W3D1

Wow, Week three day one! You were tough! You hurt so bad but felt so good! It was especially nice to run again after eating all that fair food on Saturday.

W3D1 consisted of a 5 minute warm-up, 90 second run, 90 second walk, 3 min run, 3 min walk, repeat those run/walk segments again, and then a 5 minute cool down. I thought I was going to die on that first three minute run. I wanted to check the time so badly but tried really hard not to cheat and look at the clock. My calves really tightened up and I think I was starting to get shin splints for the first time in my life. Everything just felt so tight in my legs; kind of like how you feel after you eat too much salt and you get swollen.

But the good thing is I made it through the 3 minutes with the help of Husband S. The 90 second segments right after the first three minute run went way too fast. Then we had to do the final three minute run. My legs still hurt during that, but I seemed to be able to handle it better. I couldn't believe how much distance we covered in those three minutes. Probably 1/3 of a mile or so according to the trail markers. That's a lot for me!

It puzzles me why my legs hurt so much. I'm wondering if I changed my stance somehow. I try to run heel to toe, rolling my foot. Maybe I shouldn't do that so much? Maybe I'm hitting too hard on my feet? Or maybe this is just what happens. I have no idea, but I hope I can work through it.

Husband S and I talked a lot during this run. Usually I am breathing too hard and I can't talk, but I have been getting better at talking. We talked about the weather and how it was surprising that it has never rained yet on a running day. Knock on wood, the forecast predicts rain for our W3D2 run now. We also talked about music being banned in races and why that might be. Does the music give some runners an advantage by causing them to run faster? We have no idea. In addition, we talked about how we usually dread starting the run but how we always feel good after we finish it. I love the feeling of finishing a good aerobic workout. I'm glad we've both been able to push each other to get out there and continue running on a regular schedule.

Anyways, the weather on this run was hot and humid. Probably upper 80's. This run was around 6pm, which was later for us.

Looking forward to seeing if I can improve my distance during the next 3 minute segments on W3D2!

Another Recovery Day

Well, today was supposed to be W3D1 if we stayed on track with our every-other-day run routine. But, this weekend killed us and we needed time to recover. So tomorrow will be W3D1 instead of today.

Why did this weekend kill us? FOOD is the answer. Unhealthy food! Friday night we went out to eat at a sushi restaurant because we had a Groupon coupon to use that was going to be expired soon. Saturday we went to the State Fair. We stuffed our faces full of deep fried cheese curds, deep fried candy bars, butter soaked corn on the cob, reuben stuffed pretzels, a bucket full of cookies, ice cream, roasted almonds, apple cider, and apple freezies. It was a ton of food. Despite all of this, we still went to our neighborhood's Greek Festival today and ate pork souvlaki followed by a baklava sundae and deep fried Greek donuts.

I had every intention of running today with husband S to burn off some of those calories. But after all of this greasy food I felt like I just needed to recover for a day. So tomorrow we will start back on the C25K plan with full force! I will probably need to run about 20 miles to burn off those calories. The local paper had an article that a person needed to walk 11 miles to burn off the cheese curds alone from the fair! And 5 miles for the cookies! Maybe I'll burn off all of these calories by the end of week 9? :)

W2D3

Today was pretty rough. Woke up early to run. It was pretty hot and humid outside even though it was only 8AM. My muscles were pretty tight - especially my quads. And my knees have started to hurt more lately today. So this run was harder than usual. I felt like I really had to push myself to make it through the 90 second runs.

Not much else to update you on today. I was just glad I actually finished the workout because I was pretty tired and sore today. It's been a long week since I never caught up on sleep last weekend or slept in any days this week. Hopefully next week is less tiring.

W2D2

Today was a harder run. Husband S thinks we are starting to get to that middle hump now that happens when you do programs like this. I think I was just sore from some stretching we did yesterday in a therapy program. The stretching exercises made me realize I wasn't fully stretching all of my muscles after each run. I found muscles that were tight and needed to be stretched more (my butt and my hamstrings). We also walked around a lot yesterday and did two spurts of sprints that were each a block long. They felt good at the time, but I think we over did it and that is why running was harder today.

It was sunny today, low 70's (much cooler than recent days), and breezy. My legs felt tighter when we were running and I thought that maybe it was due to the cooler weather. I also started to get that bloody taste in my mouth, which is weird because I was just commenting earlier about that and how it hadn't happened yet in any previous runs. Usually, I always used to get that bloody taste anytime I would run any distance. Husband S thought I hadn't had it yet in the C25K program because the weather has been so hot and he said it happened usually in the cold. So maybe that's why it happened today for the first time. It was colder today.

The program went well today still. We weren't running as fast or as hard as previous days but we still made it through. We didn't get off track at all. I tried to listen to the beeping cues really hard so that we would stay on track with the timing.

The only concerns I have right now are my knees. They started hurting yesterday and were still a little swollen today. I can feel fluid inside of them; this is similar to what happens to my knees when I downhill ski. I think it may be time to ice them. I only hope this doesn't get worse because I want to keep running! Anyone know if it is common for runners to have sore knees?

Husband S also mentioned taking an extra day off to recover. We've been doing the program every other day. This will allow us to get ahead of schedule. Technically you are only supposed to do the program 3x per week, so we could take an extra day off if necessary.

Well, that's all I have for today. Make sure to enter my contest below!

W2D1

Week 2! Today was the first big change in the program! 5 minute warm-up, followed by 6 sessions of the following: 90 second run/jog and 2 minute walk. Lastly, there was a 5 minute walk to cool-down.

The weather was hot and humid again today. Weather.com says it was only 83 degrees but I swear with the full sun and clear skies it felt much hotter than that when we were running at 5pm.

We ran on the city trail again today. There were actually a lot of other people out on the trail too. I think it was a busy time since people were using the trails to get home from work. I felt pretty special to have other people see me running! I'm starting to become a real runner.

Overall I would say the run today wasn't that difficult. I remember I was super scared when I saw the week 2 itinerary when I started this program. 90 seconds seemed like a long time to run! But it wasn't so bad at all. The heat actually made it feel better because my muscles were more relaxed (I haven't had any of the pain lately that I had felt back on W1D1 and W1D2). I actually ran pretty fast for one of the 90 second legs. Husband S didn't even have to push me. He was pretty surprised when he saw me running so fast. He gave me a big high five after that leg. It was harder to run on the next leg since I was so tired from pushing myself during the previous 90 second leg. I still have to learn to do things in moderation so I can be consistent with my speed and efforts among all running sessions.

I'm excited for Wednesday and I'm proud that I haven't given up on this yet! This program really works so far! I will keep on running! Today I even told Husband S about my long-term goals --- run the 5K by our first wedding anniversary in October and hopefully run a 10K by our second wedding anniversary in October 2011 (with more 5Ks sprinkled in between that time too, if I like them enough). The last thing I want is to train for this one 5K and then just stop after that. I want to keep running or training, so I think training for a 10K would be the best bet for our next step?? We'll see what happens. I haven't researched the 10K training program at all yet so I don't know what it entails. But so far I LOVE what we have been doing with the C25K program!

W1D3

Had a good run today with Husband S. We woke up on a Saturday morning and were running by noon! Not the best time to run when you are prone to skin cancer. The sun was high and there wasn't a whole lot of cloud cover. But we ran hard. I really was excited for the run. It was the easiest one all week.

We are both starting to have the proper running form. Or at least what we think is proper - heel first and then rolling to the toe with each stride. Sometimes I feel like I'm just plopping my whole foot down, but I'm really trying to be conscious of my stride so that I don't injure myself.

I already feel like I'm more in shape and have better posture. I can feel my core strengthening. I can't wait to see what happens by the end of the 9 weeks. Maybe I'll be toned again (I haven't been toned since I was on a dance team back in H.S.)

I'm ready for week 2 now! I actually feel like I could start it tomorrow, but I don't want to over-do it!

Recovery day 2

Today was the 2nd recovery day. I actually felt pretty great today. The groin muscles are a little sore still and I can still feel the blisters. It was another day of wearing the moccasins!

The levels of soreness were so minimal that I actually wanted to run again today and get ahead in the training program. I had planned to run right before dinner but then I had to finish some things up in the lab and I didn't get home till pretty late. So that was disappointing. But I could have ran today. And I was actually excited and looking forward to it. What am I becoming? I haven't experienced a runner's high yet, but I think I am beginning to understand for the first time in my life why people love running. It's fun to exercise without any machines or gyms. It's just you and the open road exposed in the elements. It is addicting, and I've only been doing it for 2 days!

Since I didn't get to run today and I really wanted to, I am now REALLY excited to run tomorrow (Saturday, a weekend day!). I barely feel sore right now as I type this at night so I think tomorrow will be a good run. The only thing that concerns me are the blisters and whether they will get worse if I put those Skechers back on. I may need to consider purchasing a pair of running shoes this weekend. Anyone have any recommendations for which brand of shoes to go with? I know nothing about running shoes. I'm sure there are different types of running shoes and it varies from person to person. But if anyone has any advice, please share!

W1D2

Today was an early day for us. Husband S had football practice at night so we were forced to run in the morning. Neither of us are morning people so I don't think either of us thought the other one would actually wake up at 7:45 AM to go running. What the heck have we turned into? We are getting up early now AND we are running? So out of the ordinary for us. Running makes you do weird things!

Well, to our surprise we both got out of bed. I actually had trouble sleeping the whole night because I was nervous for the morning run. I kept waking up every hour and looking at the clock, wondering if it was 7:45 and if it was time to run yet. I was nervous to run I think because I was still so sore. I remember at one point early in the morning it was raining and I happily thought to myself, "yay, I won't have to run now." So funny. Anyways, 7:45 rolled around and it wasn't raining and it was time to run.

We went out on the trails by 8AM. It was humid, cloudy, and wet. I was definitely sore still. But it wasn't as bad as the previous days. This type of soreness was something I could work through. And I did. The running parts seemed more strenuous today. It may have been the combination of increased heat and humidity outside that made everything seem worse. I was having a harder time catching my breath during the 90 second walks. I also felt like I wasn't going as fast as I had the first day. In addition, I developed blisters on the soles of my feet during this run. My crappy Skechers shoes aren't really running shoes and they rub on the bottoms of my feet wrong. S and I also got off on the timing. There were some tractors on the trails and they were pretty noisy. We couldn't hear the iphone for awhile and missed our cues. So that kind of through off our whole circuit for awhile. But we made up for it at the end by running during some of the cool-down time and then just extending the cool-down time later.

Husband S really pushed me today. I had a sideache a few times throughout the workout and he kept pushing me to go further. At the end we didn't exactly have a timer when we were trying to get back on track with the run/walk circuits and I wanted to stop at what I thought was a minute but he kept telling me to run to the end of the block. I didn't make it all the way there, but he definitely pushed me to go farther on that block than I had wanted to. A bad side-ache on my right side ensued after that. But I felt happy that we were working together as a team and motivating each other to do the best that we can.

I still felt sore the rest of the day, but not as bad as the first day. The worst part were the blisters on my feet. I had to wear my Minnetonka Moccasin shoes the rest of the day (they are like comfortable slippers). My boss at work commented on my colorful shoes and I just said I liked them because they were very comfortable.

So that was day 2. Overall, I was very impressed with the fact that we successfully ran for a second day and that we got up early to do it! We are on our way to becoming runners!

Recovery day 1

I don't think there is actually a name for the off days in this program. But I'm going to call them recovery days. Today definitely is a much-needed recovery day. I woke up very sore. My groin muscles really REALLY hurt. My quads were sore, as were my abs and knees. It was hard to walk. I tried to stretch some more. I couldn't believe how sore I was especially since I did stretch after the cool-down yesterday.

I definitely started to feel a little bit better as the day went on. No more diarrhea today at least! I actually started to feel a little bit like a runner. Since my abs hurt I felt like I had better posture and a strengthened core. All of this after one day of running! Sign me up for more!

W1D1

Today my husband S and I started the Couch to 5K (C25K) training program. We had been talking about getting in shape again for a long time and finally decided that now was the time. It is actually the perfect time for us. The training program is 9 weeks long. 9 weeks from now is our 1 year wedding anniversary - so what a perfect reason to get in shape! I'm going to try to get back to the weight I was on our wedding day (10-17-2009). I've definitely gained some weight since we've become newlyweds. Our lifestyle has become more sedentary - we stay home more and sit on the couch with kitties on our laps and watch movies on Netflix. Let's face it, it was time for us to get off the couch and become more active. This program will be the perfect opportunity for us to get in shape!

So today was W1D1 (week 1 day 1). It was sunny today and probably in the 80's. A little drier outside than the usual humidity we have been experiencing in August. We ran at 5:30pm on the paved trails along the creek. Today's program was a 5 minute warm-up walk, followed by 8 cycles of 60 second jogs and 90 second walks. Then there is a 5 minute cool-down walk. The run was difficult. Who are we kidding? I've never been a runner in my life so this was pretty hard! But I liked how there were intervals of walking and running. I never would have been able to just run straight for 5 minutes. At least not yet. So it was nice that there were breaks that gave us a chance to walk and catch our breath.

During the run my stomach started hurting. I felt like I was having digestion problems and I needed to let out a lot of gas. That would catch up to me later, as you'll read below.

After the run I felt pretty pumped up. I was actually sweating. I don't usually sweat that much at my work-outs at the gym. So it was somewhat satisfying that I was sweating. That meant I had a good workout.

Two hours after the run I went into the lab to work on some things. When I got in the car to drive to the lab I didn't feel so good. I brushed off those feelings and worked a bit when I got there. But those bad feelings caught up with me and I had to run to the bathroom. Diarrhea! It wasn't pretty. I didn't feel so hot. So this is what it feels like to be a runner.

I went home and looked up what was wrong with me on the internet. Apparently there is something called runner's trot. I'm not sure if I have it or not. We'll find out as I get farther into this program!

My muscles feel very sore right now. My groin muscles hurt most. I bet I'll hurt even more tomorrow! We'll soon find out!

Welcome!

This blog will chronicle the journey that my husband and I are taking through the C25K program. We have downloaded an iphone application to do this program. It allows us to listen to our music and at the same time we can hear the timers that tell us when to run or walk. It keeps track of everything for us! It's worth it for $2.99.

The program is 9 weeks long if we stay on track. But if things get hard I think it is OK to repeat a day or a whole week. We'll see how we do!

We haven't signed up for a 5K race at the end of this program. We aren't so much doing it for the race as we are for the training and the benefits of getting in shape. But our friends joke around that they will have a race for us. The race will be called the (insert funny Indian last name here) Classic. They claim they will even make special t-shirts for this race. The t-shirt will have an iron-on design of a numbered piece of paper safety pinned to the shirt. Get it? Instead of actually safety pinning a numbered piece of paper to a shirt like they usually do in races, my friends will actually make that the design of the shirt. Dorky idea, I know!

So this blog will basically tell my side of the story. I'm going to try to be 100% honest. It may get graphic. But that way people who want to do the C25K program (but are somewhat hesitant) will know exactly what they are getting into. I am also writing this blog for myself. I want to be able to track my progress and see how far I've come along. And if I ever fall off track again, I want to have this blog there so that I can show myself that I can get in shape and that it isn't that hard because I have done it before!

So that's the purpose of this blog. I hope you find it as valuable as I do! Welcome!