No week, no day - a case of spontaneous fun time

It is difficult to stick with the running routine while on vacation.  My us for dinner after work.  mom and I decided on Thursday to take a day trip to Boston so we could bring the kiddos to the Boston Children's Museum.  I figured I would hit the treadmill when we returned.  It was a very good time and my children really loved this amazing museum.  As we were heading into the museum gift shop, my mom slipped away for a few minutes and when she returned, she announced that she has used points to book us a room at a hotel for the night.  That way, she figured, we could go hit Quincy Market, get some dinner and then take the kids to the aquarium the next day.  We were totally unprepared, so we needed to go pick up some clean clothes and pajamas (thank goodness for the $2.99 deals at The Children's Place!!), diapers and toothbrushes, but what the heck, I was game.

We had a fabulous night and returned to the hotel with two exhausted human beings (and the kids were pretty spent too).  The next morning as we were getting ready to go out, my mom decided extend the stay another night and make another entire day of it.  We had another killer day and my sister came and joined us for dinner and merriment after work.  We had so much fun!

Today we hit the IMAX Theater, shopped around and had lunch at Pizzeria Regina (the greatest pizza EVER).  Finally we loaded up the car (much heavier than when we unloaded it, that's for sure) and headed back to my folk's place.  It was amazing fun and living a bit spontaneously always does something good for your soul and spirit!

So, this is a very long winded way to tell you all that I haven't run since Tuesday.  I will get out tomorrow, but I am not quite sure what I will do.  I need to sleep on it and see wh\at feels right in the morning.  Until then, I hope you are all doing well and making great progress.  Despite the lack of structure, I know I will get back on course.  I am determined to finish this program and have fitness be a part of my regular routine.  And I know, if I am determined to do something, that I CAN DO IT!  And I will :-)

Week 6, Day 1, version 2 - getting back to it

OK, I am finding it much more difficult to keep this up on vacation than I thought I would.  For starters, its like 100 degrees here.  I am running on the treadmill in the house, so that isn't so much the problem, but the heat is wiping me out.  I feel so low energy that it is a Herculean effort to go upstairs for a run.  Also, I don't like running on the treadmill.  Even with the iPod and a TV in the room, I find it very boring to run in one spot.  That being said, I ran yesterday on the treadmill after having blown off running on Sunday AND Monday.  Our fourth of July party started on Saturday afternoon when the first revellers arrived.  The last of them did not leave my parent's house until Monday evening.  It was so much fun, but absolutely impossible to motivate for a run.

I have said it before, but getting off schedule is a big problem.  The routine is important and I think your body gets conditioned to the schedule.  Boy did I feel it yesterday.  It was a miserable run and I hated every second of it.  It is so tough when that happens because then the dread sets in for the next run.  I need to hit it again tomorrow, but I can't think of anything I want to do less.  I am loving the time I am spending with my family and so glad I still have 2 more weeks of vacation here, but in addition to seeing my husband, I look forward to getting back into the routine I love at home.  I don't think I will ever love running on the treadmill and as long as this heat holds up, I just can't bring myself to run in it.  Seriously, there is a 30 degree difference here from home...I did see that there is rain on the horizon this weekend, so I may take that opportunity to go outside and run.  THAT would be more like my home routine.

No matter where or how though, I need to just keep it up.  I will do my very best to bring a bit of sunshine back to my blog next time (and BTW, it is very difficult to write this blog here...the computer is upstairs and my kids are very bored up here!).  I don't want to let any of you down though nor do I want to let myself down, so I will push through this slump and I will do better!  Though it seems a little more challenging today to hang onto the motto, I will tell myself over and over until I am really feeling it again:  I CAN DO IT!

Week 6, day 1 - Intervals on a treadmill

I went out last night with some old friends from high school and didn't come in until almost 1:00 in the morning. I tell you this because I did not run this morning as I had planned to. I took advantage of my mother's generosity and slept in while she cared for my children. We spent the day shopping in Portsmouth, NH and had a great time. By the time we got home, it was nearly dinner time and I knew what I had to do...there was no putting it off any longer, it was time for some C25K. I can't lie here and tell you I am feeling as enthusiastic about this as I usually do. Au contraire, I am finding it very difficult to motivate. The one thought driving me here is that I will be so let down and will let so ma people down if I flake out at this point, so I must keep going and hope that I'll get my mojo back sooner than later.

So, I changed into my running clothes, put on the new shoes and hit the treadmill. What I liked about the treadmill was how I could experiment with my pace while I was watching my time. I liked that I could kick up the speed and then see if I was going to be able to go the distance. It was kind of cool to turn up the speed dial and finish each segment with a 60 second push. What I hated about the treadmill was how I could see the time. While I did enjoy the benefits previously mentioned, I did find that my mind lingered much more on the task at hand while I watched the seconds tick away. I really think I do better when I am completely unaware of the time and either respond to prompts to walk or run or just run while listening to my audiobook and checking the time once I've come close to a mile marker. Like we've all learned so well along the way, so much of this process is mental. What I was putting out physically wasn't any more than usual, but I still seemed to be harder. I don't know...what do some of you treadmill runners think? My next run day is supposed to be on Sunday. We're having a big party at my parent's house and I fully expect to eat and drink a lot, so I have to, have to, have to run in the morning. It is also expected to be extremely hot, so I think I will hit it on the treadmill again, but maybe this time I'll hide the display and go with my podcast again.

Once again, I've written this on my mom's iPad and editing is kind of hard, and for some reason, the spell check button doesn't come up on the page. So, my apologies for typos and errors and I hope you will continue to bear with me. I hope you all have a safe and happy Fourth of July. A very special shout out to my amazing, wonderful husband who will be celebrating his birthday on Independence Day without me and the kids. I love you and want you to know that in addition to my own drive to do this program, because of your love and support, I continue to be able to say with certainty, I CAN DO IT!

Winging it

So, I am in New Hampshire. I am typing this blog entry on my mother's iPad which is pretty cool, but very strange. I wanted to run this morning, however, both my parents went to work before 6:00 and I was way too tired from two days of travel to get up that early. Also, as it turns out, I forgot to pack my running shoes. When my husband reads this, he is going to think that this was intentional, but it really wasn't. I ran the morning I left for the trip and simply forgot to throw my shoes in the suitcase before I left. So, I went and got new shoes this afternoon. I've wanted to get some for a while, so this was not really a great tragedy.

I ended up visiting my old B.J.'s store, Runner's Alley in Nashua, NH. He spent a great deal of time helping me find the right shoe and in the end I went with some Saucony Progrid Guide 3 running shoes. If you are in this area, I highly recommend you give Runner's Alley a chance to earn your business. I feel confidant you will not be sorry you did!

After buying the shoes, I returned to my folk's place and my brother and his kids were there, so I spent time with them, had some dinner, bathed my daughter and got her to bed. Then finally, it was time for me to go for my run. I was to begin week 6 today, however, for some reason, I did not have the week 6 podcasts on my iPod and my C25K program printout was in the room was daughter was sleeping in, so I decided that I would simply run. It was not the greatest I've ever felt running. I think it was because: (a) I was running after a meal in the evening and I am used to running early in the morning on an empty stomach, (b) I forgot to grab my inhaler out of my suitcase before I left, and (c) while it is far from oppressively hot here, it was much warmer and more humid than I am used to it being while I run. In short, it was not exactly the run of my life. Better luck next time. That will be on Friday and I intend to run early and most likely inside on the treadmill. Wish me luck! Despite a less Han stellar outing, I remain as certain as ever that I can do it!

(p.s... It is very difficult to edit this on the iPad, so please excuse typos. when I can get on to a computer, I will come back and fix any mistakes.)

Week 5, Day 3 - Oh, what a feeling!

Last night I was really excited to do this morning's run.  I kept thinking about my route and the pace I would start at.  I was looking forward to putting my headphones on and losing myself in the audio book I am halfway through.  I went to bed astounded that five weeks in from the starting line, I was about to go for a 20 minute run and I wasn't dreading it.  In fact, I have 2 races on my calendar now - a two mile race that is right up the street from my house and a 5 K on September 11.  I can't wait either.  And I can hardly believe that I am doing this.  It is a most amazing physical and mental transformation.  Go me!

My run was no let down either.  I took a nice almost mile long walk to get me warmed up and then I started in on my run.  About 8 minutes in, I stopped for a few seconds to stretch my calves out as they were getting really tight and starting to hurt.  I went right back to it though and never once was I feeling like I couldn't go on.  I just ran, listening to my book, concentrating on my breathing and posture and felt great.  I didn't look at the time again until it had been 22 minutes and I couldn't believe it.  I ran for 22 minutes and I could have kept running.  I didn't.  I slowed down and walked strong to give myself a good cool down.  I felt amazing and proud and strong.

I don't know how I could have gone so long without feeling like this.  I am excited to get through week 6 so I can put the interval running behind me.  I liked just running.  I need to complete this program in its entirety so I can say I am a graduate of it, so I can have that sense of accomplishment and follow through.  If I didn't need that, I'd be throwing interval running out the window and going for it.

Monday morning I am going to repeat W5D3 with a little bit of a quicker pace.  I will be leaving that morning to make the trip down to San Francisco with my kids and will be flying to Boston the next day at 6:00 a.m.  My husband is staying home, so I'm on my own with the two kids, so it's a pretty busy and hectic schedule and for that reason, I doubt I will have the chance to blog about my run.  Rest assured, I will do it and I will update the Facebook C25K to make it "official".  I'll be doing my runs in New Hampshire for the next three weeks though and will blog from there.  So, look for the next update on Wednesday.  In the meantime, continued luck and encouragement goes out to all my C25K comrades!  I did it.  If I can kick W5D3's ass, then you can too.  I'm going to be a runner.  I'm going to run in races.  I am going to be strong and healthy.  I am going to teach my children how to do the same.  We can all do this.  You can do it and I CAN DO IT too!

Week 5, Day 2 interval 2 - program alterations and being chased by a dog

The plan this morning was to drive my car to the car dealership for servicing and then jog home.  I spent a good deal of time online last night plotting out the route I would take so I could get an ample amount of walk time before and after my run.  I had it all figured and had decided to shorten the walk time to 3 minutes between my two 8 minute runs.  I was going to need to have my pepper spray with me this morning as I would be going on the street where the loose dog had scared me once before (which I haven't jogged past since).

So, off I went this morning, dropped the car and started on my way.  First obstacle:  a road that appeared to go all the way through neighborhoods on the map did not, and I had to turn around and find another way through.  No problem.  I can handle that!  I ended up heading back up a way further to a cut through I've taken many times.  As I made my way out, about 2 minutes into my run, a HUGE German Shepard rounded the corner all alone.  I stopped dead in my tracks and watched.  In an instant, the dog darted in my direction and started toward me barking.  Shit!  I forgot to grab the pepper spray.  I turned and ran toward a driveway and came around the back side of someone's SUV.  The dog stopped on the other side of the car, watching me, growling.  I was ready to jump on top of the car if I needed to when an old man came around the corner.  I yelled to him and asked if this was his dog and he said, "yes, don't worry, he won't hurt you."  The hell he won't.  I have had far too much trouble with animals in the last few weeks and this was the final straw.  I just unleashed on this guy.  I started to yell at him that if he has an animal that would chase someone and growl at them, then they are capable of hurting them too.  I told him that if I had a phone, I'd be calling the police.  He apologized, but that was not enough for me.  I said that everyone thinks their dogs are the nicest and would never hurt anyone, but dogs do hurt people.  Dogs, no matter how much we love them, are animals and are therefore subject to erratic and unexpected behavior and THAT IS WHY THEY HAVE LEASH LAWS!!!!!  "Get your dog on a leash!" 

He dragged the dog off by his collar and I took off running, my body surging with adrenaline that I didn't want to waste.  Boy was I pissed off.  I ran for 6 more minutes at a very fast speed and then slowed down to recover a bit.  I didn't want to walk a full 5 minutes again, so I shortened it to 3 minutes and then started running again.  This time, that last eight minutes was really good.  In fact, I ran a little more than 9 minutes.  I had decided to forgo the podcast this morning and ran listening to my audio book (it is a really good one and I've been listening every minute I possible can).  The segments are long enough and I've done this enough times now that I know when I need to check my time.  When I looked at the clock at the end of my run I was pleasantly surprised to see that not only had I finished, I had surpassed my goal!  A great feeling to have just before the 20 minute run.  I feel very encouraged and actually excited for this.  I think I'll enjoy it.  I hope so anyway.  But today's run melted my doubts away and has lifted my confidence.  Saturday morning, I will run for 20 minutes without any walking and for the first time since this all began, I feel very sure that I CAN DO IT!

Week 5, Day 2 - Too much of a good thing?

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride

Nobody's gonna slow me down

Oh no, I've got to keep on moving

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride

I'm running and I won't touch ground

Oh no, I've got to keep on moving

Those are the words that went through my head as I started my first eight minute segment this morning. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started out this morning, but I quickly felt that I was hitting my stride and was enjoying the run. For the most part, I have been running the same route the couple of weeks. I do it in part because there is a good amount of dirt roads and paths and I find it much easier on my body to run on dirt. Also, I like being able to see how much further I am running as time goes on. It is another way for me to measure my success.

What's funny is the fact that though I am seeing the same scenery day to day, I am always seeing something new as well. Sometimes it is something like a bird's nest I didn't notice before or a nice yard with pretty flowers that I am enjoying for the first time. Other times, like today, I see new people walking their dogs, letting them take care of business on other people's lawns and leaving it for the homeowners to clean up later. I know you all know how much I love bad animal owners and if you knew me personally, you'd know how hard it was for me to keep my mouth shut this morning. Obviously, it would be unwise to confront someone when I am all by myself and there are hardly any other people out and about yet, but some people really need to hear how lame they are!  I can only hope that my disgusted gaze burned some self-awareness into John Q. Lamo's  thick, inconsiderate skull.

But I digress...eight minutes went by really fast and then my 5 minute recovery walk began. And here's the thing: three minutes would have been enough and five minutes was too much. Once the next run began, I felt it was much more difficult to carry on than it was last time after a three minute recovery walk. I am very happy to have found this program and am grateful to it for the progress it has helped me achieve, so forgive me for being critical, but I don't understand why such a long recovery walk would be built into the workout when the very next day in the program more than doubles your run time without any walking break at all. I don't understand the logic. Shouldn't we be gradually adding more running time and less walking time? I am going to repeat this day once more before moving on and I think I will try reducing the walk time. I'll let you know how it goes. Until then keep thinking positive. I know you can you it just as I know, I CAN DO IT!