10K in 10 weeks - week 4 & 5

At the end of week 5 here is how week 4 & 5 went

W04 Day1 - rest
W04 Day2 - rest
W04 Day3 - 1 mile walk
W04 Day4 - 3 miles run - tried interval training with different paces every quarter mile, ran up to 9:13 min/mile pace for the first time; also did strength training
W04 Day5 - rest
W04 Day6 - 4 miles run; first 4 miler, ran mostly with 9:13 min/mile pace, 2 qtrs with 9:22 and 2 with 9:05...and guess what?? ran last 100 meters with 8:57 min/mile...yahooooo first time less than 9 min/mile pace:)
W04 Day7 - rest

W05 Day1 - 2 miles run - interval training with pace ranging from 9:22-8:57 min/mile. Ran 200 meters with 8:57 min/mile.
W05 Day2 - rest
W05 Day3 - rest
W05 Day4 - 2.25 miles run - interval training with pace ranging from 9:22-8:57 min/mile. Ran 1/2 mile with 8:57 min/mile; also did strength training with 40 squats, jumping jacks, high knees, fire hydrants, side kicks, back low kicks, back high kicks, push ups, cycling, scissors
W05 Day5 - rest
W05 Day6 - 4.25 miles run + 0.75 mile walk - interval training again with pace ranging from 9:13-8:57 min/mile; touched a pace of 8:00 min/mile for 100 meters or so :)
W05 Day7 - rest

During weeks 4 & 5 I mainly concentrated on interval training and varying the pace for short intervals worked well. I had 4 rest days which I need to improve in coming weeks.

Total mileage so far
week 5 - 9:25 miles
week 4 - 8 miles
week 3 - 11.28 miles
week 2 - 8.40 miles
week 1 - 7.66 miles

For week 6 I am concentrating on increasing the mileage. The target is to run a 5 miler or may be more. Let's see how I perform.



My husband who is a marathon runner himself always tells me that running helps him concentrate better and he enjoys his 'me' time during a run. Now as I am running more each week, I am realizing that he is absolutely right. I have my jewelry studio in the garage where our treadmill is too. During one of the runs last week, I thought about different designs options for my bead soup and in fact finalized the design for various pieces I can make from it. Also, I have been thinking of catching up on some audio books lately but didn't really start. Last week I got an audio book from our local library and am enjoying it whenever I walk on the treadmill. This book Julie & Julia is based on real stories of two people - a chef Julia Child in her early years of cooking career and a young New Yorker Julie Powell , the author who aspires to cook all 524 recipes in Child's cookbook in 365 days. A motion picture of the same name also came out in 2009 starting Meryl Streep as Julie and Amy Adams as Julia.

It feels that getting disciplined for running is helping me in taking out time for few other things which I was missing in my daily schedule; and I am totally loving it.


Note: pictures courtesy www.clker.com & www.cleanenergyresourceteams.org

Bead soup from Lisa Chapman

Lisa Chapman, my partner for the 5th Bead Soup Blog party organized by Lori Anderson has sent me one of the yummiest bead soups. The packet had two beautiful handmade keepsake boxes with the beads in them along with a hand written card from Lisa describing every piece in details.




Lisa loves purple and so do I :) She has sent faceted Amethyst beads, two orange Tibetan beads with integral bead caps, orange dyed Magnetite beads and a variety of glass beads. And you know what, the almond ear wires are handmade by her which I liked the best!


The focal bead is made by a very talented Lamp work Artist Donna Millard. The bronze clasp and charms are made by Lois Wynwood from Port Townsend Washington who makes very cute and reasonably priced charms.


Lisa works with the company that launched the Space Shuttles and when I told her that my son is very much interested in NASA Space program, she sent him a Space Shuttle program patch, a pin for the final flight and a medallion made from the metal flown on the Shuttle. My son is extremely thrilled to receive all these goodies.


I must say that I am really humbled by the warmth and personal touch behind Lisa's bead soup whether it was selecting the beads, packing them, writing a long and detailed card and sending the Shuttle memorabilia for my son.

Thanks a ton Lisa. Looking forward to design beautiful pieces using the soup.

10K in 10 weeks - week 3

Week 3 has passed and here is how I did

W03 Day1 - 2.21 miles run
W03 Day2 - 1.71 miles walk
W03 Day3 - rest
W03 Day4 - 2.24 miles walk
W03 Day5 - rest
W03 Day6 - 4.00 miles run and strength training
W03 Day7 - 1.12 miles run and strength training

This week I concentrated on increasing the mileage. Ran my first 4 miles with first 3 miles at 9:40 min/mile and the last mile at 9:31 min/mile.

Total mileage so far
week 3 - 11.28 miles
week 2 - 8.40 miles
week 1 - 7.66 miles

Wait to hear how week 4 goes :)

10K in 10 weeks - week 2

At the end of week 2 of 10K in 10 weeks program I am following to prepare for my first 10K run, here is how the numbers look

W02 Day1 - rest
W02 Day2 - 2 miles walk and strength training
W02 Day3 - 0.98 mile walk
W02 Day4 - 3.21 miles run and strength training
W02 Day5 - rest
W02 Day6 - rest
W02 Day7 - 2.21 miles run

Total mileage was 8.40 miles, which is slightly greater than the week 1 mileage 7.66 miles. This week I concentrated on increasing the average pace and was able to run a mile at 9.31 min/mile.

Let's see how the week 3 goes :)

10K in 10 weeks - week 1

I recently signed up for Santa Cruz Half Marathon & 10K 2012, scheduled for April 1st, 2012...my first 10K :)


Last year, after my first 5K run, I was struggling to go back to my regular exercising routine and with overall a very busy schedule was trying hard to take out time to exercise. As time passed by I realized that having a goal will help me maintain a routine but the question was whether to sign up for next 5K or double it up and go for a 10K.

My husband, who himself is a marathon runner and very disciplined towards his exercising routine, motivated me to think about a 10K. He created a complete plan for me to do a 10K in 10 weeks which includes running along with strength training. Couple of weeks back, I started following the plan for strength training and resumed my runs. Initially I had no idea about these exercises like fire hydrants, jumping jacks etc and my body was so sore in the first few days but as I am doing them more regularly I am not only enjoying them but also feeling the difference it makes.

As per the race day, week 1 of 10 weeks ended yesterday and here is how it looks like.
W01 Day1 - 2 miles run and strength training
W01 Day2 - rest
W01 Day3 - 2.06 miles walk
W01 Day4 - rest
W01 Day5 - rest
W01 Day6 - 2.5 miles run and strength training
W01 Day7 - 1.55 miles walk

As we talked to our family and friends about this plan, many of them showed interest and decided to try it out. I guess they also needed the discipline, motivation and little push like me to get into a regular & healthy exercising routine! We attend weekly boot camps led by my husband and it feels great to see every body's enthusiasm, high spirits and determination to make a change for themselves.

I am using Runkeeper, to track my runs and exercising routine. It helps me connect with my runner/walker friends and we motivate each other to keep the good work going.

Come back to know how week 2 goes :)

My partner for 5th bead soup blog party

I am very excited to be one of the participants for the 5th Bead Soup Blog party organized by Lori Anderson. This time, Lori choose the participants through a lottery and 200 lucky winners i.e, 100 pairs, were announced over the weekend. I am paired with extremely talented Lisa Chapman from Beach Cat Beads.

Lisa has been beading for few years and her work includes vast variety of semi-precious gemstones, unique lamp work glass, ceramic, and metal beads. She also loves to play with copper and sterling wire and chains.

Looking forward to the bead soup from Lisa.


Picture courtesy dreamstime.com

5th Bead Soup Blog Party sign ups are on

Glad that I didn't miss it like last time and signed up for the 5th Bead Soup Blog Party organized by Lori Anderson in time.


I participated in the 3rd party in February 2011 and it was such a pleasant experience to connect with over 200 talented beaders from all over the world.

The rules for participating in the party are pretty simple and all you need is a blog and your creativity. Check the official rules at Lori's Blog.
This time only 200 beaders can participate at the party and will be selected through a lottery. So I am keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best :)

If you are interested in joining the party, don't wait and sign up today as its the last day for the sign ups.