C25K W5D1, Times Two.

On October 20, I ran Week 5 Day 1 of the Couch to 5k program. And the next day, my knee hurt so bad I couldn't walk without pain. I couldn't lower myself to the floor, walk down stairs (going up stairs was fine, oddly enough), nor kneel on my knee without a sharp stabbing pain going through the joint and up to my hip. If I put too much weight on that leg and tried to bend it it felt as though my knee cap was going to explode and my knee was going to split apart. I iced it all that weekend... avoided using it... I did the bare minimum at bellydance troupe that Sunday and I skipped nearly two weeks worth of running intervals.

Ugh.

Today, however, I decided my knee is well enough that I could get back out there. I redid Week 5 Day 1 today and I felt so great! It was rougher than the first time I did it, but not nearly as bad as I thought getting back out there was going to be.

I'm looking forward to Day 2, and even Day 3 of this week! Though, my days have been thrown off because I don't usually do Tuesdays, but I felt I couldn't wait another day to get back out there and run my heart out.

Unfortunately, when I got back home that pain in my knee started back up. Is it the new shoes? is it running for longer stretches at a time? Both? Why is it only my left knee? Is it weaker?

I'm icing my knee now just to head off any swelling and I'll look up any information I can about what I can do to prevent another injury keeping me from running.

More later.

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 W2D2

I got out there today. And I rocked it! Today's intervals felt much more manageable than W2D1, truly. I didn't start losing my breath until half way into it, then realized I should slow down a little. I paced myself better from the start, and as a result I went farther before turning around to head home. Having my water bottle with me was still a life-saver but I wasn't guzzling it. The weather was sunny but not as hot as earlier this week, which was really nice. I was able to, for the most part, ignore the small aches in my ankles, and the dull pains in my shins. That said though, Matt and I will be buying proper running shoes soon. (Hopefully before W5D3, running for 20 minutes is so beyond my scope of thought I can't picture myself doing it, but dealing with pain caused by improper foot-gear is going to make the attempt hell.)

So I just want to reiterate that I am SO proud of myself for doing my run today and not even consider stopping at any point. Though, I still have mini-panic attacks thinking about how much longer I have to go. During the last running interval I gave it everything I had.

And I didn't die. Far from it, in fact - I felt great! The hill I had to walk up during my cooldown wasn't as bad as it usually is.

On a separate note, the flip-top on my water bottle fell off around the fifth interval, and I didn't stop to retrieve it. Hopefully I'll find it on my next run. Maybe.

I'm actually looking forward to D3 this week. Redeem myself for last week. I'm going to kill it. And I don't have any fear that it will kill me in the process.

C25K W1D3

To say I half-assed this one is a total over-statement. It was over 90 degrees, I had a thirty-pound baby in a stroller and my heart just wasn't in it.

Do not think I'm going to make this a habit because I most certainly will NOT. Week one has just been a learning experience. One - make the runs a priority. Wake up thirty minutes earlier. It won't kill you. Two - if it's hot out, wear less clothes, or wait til it's past high-noon. Three - charge the iPod. Four - No excuses, because once you just DO it, you'll be glad you did. And Five - no matter how sore and tired you already are, you can still do the run in its entirety. Get your ass out there and stop being a baby.

My goal for week two?

Mainly not to die. Because I can't seem to make my iPod script do in-between minutes, I will be doing the full two-minutes of running instead of just 90 seconds. Maybe I'll do 2 mins running, 2 mins walking followed by one min running one min walking and alternate that between warm-up and cool-down.

Yes, that sounds a bit more bearable.

My other goals for week two? Do all three days, do not half-ass them, blog about each one, improve my average pace, and drink more water overall.

Anyone out there who wants to do C25K: Just get started. Don't make it complicated or list excuses why now's not a good time. Now is the PERFECT time. It isn't complicated, and you CAN do it.

C25K W1D1 DONE!

Well. In some ways it was everything I thought it was going to be, and in other ways it was harder.

After the 5 min warm-up walk, I started the first one-minute jog. It felt like my feet were made of lead and my whole body felt awkward. This could be because I was at a fairly steep downhill slope. At any rate, I was relieved when my iPod told me to start the walking interval. In the back of my head, a tiny voice spoke fears about doing the running part SEVEN more times but I kept repeating "you can do this, it's challenging but you can do this" to suppress it.

Too many times I've let that voice tell me what's what, let it convince me I couldn't, that I was too out of shape, too lazy, not good enough. Well that's OVER.

Because I finished today. And I feel great. And I can't wait to get back out there, and get better each time.

At the halfway point I had gone about 12 blocks then turned around to head back. Flagged down a driver who turned the wrong way on a one-way road, and got honked at once (cuz I'm a sexy babe!). Other than that it went off without a hitch. My main concern are my shins, which started to hurt near the end of each one-minute jog.

For my records, I'll record the stats from my pedometer at the end of my posts. All numbers are approximations because the pedometer isn't calibrated specifically for me.
Steps: 3727. Distance: 1.65 miles. Calories: 125.5. Time: 31 mins. Avg. Speed: 3.2 MPH.