Week 4: Day 7 - Jan. 31, 2016

• easy walk with dogs = 1 mile

Total Running Weekly Mileage: 17.36

Total Running Monthly Mileage: 76.09

Total Running Yearly Mileage: 76.09

Total Running Shoe Mileage: 220.59

I mainly just wanted to update this with mileage. With all the rain that we are getting, I barely got one mile in with my dogs and that was with all the walks combined together.

I have three more weeks until the 10k race. I hope I can make it until then. I have been running four times a week for five weeks now. My attention span usually last about four to six weeks. I hope the fact that I have a goal in mind where I plan to run 800 miles this year will help me run for another three weeks. I'm a little ahead of schedule with the miles so far, so if boredom kicks in and my motivation crashes, I can afford a few days off from running after the 10k race.

Week 4: Day 6 - Jan. 30, 2016

• trail/road RUN with one dog = 5.29 miles, time = 1:01:13, pace @ 11:32
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.4 miles

I haven't done a run on a Saturday since maybe mid-December. I stopped because I just wanted more time to sleep in before work. Being on a time limit because I had (or have) to be at work by 12:30pm, I just didn't want to go for a run, take a shower, and then get a decent walk in with my dogs. I don't work on Sundays, so I would have more time to get the timing down for everything between running and walking. But based on the weather forecast, tomorrow calls for 100% chance of rain. I got lucky a few times before where the rain held out long enough for me to do my run, but getting a decent walk with my dogs was a hit and miss. I worry that I will run in the rain tomorrow. I worry that I won't even get a decent walk in with my dogs tomorrow either and my walks will be greatly shorten if there is a lot of rain. I don't want to run or walk in the rain.

Week 4: Day 5 - Jan. 29, 2016

• easy road RUN with one dog = 4.87 miles
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.4 miles

I had plan to have my next run on Sunday, but Sunday calls for lots of rain....NOOOOOO!! I'm sorta debating if I should just do my run tomorrow morning instead, even though I prefer to sleep in until it's time to get ready for work.

Week 4: Day 3 - Jan. 27, 2016

• hilly trail RUN with one dog = 1.1 miles
• warm up = 1.1 mile
• cool down = 1.1 mile
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.3 miles

I knew that I should have taken a rest day today. While my legs are feeling mostly ok, I think doing anything challenging made them feel sore. I had to take a few short walk breaks in my run this morning. I guess my legs were still recovering from yesterday's run.

Week 4: Day 2 - Jan. 26, 2016

• trail run (solo) = 5 miles
• easy walk with dogs = 2.3 miles

I went to a local state park (Chino Hills State Park) for a run, but I left my dog at home for safety reasons (coyotes and mountain lions who may seek out my dog as food, and anything that can cut up my dog's feet on a trail). I hadn't done a run here in awhile, and I felt a bit out of shape because I wasn't used to the hills here anymore and the hills weren't even that bad. But it did feel good to run in a much different scenery. I felt motivated to get in the car and go somewhere for a run this morning, so I had to take advantage of that.

Week 4: Day 1 - Jan. 25, 2016

• easy bike ride = 7.35 miles
• easy walk with dogs = 2.5 miles

I'm a little annoyed with people who ask me if I'm cold/freezing because I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt in sunny, 50-something degrees weather. When it's sunny, 50-something degrees, it's really not that cold. If I was cold in that kind of temperature/weather, wouldn't you think that I would enough common sense to wear something warmer? These people know nothing about me. I love cold weather and I have a very high tolerance to cold weather. I don't like summer and I hate hot/humid weather. I have a very low tolerance to such weather, and I will melt away. Hot/humid weather makes me sweat a lot and it makes me very uncomfortable. I will complain a lot about hot/humid weather, but you will NEVER hear me complain about cold weather.

Week 3: Day 7 - Jan. 24, 2016

• easy trail/road RUN with one dog = 5.05 miles, time = 1:01:09
• easy WALK with four dogs = 2.1 miles

Total Running Weekly Mileage: 16.73

Total Running Monthly Mileage: 58.73

Total Running Yearly Mileage: 58.73

Total Running Shoe Mileage: 203.23

First week of 10K training done...four more weeks to go! So far, I'm mentally doing ok. Motivation hasn't crashed and boredom hasn't kicked in yet.

Week 3: Day 5 - Jan. 22, 2016

• easy trail RUN with one dog = 4.71 miles, time = 55:05
• easy WALK with four dogs = 2.4 miles

Tomorrow is suppose to rain. I hope it stays dry long enough in the morning for my dogs and I to take a walk. I don't wish to do a 1.9 mile walk (first walk of the morning) in rain.....not even in a little drizzle or sprinkle.

Week 3: Day 3 - Jan. 20, 2016

• easy trail/road RUN with one dog = 4.77 miles, time = 54:41, pace @ 11:28
• easy WALK with four dogs = 2.3 miles

This week is the first official week of training for my 10k race. As long as my motivation doesn't crash and boredom doesn't kick in, I should be fine for the next four and a half weeks. I must make it!

Week 3: Day 2 - Jan. 19, 2016

• hilly trail RUN with one dog = 1.1 mile; time = 15:37
• warm up = 1.1 mile
• cool down = 1.1 mile
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.4 miles

I have to start tracking down my finish time for this hilly trail run. I'm getting a little better each time. I did one short walk break today. I know eventually I will be able to run it without any walk breaks.

Week 2: Day 7 - Jan. 17, 2016

• easy trail RUN (solo) = 4.54 miles
• easy WALK with rescue dogs (Priceless Pet Rescue) = 3 miles
• easy WALK with MY dogs (at home) = 2 miles
• easy WALK to Panera Bread (for a knitting group) = 3.2 miles round trip

Total Running Weekly Mileage: 16.00

Total Running Monthly Mileage: 42.00

Total Running Yearly Mileage: 42.00

Total Running Shoe Mileage: 186.50

Between all the running and walking that I did today, I put in a lot of miles and I'm exhausted! And I'm hungry too! I hope to sleep very well tonight.

I've come to realize that I need to get in the car and drive somewhere to go for a run, and I have to do this at least once a week. All of my runs that I've been doing are basically 4.5 to 4.8 miles if I run in the city that I live in.,,,without running on the same streets for different runs. My runs can be extended or combined for longer runs, but when you're looking at the same street and same area every week, it gets very boring. Maybe this is why my attention span lasts four to six weeks. Running in general is already boring, so I have to play "mind games" and change the scenery once in awhile.

Week 2: Day 5 - Jan. 15, 2016

• easy trail RUN (solo) = 4.75 miles
• easy WALK with dogs = 2.5 miles

I didn't check the weather forecast...the weather this morning looked like yesterday, but it looked a little worse. I didn't take my dog along for the run in case it rained. I was a little worried that it would rain while I was walking my dogs. Glad that it didn't rain.

Week 2: Day 4 - Jan. 14 2016

• easy trail RUN with one dog = 4.6 miles
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.5 miles

I didn't check the weather forecast for this week, so I had no idea what it would be like this morning. I took my dogs out for a potty break at 4am (yes, 4 o'clock in the morning, but I went back to sleep after that!) and the sky was clear. When I was ready to head out for my run at 7am, it was overcast and it looked kinda dark. I was a little worried that it would rain, but I hope that it stayed dry long enough for my dog and I to run a few miles. I'm glad that I chose to run and I'm more glad that it didn't rain!

Week 2: Day 2 - Jan. 12, 2016

• hilly trail RUN with one dog = 1.1 miles
• warm up = 1.1 miles
• cool down = 1.1 miles
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.4 miles

My goal is to run my hilly trail continuously without any walk breaks by mid-February for my 10k race and I took two very short walk breaks today. The distance 1.1 mile doesn't seem that far, but it's pretty challenging.

Week 2: Day 1 - Jan. 11, 2016

• easy bike ride = 7.35 miles
• easy walk with dogs = 2.5 miles

So far, I've been doing good with cycling regularly (at least once a week). I'm going on three weeks now...I have slightly less than seven weeks left until my L.A.-Chinatown Firecracker 20 mile bike ride event. I hope I don't get bored and/or lazy and stop riding before then.

Week 1: Day 7 - Jan. 10, 2016

• easy trail/road RUN (solo) = 4.75 miles
• easy WALK with dogs = 2.4 miles

Total Running Weekly Mileage: 17.50

Total Running Monthly Mileage: 26.00

Total Running Yearly Mileage: 26.00

Total Running Shoe Mileage: 170.50

So far, I'm doing good and I hope I can keep up with this momentum before my motivation crashes and boredom hits! I don't wish for it to crash before I do my 10k race on February 21 (next month)!

Week 1: Day 5 - Jan. 08, 2016

• easy trail RUN (solo) = 3.8 miles
• easy WALK with dogs = 2.4 miles

I think I can start taking my dog out on my runs with me starting on Sunday. I checked on three different weather sites online and they're all consistent with each other with no rain in the forecast...at least until next Friday (I didn't look beyond that). I'm also proud of myself not choosing to sleep in and hibernate just because it was overcast and/or raining outside. So far, I've been pretty good for the most part at putting myself to bed like normal people, so I can get up for an early morning run.

Week 1: Day 3 - Jan. 06, 2016

• easy trail RUN (solo) = 4.48 miles
• easy WALK with dogs = 2.1 miles

I managed to get a decent walk with my dogs and a run in this morning before the pouring rain started. The shorter walks with my dogs later in the day...pretty miserable. I don't plan a run tomorrow morning, but I hope I hope tomorrow morning stays dry long enough for me to walk my dogs.

Week 1: Day 2 - 2016

• easy road RUN (solo) = 4.47 miles
• easy WALK with dogs = 1 mile

I almost wanted to stay in bed and sleep the morning away. Rain is when I want to hibernate because it's the best sleeping weather! Luckily, it stayed dry during most of my run this morning. It started to really rain during the last half mile of my run. Good thing it was only half of a mile and not the entire run!

I've decided to let my dog have the week off from running because it is suppose to rain all week or most of the week...mainly on days that I want to run. I feel bad that I have to make all of my dogs walk in the pouring rain anyway. Normally, I would walk my dogs two or three times a day with the first walk being at least 1.5 miles (or longer) and one or two shorter ones for later in the day. I thought about just walking one mile for the first walk, but it was just too much rain and I felt bad for my dogs because I don't have any raincoats for them. So the one mile was done over the course of three short walks. My friend said that with this whole El Nino thing, we are suppose to get a lot of rain between January and March. If it is going to rain that much, I will probably just let my runner dog take a rest most of the time and I'll just suck it up by running alone in the rain.

We really do need the rain. As a regular person, I say bring it on! As a runner, I don't like being in it.

Week 1: Day 1 - 2016

• easy bike ride = 7.8 miles
• easy walk with dogs = 2.5 miles

I was checking the weather forecast for this week. As a regular person, we need all the rain that we can get. As a runner, I don't wish to run in the rain and it's going to mess up my running schedule. Supposedly, there will a 100% chance of rain tomorrow (Tuesday). 100% chance means lots of rain with no break, right? I do not like this at all because I don't like to be in the rain during a run. I'm ok with mist and light drizzle, but not heavy downpour. I originally had planned to do a hilly trail run tomorrow morning, but I really don't want to run in mud either. If I do plan to run in the rain tomorrow morning, I'll just suck it up and run in the rain, but I'll stay off the trails and I won't run with my dog.

January 03, 2016

• trail/road RUN with one dog = 4.5 miles
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.3 miles
• easy walk to massage place = 1.14 miles roundtrip

Total Running Weekly Mileage: 16.77

Total Running Monthly (January) Mileage: 8.5

Total Running Yearly (2016) Mileage: 8.5

Total Running Shoe Mileage: 153.00

I saw this idea from someone on an online running community/public forum. I do not know this person, but this person got the idea from someone else from a different online running community.

I want to do this! But instead of 1,000 miles, I will aim for 800 miles because I don't think I like running enough to aim for 900 or 1,000 miles. I don't have any mason jars yet, and I haven't decided if I want to use coins/pennies or beads, but I've got 8.5 miles down so far!

Day 1: Jan 01, 2016

• easy trail/road RUN with one dog = 4 miles
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.3 miles

First day and first run of the year in the bag!

Now I need to tell myself that it's ok to be in bed by 10pm and I shouldn't listen to the radio after that time. Staying up later messes me up and I'm always tired. When I want a nap, I can't fall asleep. When I am able to nap, I don't have time!