I did it! 5k! And life after 5k

I did it! I ran a 5k! Actually ... I had run 5k before the 5k... I skipped two days ahead in the program just to make sure I could do that. I don't recommend that ... I mayyyyy be having a recurrence of the ankle pain I experienced earlier with the too much/too fast start I had.

I made it a point earlier that week to go to Target and get some real running clothes, because my shorts were too short and uncomfortable to wear, and the only other shorts available were ... my husband's. Instead, I got a running skirt/skort which I LOVE, and a shirt made of appropriate material, not a cotton graphic t-shirt. I felt like a real runner on Saturday morning, but that didn't stop me from being a bundle of nerves. I swear I just KNEW I was going to throw up, and at that point I couldn't tell whether it was from nerves or from the effort I thought I was going to expend. Either way, I was scared, although of what, I couldn't tell. Probably simply pre-race nerves.

I got to the race as soon as registration opened, since I had no idea what to expect. It was a local neighborhood race to benefit a Catholic school, and the number of participants was relatively small, from what I'm given to understand. I think there were 360 people registered altogether, divided up between the one mile event and the 5k. There were a lot of kids from the school, too, although there were some other runners, people wearing the Marine Corps Marathon shirts, the Army 10-miler, other half-marathons and marathons. There was the obligatory old dude wearing shorts that were WAY too short, the obligatory dude runner who strips off his shirt the first chance he gets, moms with strollers, crazy fit people and not so fit people.

It seemed like it took forever for the 5k race to start, which was concerning me because the sun was getting higher in the sky. I was worried about overheating, and I already knew from that one poor run that I don't do well running in the sun. The 1M race started, and after all runners came back from that, and after "technical difficulties" with the timing chip software, the 5k race finally got started.

I immediately plugged in my headphones to my run mix and just got going. There was some people-dodging, but mostly people were running around me, since my pace seems to be somewhere between 11:00-11:30/mi. There were hills, but they weren't too terribly awful. Mostly, I zoned out. I focused on the music, I focused on the pace. Occasionally I ran around someone. There were one or two stretches where running in the sun was unavoidable. I felt very hot, and I got a strange ache/stitch that felt like it was underneath my whole ribcage. I had never experienced that before, but I just slowed down and controlled my breathing. The worst thing was the heat, which wasn't even that bad.

At the end of the race, though, the finish line was UP a hill, and it was actually about .3 miles longer than a 5k. I had decided to sprint the last .2 miles, and THAT was a real challenge. But boy, was it fun focusing all my thoughts and energy on that finish line that didn't get closer fast enough despite every ounce of everything I had trying to bring it closer. And when I finally finished, husband and kids there to cheer me on, it was glorious. I had done it! I had proof! I ran a 5k. I had a t-shirt and results to show for it. I'm a REAL runner now!

Since then, I thought I would start on the couch to 10k program, but instead I think I'm going to spend the month of June getting comfortable running 3 miles consistently.

You know as strange as it sounds, I'm still trying to figure out what I think of running. Running isn't comfortable. As a little bit of a hedonist, it puzzles me a little bit why I would do it if I'm not in love with the act of running. Some of it is sheer willpower, heading towards a goal which I MUST attain. Some of it is liking the idea of simply being able to run long distances, and being fit. Some of it is my weight loss goal. I do like being outside, or when I run inside on the treadmill, feeling like I'm doing something productive when I do something like watch TV or movies. I'll probably get to like the act of running itself -- I'm told after your first couple of miles it becomes more enjoyable. However, I'm only just able to run those first couple of miles, and not much more yet. I like developing discipline, I like setting and reaching a goal EVERY time I run. So it seems I like a lot of things about running, just not the discomfort. ;) Which I suppose is 100% natural. But it also makes running seem a little bit unnatural or discordant... about what else do we say, "I like all these things ABOUT X, but I don't always enjoy X" ?

In any case, next I have the Marine Corps 10k to run in October. Between now and then, I will be getting used to running 5k, and then moving up to 10k. The journey never really ends, though. It seems to be taking me down interesting places.

Well, until next time!

Week 7 Day 2 -- Deja Vu All Over Again

I've neglected the blog a little bit because I've got a FB support group of friends who also run or want to run or are starting C25k. So, sorry, blog!

Well I guess I have to write about week 7 day 2, since I accidentally just ran it twice. ;P Which I guess is okay, because the first one wasn't the right amount of running.

I have been convinced by a friend to start running outside instead of on a treadmill. Of course, this friend lives in Florida, where everything is flat. I live ... in hill country. It's definitely a different type of running, but I'm not unprepared for it. It's probably good that I get outdoors to run, since I have my first 5k race outdoors (of course) this upcoming Saturday.

I woke up late in the day on Friday and thought to myself, "Hey, self, why don't you go for a run?" At that point, it's near 11am (don't judge, ok. Shut up). I poked my head out the door and thought, "naaaah, it's fine outside! It's a balmy low 70s and it probably won't get much warmer! I'll be fine! Right?"

WRONG

Whatever the temperature, you of course feel hotter when running, added to the fact that running in the near-noon sun makes you feel even hotter. Smart people probably know this. I'm an idiot. I got about halfway through the first part of the run, where there is a long, long, slow ascent to a hill. In the sun, I just couldn't do it. I turned around, still running, and went back in the other direction.

What I FORGOT, though, was there was a frikken ginormous hill that I had just run *down*, far larger and steeper than the slow ascent that had been ahead of me. Stupid me. I stopped and walked when I realized that I was sweating buckets, and that I just couldn't get my breathing under control. Once I got to the top of the hill I ran again. It wasn't the 20 minutes straight of running, more like 16mins, walking, then 4mins. My legs felt like jelly -- it was the first time I had done any hill running in quite a while. I was disappointed by that, but I also felt so blazing hot that I didn't care, and I knew I hadn't wimped out. I had done the right thing in the circumstances.

Today, I learned my lesson and thought that I'd go out just a few minutes before sunset. I thought I should have enough light to be able to complete my run without it getting too dark. I don't have any special reflective-y gear, only 90s graphic t-shirts, mostly from Broadway shows, and my husband's Navy shorts, because prior to this I was not an athlete and I have been trying to do this running thing on the cheap. Plus, a lady running at night or after dark doesn't sound safe. So some sun, and light, was a must.

No need to fear! Everything was totally fine. Plus, did you know that somehow the grass and trees are nature's A/C? I could have sworn as I ran along, breathing in the delicious honeysuckle aroma, that something like a cool breeze (like, 65 degrees cool!) was coming off the grass and through the trees. Halfway through my run along the same route, along the same long, slow ascent that made me turn around last time, it felt great. I was fine. I could do it! I did the whole run!

Unfortunately it wasn't the RIGHT run. :P I should have run 5 minutes longer than I did. For some reason, I couldn't get MapMyRun and 10k Runner to play nice on my iPhone. I think the latter must have restarted, and so instead of being on w7d3, I was on w7d2. Again.

I am hoping that the hills will help me come race day, despite being a little behind. r/C25k says it unlocks "beast mode". ;) I can get behind that.

One other interesting phenomenon I noticed -- when one starts out, you get used to running a minute, and then walking to recover. Once recovered, you run a little longer, recover again, etc. Now that I'm running 20+ minutes, I'm still recovering from my run, but I noticed it WHILE running. Towards the beginning of the run, almost at the start, there was a short but very steep hill which got my heart rate up. Then I ran *down* the hill (the one that killed me and made me walk), and I noticed that, while running, my heart was nonetheless slowing down. I was recovering from the exertion while still exerting myself. I was completely recovered at the bottom of the huge hill, ready to conquer the long, slow hill (henceforth to be known as the LSH). Once I got to the top of the LSH and was running along a more or less flat course, I found myself recovering from the previous hill. Towards the end of the run, it was just running. It wasn't even terribly hard (which probably should have tipped me off), so I started to sprint towards the end of it, just for fun.

This is neat! I'm really excited about everything, and impatient to improve my running time and distance. Maybe next time I won't make boneheaded mistakes. ;P

I'll check in after the race in a couple days.

C25k - w6 d1

Just completed week 6 day 1, which is 10 minutes of running, 5 minutes of walking, and another 10 minutes of walking.

I'm getting close to the 5k goal! I can hardly believe it. In January and most of February, I was feeling gross and lacking in energy. I could hardly get up off the couch. I have no idea WHY I decided to be insane with a friend of mine and volunteer to run a half-marathon, but I did, and it's been a change for the better. After completing a 5k, I'll go on to post about training for a 10k, and then a half-marathon, partially because I have some ideas bouncing around about them, and partially in case anyone else is interested in what going beyond C25k looks like.

I signed up for my first 5k yesterday. I had been looking all over active.com for 5ks in my area around the time of my finishing the program, but the ones I found that were interesting, affordable, or not completely sold-out seemed to be in September/October/November. No good for me -- I'll be 5k ready at the end of May. I don't know how it slipped my notice the half-dozen times I combed through the site, but I found one locally (in my suburb! of a major metropolitan area! where most things occur in the more populated areas!) that benefits a local Catholic school. It also happens to be on the very day I finish the C25k program (essentially skipping w8 d3 for the 5k proper). Perfect timing!

So this week I run in 20 minute chunks, divided up differently. This also is the difference between my 5k running app (5k runner) and the original C25k program. d3 of last week would have had me go from 8R + 5W + 8R to a straight 20 minute run, and then back today to breaking it up with a walk. I won't be doing the 20 minute run until next week. Next day will be a 3R instead of 5, then 15R + 3W + 5R, and from there building up 5 minutes at a time to the 35 minute run / 5k (at a 12 minute mile pace, which is roughly what I'm doing).

After passing the 5k mark, I intend to work on my speed as I then start working towards a 10k, and in order to work on speed evidently according to a bunch of links here and within, I should do a bunch of 5ks where I"m actually *racing*, where it's actually hard from start to finish. Which makes sense, these are *races* after all. Why not?

So that's my next plan -- do a 5k, work towards a 10k while increasing speed. Run a bunch of 5ks to PR on a 10k and more.

Whoo!

W4 D3 - Half Way to 5k!

On paper, it seems the only difference between this run and the last one is a shortened walk interval between runs. However when actually running this, I was surprised at how much easier it was to *run*. I don't know if I was having an off day when I ran W4 D2, but I was definitely not counting the seconds until the end of the run, nor was I huffing and puffing quite as much, though it was nonetheless a challenge.

I'm quite excited by this. Which is good, because very soon those green bars won't be solid, but broken up into 1-minute intervals, running 10 minutes at a time. It still SOUNDS impossible. I have to get over this mental block in my head that keeps telling me, "There is no WAY you can do this." If you had told me in January that I'd be running/walking 2 miles three times a week, and that's only a small way to training for a half-marathon, I would have thought you were nuts. Even if you would have told me at my fittest I probably would have thought you were nuts. Running has always been *impossible* for me. Now it's not. I just need to adjust to this paradigm shift. ;)

Week 4, Day 2 -- Challenge

Well, here we go. Today was a real challenge. I think this was partially because I tried to dial up the speed last time, which was not a good idea, despite it not being by much. Consequently, I have some soreness on the inside side of my lower leg, like directly above the ankle. I think these may be shin splints? Not sure, but they're not too bad right now. I haven't noticed them getting worse, they're just not totally gone from the last time I ran to now. I noticed it last time as a tightness in that area when I was running. The next day I was sore, and today I'm still sore. They don't hurt too much when I run, except (of course) for today. We will see how these go -- the internets tell me that this usually subsides "as fitness improves". Okay, cool.

I did the 5-minute run! Twice! Yay!!! The first time was pretty cool -- I definitely noticed I was more sweaty and flushed at the end of it than at any point previously since starting c25k over again and dialing back the speed. I told myself I would not look at the time until a certain point in the song. In fact I was able to do most of the run not looking, and feeling good, although getting a little tired in the last 45 seconds of the run. The next 5 minute run was ... rather more difficult. O_o As was the 3 minute run following. I found myself staring at the clock because I couldn't concentrate on much else. Whew. Even the cool-down run I turned the walk speed from 3.5 mph down to 3 because I was ... I was just so tired. Perhaps I need to eat better on running days now that they are a challenge.

But yay! 5 minutes! Over 2 miles (maybe 2.5?) says the treadmill. I'm excited about this, although a tiny bit concerned about moving on. We will see how the soreness plays out. I may repeat this week just to get it solidly under my belt. Soon the running time will be measured in 1-minute increments, but will be in 10-minute chunks!

Week 2 Day 3 -- Happy Easter, and happy no injuries!

Happy Easter!

Whew, I was sooooo tired today (Easter is a big, big deal in this house), but I am glad I made myself run, not the least reason being the tremendous amount of calories I'm sure I ate. Between "helping" the kids with their candy, and the Easter brunch, it was just ... too much. So, even though I was ready to fall down and sleep, a run ultimately felt pretty decent.

(Yes, I am keeping up with my calorie restriction diet and continuous, gradual weight loss, but very very occasionally I allow myself to splurge for one day or one meal. If I didn't, I'd never keep up with the program. You have to like something to stick with it that much.)

And hooray for no injuries! This was the point, when I first started the c25k program, where everything from the knee down started to ache, starting after a run (which I knew wasn't a good sign). By the middle of W3 D3 I knew I had to stop because I had injured myself. It looks like it really was my starting pace which did it to me.

Today's run wasn't too hard, even with the new switch to a toe-strike. I think in a couple of weeks I may attempt to pick up the pace veeeeeery slowly. I think maybe by the end of week 4 or week 5, my body should be more or less acclimated to regular running -- but that's just a guess, I'll have to check with someone else who would know.

Very much looking forward to next week's running. Week 3, here I come! Rar!

Addendum: I hadn't been *great* about stretching before now, but I decided to youtube something and get on that ball in a more disciplined way rather than half-assing it. This guy is funny, so I've been doing what he said. Minus that lunge thing, which I cannot seem to get to work.

W2 D1 Redux - Toe-striking

Today I completed the week 2 day 1 run (running intervals pictured above). At last, a place where I can break a bit of a sweat. Today's run wasn't yet a challenge, but it still felt like an accomplishment to finish. And not a single twinge from the knee, although it did feel a little odd, but it quickly dissipated.

I like to think this is because, on the advice of a friend, I've actually switched up my running style a little bit. Rather than a heavy heel-strike (with a strong pronation due to horrendous arches), I've tried to switch to a toe/forefoot strike. The anecdotal advice of M said that all her problems (ankle, knee) cleared up when she did this. What the heck, I thought. When I re-started the program, I was a bit bored, so to make it interesting I figured I'd try it.

It seems to pair well with toe-raises that I do on off-days (and whenever I remember). If you don't know what running with this kind of strike would feel like, picture this: you're outside, on a sidewalk in your bare feet, and you have to run to something. You sort of naturally run toe-heel when you're being ginger with your feet.

Note: I have done ZERO real research about this, I just figured I try it out, because eh, why not. I do switch back and forth between my heel-strike and the toe-strike because 1) toe-striking isn't what I'm used to and it takes some concentration, 2) switching back when calves (say) get tired appears to buy some extra running energy, as I'm working different muscles. It's probably not good practice to change something up without investigating pros and cons.

WHATEVER THO LOL

I also had a biggish calorie deficit prior to the run that I indulged in a smoothie! :D

Overall, encouraged. Still running slowly, and I'm a little concerned about that, but I will work on that once my endurance is up-to-snuff. Right now, my mini-goal is to make it to the end of this week (w2d3) without any pain or injury setting in. At that point, given that I had run for 2-3 weeks before I had to stop, I think I may be acclimated enough to running that I shouldn't expect any major new runner's soreness.

I think I may have mentioned in my "why I run" post about the weight loss I'm trying for. I was at my max post-pregnancy weight when I actively started to try to lose weight (first, by eating normally but cutting out sugar, then by calorie deficit, then by deficit plus running, even though the running is less for weight loss and more for the goals I outlined previously). My goal is to lose 30lbs (at least). So far, I've lost 13lbs. I started measuring inches only a couple weeks ago, but I've already lost one inch off my hips and 2.5 inches off my waist. I'm so encouraged by this, SO encouraged!

Looking forward to Thursday's run!!

Once more, with feeling

Okay. Well. So.

In fact I did take some time off. I went to see an orthopedist, because the pain in my ankles and in my knee was darn persistent. He took some x-rays to check for stress fractures. Nothing showed up, but he said it's possible I could still have a stress fracture in my knee, but it wouldn't show up for 6 weeks, and then on an MRI. I was ordered to take two weeks off. If I was better, good. If not, MRI later. Well, I'm better. And the pain in my ankles was tendonitis, so two weeks off cleared that up completely. The pain in my knee turned out to be the pes bursa ... or something ... whatever muscle means "goose foot" in Latin.

Two weeks later, I"ve done week 1 day 1 again. Knee was a tiny bit twingey, but it didn't hurt. I felt nothing the following day. In my off-day, I did some toe-raises and squats.

Today I ran w1 d2. Again, fine. Easy.

This is partially because, due to the recommendation of some marathon-runner friends and a very athletic husband, I should run a LOT slower than I think I even need to. Previously I was running around 6.3 - 6.5mph (I'm on a treadmill and can measure), and that felt slow. Since, I've slowed down to no more than 5mph. It's almost painfully slow, and a tad boring. It's not all that challenging -- I don't really get winded, and I barely break a sweat. But evidently, it's what my joints and bones need to get used to the repeated impact of running.

So I'll be doing this painfully slow pace for a while. I keep seeing on the c25k subreddit that the program was designed solely for endurance and not for speed. Once one's endurance is up to snuff, you can work on speed. I still have almost a year, so I will definitely be doing that. I'll be running a 10k in October to have proof of time for the Disney Princess half-marathon, and I'm hoping by then I can have some kind of decent speed so that I can start in an OK corral (haha... the OK Corral ...). Maybe. we'll see.

So, there's that. Sometimes you fall down and have to start all over again. I'm starting again from the top just to be very careful, to keep up with that incremental building. Two weeks off is too long just to pick up where I left off.

So -- once more, with feeling!

Running Injury (?)

Well. That didn't end well. Finally my ankle and knee issues have sidelined me. I'm pretty sure I've done something to my MCL, probably when my ankles were bothering me. The MCL seems to be getting worse, but the ankles aren't. I did the 3 minute run today, but after my knee felt completely WRONG at the *walk* after that, I probably have to get it checked STAT. So frustrated.

W3 D2 - Foam Rolling

Well! Again! I can't believe how much this running is POSSIBLE. Even this run when my chest started to get a little tight during the first long (2.5 minute) run, after the walk, it was better, it was fine. I carried on the rest of the run. Actually I was amazed how little willpower I needed to muster to keep going. Not to say it wasn't challenging -- although I do admit in the middle of almost every run, I think to myself, "How on EARTH am I going to do this in excess of thirty minutes at a time? I can just barely get it done in the designated time. And yet, at the same time, a five minute run seemed unthinkable four weeks ago, and now I'm halfway there. In fact, this time next week I should be running five minutes at a time. Whew.

My ankle is still bothering me, although it has not gotten progressively worse, so after much vacillating today, and an ill-thought-out attempt to strengthen it by doing toe raises on the edge of a step (OH so much ow!), I ran on it anyway, because I WOULD really hate to miss a day of c25k. At the end of this week, I will be 1/3 of the way through the program! I've lost 7lbs so far! I want to keep doing this! It wasn't too bad -- I also stretched out my hamstrings for like 10 whole minutes or something before running. I don't even know how long it was, as I was attempting to sync exactly one playlist to my phone, but for some reason it took forever and wanted to do a complete update. Sigh. iTunes has really gone downhill.

I got suggestions for a running playlist from rockmyrun.com . Currently it's:

1. Run (Flo Rida)
2. Thrift Shop (Macklemore)
3. It's Time (Imagine Dragons)
4. I Love It (Icona Pop)
5. Firework (Katy Perry)
6. Roar (Katy Perry)  <-- Because who doesn't love this workout song? It's basically a reference to "Rocky" AND "The Karate Kid" !
7. Never Gonna Give You Up (Rick Astley -- that's right, I Rick-Rolled myself. Hello, 2007.)
8. You Know My Name (Chris Cornell)

That last song used to be my workout music after a particularly bad breakup, when I was mad at everything and also taking Tae Kwon Do. I put it on and kicked the crap out of everything in sight.

I listened to that music and I also had CNN on in the background, just because I wanted to mix it up. I won't be running my goal races to TV or movies, but I will probably have music. I also have to be prepared for the boredom of ... just running. Back when I was running for ROTC, I used to listen to books on tape while running. Perhaps when I get in better shape I can get back to that again.

Another thing I've done is gotten myself a foam roller. They sounded dumb to me, but my runner mentors have SWORN by them. And frankly, between Tuesday's run and today's, I think I can tell a difference. Scratch that, I can definitely tell a huge difference. Tuesday was another day I wasn't sure whether I was just sore or if I had actually hurt something, but I decided to run anyway. A couple seconds into the first running segment, I heard a Bluth-esque "I've made a Huge Mistake". My knees were stiff, my ankles were KILLING me, and everything felt Wrong. I kept going (maybe not a good idea) because I didn't want to fail. When I stopped and after I did my stretch, everything hurt. Everything. Hurt. I sat in the recliner with my feet up and my ankle in an ACE bandage and just whimpered until bedtime. The next day I hobbled around in the bandage. Today after the run, when my ankles were by no means completely healed, I felt those twinges, but after stretching, I also did some foam rolling, using this video:



Plus this one for the muscle around my ankle that's hurting:



And ... I felt measurably better. I am icing the ankle and will put the ACE bandage back on for good measure, but I could walk up and down stairs and all around MUCH more easily than the last time. So much so that I think I must attribute it to the rolling rather than strength or getting used to the exercise.

I think I did pretty well on this run, despite it being another slow one, so I had the post-run smoothie. Yay!

W3 D1 - Might need to take a break

So despite resting (like staying off my feet), stretching, and babying my knees and ankles for two days, I'm still in pain. I may need to take several more days off because of it. What seems to be protesting the most is my peroneal tendon. Or something. Whatever, it hurts here:



No swelling, but it was definitely burn-y stabb-y when I stopped running, which, I think, is not good. We will see how the next couple of days go. The internet suggests some stretches:



Explanation here: http://www.summitmedicalgroup.com/library/adult_health/sma_peroneal_tendon_strain_exercises/

Also, this has lots of good advice and other stretches: Running with Peroneal Tendonitis

I very much hope this isn't an "-itis" issue, just some new inflammation at a new runner, and an overpronator. For which I had even just got new shoes! Which I did have professionally fit. Which is how I know I'm an overpronator, although I remember being told that when I used to ice skate as a kid.

My knees also feel kicked, but it's really not bad, not as bad as last run, and nothing compared to the ankle. O_o I went slower than usual, even.

Other than that, the run was okay. My energy stores were already pretty depleted. I received some horrible, horrible news about a friend from college, and spent the evening crying about it, but decided I wanted to run before bed anyway. I shuffled along, despite having Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on the TV to distract. The 2:30 runs were a little tough, but still I kept have a sense of, I can do this, I'm not dying.

If it hadn't been for the stiffness (and sort of instability-feeling) in my knees and my stupid ankle, and aforementioned lack of energy, it would have been a fine, if slow, run. I didn't feel exhausted after the run, although my chest feels like it did a lot of breathing work, I don't feel as tired as I have after other runs. So either the runs are getting easier for everything except my ankle, or else, again, the slowness helped. (Usually I run at 6-6.2 mpg and walk at no less than 3.5mph; today I ran at 5.8-6mph and waslked at 3mph)

No smoothie. Didn't feel like I deserved or needed it.

By the by, this is a really awkward name for an injury, given that "peroneal" sounds quite similar to "perineal"...

W2 d3 - Pain sets in

Not much problem with the actual running. A little tired at the end of the day (my kids wore me out today), but holy. moses. My knees, ankles, feet, and some muscle that runs from my thigh into my butt ... they are all KILLING me. I am glad for the two days off before the next run, and honestly, it might have to be more. But I don't want to think defeatist yet. I can't think to write anything else yet because oooowwwwwwww...

Eek

Knees and ankles are trying to RISE UP AND KILL ME. I'm trying to tell myself it's because running DESTROYS you so you can be re-built into awesome cybernetic human who can run like a machine. It's the first step to survival in the future robot uprising.

Seriously though, ow. Alternating between Tylenol and Advil when things get too throbby to ignore on their own (which is most of the time... it's just the end of the [rest!] day right now and everything is tired and hurts.) I am going to do my run tomorrow anyway since I will have two days of recovery after. I'm not sure there would be any point in delaying progress. The more I run, the quicker I will adapt. Pain is just weakness leaving the body.

Rest Days, C25k w2 d2

Rest days as part of C25k seem a little annoying. I sort of want to run through any aches or injuries. But so far I'm glad I haven't.

I mentioned that I did something to my ankle. This was extremely annoying to me, because I'm not sure I did anything wrong, other than posture possibly. I didn't fall and I didn't twist it, but it felt like a sprain. I did the usual things for a sprain -- compression bandage and elevation when possible -- and while it was painful to walk on yesterday (rest day), today it seems a little twingey but about 80% better. I think I'm going to run on it tonight. Rest days really do seem important.

[After Run]

Okay, today's run seemed easier, probably for two reasons:
1) I never CAN remember what my usual "run" pace is -- is it 6mph or 6.2mph? I didn't think it would make that much of a difference. It might have. Today I consistently ran at 6mph and it seemed easier.
2) Usually in my very last segment of the run, since it's short (and it's the last run), I sprint -- 7mph. I didn't do that this time in consideration of my ankle, and now (it seems) my stiff knees.

In any case, not bad. Even if it is a little easier, I'm still moving forward, still with the same run/walk ratio (until it increases), while attempting to let my body catch up. I'm told by my husband (who is a natural athlete) that what I'm experiencing in terms of aches and pains (to wit: ankle pain, stiff knees, shins that feel abused) are just natural when one starts running regularly after a period of inactivity. I took an anti-inflammatory to help with some of the symptoms (which aren't horrible, just a little annoying) and will press on.

Weight up a teensy bit from yesterday, but within the margin of error (0.4lbs).

I'm encouraged after this easy-yet-still-status-quo run. Looking at the next couple run goals, I feel like Chekov from the Star Trek reboot, "I can do zat, I can do zat!"



Woot!

Why I Run

I began the first post without actually finishing it. I wanted to include a little blurb about why I run.

I mentioned off-handedly that I'm preparing for the Disney Princess Half-Marathon in 2015. I will also be doing the Marine Corps 10k in October in preparation for the half-marathon.

I am not an exercise junkie, nor a running junkie. I am not running to become a runner, although I am open to the possibility.

What I am is a mom of two, struggling to also be a woman, and someone I like. This takes place on lots of fronts -- spiritually, as well, but that's not the subject of this blog. Physically, I have had some issues with myself. I used to be a skinny, ballroom-dancing waif. All I needed to do to maintain my Spanish figure was eat right, which I liked to do anyway. I weighed 110lbs at my skinniest, and my wedding dress needed no altering (except for length). I could fit into almost anything, and I knew what types of clothes fit me and flattered me.

After two kids born within a year of each other, I found myself not only feeling so, so, so very tired all the time, and heavier than I seemed to be able to shake off with healthy eating. I was advised to go to the doctor by a family member and, even though I felt like a whiny idiot ("Doctor! I'm tired!" "Well, get more sleep, you doofus"), I did. My complaints warranted a blood test which found that my thyroid was wildly out of whack. Whereas normal levels of TSH are 0.5 to 5.5, I was told mine was in the hundreds -- I can't recall if it was 140 or like 400. All I remember is "hundreds" and there was a 4 in there somewhere.

I started medication. This helped somewhat. However, I was still having the post-babies wardrobe problem. Literally none of my clothes fit me anymore. None of them. Not only was this expensive as I had to replace more or less my entire wardrobe beyond basic post-partum wear to a year-round "new reality", but it was just awful psychologically. I hated who I saw in the mirror. All I could see was faaaaat fat fat fat. I wanted to change this, but when healthy eating wasn't working for me, not even with new thyroid medication, I would get depressed and would ... eat unhealthily. It made no sense, but it was still an emotional salve, which only made the problem worth.

One day I was on Facebook and I saw a friend of mine had posted about running a half-marathon. She is my age, has three kids, and has decided to take control of her life in this regard. I thought to myself that if she can, why can't I? Besides, if she were going to be crazy and do a half-marathon, I would do it with her. We would have each other's support, and no matter how stupid the idea might turn out to be, we'd be doing it together.

Then I started thinking ... running a half-marathon is INSANE. Who does that? I answered my own question -- healthy, active people do. Those annoying people who are running outside at all hours of the day. Those annoying stupid skinny people. But they're not just skinny, they're healthy. An obnoxious. But ... healthy. Hey, why can't I be one of those obnoxious people? I'm already obnoxious in like six other ways. More, I'm sure. But still. I could be that kind of person with that kind of discipline. I have a whole year to get my act together. Maybe I'll learn to like it on the way, and maybe I'll even get skinny.

MAYbe I'll even be one of those REALLY obnoxious people who run *whole* marathons! You know, they take "running vacations" -- traveling to a place to do something insane and torturous like running a marathon instead of doing what normal people do and relaxing by the beach. In fact, while I have no concrete plans to do so yet, perhaps in a couple years I can train for the marathon on Maui. How decadent would it be to relax on the beach drinking piña coladas *after* having run 26.2 miles? The vacation would be well-earned, in a concrete way. Not just "I'm doing what I have to do anyway, I will reward myself with a break!" but, "I am nuts enough to run for hours on end. Now let's drink."

To achieve my goals, I am doing the Couch25k program (soon to be followed by a 10k program and then a half-marathon program) via the 5k Runner app for iPhone. I am mindfully eating and being aware of what I eat and when, eating healthy foods, and tracking calories via the LiveStrong app and web-based program. I'm weighing myself daily, and even though I've lost a grand total of like 1 lb so far, it's satisfying to see the downward trend on the graph there. Importantly, while I'm not letting myself "cheat" on foods, I also won't let myself hate my eating habits. I will have my wine and cheese, but only a little bit, and not all the time. I WILL like this new regime, and will stick to it, even if I'm not a runner forever.

Then, when I can look in the mirror and like who I am, when I have healthy habits I can be proud to display my kids, and when I have this kind of concrete accomplishment to show for it, I will feel like a better woman, and thus a better mom to my kids and wife to my husband. And hopefully through this physical discipline and quasi-asceticism, I can also refine my spiritual life as well. I think when I'm the kind of person who can run half-marathons and marathons, I will be better.

St. Sebastian, patron saint of runners, pray for me!

Couch 2 5k, Week 2 Day 1 - Experiment in post-run smoothies

Well, today was the first day of upping the running ante, so to speak. A minute and a half of continuous running. That sounds like nothing-- and really, in the scheme of my ultimate half-marathon goal, it is -- but it's new for me, and again new that I have WANTED to run that long. In the past running was a dreaded thing that I did for a greater good. I was madly in love with ROTC and would force myself, out of sheer willpower, to run until I wanted to throw up. And then the next time I would run, I would force myself to run a little bit more than I did last time. I hated that kind of running, it made me want to DIE, just die, on the treadmill or on the pavement. But, whatever, the APFT was 1% of my training. I'd keep up with it to stay in shape (I wasn't terribly worried about my shape back then, I was skinny), but since I was hoping to go into a branch focused more on intellect than brawn, it wasn't going to ruin my life either. Oh the guilt I had to use to push myself to run. I used every Jansinist and gnostic mental exercise I could think of (<--Catholic problems). I tried to distract myself with music. In the end it really WAS sheer willpower. And, oh tragically, since I had been doing all my practicing on a treadmill, I was unprepared to take the ACTUAL APFT in the Texas heat, and with wind resistance. -_- I didn't make a passing time.

This type of running is not bad, and I dearly wish I had known about it back in the day. But at least I'm taking advantage of this now. I even did a run on an incline, and did an *extra* run outside, on hills. Another plus is now that we have a treadmill in-house, I can run on it and put the TV up loud enough to hear it. Sometimes I do a New Year's countdown to running or walking in my head (makes the change much more exciting!), sometimes I just focus on whatever is on TV. When I'm not obsessing over distance or time, it makes it completely fine. In fact, I am looking forward to a time when I can watch an entire movie during my entire run. :D

Fine -- that's the word I kept thinking in shock after my first run. I feel fine! I mean I feel tired, but fine. I don't want to die. I DON'T want to die! WHY do I feel fine!? What sorcery is this!? I think this is the way one is supposed to feel after working out. Even after this second run, I can tell it was a little harder -- and that I was a little dehydrated as I was dizzy after the run -- but still, fine.

I've been rewarding myself after runs with a hot shower, and today I decided to try to do one of those post-workout smoothies. I'm not sure of how it fits into my daily caloric intake, so I'm resolved to do it only once a week, after the first run of the week. Today's smoothie comes from here, the Banana mocha smoothie, with just a few modifications on my part:

Smoothie Recipe: Banana Mocha
"Replenishes glycogen stores and increases endurance" (says the website; I tend to take that with a grain of salt)

1 cup almond milk
½ cup coffee (cooled)
¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon peanut butter
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 frozen banana

calories: 288

Cinnamon, chocolate, banana, peanut butter (which you can't really taste, which is good, because I don't care for peanut butter in non-candy form)... an excuse to eat this in healthy-form. I'll take it!

Today, motivation came in the form of finding a t-shirt I used to wear in college, one of those tight babydoll tees I used to wear when I would practice ballroom, and wearing it to (of course) find it looked terrible on me now. I decided to wear it anyway because one day I will wear it again and it will look ... well, at least not as bad as it does now. Another reason to work out alone -- no one can hear you scream, fat. O_o

Lastly, I think my form must be off. I found that as I started running, I developed pain on the top of my ankle when it was fully flexed and my weight was over it. It only hurt when starting to run, and after whenever it was in that particular position. It must be wrong. Perhaps it comes from learning forward after I hit the button to run on the treadmill, in anticipation of picking up speed. I'll figure it out later. Uhm, I hope. Good thing tomorrow is a day off.

An intro, and Couch to 5k

I started blogging before it was cool, just for fun, and now I've stopped because it's dumb, just a way to monetize or advertise. No one actually uses blogging for its original purpose -- they've switched to Twitter of Facebook. I'm on Facebook (I don't care for Twitter). However, I need a place to record some thoughts. If someone finds this and likes it, fine. If not, I mostly realize nobody cares about this kind of endeavor. These thoughts are simply the scribblings of just one more among many doing quite the same. I'm no special snowflake.

So, the reason for this blog is that I've started running. I hate running. I have started the Couch to 5k program, and somehow I don't hate it (fair warning: this may be more or less the subject of every post). I hope to do the Disney Princess marathon in February. Yes, literally the only thing that is motivating me to run is running in costume in a place like Disney. If only there were a Doctor Who half-marathon or something... that might be the only OTHER thing.

When I decided that this was going to be a good idea, we immediately bought a good but used and therefore very cheap '90s treadmill off craigslist. Managed to decide this, read a million reviews, find one within budget, buy it, install and run on it all in one day.

I like the C25k runs. When I used to run for ROTC, I would just run and run and run and run and force myself to run more until I couldn't run. Even if I kept an easy pace, this always felt like a death march that it took sheer will to conquer. This training program begins with a minute of running and a minute and a half of running, alternating until one has been running/walking for 20 minutes. With 5 minutes of a brisk walk for warm up and another for cool-down, that's 30 minutes of a workout. It seems to be a good recovery time. Running for a minute straight isn't bad, and knowing that I only have to run that 8 times isn't a crushing mental strain. It's hard, but it's easy. I've been doing these runs on the treadmill, except tonight I did an extra run outside, on several hills. It's still not at all terrible, and I am looking forward to moving on to the next week's 1.5 minute run and 2 minute walk, alternated four times, and then a 1/1 run/walk twice.

More later.