C25K W4D3

I honestly didn't want to run this day. I wanted to stay inside, and sit on my butt, and feel sorry for my slightly injured knee.

I think I strained a muscle near my left knee. It constantly feels like it needs to pop but never does, and I feel a twinge of pain when walking down stairs.

I went out there and I did my run. And my knee didn't give me any trouble at all. My thighs, however, were burning the whole time. My ankles are feeling much better - I think my legs are getting used to the new shoes. But even though my legs were tired, D3 was EASIER than D1 this week. It definitely was. I'm actually looking forward to W5D1 tomorrow. Three 5-minute intervals of running with 3-minute walking periods between them. That's not hard! That's less running than I was doing yesterday, just rearranged differently. Friday is a tad more difficult, however. 8-minute jog, 5-minute walk, 8-minute jog. But even that isn't SO bad. Week 4 was 8-minute jogs, just with 90 seconds to break it up.

What scares me right now is doing the 20-minute jog for W5D3. It's intimidating! I've never ran that long in my whole life! I know I said that during the first week regarding running for two minutes, but it's different four weeks later.

It's a lot different. Because I'm no longer "OMG I CAN'T DO THAT!!!!" to, "20 minutes? Oh jeez. Gonna be tough, but I know I can do it."

And I will do it. I have complete faith in myself and in this program's ability to turn me into a runner.

Did you know? The majority of C25K drop-outs quit right around Weeks 4 and 5. Well. I have no intention of quitting! That's for sure :)

C25K W4D2

This program will end me. I will die in an implosion of sweat, tears and new running shoes.

I did Day 2 today. I contemplated not doing it. My body yearned to stay on the couch and watch TV.

But nothing will change unless I do. So I got dressed and I put on my new shoes and I got my butt out there. Same deal as Wednesday - I ran during the times it told me to, and I only walked during designated walk intervals.

But oh! how I wanted to quit. My feet hurt from wearing new shoes, my calves burn from being used, my thighs ache and my hips loudly protested the entire time. The joints in my legs are very sore because I pushed past all the pain and I did what I had to do.

And, since I was going at such a slow-ass pace, my breathing was never a problem. I didn't get a stitch in my side at any time. I didn't feel the need to gulp down my water after each jog. I'm not really that tired, I just hurt.

So I took a couple pills and I'll be using the weekend to recover. Hopefully, I'll have a better handle on Day 3, because next week, Week 5, is looking like the beast from HELL right now.

C25K W4D1

Well. I did it. I went as slow as a snail. I was probably going so slow it didn't even count as jogging, but I ran when I was supposed to, and I only walked when it told me to. My legs were very sore, even during the Warm-Up. I think Monday is partly to blame, and I also think my new, special running shoes contributed.

That's right! Both Matt and I decided to make our hobby of running official and get ourselves fitted for the most expensive shoes I've ever owned.

Apparently, when I run, I put all my weight onto my arches, effectively crushing my ankles inward with each foot strike. This is probably what was causing the sharp pains on the sides of my calves and shins. My new shoes correct the problem. They have a denser foam under the arches and force me to roll through my foot instead of nearly breaking my ankles inward. My shoes are Brookes Addiction 9s. They cost me 100 bucks.

And my first run on them went worse than I hoped. But! I didn't fail! I ran the stoopid 3 and 5 minute intervals and I kept my breathing under control! And I didn't stop! And I didn't throw up! My legs HURT though, and I think it's because the new shoes forceme to use more of my muscles to run. But if it keeps me from getting an injury I am all for it!

Anyway, Friday is Day 2 of Week 4 and I hope my legs have recovered enough to not make the run too difficult. I'm teaching class tonight (I think, you never really know if you're students are gonna show or not!) which isn't going to help the legs heal. I also walked more than a mile to get here (in the new shoes, hoping to get my legs accustomed to them).

Just over a third of the way through this program, and I'm not going to quit!

C25K W3D2 and W3D3

I dropped the ball last week and forgot to post about how Day 2 went last Wednesday. Matt and I decided to go out together, (HIS route) and though I nearly died with all the hills and gravel, I was happy to run with my man. We had fun, and he even convinced me I could jog up the HUGE incline near our house, which I did but not without nearly losing a lung.

Anyway, we woke up soooo late Friday afternoon. We just couldn't find the time to do Day 3 and since Matt works all weekend I was home with our baby. Not only that, but we saw a ton of rain the past few days...

I'm rambling my excuses to you. At any rate, we just decided to do Day 3 today, on what should have been Day 1 of Week 4.

I thought I could up my pace pretty significantly but I really should have stuck with "slow and steady". I was panting at the end of the first three minute stretch and I know I shouldn't be. I can't decide if I want to put off Week 4 and just repeat Week 3 to strengthen my endurance or not. Running for five minutes scares me! I guess I don't want to fail is all.

Whatever I decide, I'll have to do Week 4 sooner or later.

C25K W3D1

I now know I can do this. Warm-up went as always. First 90 second run went as always. 90 seconds of walking felt like a perfect amount of time. 3 minute run? Yeah, I owned it. Granted, I forced myself to keep a slow, even pace but I didn't even consider stopping! Next 90 second run was a tad rough, I think because of the extra-long 3 minute walk preceding it. 90 second walk, awesome. This is where it gets fun.

My iPod let me know I needed to start running my last 3 minute interval. The song that came on was way too quiet so I adjusted the volume. I didn't look at my device since I keep it clipped to a belt around my hips and running while bent at the waist is awkward. Had I looked at my iPod, I would have realized that it had gone back to the home menu and that my C25K App was no longer running. The music, now at a volume that blocked out environmental noise (read: heavy traffic), kept playing so I kept running.

And I kept running.

And I kept running.

The whole I was running, I anticipated the ding to start walking. It never came. I started to doubt myself. Maybe I was imagining it had been longer than it had.

No... the song just ended. And I knew it to be a song much longer than three minutes. The next song started. I found more motivation in its beat and kept up my jog. Finally, I KNEW something was amiss. I was at the bottom of my cool-down hill, and I was getting a little out of breath!

I stopped to check my iPod. The App was no longer running, though the music player had kept going. Shoot. What the heck happened? Wait. That means I was right! I had been running WAY longer than three minutes! And I could do more if I didn't have to go up this steep hill... I didn't mind turning the app back on and asking it to continue. I was ecstatic! I still am!

My legs are sore, and that hasn't happened to me yet during this program but I don't care. I ran SEVEN blocks without stopping. That's about six minutes worth of my easy-pace jogging. So, I am really looking forward to the rest of this week, especially since I know three minutes won't be a problem. FIVE minutes won't even be a problem!

I honestly didn't know I had it in me.

I was watching an old home-movie last night...

...and got an eye-full of myself at 13 years old. Back when I wore size 3 jeans, back when I wore a B cup (just barely!), back when my stomach was flat.

Now, I don't necessarily want to go back to weighing 110 pounds (or however much I weighed, I don't really know because I never really cared), but I want to go back to my healthy weight, I want to wear my pre-pregnancy jeans. I want to have a flat(ter) stomach, and trimmed-down thighs.

When I first started this blog, I told you all my goal weight. 140-145 is where I feel my best. Today, I have no idea what I weigh. There are no accurate scales here. I certainly do not weigh any less than 180. If I had to guess, I would put myself closer to 190.

I desperately do NOT want to reach 200.

I took my measurements earlier this week, and I will track my losses during this C25K program. Maybe if I continue the program thrice weekly, continue walking thrice weekly, and dance twice weekly, that will help jumpstart the loss of my big caboose.

I still have a couple pairs of my favorite jeans from two years ago, all are size 9 or 11, none fit. The most recent pair of jeans I purchased for myself are size 15 and they're a tad snug. By my 21st birthday, in addition to being able to run for an hour, I want to go down two pant sizes. I want the pants I used to wear to be the pants I wear. I want to say "goodbye!" to my maternity jeans for good.

C25K W2D3

Week 2 is Dee-Yoo-Enn DONE! Just got back from today, D3, and I feel wonderful. I guess this is what it feels like to make a goal and stick to it, to really give it all you have and feel like you've truly accomplished something awesome! A month ago, I proclaimed, "You couldn't PAY me to run. I hate running and I refuse to do it."

Or, you know, something to that effect. We all have that little voice in our head that tells us our limits, wags its little finger at us and taunts us with insults. "You're too fat, too out-of-shape, your legs wouldn't support your fat ass, you're too lazy, you never stick to diets so how are you going to stick to a running program? etc..."

The voice in my head said a lot of these things. But I believe each of us has another voice deep within us, maybe not in our head but in our HEART. The voice in your head is closer to your ears and that's why he gets the most attention - that's why he rules. But your heart will eventually stand up for itself. If you ignore all your insecurities for a moment and listen to your heart, you'll realize, as I did, that what you want more than anything is to PROVE THAT STUPID VOICE WRONG.

And it only takes a spark to set things in motion. For me, that spark is research and knowledge. Once I decided to do the Couch to 5K Program, I read everything I could dig up about it. I've read countless blogs from people just like you and me - people who sat on the couch more often than they didn't - people who got that spark, listened to their heart and just DID IT - people who stumbled a bit but came out on top. I love reading success stories, and that's why I decided to write my own. Hopefully I can help someone out there get moving who otherwise wouldn't have.

Take that first step. If you're like me, you won't regret it. (At least, not yet. Week 3 frightens me a little!)