#10k runner

6 Fantastic Benefits Of Jogging For The Mind

The next time you don’t feel like lacing up for a nice indoor or outdoor jog consider these 6 fantastic benefits of jogging for the mind.

Aside from the obvious physical benefits of jogging, or any other physical exercise, there are several brain-related reasons why you should consider taking up jogging as soon as tomorrow.

Some think of jogging as a mundane, unimportant activity, but before…

My first 10k is in the books! I cannot decide my favorite part of the day. The weather report for the day showed it was going to rain. Prediction was abou 3/4 of an inch to an inch of rain. About 20 minutes before the start of the race, it poured. I got wet, but my feet stayed dry. By the time the race started, no more rain. It may have drizzled a bit during the race, but I never noticed. No major rain until I got in my car at 12:30pm. The second I closed my car door, it was pouring rain.

This was my first 10k race. After fighting illness in February, a minor car accident, I was a little worried about my performance. I felt amazing during the race. I was relaxed, comfortable, no aches or tightness. It was fantastic. I did have a back muscle spasm in mile 4, but I stopped and stretched and was good to go. Got another metal to hang on my board, which helps me to visualize my completed goals. My girls ran the 1k kids race. They were SO excited to get to run in their own race. They ran the entire race and even received a ribbon for completing it. I ran with them (so really did 11k+ today). They loved being able to run like mom. Said they wanted to run in more races with me. So proud of them.

Making an Iron Maiden cardio playlist. Still trying to work out the order.

Be Quick or Be Dead

The Evil that Men Do

Dance of Death

Running Free

Number of the Beast

Hallowed Be Thy Name

Aces High

Two Minutes to Midnight

The Trooper

Wrathchild

Powerslave

Run Silent Run Deep

Murders in the Rue Morgue

The Wicker Man

Stranger in a Strange land

The Prisoner

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

Revelations

The Talisman

Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Iron Maiden

Women in Uniform

Doctor Doctor

Sheriff of Huddersfield

Phantom of the Opera

Caught Somewhere in Time

The Clairvoyant

Paschendale

The Longest Day

Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Ghost of the Navigator

Flight of Icarus

I ran my third race over the weekend. The PF Chang's Rock 'n Roll Mini Marathon. They said it was 5.4 miles, but according to my Forerunner, it was 5.98 miles. The chip time was off my watch by a second. I really liked this event. There was a two day health expo for packet pick up and browse, purchase and check out gear from vendors. I purchased some new compression socks and got some free treats along the way. Free is awesome.You get live music as you run your course, live music at the end, and beer, did I mention the beer? OH and a shinny medal!

(© Wayne Anderson)

Now that I'm back from my camping trip and caught up with work, I start week 8 of the 10K Runner app. That means, if I finish week 8 that I will have finally completed a 5K. But since I've taken 10 days off, I'm not sure how far I'm going to get tonight (without stopping). The goal is 25 minutes. We'll see.

My updated retro eating plan is almost complete. The last piece is finding the right about of carbs. I'm trying to keep my daily carb intake to about 85-100. The trick is finding the sweet spot that allows enough carbs to get through runs and workouts. I think 85-100 might be it.

I have a couple of 70s-themed projects in the works, or very beginning stages. My family knows about them but I haven't told the Internets. Mostly because I'm trying to finish up some current projects such as knitting my dad's sweater, and my mom's cross stitch present. Once I get those complete I will officially begin.

By and by; I had the best time camping these past days off. I had hesitated about going, figuring it would be a waste of time and money so I sort of stalled and wandered around the Chapters in Regina until the last minute. I'm glad I went camping because it was awesome.

I came to the stunning realization yesterday evening that my favourite place to be, at least when I'm at work in Alberta, is the gym. I really enjoy the energy and all the different types of people all busy doing their thing. It's really fun.

That's not admitting I love working out but I like it a lot better than I used to. I'll probably never like doing abs exercises but I really like working out my legs and back.

I had a really good workout last night. I did my run and it was actually okay; almost easy. That's quite the contrast from two weeks ago when I struggled through Day 1 of Week 4 of the 10K Runner program.

I think it was the heat that was really dragging me down. The last couple of days it's only been around 15C so a lot cooler than two week ago when it was close to 32C. I felt good last night and my legs are getting stronger.

I think I'm also doing well because I've stuck with the program. I've stayed disciplined and haven't got ahead of myself. Slow progress is still progress and if I stick with it, I just might make it through the 10K race I signed up for in September.