Sea Wheeze Training

I haven't written about my run training in a couple of weeks but I am still at it. I hit the end of the Couch to 5K which is 30 minutes of solid running (i.e., no walk breaks).  You are supposed to be at the 5K distance by the time you can run 30 minutes but since I run so slowly I was only at just under 2 miles. I switched over to the Hal Higdon 5K Novice program (started at week 4) and am planning on doing that for another week or so until I get to 3 miles. Today I ran 2.5 miles at ten seconds under my fastest pace so as I continue to run solid blocks of distance I am getting better at it. I plan on using the Hal Higdon 10K and Half Marathon programs to take me to the Sea Wheeze. After I hit the magic three mile number I'll probably switch to a run/walk type format but for now I just want to hit three miles. My ITB and other various aches have greatly diminished after every run, too, so that is encouraging.

I've picked up a few new items in the past couple of weeks that I am loving. The first thing I got was a Pro-Tec ITB strap at the LA Marathon Expo. BTW, I don't think I ever blogged about the LA Marathon Expo. It was quite a bit different than the expo for the Disneyland Tinkerbell race. There weren't any girly vendors, for one thing. No arm warmer, headband, or run sticker/magnet vendors at all. Not as many food samples, either. The lulu truck was pretty lame - just paris pink and classic sport gray Swiftly LS and SS tops and a couple of pairs of luxtreme bottoms. They also had white and black Cool Racerbacks. I told them they should have brought the arm warmers down. I'm not sure who determines what should be sent to the Southern California region stores to be sold but if they don't have a local person here do it, they certainly should. The Swiftly arm warmers would sell well here, I think.

I also downloaded the Map My Run app for my iphone. It keep tracks of my route and pace and I've set it to tell my distance and pace info every 0.3 miles. A voice breaks into your music at the interval you set to tell you the information. I only wish she'd speak a little faster. When you get home you log on to the website to get more detailed information about your split times and elevation information on the route. I totally love it.

I also got an Amphipod armband case to hold my iPhone when I run. I still haven't figured out the best cord route management so it doesn't bug me when I swing my arms but I'll get there. It has a little pocket behind where you put the phone for your car key. Right now, I am putting my car keys in the zipper pocket on my luxtreme crops.

The other thing I am thinking of getting is the little 8 oz. Amphipod hand held water bottle (btw, lulu, why haven't you fixed the description on the website for this? You have three reviews already telling the volume information (says it's 16 oz) and material (says it's stainless steel) is wrong and it still sits there uncorrected. Ridiculous.) Anyway, it's cute and totally fits my hand like a glove. I like the little key pocket. The only issue is that it's pretty pricey at $24 and I think I'd probably be better off getting some sort of belt hydration system which is what I'll have to upgrade to for the half anyway.

Anyway, I am plugging away at the running and slowly improving. My husband was telling me I should run a 5K race just to get the hang of a race but I'd rather do a local 10K that is coming up in June. I've done this race before as a walk and it's flat as can be. I would prefer something more scenic and different but this is right in my backyard and at a distance I haven't done before so it will be a true challenge for me.