Beginner 5K - Day 34

To begin on a slightly tangential note to those responsible for the changes to Blogger.com: I hate them.

Anyhoo, I didn't do today's workout. Poor timing and general sloth were the culprits. Better luck next time. I thought I would knock this week out, but it shows how much I don't like this plan if I can't even stay faithful to the final week.

Beginner 5K Program - Day 31

I skipped Day 30.

But today...today I was determined to go to the track. In fact, it felt like an absolute necessity. I did two miles straight for the first time ever (kinda stopped caring about the distance after that two-mile bit). But I do know for a fact that I at least ran two miles.

Yay!

Beginner 5K Program - Day 29, Part Deux

Changed my mind and decided to do Day 29 today.

1 hr 18 m walk/run; Technically it wasn't 35 minutes of straight running, but since the walk part was only a minute, as far as I'm concerned, it was 35 of straight running. In high humidity. Ended up in hill country because of construction. Glad it's done!

Beginner 5K Program - Day 29

Day 29 has been moved to another day. Have I complained about how much I don't like this five-day-a-week program? I have? Well, you are going to get more complaints. Tough beans.

ONE MORE WEEK OF THIS CRAP-HAPPY PROGRAM! I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to the 10K training program.

Ugh!

On the bright side, I have been working on my graphic design skills and am getting better at creating clip art, so the Fall Chick should look pretty great!

Of course, the Spring Chick on this site is fabulous, too.

The fallibility of scales

I decided that I would make another attempt to document my weight loss/gain/whatever so that I can use it as a guide to tailor my training plan. There are no photos of models motivating me on this; if I am smaller, I can run faster and that is what matters to me.

So this morning, at the time I have determined that I weight the least (since weight can fluctuate as much as six pounds during a day). I weighed myself six times within a five-minute window--four times in the exact same spot--and got five different weights. My pet came in the room, I "gained" two pounds. Pet kicked out of the room, lost a pound. Pet came back into the room and walked in front of me, lost two pounds. Pet allowed to stay in room. Pet left room voluntarily...gained almost two pounds.

I wonder how much of the weight change involved my blood pressure going up in anger about the fluctuations. I'd better do my measurements now before some cosmic force causes my equator to expand.

Beginner 5K Program - Day 24

10 min walk/15 min run/1 min walk/15 min run/10 min walk

I've been having to write these splits(?) on my arm so I won't lose track of what to do when.

I have been half-doing this entire program, and it's showing. It took me 11 minutes longer to get to my finish point than normal. I must fix this.

Must start acclimating to increased temperatures.

Ugh.

But on the bright side, despite March's dietary disaster, I haven't gained any weight. :)

5K no. 3, BABY! Talk about a Resurrection Run!

I finished my third 5K, and even though my time was crappy, IT'S DONE!

The entire run, my goal was to not be last. It was such a point for me that I pretended the walkers behind me were zombies, and I would run (or run harder) whenever it looked like they were speed walking too close. And then I thought, who cares if I'm last, as long as I cross the line?

Another thing I've learned: I hate 1 mile markers. I really do. Whenever I see one, my first thought is "Great. I've got to do this crap two more times."

But another thought came to me and it filled me with a sense of pride: For years I've wanted to do a 5K. Just one would have been enough for me. Who would have thought--especially at my current size--I would have done THREE in four months this year! Time to start training for that first 10K! No stopping me now!

Wow

I have not been faithful to this training program at all.

Today I honestly planned on doing my run, but thunderstorms...again. Why is it that my run days end up being crazy unexpected busy or effing thunderstorms? Hopefully the next training program won't be so demanding.

Oy vey!

The pain of reality

For some strange reason, I decided to do measurements now, and I'm not happy. True, I have been slipping these past two weeks, but this damage that I see is over a long period of time. From my vantage point, it seemed like I had lost inches but according to records from two years ago, the opposite is true. I guess I should be grateful that my weight is still in the same ballpark despite the fact that the rest of me is not.

Still, it is beyond disappointing. I need something to cheer me up. Looks like it is time to sign up for another race.

Beginner 5K Program - Day 12

Did 2.56 miles. Post workout hunger attack (or "runchies") commenced shortly afterward. Feeling a little bit of soreness.

Beginner 5K Program - Day 11

When I put on my compression socks this morning (or any other morning), it is my symbol of a commitment to exercise that day. Why? Because it takes for-freaking-ever to put them on because they are so tight. All that effort deserves a payout! This morning I was supposed to go out and run, but every conceivable obstacle blocked me from my plans. So I ended up doing a DVD.

And I literally just did it.

I can't believe I made myself exercise at this time of night! It was like my body wouldn't let me take another day off! I missed my run because of just about everything today, but I put in The FIRM Jiggle Free Arms and still got a sweat!

All because I was disgusted at the idea of spending seven minutes putting on socks and not getting some use out of them. So compression socks, thank you. I love you, I hate you, and then I love you again.

Training slumps

So it has been brought to my attention that the lack of motivation I'm feeling right now is called a training slump. It's nice when these things have names. You can't address an issue until it is defined, and a definition usually starts with a name. I am going to try to start again tomorrow, but the odds are that I will end up starting later this week.

I hope that will be enough time to get me ready to get back in the game. Can't believe I forgot I have races next month.

Skipping Runs

I'm sore. Very, very tired and very, very sore. I guess I tried too hard yesterday.

An executive decision has been made to declare today and tomorrow to be "Injury Watch" days.

Beginner 5K Program - Day 3

I've been really, really bad these past two days.

Two days (possibly three) straight of pure junk food and overeating. Today it reached a crescendo. I was embarrassed by the damage I have done, and in spite of this guilt, I still planned on trying the Doritos taco from Taco Bell right after I was done. To rectify the problem, I decided to alter my exercise plan. The training plan called for a 10 min walk/8 min run/10 min walk. Since I have been just terrible these past few days, I was going to change the run part to 20 minutes, until I decided to make the shorter time about speed.

I ran faster, expecting pain, but it was surprisingly easier to do. And it felt fantastic. It was a harder, faster run, and I felt so cleansed after I was done. I did add a two min run and a one-lap finish to the workout. The run had such an affect on me, that instead of getting that Doritos taco, I bought a bag of apples.

Beginner 5K Program - Day 1 & 2

This program is like the Couch 2 5K, only with cross-training.

On Day 1, did Insanity Cardio. It was painful.

On Day 2, walked 10 min, ran 5 min, walked 10. Did an extra 10 min walk. Not so bad.

My first finisher medal!

Run for Your Lives! Zombie 5K

Despite the mud, despite the rain, despite the cost: awesome, awesome, awesome and completely worth it!

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!