Couck to 5K - Week 9 Day 1 & 2 & 3

W9D1 was done yesterday at the track. Nice and very cleansing, despite the two lost-in-the-fog lovebirds zigzagging all over the track while everyone else was actually trying to exercise.

W9D2 was done earlier today. I shouldn't have tried to run up that hill, but I beat The Pole and The Pole's big brother, The Bigger Pole.

Call me crazy, but the second I looked at my calendar and saw that I had one "Couch to 5K" run left on my schedule, I wanted it over with today. It's been run, run, run for nine weeks. And I like running, don't get me wrong, but it would be nice to cross-train, and the next training plan lets me cross-train.

So I did one more workout, the final one. If I could conjure two words to describe how I am feeling physically, it would be vomitus maximus. How I feel emotionally? Yippee ki-yaymus maximus. I'm glad I did it, but I will never do two in one day again!

BUT WHAT MATTERS IS THAT W9D3--the FINAL workout--IS DONE!

Couck to 5K - Week 8 Day 3

I was scheduled to do this last Saturday. Didn't do it.

The Race Wall

I've decided to create a wall commemorating races I want to do and races I have done. So far, I have already done a 5K and hopefully will be able to do another one this weekend. I have my sights set on a 5K in November and my brother and I are supposed to do a Barbarian Challenge, pending training and travel.

EXCITEMENT!

Grrl Scout Cookies

I went to the store yesterday; walked in on the right side, exited on the left. As I was leaving, I saw a table of Girl Scouts and the wall of cookies around the table and on it. Without even thinking, I blurted, "Holy God, it's the DEVIL!" did a U-turn and ran to the other door. This dramatic attempt to escape the cookies actually happened, and I feel bad about it. I hope those scouts didn't hear me, but I'm pretty sure they did. It's hard to resist the temptation of cookies, especially when it's being sold to you by little kids that are just doing a fundraiser.

My apologies, GSA...but on a side note, it wouldn't hurt if you came out with some figure-friendly stuff so I wouldn't feel compelled to run from you.

Get to the track

In the past, my prescription for stress has been many things, but that list never included exercise. And yet lately, whenever I am dealing with something particularly stressing--especially these pass few days--my first thought is to go to the track and run. Not the refrigerator, not the liquor store. The track. It is increasingly becoming my angry place. This is one silver lining for me, especially since my chances of going to the Run for Your Lives 5K are disappearing even though I've already registered, and that reality is beyond disappointing.

It looks like the rest of this month is going to be dealt with at the track.

Couck to 5K - Week 8 Day 2

5 min walk / 28 min run / 5 min walk

It was a pretty good run. I feel like I ran it harder than I normally do.

Couck to 5K - Week 8 Day 1

5 min walk / 28 min run / 5 min walk

I almost put off this workout again. It was one of those days that tries my faith to the max, and the trials are winning. Even though I was burned out mentally and spiritually, I decided to make a trek to the track. The awful sluggishness was greatly absent this time. I'm glad I made the track trip.

Four more workouts and I will be done with this training plan!

Couck to 5K - Week 7 Day 3

27 min / 1 min / 2 min

I ran/walked 2.52 mi today. Don't know what is going on with me today. My legs felt like they were made of lead. I usually feel great afterwards, but I still feel sluggish. After having similar results last week, I took three days off but I am still drained. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow.

Running from my problems

Outside of that awesome experience at the 5K, this year has not started off well. Hitting the pavement or the track is rapidly becoming my Prozac. Sometimes I want to run until the problems in my life just disappear behind me. I just want to keep going and leave everything behind and start off brand new. New name, new everything. I was so burned out today that the track trip was going to get cancelled. But I went, because it needed to be done. Something in me wouldn't let me curl up on the couch and cry like normal. And I'm glad I went, because it feels like at least some of those demons have been exorcised out of me.

For a couple of days, I thought about passing up the 5K. It felt financially irresponsible to travel to a race given my situation. But now I realize how much I needed that race. I needed that great moment and that great memory. I needed it. Balance is a necessity when life kicks you around like a Gitmo guard. Even though my problems were still waiting for me at home, for a moment I got to run away from them. It took some of the wind out of the pain. The finish line of that race was my salvation.

Couck to 5K - Week 7 Day 2

22 min run/ 1 min walk/ 7 min run

This breakdown wasn't entirely accurate because I left my watch at home. It wasn't bad; I didn't get winded doing a mile or even going beyond that. In fact, even though I did go faster, I felt like I could go even faster than attempted. I need to watch another how-to on these socks again, though.

Couck to 5K - Week 7 Day 1

Today's run/walk was AWESOME!

I ran up the hill to The Pole today. Not walked, ran. It was the strangest sensation. My thought was, "Is it just me or am I getting...stronger?" It was a wonderful sensation! The run was so pleasant that I am still in a pretty good mood despite all the bad news that kept coming this way this morning. That in itself is a first!

I think instead of stopping after my time is up, that I am going to walk for a while and then start the run/walk process over. Yay me!

1st 5K - DONE!

It's surreal...I can't believe I did it!

Here is a breakdown of how my thoughts were going:

Mile 1: Didn't even feel it. I was high off the energy of the moment. Being apart of that great crowd of runners just did something magical to me. Eye of the Tiger was blasting in my ears and I felt like taking on the world! Caught up with and passed a woman in a green jacket that sailed passed me at the starting line.

Mile 1.5: The grumbling starts. The "Are we there yet?" starts.

Mile 2: I'm ready to go home by this point. Actively looking for my car during the route, I realize that it's parked by the finish line. Stream of profanity. Decided to keep chugging along the path.

Mile 3: Tired but determined not to be conquered, there were three people I was adamant about passing. I have no idea why I singled them out, but for some reason they needed to be passed. Yeah, they kept their lead, but not without a fight.

Finish Line: I sprinted towards it. I was neck and neck with another runner, but sped passed her as a group of women screamed "You go, girl!" High on that moment and loving every minute of it. I crossed the finish line with my fists in the air like Rocky, screaming "I JUST FINISHED MY FIRST 5K!" Life should feel like crossing a finish line!

I can't WAIT to do it again!

Just say no...you know what? Forget it. You win.

Enablers are my earth-bound devils.

It's practically impossible to tell them no, because no matter how much you tell them no, they beg and nag and guilt-trip until you cave. One particular enabler that I'm sure means well, will keep the beg/nag/guilt routine up for days until I just agree to be freed from the beg/nag/guilt cycle.

On the days that I just don't want to drink, I have two enablers that make it out as if I'm desecrating a church if I don't drink with them. Birthdays are a special hell for me, because no matter how much I don't want that f****** cake, I feel like I'm being rude not to take it. And I am a firm believer in the clean plate club, so that just magnifies the problem. Sorry...I really do believe that the starving children in [insert country here] would love the meal I'm having. Throwing food away is almost a sin to me.

But I must learn to say no...and mean it...and stand by it.

I'm at a point now that when I don't want something to eat or drink, I really actually don't want it. This is a big deal and must be encouraged. An anti-enabler mantra must be created! I'm off to the Just Say No campaign vintage poster site for inspiration!

Couck to 5K - Week 6 Day 3

I ended up skipping this workout because I was just too worn out from stressors that were a lot stronger than I am right now.

It would be nice to make it up tomorrow, but apparently you aren't supposed to do anything strenuous before a race, and I have my first 5K this weekend. Maybe I can make up the difference then.

Couck to 5K - Week 6 Day 2

The run/walk was fine, in fact, I felt pretty good after it.

Fast-forward an hour or so later, I am sore. I mean, sore sore. Sore at that level of being the personification of meatloaf sore. And tired. I shouldn't have tried to outrun that walker.

Ay!

Couck to 5K - Week 6 Day 1

I found a tack in my shoe before I went out. Whether or not this is some type of Sicilian curse is unclear, but the fact is that for a second it made me quite nervous.

Today I decided to do a 5 min walk/5 min run for a longer distance. It surprisingly wasn't bad and I got farther faster. I might try it again next time.

Food Hangover

I went to a Super Bowl party last night. I don't understand football in the least, but football fans have the best get-togethers so I went. The carnage (translation: my noshing) wasn't as bad as it could have been, or as bad as it has been. Actually, looking back, it was extremely conservative considering my options. In fact, an hour after I got home I was hungry again and stopped by a fast food place.

But this morning, it happened.

I was sluggish and unwilling to get up. For a few months now, something has been going on with me that when I eat after 9 PM, I have horrible morning sickness the next day. I'm like a freaking mogwai, only instead of turning into a gremlin, I'm nauseous and popping Pepto like they are M&Ms. But this, this was worse than the other times...this was a full-fledged food hangover.

No, it wasn't an alcohol hangover because I have distinct reactions to drinking too much alcohol and non of those symptoms were present. This was a food hangover. I woke up swearing I would never eat again.

No...more...dip...no...matter...how...delicious...ugh...

Newbie burnout

I've been forcing myself to exercise lately, and it's getting tougher. This is usually what happens: I come out of the gates running, and then crawl back to the gates and board them shut until I summon the willpower to do it again. Ugh! Wiped out and EXHAUSTED!

Must...fight...fatigue...monster...

Zombies: the ultimate motivator

I signed up for the "Run for Your Lives" 5K. The odds are that I will be a zombie in the first five minutes. But this sounds like too much fun and Heaven knows I could use some fun in my life.

Couck to 5K - Week 5 Day 2

I know this analogy has been used to death, but seriously...if you looked up "not feeling it" in the dictionary there would have been a picture of me pouting next to the definition.

Today was a dreary, errand-filled day and in all honesty it shouldn't have been, but something happened from 2 P.M. on that just sucked the life out of me. It was looking like another track day, and I didn't even want to do that. But I made myself go, constantly saying, "Just go do it." A kinder self-nudge reminded me that this was a good time to give my new insoles a test drive.

When I got to the track, three students were there--two guys and a girl. The guys were of the variety that from just one look you knew they were complete douche-bags. As soon as I passed them with my little trot, they started sprinting, and they used me as their counter from that moment on. Whenever I caught up with them, they sprinted. This isn't new. I have dealt with this before and it's not all in my head because I actually heard someone make the "Even she's running" comment. It's ghetto for days and beyond rude. On a day like today, I would normally just be upset, but these two really, REALLY p***** me off. I just pushed harder. They were wearing themselves out to the point that one of them would turn around and give me a look of disgust when I started catching up with them during their walk phase.

I fully enjoyed watching them lose their wind. My run/walk completed, I felt awake and cleansed.

The cost of becoming a runner

I read only once that being a runner was expensive. It was a lone sentence in a mountain of information. At the time, the sentence did not apply and seemed that it would never apply to me. After all, my only objective was to run, and that was free, right?

But as I am taking this endeavor more seriously, the glaring cost of being a runner is hitting me in the face. It's not for vanity, either. High quality products are an important investment. Yes, you can run in cheap shoes. You can run barefoot for crying out loud. The reality, however, is that I am a novice on the large end of the size spectrum, and I have to take into account the force that will go through my body as my feet hit the pavement. I have never been the type of person that counted on reacting to an issue. I can and will react to a situation, but my mantra has always revolved around prevention. I don't want to treat injury. I don't want to deal with illness. I want to stop them from coming into being.

So I'm looking at things that seasoned runners buy to enhance their running, but for me, it would be a contribution to prevention. But the price is escalating. Compression socks, shirts that don't leave germy sweat clinging to me are becoming more important. Oh, don't get me started on sports bras. At my size, there is no such thing as a sports bra under $60.00. And let's not forget entry fees to races. Sheesh. There should be a government grant for runners since everyone and their proverbial mother is screaming about how much obesity costs taxpayers.

But I need to refocus my thoughts on this. Like any investment, there is concern. There is fear. There is hesitation. But an investment in your health doing an activity that you actually look forward to is destined to have a helluva payout.