I did a totally awesome 3 miles today. It was maybe even more fun than Thursday's 2 miler. I used the treadmill again, I don't really dislike it anymore. There's something to be said for watching tv while dragging yourself along for a few miles.
Anyway, today is a personal non-stop-distance record. Every other time I've done more than 2 I've let myself walk some, but not this time, huzzah! It made me feel like the 4 miles on Tuesday could actually happen.
Oh, and I finally signed up for the Monster Mash 5k on November 1st. I'm excited for my first race!
I did a solid 2 miles today on the treadmill. This morning I gave myself the excuse that because I spent about 4 hours yesterday scrubbing the kitchen floor, my quads and glutes deserved a day off. After my (late) morning cup of coffee, the caffeine got me going enough for a run. I did compromise, though. I went for the treadmill instead of waiting till it was cooler in the evening. I figured I could get a (relatively) easy run in while ensuring that I kept a steady pace for calibrating my sportband.
The first mile and a half or so was easy, and I'd have never thought I would say something like that 3 months ago. I've noticed that I'm still amazed by my progress, but my honeymoon with running is pretty much over. That's not to say I don't still love it, but it's getting a little harder to find the motivation to hop on the treadmill or run down the street. But I guess that's part of every relationship, there's a point where the fun newness is over and the real intimacy begins. In this case, the intimacy is embedding running into my life wholly, and calling myself a true runner. There will be good runs and bad runs, and maybe extended breaks here and there, but I know I will always be a runner at heart.
On a less sentimental note, I was finally able to calibrate my Nike+ sportband. Considering it was about 30% off, that's some really good news. I was going slightly faster on the treadmill than I would have down the sidewalk, so it wont be 100%, but at least it'll be better and slightly more reliable than it was. The bad part of that is it'll be a little more difficult to keep up with my "100 miles in 12 weeks" goal.
I'll be upping my mileage by .25 on Thursday. I'm not strictly keeping with the c25k program these days because I'm ahead on time (I'm doing ~30:00 now), but still behind .75 on distance. In my head, I've really already finished the program. Of course, if I ran a 5k tomorrow I don't think I could finish without walking, so maybe I'm not really done. I think it's time to write my own program to get into 10k shape.
Today's run (the calibration doesn't take effect until next time):
Well, today was the first day I counted miles instead of minutes and boy, it was rough. Usually I can go about a mile before the thought of walking crosses my mind, but today was just miserable. I only got about half a mile before I started to feel it, but managed to push through to 2 full miles. I did stop for a few seconds (maybe 20?) for a stop light twice, though.
I accidentally went a little too fast during a portion of the run, I think that's where I went wrong. Another runner caught up with me at a street light and I subconsciously ran a little faster than I should have. I need to pay more attention to that, it'll be bad news at a race one of these days.
I had a distance and one mile PR today, so that's something. I'll be redoing the same run on Saturday since week 8 is 28 minutes. It took me 30 minutes to go 2 miles, so I figure I shouldn't increase my mileage for another week or so. I don't want to overdo it when I'm making such awesome progress.
(Edit) Oh, and today was the first day it actually felt like it could be fall next month! There was even a cool breeze! I'll be glad when it finally gets cool enough for me to run in the late afternoon before I make dinner for the family.
I love those totally awesome runs that make me want go right back out and go again.
Morning runs are great; the sun shines, I feel productive, it's a little cooler, but there's something to be said for evening runs. It's quieter and I have a chance to eat better before going out.
*sigh* If only I was nocturnal I'd have the best of both times of day.
Well, tonight I went for 25 minutes, or 1.75 miles. It seems I'm behind on distances for week 7, I should be up to 2.5 miles. I guess I'm just really really slow? I think it's time for me to start concentrating on miles instead of times, which means I'll have to deviate from the plan some to catch up. I'll try for a full 2 miles next time, measured out beforehand instead of watching my Nike+ sportband.
I still haven't calibrated it, I'm waiting for it to recognize one of my runs as "calibration ready". I'm not sure why it hasn't worked yet, I haven't walked the past couple of times, and when I do I always pause the band before stopping. Maybe it's time to just use the treadmill. I've read they're not awesome to use for calibrating because they're not very accurate, but it has to be better than being about 13% wrong every time.
Huzzah, I did it! I ran for 25 minutes today! I went so slow I probably could have walked at the same pace, but w/e. I was a little apprehensive after my last bad run and wasn't sure if I should have redone it, but I felt mostly ready for day 3. After all, I did 20 minutes last week sucessfully.
I got through it, only stopping once for about a minute at halfway to stretch. That's even with weaving between cars, parents, and strollers in front of the elementary school. I think I'll be going my other route on Wednesday, all those cars make me nervous someone's not going to see me.
It didn't occur to me on Saturday, but that was my last interval run. Today began the first of my "pure" runs, and the beginning of my "real" training. Not that the previous weeks haven't been real, but I don't have to think about exact timing to the second anymore. I don't have to worry about making a specially timed playlist. I can just focus on my music and putting one foot in front of the other. I'm amazed by my progress over the last two months and I'm anxious to see even more improvement as I start to count miles instead of seconds.
Also, I've decided to use the treadmill for the Nike+ 10k. It's always been sooo much easier for me to run on a treadmill than outside, and I can use that to my advantage. I'll do week 7 day 1 on Wednesday and then rest until Sunday. Considering I'll be walking most of it I think that'll be enough down time. Then I'll do day 2 on next Wednesday or so. Oh, and there's a local 5k on 9/20 that I think I'll sign up for. It'll be like 5 days after my last c25k run, which I think will give me enough rest time that maybe I'll finish at a respectable time. Likely not sub-30:00, but maybe 35:00.
I went 20 minutes without stopping! Well, ok. That's a lie, I stopped for < 10 seconds while waiting for a stoplight.
I used my playlist to break up the run into 4 manageable segments, so I knew where I was in the run. During the first segment ("Heart of a Champion"--Nelly) I kept telling myself that if at the halfway point I was dying, then I could stop and walk for a minute. But, halfway came and went ("That's Not My Name"--The Ting Tings) and I was still going, and even feeling pretty good. During the third song ("B.O.B."--Outcast), I was beginning to think that I could actually finish it. After that, it was just a matter of knowing it was almost over for me to keep moving through the last song ("'Till I Collapse"--Eminem (a great ending song, btw)).
I'm pretty sure I didn't go 2 full miles, there was no way I was running at a 10:00 pace. Nike+ said it was around 11:30 or so, but I still haven't calibrated, so I think it's closer to 12:00/mile. Oh well. I ran for 20 minutes straight!
This is a huge milestone for me. Up till now I've been dependent on the C25k program to guide me, but I'm seeing the end of it and the beginning of the "real" training that will make me a runner.
Today was another one of those days where I really didn't want to go running, but did anyway and am SO glad I did. this is what I did:
Jog 8 min
Walk 5 min
Jog 8 min
It sounded alot tougher than it actually was. I didn't walk at all when I wasn't supposed to, and really wasn't all that winded. Totally an awesome run.
Day 3 still looks pretty rough, but I'll give it a try. I'm sure I'll have to redo it, but I'll get it eventually.
In other news, I got Wii Fit as a supplement to jogging. I'm loving the yoga and balance exercises, and I was even feeling a little sore this morning after playing for about an hour yesterday.
So I redid week 5, day 1 today because I kind of copped out last time. I'm glad I did, today was alot better. It was still tough, but I didn't once walk when I wasn't supposed to. I've found that as soon as I focus on how my body is feeling, running gets alot more difficult. When I'm just mentally singing along with my music and watching the sidewalk in front of me I can go farther.
I'm ready for day 2, but day 3 is still pretty daunting. 20 minutes without stopping feels like it'll kick my ass, but I'll trust the plan. I may have to redo day 2, too, but I'll get there.
I may not have updated in a little while, but I have been running.
Saturday (W4D3) went pretty well, I didn't cop out at all. I think alot of that has to do with using my own music instead of generic podcasts. I finally got around to making my own playlist with shortened songs and sound effects to indicate running/walking. For my two 5 minute walks I've been using Outkast's "Bombs Over Bagdad" and Eminem "'Till I Collapse". Rap has a nice strong beat to jog to, I think I'll be keeping it.
And yesterday was W4D4, a repeat day. I did it on the treadmill because it was stupidly hot outside for it only being 8am. It seemed ALOT easier. Deceptively easier, even. I felt like I could have gone for another few minutes it was so easy. I'll decide tomorrow morning if I want to do week 4 for one more day or move on to week 5.
I just did my first day of week 4, and it wasn't totally terrible. Here's what I did:
Jog 3 min
Walk 90 sec
Jog 5 min
Walk 2.5 min
Jog 3 min
Walk 90 sec
Jog 5 min
I had to stop for about 20 seconds toward the end of the last 5 minute run, but overall I feel like it was a success. It was my first time running for 5 minutes straight without feeling like I was going to die. I didn't push myself as hard as I could have, hence the 20 second break, but hopefully Wednesday will be different.
When I got back home I discovered a bag of frozen peas hiding in the back of the freezer. Good thing, too. My right shin needed to be iced down, it was pretty sore.
Time for a stretch and shower now, I have alot of homework to do.
This blog is going to follow me through my Couch to 5k training, and hopefully into marathoning. I'm a total fitness newb, so it should be at least mildly entertaining.
