This time I don’t mean the running part. Yes, that is hard, but what is really hard is the commitment. I skip one day that I was supposed to run and I almost can’t start again.
I was supposed to run on Wed evening, but I didn’t. No good reason, I had a lot to do at home. But I always have a lot to do at home. Stuff always needs to be done.
Thursday night I didn’t want to go. I was tired, I didn’t sleep well the night before. My Little Big Man said “lay wiff me, jis for a minute. If you donna lay wiff me for a minute I will keep coming outa my room” What’s a mom to do?
I slightly fell asleep almost instantly, I was drooling. I was in there for about fifteen minutes. Then he told me I could go.
So go I went. I dragged my feet, watched a little the news, but I went.
I really thought I would have to write about how I failed to run the full 30 minutes.
Half way through I had to start giving myself little goals again. But I really believed I wouldn’t be able to run all 30 minutes.
I just ran. Just two more minutes. Just 3/10 of a mile more. One step. Pound. Two Steps. Pound.
I didn’t want to write a bunch of bragging posts about my running advancement. Then I thought; ummm…do you really think it is bragging to say you are able to run now?
Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but it is hard to maintain. I am not at that place yet, where skipping some days doesn’t affect me.
So here is how week 7 went:
Week six starts out with intervals and the third day you have to run for two miles or 22 minutes. With no walking (except the warm-up and cool-down). Then on week 7 you run for 2.5 miles or 25 minutes. Each day. No more intervals.
I run Sun, Mon, Wed & Thr. I completed the third day of week six on a Thurs. I timed it so I wouldn’t have to add three more running minutes to my time with out a break. So come Sunday I was ready to run for 25 minutes.
Since I don’t run 10 minute miles yet, I knew I wasn’t going to reach the 2.5 mile goal.
I was nervous about running 25 minutes and wasn’t sure I could do it. So I decided that I would run for at least 22 minutes before inserting a walking interval. So come the 22 minute mark and I was so close to the 2 mile mark. I told myself, just reach two miles then you can walk. Well after I went past two miles my app told me I had one minute left! I figured I could run for one more minute. And I did.
I ran the whole 25 minutes. No walking.
I did the same thing on Monday. And Wednesday. I just kept giving myself small goals that I knew I could do.
run log from Sun & Monday
On Thursday I was supposed to start Week 8. Which is 28 minutes or 2.75 miles of running, with out walking intervals. But I had gotten this horrendous headache and knew I couldn’t do any running, and thought I would go on Friday. Turns out the headache stayed with me till Sunday.
I just knew adding those three minutes was going to be torture. I hadn’t run in four days and wasn’t sure if I would be able to do it. I went to the gym making my list of small goals.
Who do I see on the treadmill? An old coworker from my gym-rat days! (we used to work at a gym together) I haven’t seen him in over a dozen years!
While I ran we kept talking, which is a bit difficult for me as my lungs are not that in shape yet. But I was able to maintain fairly good speech. And you know what happened… I ran the whole 28 minutes with out even realizing I had done so.
OK, so that is not really true. I realized it. Boy oh boy was I aware of it. But I didn’t have to keep telling myself, only one more minute, or only 3/10 of a mile to go. I was distracted so I wasn’t focusing on the time or distance.
The second day of week 8 is another 28 min/2.75 mile, but the third day is 30 minutes or 3 miles. I don’t run a 10 min mile, I am more like 12 min miles.
week 8 day 2
But this pace allows me to run the whole time. Technically I should be able to run a 5K by Wednesday, but that is not really going to happen, but I will be running 30 minutes, and that is awesome.
And of course I said that was a great idea. I didn’t really mean it.
I had till March to get into racing pace and it was only November at the time. We could do it. And of course I made my cousin do it too, after all it was her fault I am running again.
So, she didn’t mean that we were going to run the 15k, just the 5k. And isn’t that the program I started?
I decided that to make it a challenge for me, I am going to train for the 8k instead of the 5k. Because, well if you are gonna do it, you might as well go all balls out. Right?
I also figured I had to have someone hold me accountable. Since the race gives me the option to change events, I figured if I told you, all three of my readers, about it, I couldn’t back out at the last-minute.
On my sidebar I have set a countdown so we all know when my race time comes.
I have also decided that I will keep you posted on my progress. I know, I know, you’re welcome.
So this is my official announcement that I am participating in a race event!
My family and I love the movie “Rat Race” and almost every time I am walking somewhere with my sister, at some point we quote Rowan Atkinson, so it is only fitting now. Right? And thank you to Riddleman65 for posting this clip for me to use.
I ran for me. I ran because I enjoyed it. I ran to collect my thoughts.
I started running at the athletic club where we belonged. In high school my mom canceled that and I had to run outside on the street. Which I found I enjoyed more.
click picture for source
I loved clipping on my walk-man, yes that says walk-man, and heading out of the house. There was so many directions I could run, to change-up the scene a bit. My mind would wonder and clear. When it got hard, I would push through and keep going, because I had to get back to the house somehow.
Eventually, it was harder to find the time. We lived where it wasn’t safe for me to run alone. We lived where it was too cold to run outside. Many reasons, well mostly excuses on why I stopped running.
For a while now I have wanted to start running again. I didn’t because I had a mental block. I knew I couldn’t just run like I used, I had to start out slowly, and run intervals. However, I just couldn’t figure out how to start.
click picture for source
Sometime last October my cousin was talking about how she started this Couch to 5K program. Which I thought was just a name she thought of, cause she is funny like that.
Turns out it is an actual program. Someone sat down and thought about the best way to get people to run a 5K (about 3 miles) in nine weeks time. It is specifically designed for people who have not run in a long time, or have never been running. It is designed for a 30 minute workout, three times a week.
There are a lot of resources out there, some are free, some you pay for. I like this website because he has complied a whole list of resources for you to get started.
In October I joined a gym and I started running. I am too old for running in poor weather right now, so I run on a treadmill.
I downloaded this free app. There was some complications and then the holidays, so I didn’t quite keep on schedule. I still ran, but sometimes I repeated some of the days. I am now on track to be able to run a 5K in two weeks time.
I am not gonna lie. It has been hard. My lungs are not happy, my knees hurt and I need a new sports bra. I have to learn to breathe again.
My run on Monday night was the most difficult yet. I was just sooo tired, Baby Sid is teething, and both him and Ian woke me up a number of times the night before. It was the first time since I started that I had to sneak in a minute of walking during a running interval. Because I felt I was going to fall over.
But here I am now. I am a runner. I run. I run. I run. I am a runner….well almost.
I Tri and Craft 