C25k

Wow I really hope I don’t end up deleting this page. Don’t want to get all David Brent from the British version of the Office “If at first you don’t succeed, remove all evidence that you ever tried”. Blogging here has done one thing - it makes me REALLY not want to wimp out and embarrass myself and disappoint the people who have been so supportive to me. With that said, here I go. I am going to put my updates here, good and bad. I have gone through and put the parts in blue that are about how far I was running so that I can look back over it to remind myself that I CAN do this.

1. May 9 (Friday): spontaneously did W1/D1

This was tough. Almost quit half way through, but was encouraged when I had thought I was quitting early on a 60 second jog only to find that it was time to slow down anyway. Not too much pain during walking/jogging. Pain followed, though, with my hip muscles pretty sore.

2. May 11, Sunday: W1/D2

Shin splints. Ouch. Hip pain is either not a problem or I don’t notice it in comparison to my shins. Shins are still sore to the touch hours later. Paranoia sets in. Worry about peripheral artery disease and anything else I can think of. Pace is s…l…o…w. But I don’t mind. Getting through it is what I need mentally right now more than anything. “Brisk walk” like the man on the podcast says is a walk but is not brisk. Jog is slow. Today I felt like I had that “dead lady jogging” appearance to my jogging. Oh well. Looked at all the leaves today, looking bright from all the recent rain and wondered if I will be on that track, jogging when the leaves have turned in the fall. Hmm. I don’t want to be a quitter. I want to run when the leaves are orange and yellow and think back to this day.

3. May 13, Tuesday: W1D3

Leg pain not so much of an issue. Shins still a tad sore to the touch, but not painful during jogging. Overall leg fatigue was an issue at times. Still mentally griping during the jogs, but still soooo loving the feeling of accomplishment when I am done. Not moving onto week 2 podcast. Sticking with week 1 until compelled to move on.

4. May 15, Thursday: W1/D3 

Grrr. Not good today. Only did half. Can’t believe myself. I am really disappointed. Shins hurting, calves stiff. Overall, just wanted to come home and nap.

5. May 16, Friday: W1 repeat

Ok. Finished it. Did a longer warm up. Kept my water near the track. Went ok. Still continuing with week one though. Considering whether fear is the only thing really keeping me from moving on, though. But still not ready to try. I am really, really hoping for that “wow, this was easy” feeling for week one’s podcast before I move on.

6. May 20, Tuesday: W2/D1

Hmm. Moved on to week 2. A few hours later and I am still alive. Who knew. Liked the lesser intervals. Found 90 seconds of jogging somehow no harder than 60? It is one of life’s mysteries. Did one mile warm up. Seems to help. Did another mile walking and a little jogging after the podcast. Liked the freedom. Bizarre attachment to Freebird right now.

7. May 22, Thursday: W2/D2

To quote Randy Jackson, YEAH BABY YEAH YEAH!! Went well today. The third for fourth run was a push, but other than that all went really well. Chilled out laying on the hillside after I was done listening to, what else, freebird. That totally rocked and I was feeling all cool there in the sun still all high on myself for getting through the thing once again. So after a good dose of freebird, I decided I wanted to get up and sprint for the heck of it. That was a kick! I loved it. Granted, I only got a little less than halfway around the track. It will be awesome to someday be able to sprint the whole track one time around. I don’t want to worry about speed during my regular podcast, but this is a fun way to just see what I am capable of. My daughter said “wow that was fast!”. Ahhh. Progress is AWESOME!!

8. May 24, Saturday: W2/D3

I only got through half of it today. Instead of whining, I will just sum it up with this %&*&#%*^&$@!!!!!! I am not happy. My shins friggin hurt. I am tired of my hips being sore. I had zero energy today. There is no point in analyzing it, though. All I can do is try again. Right now, I don’t even feel like I care though. I hope that this is just due to fatigue and a bad stinking mood.

9. Monday, May 26: W2/Dwhatever

Ok. Went fine this time, but I did take it pretty slow. Didn’t have a whole lot of energy. No serious pain.

10. Wednesday, May 28: W2/Dwhatever

Tried out the new saucony shoes. Going to observe my soreness over the next 24 hours to see how much I like them. So far, so good. I was feeling my own little meek level of fierceness today. Had the new shoes. Had gone in a sports store to get said new shoes with my head held high. Was trying to prove to my almost 9 year old daughter that you have to FIGHT through things that challenge you. Git ‘er done, as they say in my parts. And I got ‘er done. Did some calculations just for future reference - my jog is 10.41 minutes per mile making it 5.7 mph. I need to calculate my walk next time. I am not worried about speed because I have serious endurance barriers to work through first. But I just want to have an idea of where I am so that hopefully I can someday see some improvement. No real shin splints today, but at first I had a stiff swollen feeling in my calves. Remembered to stretch warm muscles, not stretch at the very beginning. Went later in the day due to rain. Don’t know if this had anything to do with my energy level or if it was just being all pumped up about trying out my shoes.

11. Friday, May 30: W3/D1

Today was one of my better runs. Pain was minimal, as in not really even worth mentioning. That minimal. I LOVED the less intervals. Time flew by very fast. Got lapped by an old man in a Boston Marathon shirt. But only during my walks. The last run was a bit of a push and I slowed down a bit to get it done in the third minute. The new shoes seem to be working out really well. It felt incredible just to experience getting all the way around the track plus some. I am excited!

12. Monday, June 2: W3/D2

Missed two days this time. Usually, I go every other day but was too busy on Sunday with the bday party, etc. It went well today. There is just not much to say, really. And I guess that is a good thing! No pain to speak of. I got a little tired and probably slowed down a bit on the last 3 minute run, but overall it went really well. Today it was almost like just a normal routine. I had to cram it in between going over to the school and going to the optometrist. I worried some about the heat because I had planned on getting there at about 8:15 but couldn’t get there until an hour later. But the heat was tolerable. No problem. Still liking the new shoes. Worth the money.

 13. Wednesday, June 4. W3/D3

Pretty uneventful today. Had to go at 7:00 am due to a busy schedule and the nasty heat that we are having. No pain to speak of. Just a little fatigue, I guess. Have cut my warm up back to just the normal 5 minutes. I cut it back last week or so I guess and I am glad that I did. There are days right now when I just don’t have time for the extra mile of walking. I love the variety of switching between 90 seconds and 3 minutes. It is good for the mind, I think. I have decided that so much of what I can or can’t do is actually about my mind more than my body. Anxious to try week four, but not sure when I will.

14. Friday, June 6:  Week 4 pansy version

Tried week 4. Got through half of it. That means that I did accomplish the 5 minute run, but I did NOT do it twice like I was supposed to. Felt ok about it at first. It seemed like the perfect solution to the week3/week4 debate that I was having with myself. I do believe that no amount of 3 minute runs would get me “ready” for the five minute run. I knew that going for it was the only way. As the day passed, I was frustrated with myself for not pushing through it, though.

15. Saturday, June 7: Week 4 MAJOR pansy version

So not good today. I don’t have it in me. I don’t want it. I don’t like to indulge in excuses, but I do like to have a record of what I think is going on for future reference. Hormones and heat. I am in a foul mood and everything is on my nerves, including myself. And also the sun. When I start getting angry at inanimate objects and start feeling as though they are trying to aggravate me, it is obvious that my hormones are OUT OF CONTROL.  Week 4 just seems so overwhelming as ridiculous as that sounds. There is an obvious shift to more running time than walking time and I am feeling it. So the plan is to just get through the hormonal hurricane and see how it goes then. I know better than to trust ANY thoughts, opinions, feelings that I have when I get like this.

16. Tuesday, June 17: running/walking

Crap! Has it really been TEN DAYS?!?! Maybe I forgot to write about one somewhere in the past ten days. It is possible. It has been crappy and there hasn’t been anything good to say. Today, I did intervals of walk a lap, run a lap until I reached one mile of running (which would have been a little over a mile of walking due to some extra laps at the beginning and end). I listened to my own music and enjoyed what I was doing. So the podcasts are on hold for now. I have realized that enjoying running is as important to me as running itself if that makes any sense. I just want the benefit of the exercise and I want to have fun and relieve stress, not cause it. Today I did just that and to quote bret michaels, “I likey”.

 UPDATE: I have been running whenever I can this summer. Nothing too structured. I continued with the walk a lap/run a lap thing. That helped me get through a time when I just didn’t feel like I had it in me to do more, but yet at least with running the laps it kept the running being a part of my efforts instead of just letting it fade away. I am content with it. Thursday July 31 I made an attempt at a mile without stopping and did it. My plan from this point is to get to the point where that is the norm and then move on from there. Still not using the podcasts. Will not be using them again.

Update August 2, 2008: I am now running two miles without stopping. That is currently 24.8 minutes. My goals now are to work up to 3.1 miles first. Then I hope to see my speed increase. My knees are bothering me somewhat going up steps these days. Thinking about getting that glucosamin condroit…well, don’t know how to spell it. But I am thinking about trying it.

Update August 22, 2008: Accomplished 5k today. It took 38:30. From the first day of C25k to this point has taken 15 weeks. 11.6 minutes per mile.

Update September 17, 2008: Ran four miles today. It took 47:11. My thinking is that I need to work on getting used to four or five miles so that my 5k time improves and also so that I am less mentally intimidated by 5k. 11.79 minutes per mile.

Update September 26, 2008: Ran five miles today. It took 58 minutes. Wanted to go for six miles, but started having pain. I am thinking maybe it was in the hip flexor area and is just muscle pain from adding distance and my legs revolting. So we will see. 11.6 minutes per mile.

Update October 6, 2008: Ran four miles today in 43:36. I think that is my best time for four miles so far. My knees hurt a little.