W7D1

Today was the best run yet! It was such a good run. The weather was perfect - upper 60's and sunny, but not too sunny because the trees were shading the trail partially by 6pm. The air was crisp and it felt like fall, my favorite season.

We started off our run by sprinting pretty fast. We joked around that we should run as fast as we could the whole run. That only lasted about 30 seconds and then we fell into an actual pace that would allow us to last 25 minutes. Still, we had a much faster pace today than previous days and it showed. We were able to get farther on the trail than any other runs. We made it all the way to the old apartment building we lived in. Maybe ~2.7 miles total today?

The bad thing is that my heel started to hurt on the way back. Just after the half way point, I stopped to tighten my shoe because it was sort of moving around and I thought that might be causing the problem. That didn't really fix it though. While I was running I could feel my heel starting to hurt but I just kept working through it. However, a few hours later now it is really hurting when I put any weight on my left foot to walk. I hope I didn't do something to my Achilles or a bone. I don't want to get injured! I want to keep running. I'm scared though. It doesn't feel right.

I think our next run will be Saturday morning and I'm really hoping that my foot is better by then. I want to make that run just as good as today's, if not better! I feel like we could do the 5K now. We probably could've done it today! I'm excited about the fact that soon we will be able to run that far, even if we haven't technically signed up for a race yet to run that far! Am I the only one who is doing this program who hasn't signed up for a 5K yet?

W6D3 and procrastination

Oh man, we sure are getting behind in our program. We aren't giving up, it's just that we've been busy lately and haven't been getting home on time to run. By the time we get home it's after 6 and then we just want to eat dinner, not run, stretch, and shower for an hour. So we were supposed to do W7D1 yesterday. We didn't get to it. We were supposed to do it tonight then but instead we had a date night. So tomorrow we must do it! We have to! No way out this time, no matter what!

I'll write first about W6D3. We ran this on Sunday afternoon, maybe around 1pm. It was very sunny outside. Clear skies. I remember thinking it was going to be cold out so I brought my running jacket with. But then as we walked half a block outside we both decided it was warm and we went back to the house to drop off our jackets so we wouldn't have to run with them. We are so indecisive in this fall weather. It was a good decision to ditch the jackets because it did end up being very hot on the run!

The 25 minute run was difficult. That's our longest run ever! But I will say that it wasn't impossible. I just had to pace myself. It was a rather slow pace sometimes. But I still kept up the motions of running at all times, even if it may have been faster to just power walk.

I was happy because we made it our farthest distance yet on that run. We went past the farthest bridge and around the corner of the trail to where we could see the old apartment building we used to live in. It was always my goal to run that far and I was glad we finally made it there. I always thought we'd make it there earlier in the program but I'm glad we at least made it that far at some point in the program. My new goal is to get a little bit beyond that point every time now. It will mean I'm running farther and improving my pace each time. I can see us getting closer and closer to the 5K now. I estimate we are running about 2.6 miles right now in the 25 minutes. I think we will get to the 5K pretty soon!

W6D2

Husband S was not around today so I had to run alone. It's also been raining buckets here the past day and a half so I had to run inside on a treadmill for the first time in this program. Don't believe me? Check out this photo below of the creek by our house. It normally looks like a small stream. See that trail on the left? That's our running trail. It's completely under water! I don't know when we'll get to run on it again. Hopefully by next week?

Anyways, running on a treadmill is different. In some ways I felt like I was running faster than I do on the land, but in other ways I couldn't really gauge how fast I was going. The machine said I ran 2.4 miles by the end of the workout and burned 150 calories. Not bad, but I really thought I would have gone a farther distance especially since I was running for a total of 20 minutes today and walking for 13 minutes. Will I really make it to 3.1 miles by the time I run for 30 minutes? I guess 2.4 miles might be around what we normally travel on our outdoor runs, so I guess I'm keeping up the same pace.

I did feel like I sweat more on today's indoor run. I don't like sweating indoors so I felt pretty yucky by the end of the run. The run felt a lot harder because I had my iphone sitting in front of me on the treadmill and I kept seeing the time accidentally. The 10 minute runs went by pretty slow, especially since I didn't have Husband S with me to converse with. I am amazed though at how I can endure through the runs. It's all a mind game now. Even if my calves and shins start to cramp up I can usually work through the pain as long as I tell myself I can. Maybe it won't always be that way though, especially if I ever run for longer than 45 minutes. I could imagine hitting a wall then!

I'm looking forward to the next run because I might be able to do it with Husband S again. I hope it is back outside though. I much prefer outdoor running - more things to look at besides a white wall and a tv screen.

W6D1

Ah, today was hard! Probably the hardest day yet. Yes, even harder than W5D3! It was really cold this morning and over the lunch hour. Then when I left work 3 hours later it was super hot. Like 85 degrees and 60% humidity. Such a drastic difference from the lunch hour when I was wearing a long sleeved shirt, jacket, and pants. The weather in my state fluctuates so much this time of year, but usually it doesn't fluctuate that much in 3.5 hours! Seriously, last night we had the heat on. This afternoon we probably could have had the A/C on!

So for our run this evening it was sunny and hot and I pulled out a tank top and the Nike tempo shorts again. Did I tell you what I think of those tempo shorts? They do NOT work for me! They rub on the inside of my legs really bad and I get a burning rash. Not fun. Kind of sucks that I spent $13 on them and now I don't want to wear them.

So anyway, we ran harder today since we knew we had the breaks in between runs today. We wanted to try to increase our distance in those times. Running faster was not a good combination with the heat and the 2 glasses of milk that I drank and the chili that I sampled just before the run. What was I thinking? I felt like I was going to throw up on this run. But I made it through. It was probably the sweatiest run yet. My face was beet red by the end.

One good thing was that the heat made my muscles feel more relaxed. It was definitely easier to stretch at the end.

As much as I love summer, I'm hoping we get our fall weather back for our next run because I kind of like running in the cold weather. Is there a certain weather you prefer for running?

W5D3

Ok, I have not fallen off the face of the earth! And I haven't stopped the program. (Yay for husband S and I!) I just haven't had time to blog lately!

I'm going to get back on track with this blog and try to post some of the past days. But for now I'll start talking about today which was W5D3 - the day I was dreading for quite some time. I was basically scared ever since I first saw what it entailed, which is 20 minutes of running without any walking breaks besides the warm-up or cool-down.

The weather has been a lot cooler the past week or so. Today it was pretty chilly - maybe 50's. The coldest day of running so far. At least it was cloudy. I prefer clouds to the sun burning me. I wore shorts and my new zip-up running jacket. I didn't get very warm until about half way through. Then I took the jacket off because my arms were hot. Just my arms were hot, nothing else. Weird, huh?

Well the great thing about today was we made it through the 20 minutes. There were times when I mentally thought I wasn't going to make it. But I kept pushing through it and kept putting one foot in front of the other. Husband S gave me some positive words of encouragement and told me he knew I could finish. That helped a little too.

I felt incredibly proud of us as we finished the run right back by our starting bridge. We did it! It was something I never would have been able to do just 5 weeks prior. And it was definitely something I never ever thought I'd do just 2 months before. I never thought I'd be a runner, and now here I was running for 20 minutes.

I'm kind of excited about running in week 6 because we get a few walking breaks again. This will give me a chance to work on increasing my speed. I may have finished the 20 minutes today, but it wasn't the fastest run yet. So I'll enjoy working on running faster the next week.

To all of my followers, how did W5D3 go for you? Were you pleasantly surprised with your results?

W4D2

Today was hard! I feel like I say that every time but I really did have a hard time today. Maybe it is just something about day 2 of each week. It always feels like day 2 is the hardest! Perhaps because you aren't quite used to the new routine yet and you are still sore from day 1?

I think we started running off faster for awhile today. At least Husband S said we were running harder.

My calves hurt pretty bad after the first 5 minute segment. And my shins. I don't know if I had shin splints or not. But everything just felt very tight and cramped. Perhaps I didn't drink enough water earlier today.

The last 5 minute segment was the hardest. I just seemed to lose my speed and was going pretty slow toward the end when I could see the starting bridge off in the distance.

But all that matters is that I finished! We made it back to that starting bridge again!

I hope day 3 goes better than today. Maybe I'll have to repeat a day or something because I'm not sure I'm ready for week 5 yet!

September's Giveaway from UPrinting

It's time to announce the winner of September's contest. I used a random number generator to choose the winner from the eligible entries.

Congratulations Ann! You have won a set of business cards from UPrinting! Please contact me to claim your prize! Thanks again to UPrinting for sponsoring this contest on my blog!

________________________________________

UPrinting is sponsoring another giveaway on this blog for the month of September. UPrinting makes really awesome business cards. This giveaway is for UPrinting's diecut business cards.

Here are the details for the prize:

250 Die Cut Business Cards for One (1) Winner

2 x 3.5”, 2 x 2” (square card) or 1.75 x 3.5” (slim card)

Die cutting options available: Rounded Corners, Leaf, Rounded One-Corner, Half-Circle Side, Circle

Paper Type: 14pt Cardstock Gloss, Matte, or High Gloss; 13pt Cardstock Uncoated

Color: 4Color Front, Blank Back; 4Color Front, Black Back; 4Color Both Sides

Limited to US residents only 18 years old and above

How to Enter - Mandatory Entry: please become a follower of this blog via Google Friend Connect, then comment below and let me know how you would use the greeting cards.

Extra Entry (you get one extra entry for the following):

• Tweet this contest on Twitter and comment below to let me know you did so

Contest Timeline: Entries for the contest will be accepted until 6PM CST on Wednesday, September 8th. The winner will be announced shortly after.

Disclaimer: I will be receiving the same prize for hosting this contest.

W4D1

Whew! We ran 5 minutes straight! And we did that twice! With some 3 minute runs mixed in there too!

Yeah, so tonight at 6:15pm (much later than usual) we started week 4. It was our first run on a cloudy and gloomy day. It actually started to sprinkle during the second half of the run and I wish that the skies would have opened up and just poured rain on us. I still haven't ran in the rain and I really want to see what that is like. There was a nice breeze tonight, so that kept us relatively cool.

W4D1 consisted of a 5 minute warm-up, a 3 minute run, 90 second walk, 5 minute run, 2.5 minute walk, 3 minute run, 90 second walk, 5 minute run, and a 5 minute cool down.

I won't lie, the 5 minute runs felt like an eternity. But they weren't all that hard. I just really made sure to focus on my breathing. I regularly took deep breaths so that I would avoid a sideache. I felt a little heavy on my feet today. Kind of like I was pounding them into the ground too much. So I tried to roll on my feet more - from heel to toe. Nothing really hurt too much during the entire session until I got to the second half of the last 5 minute run. Then I started to get the sideache on my right side below my ribs and on my right shoulder (weird!). But I knew that the end would be coming soon because we started to approach the bridge where we started running. We always start at one place and turn around at the half way point (indicated by the man on the iphone telling us we are halfway done). We usually try to make it all the way back to where we started but generally we don't because we are slower on the second half of the workout. This time though I could see the starting bridge coming up so I knew the last 5 minute segment would be ending soon. I told myself to just work through the pain of the sideache. And I asked Husband S to encourage me and tell me I could do it because I was having a hard time mentally. Teamwork! It does wonders! If you are having a hard time with the program and you are going at it alone I highly recommend you get a running buddy. Husband S has really pushed me. He runs a little faster than me too which then makes me run faster than I would on my own.

So I felt great after the run but now a few hours later I am sore. In just a few hours! My gluts hurt. I had a hard time walking up and down the stairs too. My knees felt a little locked or my legs were sore. I couldn't really tell. I don't think I properly stretched my muscles after the run. I'll focus on more stretching in the future!

The new running clothes worked pretty well. Except for those Nike Tempo shorts. Maybe they take some getting used to. However, I felt like the crotch of them hung kind of low and they rubbed on my legs because of that. They gave me a rash where they rubbed. Ouch. I do like those Nike tops though. They felt very cool.

Overall I felt like we were kind of getting into a zone on the longer runs. We just kept running and it didn't feel that bad! Maybe that 20 minute run will be possible next week (or is it week 6?)

Looking forward to W4D2!

It's Official: We're Runners Now!

We visited an outlet mall this holiday weekend and shopped at the Nike Outlet Store. We wanted to buy some warmer workout wear because it is going to get cold pretty fast and we don't want to be running outside in that weather in shorts and tank tops. Just this weekend it got down to the 40's at night. Brrrr. So I went into the Nike store looking for some warmer running clothes and came out with a lot more than that! Check it out:

Nike Dri-Fit Track Jacket, Style number 362794, $24.99

Nike Dri-Fit Running Bra, Style number 362768, $12.99

Nike Dri-Fit Running Bra, Style number 362768, $14.99

Nike Tempo Shorts, Style number 211646, $12.99

Nike Dri-Fit Training Capris, Style number 208677, $9.99

Mavrk Skate Shoes, $14.99 (for everyday use, not for running! And yes, these are men's shoes, but I'm still going to wear them anyways because they are super comfy and they were in my size - 7.5 mens or 9.5 womens)

Husband S found some warmer styles too. He's really excited about his new running shoes, which he says are cushy and way better than his old shoes. Here's what he bought:

Nike Mens Jacket, Style number 339667, $19.99

Nike Mens Shorts, Style number 371638, $14.99

Nike Mens Air Max Moto+ 7 Shoes, $59.99 (I think this is the women's shoe pictured below, but the style is similar for men)

One thing that surprised me about all of these clothes is the number of pockets that they have! Pockets on the backs of the bra shirts for gel pouches. (First of all, I had no idea what a gel pouch was. So I had to google it and discovered it's a concentrated sports drink/gel.) Pockets inside the shorts. Pockets in all sorts of places on the jackets. Small pockets for keys. Larger pockets for ipods. Even a compartment in the shoes for the Nike+ program. I'd say we are race-ready now. We have enough pockets to carry keys, music, sports drinks, probably even a pocket for some mace should we decide to run in scary neighborhoods.

So now after that little shopping spree we really are invested in running. $185.89 invested. We're obligated to run now, folks. Not that I would want to stop anyway. I love running now!

P.S. In case you are curious as to what I wore while previously running, I wrote up a new post below. The shoes in that post are what I'm still going to wear while running until I save up some money for some actual running shoes.

The Running Attire That I Started With

This is what I used to wear while I ran. The attire of weeks 1 - 3:

Tank tops. I have a few different colors. My favorite one is a purple one I bought at Old Navy for $5. These were bought for my summer wardrobe back when we were non-runners.

Soffe Shorts. I have many colors of these too - royal blue, gray, purple, and black with fluorescent colors splashed on them (totally 80's). I bought all of these back when we were non-runners for about $4 to $7 each at Kohl's. They are super comfy, hence why I bought them pre-running. My normal shorts were always getting too tight and I couldn't button them anymore. So I switched to these elastic band shorts. It's sad, but true. Hopefully if I keep running I can fit into my normal zipper and button shorts again.

Skecher Sport Shoes. These aren't real running shoes. In fact, I bought these as everyday shoes last year. I bought two pairs of these shoes because I liked them so much. The arch fell in just the right place. I have problems finding shoes where the arches line up with my feet correctly. I wore my silver and blue pair of these shoes everyday to work/school. They were so worn down that they hurt my feet on the first two days of the C25K program. I finally pulled out my brand-new orange and silver pair of these shoes, which I had been storing in the closet until the silver/blue pair was worn out. These have a lot more padding in them compared to the older pair and have been fine so far for my runs in this program. Some day I will get a new pair of real running shoes! These Skecher shoes cost me about $26/pair at JCPenney's last fall.

What do you wear when you run? Is there a certain brand of shoe that has worked well for you?

W3D3

We ran W3D3 a day later than scheduled because we thought we would be hanging out with friends and going to a happy hour on Friday night. Well that didn't happen. We each had to work late right before the holiday weekend. And I had a bad confrontation with a rude coworker on Friday afternoon. By the time we got home we were too tired and drained to run. So we ran Saturday at noon instead.

The weather today was very deceiving. It was cold in our house (~64 degrees, we had the windows open) so I thought it would be cold outside. I decided to wear some yoga pants on this run. Bad idea. By the time we finished the first 90 second segment of the run I was so hot. It didn't help that it was noon and the sun was high and the trails were not very shaded. Next time I will not be wearing pants while running until I'm 100% sure that is really cold outside. I should also remember to wear sunscreen while running at noon. I'm very prone to sunburns, especially at that time of day.

The run seemed harder today. I think the work week just caught up to me. I was pretty tired. The nice thing about this run is that my knees didn't really hurt. I was getting worried earlier in the week because I felt like my knees kept getting locked up and were swollen. Everything was better today though. It's funny how these things come and go so fast.

I did feel like I ran out of juice by the end of the run. The last 3 minute segment really wore on me. I think it was the combination of the sun and the tight yoga pants. It was just too hot to run in those pants. I actually got a sideache during the cool-down walk; which is odd for me because I usually get sideaches while running, not while walking.

Like always though, I felt much better after the run. That adrenaline really does help you continue on your day! Overall, both Husband S and I have noticed that we seem to be getting a little bit more toned from this program. The scale hasn't reflected any major changes yet, for me at least. In fact, I think the scale has gone up since I've started this program. Increased muscle weight, perhaps? But the fact that I do feel a tiny bit more toned in the stomach region gives me hope that running is helping my body get into shape and get healthier! I'm hoping it helps my knees get stronger in the long run too. I want to continue downhill skiing and water skiing. Lately my weak knees have had a hard time with those sports. So hopefully running will help increase my strength in my knees and overall too.

W3D2

Today was tough. I felt like I was really dragging at the end of each of the 3 minute segments. At the end of the first one we couldn't hear the alert and we actually ran a little bit longer than 3 minutes. At the end of the second 3 minute run I was really tired and was getting a sideache. I kept wanting to look at the clock because I thought maybe we didn't hear the timer. I finally did look at the clock only to discover we were just 5 seconds away from the walk portion. I wish I would have just kept running those last few seconds instead of peeking at the timer.

I did push myself a lot harder today though. I ran faster and picked my legs up more. So that's probably why I got tired sooner. I really am starting to have more of a runner's stance. I'm using my body more to propel itself. It feels good. My calves and shins didn't hurt as much today as they did on W3D1. That was a great improvement!

The weather wasn't so bad today either. Cooler than some days we've had recently and there was a slight breeze. Pretty sunny though. It's amazing how different it feels to run in the shade versus the full sun. I always wish the trails were 100% shade. And it always seems like our 3 minute run segments are right on the sunniest parts of the trail!

The good thing about today is that those 90 second runs went by really fast. When you start running 3 minute segments those 90 second runs feel like nothing! We'll see how we do next week when we bump it up to 5 minute runs with shorter walks!