Day 10: Opposition in All Things

I think while I'm on the treadmill about things like "what am I going to title my blog entry for this one?" and today inspiration struck several times.  After writing that entry earlier today about how running is a great place to escape from stress and frustration, I was shown the other side of that coin on my run today, and that is what inspired this title.


First of all, I was somewhat stood up by my running buddy.  No biggie.  I was glad he told me so I didn't have to wait on him.


About two minutes into my run, my mom called.  At that point, I just stop the treadmill and talk to her.  Some people are worried when their parents call them late at night; I get worried when my mom, a tax accountant, calls me during the day prior to April 15th.  Turns out my grandmother had chest pains this morning, and they've determined that it was congestive heart failure.  She's 95 and has been ready to die for years now, but that doesn't make the possibility of her impending death any easier to hear. I guess I should be grateful I was at the gym so I could rapidly dispel the extra stress that caused rather than just sitting at home as I was tempted to do.


I restarted the treadmill, and just as I was getting into my stride, an ex-roommate called, which I ignored so as not to disrupt the C25K program on my phone that pauses while you talk even if you're still walking/running.  But it jarred me a little for my phone to randomly start ringing just after hanging up with someone else.


Then, probably the worst thing that happened run-wise is that I touched the red emergency thingy on the treadmill, and it came loose, which stopped the treadmill.  Like, not on pause.  Stopped.  Erased.  So...  I noted the mileage when I got to the mid-way mark (which the app announces), subtracted that from my final mileage, and multiplied by two.  Best I could do to salvage mileage.


Amazingly, run-wise it wasn't too bad; of course, that could be related to the minute or two it took me to figure out how to restart the treadmill, which translated to extra recovery time...  It was literally over before I knew it.  That said, I'll probably stay on week 3 at least a few more days because week 4 intimidates me.  The "short" runs become 3 minutes, and the long runs are 5 minutes.  I can't imagine myself running for five straight minutes at this point.  Not that I don't think I'll ever do it, but week 3 is still challenging enough, and I really am going to just slow it down a bit this time.


Oh, and guess what?  I'm almost at 20 miles!  I think at 50 we should have some sort of celebration!


My workout today was:
Week 3, Day 3
1.72 miles in 28 minutes, 2.0% incline
5 minute warmup (3.5 mph)
90 seconds running (4.5 mph)
90 seconds walking (3.5 mph)
3 minutes running
3 minutes walking
(repeat 2x)
5 minutes of walking (cool-down)
Total Distance: 18.75 miles

Day 9: The Perfect Hobby

Running is the perfect hobby because it's healthy, it only takes up 90 minutes out of the whole week, it's time to myself where I don't have to think about anything in particular, and it's completely, totally, and blissfully unrelated to what I do all day.

I didn't get a chance to update Monday because this week is insane.  I did run on Monday, though.  Looking forward to running is actually what got me through my day, in fact.

The run was challenging.  I think ramping up the speed to 5.0 mph was a little bit too intense, but even at that, I made it through the whole thing, except I slowed down the pace near the end because my calves started burning something awful.  No, seriously, I suspected I had given myself shin splints again.  Except not, because after I stretched my legs felt fine again, like I could run another couple of miles.

When I run this afternoon I plan to run at my usual 4.5 mph during the first half of the workout, and possibly move up to 4.6 or  4.7 during the last half.  I feel like speed would be better at the end than at the beginning anyway.

My workout Monday was:
Week 3, Day 2
1.73 miles in 28 minutes, 2.0% incline
5 minute warmup (3.5 mph)
90 seconds running (5.0 mph)
90 seconds walking (3.5 mph)
3 minutes running
3 minutes walking
(repeat 2x)
5 minutes of walking (cool-down) - 3.3 mph
Total Distance: 17.03 miles

Two Inches

Somewhere along the line with trying to avoid eating foods that make me feel gross on the treadmill and running consistently three times a week, I lost two inches off my waist since November.

I don't usually measure myself in any way while I'm working out, either on the scale or with measuring tape, but I bought a new pair of pants forever ago and finally got around to hemming them this weekend, and when I put them on, they were HUGE on me, even though they're the same size of pants I've worn since pretty much high school.  Anyhow, it was a pleasant discovery and sparked my wearing a dress to church this afternoon that I haven't worn in almost a year because I have been too self-conscious to wear it.

This wasn't my goal in running, but it is a very welcome side-effect!

Day 8: Knowing My Strength

It would appear that I have once again underestimated myself.  I was iffy about week 3, but told myself that I would try it anyway.  I kept comforting myself and saying, "If this gets too hard, you can always just go back to week 2..."  And then before I even realized it, my phone chimed and said, "Workout complete."

Don't get me wrong.  There were challenging bits.  My new strategy is to just keep going and listening to my music and concentrating on the running, not the time.  Especially since now I don't HAVE to worry about the time.

Maybe next week if I feel frisky I may try to increase my pace a little bit next, maybe just for the last half of my workouts.  I actually think it might be LESS rough on my knees to run a little faster.  I find that when I'm not thinking about it and running comfortably, I'm outrunning the treadmill, so that might be a sign.

Week 3 is a little shorter of a workout than the previous weeks (28 rather than 29 minutes) so I'm not going as far...  But soon I will be going further and longer and faster and better and it will be glorious.  Look for an entry soon about shoes and shoe shopping, because I'm going to do that soon as a reward for making so much progress.

I never thought I'd be able to jog for three straight minutes.  This program is truly showing me just how strong I am.

My workout Friday was:
Week 3, Day 1
1.75 miles in 28 minutes, 2.0% incline
5 minute warmup (3.5 mph)
90 seconds running (4.5 mph)
90 seconds walking (3.5 mph)
3 minutes running
3 minutes walking
(repeat 2x)
5 minutes of walking (cool-down)
Total Distance: 15.30 miles

Day 7: At the First Sign of Difficulty

I'm getting more accustomed to working out with the C25K app on the iPhone, and the more I use it, the more I like it.  I now turn on the iPod before anything else, do some stretches, and then start the actual C25K app right as I start up the treadmill.  I've figured out that by doing this I can still hear both the cues and my music, and I can actual change what song I'm listening to using my headphones without ever touching my phone.  On Monday I tried to run without even looking at the screen, knowing that it would ding anyway, but last night I did both.  I watched TV or watched the aerobics class in the next room during my workout, but when it seemed like I'd been on the same interval for awhile, I looked down at my phone screen to see how much time I really had left.   It's a happy medium.

The week 2 workout is still challenging for me.  I mean, I make it through just fine, but my calves feeeeeeel it by the end, and my legs are sore today.  No pain, mind you, just soreness.  Around minute 12 I start to want it to be done and over with.  It is this feeling that makes me wonder if I'm fit to move on to week 3; however I recall having this same feeling when deciding whether or not to move on to week 2, and upon doing so, realized it wasn't that bad.  By the fifteen minute mark I've usually hit my second wind and feel like I could go on for hours and hours, so I just have to remind myself that if I push through the hard parts, I will get to that nice endorphin feeling at the end where I want to take over the world with my brute strength.

We'll see how I feel tomorrow.  If I'm super stressed with school, I'll let that stress propel me through week 3.  If not, I may just stick with week 2, or perhaps invent a week 2.5.  :)

My workout today:
Week 2, Day 3
1.83 miles in 29 minutes, 2.0% incline
5 minute warmup (3.5 mph)
90 seconds running (4.5 mph)
2 minutes walking (3.5 mph)
(repeat 5 times)
3 more minutes of walking (cool-down)
Total Distance: 13.55 miles

Day 6: C25K App Trial Run

I usually run at 5:30 but today at 6:30 I still hadn't left my office.  Then one of my good friends rescued me from sorting through papers by myself and helped me, which I appreciate immensely.  We went grocery shopping together after that, and then after I put away my groceries and ate a very small and simple dinner, I changed and went to the gym.  I ended up starting the workout at 8:30 or so, which I used to tell myself I couldn't do, and you know what, it's a decent hour, and I'm ready for bed.  I just wanted to update this before I forgot my stats.

So there's a tip in this.  If you want to get into an exercise routine, you have to be willing to cut yourself some slack, and do things however you can, even if it's not ideal all the time.

There is a 5K race here this weekend, The Rex Lee Run, and every year it happens I wish I was in shape enough to run in it.  You know what, though, I was looking up finishing times with a friend of mine, and we decided that if I could finish it in 30 minutes, I would finish in the middle of the pack.  Even if I could keep up my current running pace for 3.1 miles, I still wouldn't finish in 30 minutes, but in a YEAR of consistent training, I really COULD be there.

The workout today was a little shorter distance because the time was 5 minutes less, even though my pace was faster.  I'm going to be going along with the official Couch to 5K app for iPhone from now on now that I've invested in it.  I was right; it's a lot more enjoyable to not have to watch a clock the whole time.

My workout today:
Week 2, Day 2
1.81 miles in 29 minutes, 2.0% incline
5 minute warmup (3.5 mph)
90 seconds running (4.5 mph)
2 minutes walking (3.5 mph)
(repeat 5 times)
3 more minutes of walking (cool-down)
Total Distance: 11.72 miles

Day 5: New Milestones

Technically, it's the second milestone, because I broke two miles!  Also, I started week 2.  The for real week 2. I will probably still stick to it for three days just because, but it wasn't any harder to start out than week 1, day 1.    If the first day of the new week doesn't feel any more challenging than the first day of the previous week, I'll take it that I'm ready to move forward.

I feel so great after running now that I look forward to it at the end of the day.  I used to love working out in the morning because then I get to enjoy that "I worked out already" feeling all day long, but working out in the evenings has its perks, too.  Usually I'm really stressed out at the end of the day, and running is a nice way to get out all that stress.  In short, I don't think that people sing the praises of evening workouts nearly enough.

That said, I was exhausted already when I started on the treadmill yesterday.  I had an hour and a half of physical therapy in the afternoon, which really took it out of me.  Then AFTER the gym, I went ice skating with my roommates for two hours at the Peaks.  I slept like a baby last night...

I have been going to a physical therapist for a rotator cuff impingement for the past month or so, and I have seen huge improvements from such minor changes in my life.  I used to think you had to kill yourself in the gym to get results, and maybe to get fast ones you do, but going to the physical therapist for this time has proven me wrong.  Six weeks ago I went to the doctor for shoulder pain, which is saying something, because I avoid doctors at all costs.  It had escalated to the point that I couldn't even erase a chalk board or plug in my computer without yelping with pain.  Now I can do all of those things with just a small amount of discomfort, and all I did was fifteen or twenty minutes of simple exercises every day.  Consistency, folks.  That's the SECRET!

Anyhow, I'm proud of myself for making it to the two mile mark, and proud of not quitting yet.  Also, I'm proud of making it to week two.  I've never made it this far in the program before, so yeah it's a major accomplishment.

Day 5:

5 minutes walking

90 seconds jogging (4.1 mph) - I actually went 4.5 mph for part of this because I was watching a zumba class in the next room...

120 seconds walking (3.1 mph)

(repeat until minute 35)

Time: 35 minutes

Distance: 2.01 miles

Total Distance:  9.91 miles