I’ve gotten a new web site (http://sewanxious.blogspot.com/) for my sewing-related posts only. My posts about running will remain on this web site.
Burda 11-2009-120 Thursday, Nov 26 2009
sewing 11-2009, burda, November, pleats, pockets, serged, skirt 4:07 pm
Burda 11-2009-120
Although the pleats intimidated me, I knew that I had to try to make this skirt. I made it out of a tan wool crepe and lined it with the striped lining that I bought tons of and use for everything.
Since I have such a short attention span, I couldn’t read all of the directions. I did it my way. **Cue Frank Sinatra singing**
- I serged all of the edges of the fabric and lining, including the pockets before I began sewing, which saved me from having to go back and finish the seams.
- I added about five inches to the length since everything that I make turns out too short, and I am very short to begin with. I don’t like anything to be above my knees. It’s a bit longer than I intended, but since it turned out so full, the length works.
- I attached the front of the waistband (the part that is seen) to the front of the skirt and the back of the waistband to the lining. I placed the skirt and lining right sides together and sewed them at the top of the waistband.
- I sewed the tops of the pockets that were to double as belt loops closed.
- I omitted some of the top-stitching
- At this point I haven’t hemmed it, but have left the serged edges exposed.
- The pleats are more open than on the line drawing. This is either because of my hips or because I didn’t ensure the pleats were totally closed when I sewed the pockets on.
I like it! It looks great with boots. I won’t make it again because one is enough, but I find it amazing that my best results come from Burda patterns. Hmmm…
Week 6 Day 4 Monday, Nov 16 2009
…Day 4 or something like that. Ran for 23 minutes. It was hard. II hadn’t run for a week. ’m sticking with 25 minutes until I can do it easily and have a desire to go farther.
Week 6 Day 3 Wednesday, Nov 4 2009
I went to the park today, even though I don’t go on Wednesdays because of a standing engagement. I ran for 25 minutes. It had its highs and not-so-highs, but it was a pretty good run.
ETA: A sports bra is a necessary piece of running equipment. Don’t find out the hard way like I did. Painful and in the way. Constantly.
Week 6 Days 1 and 2 Monday, Nov 2 2009
I completed week 6 day 1 about three weeks ago. A couple of illnesses later, including head-to-toe hives, I ran week 6 day 2 (kinda sorta). A couple of days ago, I made up my mind that hives or no hives I was going running. I was supposed to run for 10 minutes, run for 5, then run for another ten, but I decided to run until I didn’t feel like it anymore. I walked for the duration of “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” (3:53). I ran for the duration of “If You Love Me Let Me Know” (3:12), “Moving Out” (3:27), ”Heart and Soul” (4:10), “Not Enough Love In the World” (3:53), and ”Don’t You Forget About Me” (4:21). I walked to “The Joker” (3:36) and ”Love Potion Number 9 (2:02), and then restarted my playlist.
It got dark so fast! I really have to head out of the door earlier than I did today. It was totally dark by the time I made it back to my car and the park was close to deserted. Kind of scary. I’m going to have to run Wednesday after work because I have plans all Thursday evening. I’m not letting another three weeks pass before I run again.
Week 5 Day 3 Monday, Oct 5 2009
Uncategorized 6:15 pm
Week 5 day 3…(drumroll, please)…DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, I ran for 20 minutes STRAIGHT! Throughout the day the thought would hit me: I have to run for 20 minutes today. It was weird because I looked forward to it, but at the same time I was afraid of failure.
I went home after work and laid down. After about 20 minutes, I popped up, got dressed, and left. I had to see if I could do it.
I went to a different park today. I drove it before I got out to run, although it wasn’t until later that I realized that the driving path doesn’t clue you in to where the walking path goes. I walked for five minutes. Those were the fastest five minutes of my life! Before I knew it, it was time to run. I ran. S-l-o-w-l-y. At 13 minutes I was ready to call it a day, but not finishing was not an option. And so I ran. The last few minutes went by quickly.
I feel as if I’m ready for the 25-minute run next week (possibly Sunday).
I am SO proud of myself!
Week 5 Day 2 Saturday, Oct 3 2009
Uncategorized 9:00 pm
Week 5 day 2 down. I went to the park this morning.
Let me just vent for a second. If there’s a group walking together in the park, does it make sense for them to walk shoulder to shoulder, four or five across, so that every time you pass them you have to yell, “Excuse me”? Am I being touchy or is that rude? I passed two groups of these people at least three times each. Yes, they moved, but the entire walking path was not just for them. It’s wide enough to accommodate walkers and runners moving in both directions. RUDE, RUDE, RUDE!!!
I try to think of others when I’m out there and stay to the right, or run around the walkers as much as possible, but these people made that impossible and they seemed to be irked with me. I refused to run in the grass (the geese leave their nastiness everywhere, and even if they didn’t it wouldn’t change things) just because they insisted on being so rude. I’m sure they’re nice people walking for a good cause, but some etiquette lessons are definitely in order.
On to my progress…
There were no ten-minute runs today. Just getting the two eight-minute runs down was a lot, but knowing that I’ve already done what I thought was impossible — three-, five-, seven-, eight-, and ten-minute runs — kept me going. There was no way I could give up on an eight-minute run when I had already done a ten-minute run.
I felt compelled to run today because of the build-up of stress. The run worked. The rest of my day has gone well, especially since I’ve stayed away from the sweets, which tends to make me anxious. So far, I’ve found three things that help me: my morning coffee, not ingesting large doses of sugar, and running.
I plan to run week 5 day 3 on Monday, which consists of a 20-minute run. Straight. No walking breaks. I’m scared. That’s a huge leap. From week 6 day 3 on out, I have only long runs. Week 6 has one 25-minute run, and week 7 has three 25-minute runs. Week 8 has three 28-minute runs and week 9 consists of three 30-minute runs. I’ll do it. I have to.
Week 5 Day 1 Thursday, Oct 1 2009
running 6:06 pm
I DID IT! How do I rock? Let me count the ways…
First of all, I left the house. Second, I drove to the park. Third, I ran ten minutes straight!! Did you hear me? TEN MINUTES! While I was running my first five minutes, I decided to see if I could make it to seven since I had done it before, then eight, then ten minutes. I could have gone longer, but I decided that I had already pushed the boundaries by running more than the scheduled amount of time at once. This is the schedule for week 5 day 1:
- Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
- Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
- Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
- Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
- Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Instead, this is what I did:
- Jog 10 minutes
- Walk 3 minutes
- Jog 5 minutes
- Walk 5 minutes
I started by walking the uphill path; I didn’t know it went uphill until I turned the corner, but it was very picturesque. I was slightly frightened because there wasn’t anyone else around except for one family. I had to decide whether I would continue across the street where the trail continued, or turn around. Since it was time to run anyway, I turned away, ran back down, and circled the lake about three times. The workout wound up being shorter because I didn’t split up the first and second run, getting rid of the first 3 minute run.
I stretched when I got back to my car and drove home.
I feel good and happy.
Week 4 Day 3 Monday, Sep 28 2009
I did it! Week 4 Day 3 is completed! It was a challenge (during my first 5-minute stretch I was wondering if it would be so bad to just stop at week 4) but it didn’t break me.
I went to a park that’s about five miles away from my house. It wasn’t until after I got back in my car that I realized that there is a trail specifically for runners. The path that I ran circled a pond with geese and ducks and families. Fortunately, there weren’t too many people there, so I never had to break my stride.
Honestly, the last 5-minute run was the best. I listened to the Iestyn podcast, which has no music, only vocal prompts as to when to walk and when to run, and when I heard that I had one minute of running left, I couldn’t believe it. I picked up my speed gradually and counted down every ten seconds on my fingers. Sweet victory!
On to week 5. Right now I’m thinking about another way to make a podcast that includes music that *I* like, but still prompts me to run or walk when necessary. This is what I’ve come up with. I’ll use iTunes to time the songs, shortening them if necessary, putting them all in one playlist. For instance, if one of my songs is six minutes and I need to walk for five minutes, I’ll set it to stop at five minutes and switch to the next song in the playlist. I’ll have to turn off the shuffle feature for this to work, but it is doable. I’ll need a different podcast for each day of the week since each day of week 5 has a different workout.
Week 4 Day 2 Sunday, Sep 27 2009
running c25k, fun run, Parkinson's, seven minutes 10:54 am
I did it! My sister and I participated in the one-mile fun run yesterday. Although it was only a mile, I’m counting it as Week 4 day 2 because I absolutely ROCKED!
We tried to start with a 5-minute walk, but the crowd started out running, so we joined in. She got tired quickly, so we ran for three minutes (this seemed to go by very fast) then walked for two minutes. I ran for a SEVEN MINUTE STRETCH!! I’ve never run for that kind of stretch before! The first time I was going to stop I heard the crowd cheering. I was quite a distance from the finish and I couldn’t even see it, but that made me continue running. When I actually saw the finish, I focused on it instead of the need I felt to stop running. I ran in, smiled for the picture, received my medal (my ‘just for finishing medal’) and waited for my sister whom I had left minutes earlier. I think she came in just short of 15 minutes.
Even though I finished in 13:14, which is about what I did last year, I’m darn proud of myself. I’m motivated to continue and I can’t wait to get to week 5! What’s up with that??
Our day seemed so much longer since we started it so early and were active. I came home, fixed a turkey sandwich, and took a nap. It was a good day.
What I learned:
- If I participate in an organized run, I need to take the time to warm up and cool down on my own..
- My run seems to go faster and is more interesting when there are other runners around. I think they motivate me. Since I’m off Monday, I’m going to run in the park. Thereafter, I think I’m going to bring my running clothes to work so that I can go to the park before going home.
- I’m learning how to dress for the weather, but I’m scared of the upcoming winter.
- I’m slow as heck, but I’m building stamina thanks to C25k!!!
