You ever experience one of those moments when you immediately think your choice was not the best one and you wonder why on earth you put yourself through something on purpose? Yeah. I pretty much lived my life in that state through the past week. This was Week 4 of C25K and if I thought they were serious last week, I wasn't paying attention to what was coming up (and what is continuing to sit on the horizon at this point for me.) Here is how it goes down this week... usual 5 minute brisk walk as a warm-up. Then, it all goes downhill (or based on my current route... a little uphill and a bit of downhill.) Run 3 minutes, walk 90 seconds, run 5 (freaking FIVE) minutes, walk 2.5 minutes.... repeat. But don't worry, you get a nice cool down 5 minute walk at the end. That's the 5 minutes I spend convincing myself that this wasn't that bad and I can do it again. Then, somehow, I get excited the night before a run and seem to forget that it was so terrible. Whatever works, I guess. I seriously have developed a love/hate relationship with running at this point. I can see how people get so caught up in it and I find that I enjoy my time spent on my own just concentrating on getting through a run. At the same time, I despise most of it as I am doing it. I figure that will change as I get more comfortable and build my stamina even more.
Week 4, Day 1 - So, I was supposed to do this run on Friday morning, but at about 3am I was woken up by the sound of some crazy thunder and an all out downpour. While I couldn't be sure it would still be raining at 5:45 when my alarm was set to go off, I decided to turn off the alarm and wait a day. That way, if it was raining, I didn't wake up both Steven and myself for nothing. I was pretty excited actually to go on Saturday though because I could leave a bit later since Steven was home AND I could try to go a full 3.1 miles since I didn't have to worry about being back in time for Steven to start getting ready for work. This meant that I could figure out a rough estimate of how long a 5k actually takes me at this point. Downfall, Saturday morning was in the low 50s and Friday morning would have been in the low 60s. I much prefer running when the temp is in the 60s but I can't complain too much.... a couple weeks ago it was barely in the 40s in the mornings. So, this week is going to be pretty rough. As it turned out, I walked about 1/2 of the second 3 minute interval and about 90 seconds (I looked at the time so I know this is the case on this one) for the final 5 minute interval. Plus? I finished the day with a 13:56 min/mile. My fastest yet and I actually ran for 5 minutes straight! It wasn't easy. Breathing is definitely still my biggest obstacle. My legs were tired and getting a bit weak after the first 5 minute interval, but breathing definitely where my biggest hurdle lies. It is amazing to me though that I can even attempt to run 5 minutes at a time when just a few weeks ago, I was barely able to run 60 seconds at a time. I ended up being able to finish a full 3.1 miles and it took me just under 45 minutes. That means, I need to re-evaluate my 45 minute goal. At this point, I would like to shoot for under 40 minutes but I hope to be even faster by the time the 5k actually rolls around.
Week 4, Day 2 - Okay, okay, okay. I know that almost every day I mention that this day was late and I put it off for this reason or that, but this time I have a seriously valid excuse. My back has been hurting for a while and Saturday evening I pulled something in it (in my upper back of all places). I tried to deal with it on Sunday but it actually drove me to tears a few times and I had to resort to using some ibuprofin. Not what I wanted to do. Although this part of my back isn't seriously affected when I run, it hurts if I stand up for too long so running was out for a few days. I should have run on Monday or Tuesday, but I elected to wait a bit and went on Wednesday. I only did the program this day because I had to get back home so Steven could start getting ready for work. I do plan to continue to do a full 5k distance whenever possible (prior to the program actually encompassing 3.1 miles within it's time limits.) My back wasn't hurting at all this morning and Steven thinks it is not from lifting the kids (like I believed) but from running. I would have stood him down, but as I ran today I tried to be aware of whether or not I was holding my shoulders and neck tense and I constantly had to remind myself to stop tensing those areas. So, there is a good chance that I caused the back pain by running. I know how to rectify it though, so I took a bit of a break from concentrating so hard on my stride to make sure that I was trying to have a relaxed upper body. Today was rough. I ended up running the entire planned time with the exception of about 2.5 minutes of the final 5 minute run. I didn't stop running early though like last time and just walk for the remainder of the time. Instead, I walked and ran alternatively through the final 5 minutes. I figure I walked about 1/2 of that time, but I cannot be sure. As it turned out, I did my fastest pace, however. My pace was under 14 minutes this time. 13:56 min/mi to be exact and I went 2.09 miles in just under 30 minutes. Pretty good (for me) and hopefully I can run the entire planned time during my next run.
Week 4, Day 3: In the interest of honesty and transparency, I have to say that this was definitely not my best run to date. It was likely near the bottom. When I woke up this morning (later than normal so I was hoping I wouldn't be too tired as Steven was home so I didn't have to rush out before the sun), my lower back hurt a bit. This is actually nothing really out of the norm for me, I periodically have this issue so I decided to push through it because I can't guarantee that my back won't hurt some on race day. Turns out, it wasn't my best idea and I ended up walking A LOT of the time I was supposed to be running. I ran for the first 3 minutes then about 3 minutes of the first 5 minute interval. I walked the entire next 3 minutes and walked/ran alternately the final 5 minutes. I probably only ran about 8 minutes or so total. That might even be generous. The plus? I got up, I got out and I still got the entire 2.1 miles I typically do completed, my mile/minute rate was just not as good (it was close to 15 minutes per mile.) I considered waiting for this day, but I wanted to try it and we are busy this weekend so I wouldn't have another chance until probably Monday. So, it's done... but it wasn't done well. Eh. We will see how that translates into starting Week 5 (which is even more terrifying for me than Week 4 was...)
Week 4, Day 1 - So, I was supposed to do this run on Friday morning, but at about 3am I was woken up by the sound of some crazy thunder and an all out downpour. While I couldn't be sure it would still be raining at 5:45 when my alarm was set to go off, I decided to turn off the alarm and wait a day. That way, if it was raining, I didn't wake up both Steven and myself for nothing. I was pretty excited actually to go on Saturday though because I could leave a bit later since Steven was home AND I could try to go a full 3.1 miles since I didn't have to worry about being back in time for Steven to start getting ready for work. This meant that I could figure out a rough estimate of how long a 5k actually takes me at this point. Downfall, Saturday morning was in the low 50s and Friday morning would have been in the low 60s. I much prefer running when the temp is in the 60s but I can't complain too much.... a couple weeks ago it was barely in the 40s in the mornings. So, this week is going to be pretty rough. As it turned out, I walked about 1/2 of the second 3 minute interval and about 90 seconds (I looked at the time so I know this is the case on this one) for the final 5 minute interval. Plus? I finished the day with a 13:56 min/mile. My fastest yet and I actually ran for 5 minutes straight! It wasn't easy. Breathing is definitely still my biggest obstacle. My legs were tired and getting a bit weak after the first 5 minute interval, but breathing definitely where my biggest hurdle lies. It is amazing to me though that I can even attempt to run 5 minutes at a time when just a few weeks ago, I was barely able to run 60 seconds at a time. I ended up being able to finish a full 3.1 miles and it took me just under 45 minutes. That means, I need to re-evaluate my 45 minute goal. At this point, I would like to shoot for under 40 minutes but I hope to be even faster by the time the 5k actually rolls around.
Week 4, Day 2 - Okay, okay, okay. I know that almost every day I mention that this day was late and I put it off for this reason or that, but this time I have a seriously valid excuse. My back has been hurting for a while and Saturday evening I pulled something in it (in my upper back of all places). I tried to deal with it on Sunday but it actually drove me to tears a few times and I had to resort to using some ibuprofin. Not what I wanted to do. Although this part of my back isn't seriously affected when I run, it hurts if I stand up for too long so running was out for a few days. I should have run on Monday or Tuesday, but I elected to wait a bit and went on Wednesday. I only did the program this day because I had to get back home so Steven could start getting ready for work. I do plan to continue to do a full 5k distance whenever possible (prior to the program actually encompassing 3.1 miles within it's time limits.) My back wasn't hurting at all this morning and Steven thinks it is not from lifting the kids (like I believed) but from running. I would have stood him down, but as I ran today I tried to be aware of whether or not I was holding my shoulders and neck tense and I constantly had to remind myself to stop tensing those areas. So, there is a good chance that I caused the back pain by running. I know how to rectify it though, so I took a bit of a break from concentrating so hard on my stride to make sure that I was trying to have a relaxed upper body. Today was rough. I ended up running the entire planned time with the exception of about 2.5 minutes of the final 5 minute run. I didn't stop running early though like last time and just walk for the remainder of the time. Instead, I walked and ran alternatively through the final 5 minutes. I figure I walked about 1/2 of that time, but I cannot be sure. As it turned out, I did my fastest pace, however. My pace was under 14 minutes this time. 13:56 min/mi to be exact and I went 2.09 miles in just under 30 minutes. Pretty good (for me) and hopefully I can run the entire planned time during my next run.
Week 4, Day 3: In the interest of honesty and transparency, I have to say that this was definitely not my best run to date. It was likely near the bottom. When I woke up this morning (later than normal so I was hoping I wouldn't be too tired as Steven was home so I didn't have to rush out before the sun), my lower back hurt a bit. This is actually nothing really out of the norm for me, I periodically have this issue so I decided to push through it because I can't guarantee that my back won't hurt some on race day. Turns out, it wasn't my best idea and I ended up walking A LOT of the time I was supposed to be running. I ran for the first 3 minutes then about 3 minutes of the first 5 minute interval. I walked the entire next 3 minutes and walked/ran alternately the final 5 minutes. I probably only ran about 8 minutes or so total. That might even be generous. The plus? I got up, I got out and I still got the entire 2.1 miles I typically do completed, my mile/minute rate was just not as good (it was close to 15 minutes per mile.) I considered waiting for this day, but I wanted to try it and we are busy this weekend so I wouldn't have another chance until probably Monday. So, it's done... but it wasn't done well. Eh. We will see how that translates into starting Week 5 (which is even more terrifying for me than Week 4 was...)
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