity. Their sole remit is to fund research across the whole spectrum of pediatric medicine.  Their goal is for all babies to be born healthy and stay healthy. As part of my commitment to Sparks I have to raise a £2500 for my entry into the race.

So help the kids and click on the link below, or go to my site www.inchbyinch.typepad.com and click on the Just Giving donate button. It couldn’t be easier.

http://www.justgiving.com/Joanna-Bloor

Of course you’ll also get to hear all about my training here on the blog so stay tuned as I run for 4:25:10!

I used to love fall daylight savings because I got to sleep in an extra hour...

Now, I love it because it's light out when I run in the morning. I'm getting to re-live sunrise over the hill as I head back home.

The photo doesn't give the sun credit. It's was glorious - glorious enough for me stop running to take a picture. And this was taken with my crap camera on my cell phone.

I know you might not think this is a big deal, but I'm OBSESSED about my splits (how fast I'm running per mile) and stopping throws them off.

Yes, I've officially gone nuts. But watch out, I'm about to write a post about how I'm not as completely psycho as some......it's true!

Running in your backyard makes you run faster: Nike Women’s Marathon Race Report

A couple of weeks after the Semi Marathon du Luberon I ran the ½ Marathon at the Nike Women’s Marathon. I have a love hate relationship with this particular race. Let me tell you why

I’ll be sweet and start out with the love part…

1.    It was the first marathon I ever ran! Back in 2005, yes the full course.

2.    I can roll out of my own bed and head to the start / roll back into bed at the end as it’s based in San Francisco.

3.    They hand out chocolate during the race– hello, we’ve already talked about what a fan of chocolate I am.

4.    It’s a total chick fest, only about 2% of the runners are men.

5.    As it’s a women’s marathon and “chick fest” the finisher’s shirt is usually cute and something I might actually wear.

6.    I’m not distracted by things like the ocean, or Golden Gate Bridge, or the AMAZING homes on the course because I live here and get to see it pretty much every day. Therefore I can focus on RUNNING.

7.    Best of all…A Tiffany’s necklace as the finisher’s medal. Fabulous bling!

Here’s the not so much love part…

1.    Word has got out about the jewelry so every woman on the planet seems to want to run this particular race. Now you can only get in (unless you raise funds – see below) through a lottery.

2.    The only other way to get into the race is to raise money through Team in Training. Now don’t get me wrong here, Team in Training is an amazing organization and they coached me through my first marathon. But what if I wanted to raise money for some other deserving charity? I’d love to raise money for a cause I had chosen.  Equality for charities I say.

3.    Because it’s a destination race and the Team in Training factor there are a TON of newbies on the course. Normally this is not a problem as I’m a fan of new folks getting on the race participation bandwagon. However, in this case, these folks don’t seem to understand that if you’re planning on walking the whole way; it’s polite to start after all the runners have gone so we don’t spend the first 5-6 miles trying to get around you.

4.    Have you been to San Francisco? One word: Hills. Big ones.

Phew. Now that little tirade is over I feel much better.

Yes, I got to sleep in my own bed the night before the race which was a novel concept. The race starts at Union Square in downtown San Francisco. It’s quite the noisy affair as there are some 20,000 or so women chatting like chickens. As you can tell from my little rant above the first couple of miles where challenging. Not physically but more because I had to run around several large groups of walkers and people who stopped to gawp at the amazing views. The course wound down towards the waterfront and (while I wasn’t dodging bodies) meant I managed to push myself to a pretty fast clip along the Embarcadero. Around mile 6 the serious running began. We started to go uphill, and we went uphill for what seemed to be forever. So I know I mentioned earlier that running the Nike is great because you know what to expect, well I had forgotten about the Lincoln Blvd. hill, and the  El Camino Del Mar hill, and just to kick your ass one more time…the Clement St hill. All in all, the course had just shy of a 2000 ft elevation change. This course is not for sissies.

Now because I actually knew there were going to be some crazy hills on the course (I knew, I just didn’t remember how quite crazy they were going to be) I had no expectations that I was going to beat my Luberon time. So how surprised was I when I crested the final hill overlooking Golden Gate Park and realized that by tapping into the downhill in front of me I had a real chance of beating my time?  Again and I was familiar with the route I knew I had a good long downhill stretch to the ocean. I took off and ignored the spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean.  I breezed by the Ghirardelli Chocolate Mile to finish the race in a record breaking (for me) 2 hours 22 mins and 29 seconds! Take a look at the post below and you’ll see I’ve posted the readings from my Garmin watch. It’s almost like running the race with me.

The bar has been set again and on a course that went up and down like a yo-yo. I’m off to Las Vegas in December to run the Rock N’Roll Vegas ½ marathon. The course is as flat as a pancake. I’ll take bets now on my finishing time. Do I hear under 2:20?

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Nike Women's Marathon - 1/2 Marathon Course

As an added bonus you can see the Nike course, my pace, elevations and everything recorded on my handy Garmin watch.

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Nike Women's Marathon - 1/2 Marathon Course.