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.