Couch To 5K- Week 3 Day 1

I am always so scared at the start of a new week. I worry that this is the week I won't be able to do the running.

For Week 3 of Couch To 5K, you do the five minute warm-up walk, then jog for 90 seconds, walk for 90 seconds, jog for 3 minutes, walks for 3 minutes, and repeat. Then, of course, is the blessed cool-down.

Now, mathematically I realize that this is still 9 minutes totally of running, just like last week was. However, this was DOUBLE the amount of time of straight running. And boy, did it feel like it.

I have this suspicion that my couch may be a lot squishier than other people's, because getting from mine to the 5K length is difficult. I look forward to running, then I hate it while I'm doing it, then afterwards I feel proud. So really, I'm happy on the couch but not on the 5K. Maybe there should be a program that teaches runners how to be couch potatoes. We could call it "5K to Couch". It works them down from being active to being sedentary.

Robert Ullrey faked me out today too, which didn't make things any easier. During the last 3 minute run on the podcast, the music went down and his voice came on. "Wow!" I thought. "I must've finished!" I thought. "I'm Superwoman!" I thought. Nope. What Mr. Ullrey wanted to tell me was that I only had a minute left and that I could do it. What a tease! How discouraging! I literally yelled out on the road, "Kiss my ass Robert Ullrey!" An SUV was driving by with the windows down, but trust me, that was the least of my worries.

Oh well. I. DID. IT.

Homer and Emily Simpson

This is how I'm afraid I look as I go running. When a car goes by, at least I try to suck it in.

Couch To 5K- Week 2 Day 3

This was my last day of Week 2. I feel accomplished. I also feel very nauseated.

I had a lot of factors working against me for todays run. In no particular order, they were:
1. eating pizza and cake last night for my husband's birthday
2. running early, after only eating tea and applesauce
3. running outside in colder temperatures than I have (40*F-ish)
4. running outside period, which I haven't done in a week
5. running with hills

So, in Week 2 I run for 90 seconds and walk for 2 minutes. I do this six times. Today, when I got to my third run I was on a hill. At then end of those 90 seconds my legs felt like lead. During my walking time after that run, I thought I was going to yak. Thankfully, I did not.

Then in my sixth and final run I was on a hill as well. I was moving sloooooowly. I mean, there was a robin in the ditch along the road, and it was running, and it was beating me. At the end of that 90 seconds I could hardly breathe, and I was feeling gaggy. I was breathing too hard to breathe through my nose (which I have heard helps nausea), so I just shut my eyes as I walked to cool down and hoped for the best. And I didn't hurl.

On top of the bad-feeling run and the nausea, my asthma acted up. It is only aggravated by cold weather, but I guess the strong wind and the cold air this morning were enough to flare it. So I've been coughing since I finished the run about an hour ago.

I am really hoping for better things on Monday when I start Week 3. This is the worst-feeling experience I've had yet. As I trudged up the hill to my house, I though "Six minutes of running makes me pukey? What will three hours of running do?" I hope Disney has Mickey-themed barf buckets strategically placed along the route.

Couch To 5K- Week 2 Day 2

Well, I did my workout today at the gym again. It was ok- that same damned pain on the top of my foot/ankle, and this time it was both feet. UGH! I noticed that trying to run from heel to toe made it worse, so when I did a more "normal" stride, it was somewhat better. I am for sure running outside Saturday, so if it doesn't hurt then, I will assume it is a treadmill. If it still hurts, maybe new shoes. Blah.

The actual running felt good! I wasn't totally wiped at the end, and I thought it went by pretty quickly. I do find the treadmill boring, though, especially since the gym keeps the TVs on ESPN, which I despise.

I did my new weight routine after running today. Just one rep of everything, because I'm weak and I suck, but I still felt proud. There was one tiiiiiiny issue, though. I got on a machine, set the pin to 65lbs, and then almost died doing my 15 reps. I thought I had somehow atrophied since Monday when the trainer helped me set my program.

Only later in the circuit did I realize that I was looking at the wrong weight setting for that machine. I had it set 15lbs heavier than it should have been. Yeah, THAT makes a difference.

I am going to try to cross-train tomorrow. I have been eating really well, but overall the scale hasn't been moving and that pissing me off. I don't know whether I need to eat more or less, or workout more or less. I would love it if the winning combination is working out less and eating more, LOL!

Couch To 5K- Week 2 Day 1

Well, I started Week 2 today. Week 2 is deceiving. You think, hey awesome, I get to walk for two minutes at a time this week. Wahoo! Then you realize that you now have to jog for 90 seconds at a time. That is half again as much as you did last week. Then you think, shit.

Week 2 involves a brisk five-minute warm up walk. Then you alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Then you take a five-minute cool down walk.

I did it. I did it at the gym. On a treadmill. After walking 10 minutes previously to warm up for strength training. Which I did for 20 minutes.

PHEW is the word I'm looking for right now. Normally I wouldn't lump all this working out together, but I defend my thesis on Wednesday so I doubt I'll be working out that day. I may have the same feeling of nausea as I did today, but it won't be from cardio exertion.

I had that weird pain on the top of my foot again, in that tendon I'd use to point my toe. This happened last week on the treadmill as well, but it didn't happen running outside. If it keeps happening even after my muscles adjust, I'll talk to the shoe people or Nate-the-Trainer or a surgeon who specializes in amputations.

Couch To 5K- Week 1 Day 3

I woke up before 6:30am, and it was forecast to be an unseasonably warm day- 80*F or more! I figured I didn't want to run in that, so I hit the road at about 7:15am. I did my last day of Week 1, and I had it finished before 8am. Cool beans!

I felt decent and I felt accomplished. I went to the gym later in the day to hit the stationary bike for half an hour, because I know I will need the extra calorie burn to make up for the food I am going to pack away on Easter tomorrow.

On a semi-related note, I looked at my odometer as I was running errands today and thought "Oh My God! 13.1 miles is really far!" No shit, Sherlock.

Couch To 5K- Week 1 Day 2

It was gorgeous in NW Vermont yesterday- the sun was shining and it was 65 degrees. I was held up at school in a terrible union meeting, and I cried all the way home. I had packed a bag and meant to go to the gym, but I knew it would be very busy, and I just didn't have the heart to drive there and back and fight a lot of people for the treadmill.

So, I pulled up the C25K podcast on my iPod, laced up my shoes, and ran outdoors. I think it was waaaaay less boring that at the gym, but also more challenging. There is no way to avoid hills when running outdoors on the back roads in Vermont.

Still, I survived, and felt really great afterwards. It relieved my stress, and I felt accomplished- though incredibly sweaty. I totally get why the Disney marathon starts at 5:50am (besides the fact that Disney wants it to finish before the parks open); we need to run it before the heat of the day! I was 4:30pm and about 63* when I ran yesterday, so I cannot imagine doing 13.1 miles in the Florida heat at noontime!

I had a little left knee pain running yesterday, and this morning it feels a little tight/odd behind my right knee, but neither is really bothering me. Tomorrow is my last day of Week 1.