Only three weeks left until the 5K race. Last week training was tojog for 4min and walk for 1 min repeated 7 times. During my Wednesday morning run I decided to run out the the half way mark to get an idea of how long it would take me to do the whole race. On the way back I could see that all I needed to do was run one more interval and I'd have run the full 5K. So I did it AND I didn't feel like I was going to die. I wasn't any faster than the first time I walk/jogged a 5K, but I wasn't struggling to finish either. It wasn't as hard as the first time, not by a long shot. So on my Friday morning jog I decided to just see how far I could jog with out stopping. I actually wished I had mapped out how far a full mile was, I kinda just guessed and ran out to that point(I was off by 0.1), I ran for a full 10minutes. I'm sure I could have gone longer, but I didn't want to push myself too hard, I was experiencing pain in my calf muscles and I wanted to be able to finish the days training and make it home. I think some time this week I'll just run a full mile just to see.
Today was a great day. I easily finished the days training, which is still the same as last week. I feel great. Pain wasn't too bad in my calves today. I'm always grateful for that. My knees are kinda achy, especially when I walk down stairs. So I'll have to be more diligent in the strength training to try to eliminate that pain. But all in all I am happy with how things are going.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
This is hard
What is hard? everything.
Keeping this blog up to date is hard. I really wanted to keep this blog a daily thing, or at least a few times a week, but lately it's been more like a bi-weekly thing. I'll do better....I'll try to do better. Sometimes it is easier to just not write my thoughts, especially the negative ones. But, this is my journey and I do want to keep track of it, both the good and the bad.
Jogging is hard. But I am enjoying it. Most of the time. I still have the pain in my calf muscles, but I have learned how to manage it and keep it to a minimum as much as possible. Today a jogged another 5K just to see if I could. I jogged for 4 minutes and walked for 1 minute. I was pleasantly surprised that I could do it as easily as I did...even if I am slow. 41 minutes is better than not at all. The real Race day is coming up in a little more than 3 weeks. I was getting doubtful these past few days, that I'd even be able to do it. That is why I ran the extra bit this morning to make it a full 5K, I needed to know that I could do it with out dying. And I can, so I'm happy with that. I don't have any plans to be the one to come in first, or second, or even tenth. I just want to do it. To prove to myself that I can and then to simple say that I did.
Finding time to do all the strength training that I should is hard. I had planned to do it when I get home from my jog, but often as soon as I get home and get stretched the kids have swarmed around me and need me to feed them or do this or do that and so it gets put off and then most of the time it doesn't get done....I probably should be doing it right now, but instead I am using my free moments to make this post.
Losing weight is hard. Finally when I stepped on the scale last week I saw the numbers move. From 245 to 242. I didn't dare hope that it was real so I didn't record it. But then again this morning when I stepped on the scale it read 241.4. Oh blessed day. I really hope this is for real, that I am starting to see the weight come off. I am so tired of that number...stupid 245. I've been there for way too long, in spite of all my efforts. Do I dare hope that I'll continue to see that number drop over the rest of the summer?
Keeping this blog up to date is hard. I really wanted to keep this blog a daily thing, or at least a few times a week, but lately it's been more like a bi-weekly thing. I'll do better....I'll try to do better. Sometimes it is easier to just not write my thoughts, especially the negative ones. But, this is my journey and I do want to keep track of it, both the good and the bad.
Jogging is hard. But I am enjoying it. Most of the time. I still have the pain in my calf muscles, but I have learned how to manage it and keep it to a minimum as much as possible. Today a jogged another 5K just to see if I could. I jogged for 4 minutes and walked for 1 minute. I was pleasantly surprised that I could do it as easily as I did...even if I am slow. 41 minutes is better than not at all. The real Race day is coming up in a little more than 3 weeks. I was getting doubtful these past few days, that I'd even be able to do it. That is why I ran the extra bit this morning to make it a full 5K, I needed to know that I could do it with out dying. And I can, so I'm happy with that. I don't have any plans to be the one to come in first, or second, or even tenth. I just want to do it. To prove to myself that I can and then to simple say that I did.
Finding time to do all the strength training that I should is hard. I had planned to do it when I get home from my jog, but often as soon as I get home and get stretched the kids have swarmed around me and need me to feed them or do this or do that and so it gets put off and then most of the time it doesn't get done....I probably should be doing it right now, but instead I am using my free moments to make this post.
Losing weight is hard. Finally when I stepped on the scale last week I saw the numbers move. From 245 to 242. I didn't dare hope that it was real so I didn't record it. But then again this morning when I stepped on the scale it read 241.4. Oh blessed day. I really hope this is for real, that I am starting to see the weight come off. I am so tired of that number...stupid 245. I've been there for way too long, in spite of all my efforts. Do I dare hope that I'll continue to see that number drop over the rest of the summer?
Thursday, June 23, 2011
I'm still here
I know it's been like...forever, since I posted here. Life is busy. And on top of that I've been trying to figure out what I need to do to overcome this intense pain in my calf muscles. I've been doing all kinds of reading on different possibilities on what is causing it and what to do about it. I took another two weeks off of jogging. I spent the time walking 5k and riding my bike for 10k. I found some stretches that are specific for runners and helping with the pain in my calves. Yesterday I jogged for the first time in two weeks....and it felt great. It was pain free!! So now I am feeling like this is possible. Which is a change from the past two weeks were I was kind of feeling defeated. That this goal of mine to run a 5K this summer was out of reach and maybe a little far fetched. But now I am feeling like I really will be able to do this. I'll be jogging again in the morning, and I am hoping that it will go as well as yesterdays jog did. Hopefully onward and upward from here.
Monday, June 6, 2011
The beiginning of the 5K running training program
Well hello all my faithful readers....oh wait...that's right,there aren't any :) It's just me and my thoughts out here. Well regardless I have to apologize for being away for so long. It's been one week short of a month since I last posted anything. After I ran/walked my first 5K, I took two weeks off of jogging. I was still trying to get some walking in. but I really wanted to let my shins and knees heal before continuing on in the quest for my 5K race. this past week I started jogging again to see where I was at. I was pleased to see that I hadn't slowed down any. I bought some new shoes, so we'll see if that helps in the sore knee department.
Unfortunately I am still sitting at the same weight that I was when I started this whole thing. That's right, I haven't lost a pound at all. It seems to me that I am doomed to remain 245lbs forever. I can not accept this. However, I can not be discouraged either. So today I have decided to get back into tracking everything that I am eating to see where I am going wrong. I have also decided that I will ride my bike on the days that I am not jogging AND that I WILL do some strength training everyday. The plan is to get up at 6am instead of 6:30am to fit in some strength training when I get back from my jog or bike ride...that didn't go so well today. I turned off my alarm and was just going to lay in bed for a few minutes, but I fell asleep and didn't wake up until 6:30am when my baby boy started crying...a good thing too, because I would have just kept on sleeping.
So onward and upward. lets hope I start to see some results in the very near future.
Unfortunately I am still sitting at the same weight that I was when I started this whole thing. That's right, I haven't lost a pound at all. It seems to me that I am doomed to remain 245lbs forever. I can not accept this. However, I can not be discouraged either. So today I have decided to get back into tracking everything that I am eating to see where I am going wrong. I have also decided that I will ride my bike on the days that I am not jogging AND that I WILL do some strength training everyday. The plan is to get up at 6am instead of 6:30am to fit in some strength training when I get back from my jog or bike ride...that didn't go so well today. I turned off my alarm and was just going to lay in bed for a few minutes, but I fell asleep and didn't wake up until 6:30am when my baby boy started crying...a good thing too, because I would have just kept on sleeping.
So onward and upward. lets hope I start to see some results in the very near future.
Friday, May 13, 2011
5K-W5-D3, RACE DAY!!!
Today was race day. Today I finished my first virtual 5K(3.1mile) race. I made it! I completed the training and I am amazed at how far I have come in 5 weeks.
The first week's goal was to jog for 1 minute and then walk for 4 minutes(repeat 5 times). JOG FOR 1 MINUTE! That just about killed me. Sad, I know. Each week I would jog for 30 seconds more and walked less. Each week I thought I'd never make it to the next week. But at the beginning of each week I was surprised to see that I could indeed run for the required amount of time. Day 3 was always the toughest, and I was sure that I'd never be able to add 30 seconds for the next week. But I continued to surprise myself and now I can pretty easily jog for a full 3 minutes.
This past week the muscles in my calves and shins were so tight and sore. I was starting to think that I wasn't going to be able to race today. Wednesday I wasn't able to finish the last interval of running because the pain was so bad. Thursday I woke up with a wicked sinus cold. The fates seemed to be aligned against me. But I pushed forward. I wont lie. It was hard work this morning. My muscles in my calves hurt...a lot. But I was determined to do this. And do it I did! I wasn't fast. 41:30. But I did it. And I noticed that after I had jogged for 3 minutes, I still had more left in me and I could jog for even longer. This gives me great courage for when I start training to run the full 5K. I'm taking a week or two off of jogging to let my muscles heal. I'll keep up walking and riding my bike in place of my regular walk/jog in the mornings. Hopefully after a week or two my legs will feel better and I'll be ready to start in on the next level.
The only frustration I have in the whole thing is that over the past 5 weeks, I haven't lost a single pound. Not ONE! It makes me angry to think about it. So I try not to. I just keep focusing on the goal at hand, to run a full 5k, and I now know I can do it!
The first week's goal was to jog for 1 minute and then walk for 4 minutes(repeat 5 times). JOG FOR 1 MINUTE! That just about killed me. Sad, I know. Each week I would jog for 30 seconds more and walked less. Each week I thought I'd never make it to the next week. But at the beginning of each week I was surprised to see that I could indeed run for the required amount of time. Day 3 was always the toughest, and I was sure that I'd never be able to add 30 seconds for the next week. But I continued to surprise myself and now I can pretty easily jog for a full 3 minutes.
This past week the muscles in my calves and shins were so tight and sore. I was starting to think that I wasn't going to be able to race today. Wednesday I wasn't able to finish the last interval of running because the pain was so bad. Thursday I woke up with a wicked sinus cold. The fates seemed to be aligned against me. But I pushed forward. I wont lie. It was hard work this morning. My muscles in my calves hurt...a lot. But I was determined to do this. And do it I did! I wasn't fast. 41:30. But I did it. And I noticed that after I had jogged for 3 minutes, I still had more left in me and I could jog for even longer. This gives me great courage for when I start training to run the full 5K. I'm taking a week or two off of jogging to let my muscles heal. I'll keep up walking and riding my bike in place of my regular walk/jog in the mornings. Hopefully after a week or two my legs will feel better and I'll be ready to start in on the next level.
The only frustration I have in the whole thing is that over the past 5 weeks, I haven't lost a single pound. Not ONE! It makes me angry to think about it. So I try not to. I just keep focusing on the goal at hand, to run a full 5k, and I now know I can do it!
Monday, May 9, 2011
5K-W5-D1
Another fabulous morning. Today I was able to jog for 3 minutes!! This is really impressive. I can't believe that I have come as far as I have. This Friday is supposed to be race day, but I am feeling hesitant about doing it that day because day 3 of every week is always a killer. So I was thinking that I would do it on the Monday instead. However, I have learned a few tricks that might help me get through the sluggish Friday training, so we'll see what happens. Not much else to report today. I'm feeling good and ready for the week to come.
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