C25K Week 6 Day 1

My dog ate my shoes. Sometimes, it is perfectly fine to blame the pets when it happens to be true. So this morning, I was running around trying to find a substitute pair. I didn't have much to choose from, so ended up with a really old pair that squeaked when I walked.

Met with the kids again today. It's still so doggone hot and muggy out.

We ran from our track our water plant here and back, so we put in about 2 miles today. We don't have a lot of choices when we run around town, so we know how far pretty much every landmark is from our school. I ran with my big guy again (mostly I'm afraid he'll give up if he has to run by himself), so we pretty much followed the Couch workout for today. I know we made a full mile :) before we walked the first time. And then we walked about half way back. So I'm going to count it.

My shins really hurt. Probably because of the shoes.


Temperature: 81 still with that damn humidity (82% says the weatherman)
Shoes: Old Nikes
Today: 2 1/2 miles
Total: 31

C25K Somewhere in There

I haven't been running this week. I've been in class all day, every day and I have some kind of lingering stomach bug. And I don't know where you live, but here at home, it's been well over 100 degrees for way too long.

But today, I got a few of my cross country kids to meet at the track. All seven of us headed out for a run. We went 2 1/2 miles and I made it. I can't believe it. Now, granted, I have a very slow fella that I ran with and we walked a few steps a few times, but still, we made it.

I was really worried about running since I hadn't for so long. My plan was to go back and redo the last week of the Couch program. Now that I look at it, I'm pretty much right where I want to be at Week 5 Day 3. Now that is pretty exciting!


Temperature: @*%^! hot with some ungodly high humidity.
Shoes: Brooks Ravenna
Today: 3 miles
Miles Total: 28.5

C25K Week 4 Day 3

Made it through Week 4!!!

I'm so excited about this! If I had been betting on me, I wouldn't have had me getting through Week 3, let along feeling GOOD at the end of Week 4!

I'm not sure what's clicked, but I like it :)

I didn't feel very well when I got up this morning. Just kind of puny. By the very end, I was kind of light headed, but I made it through to the end.

Temperature: 75

Shoes: Brooks Ravenna

Miles Today: 2.5

Total Miles: 25.5

C25K Week 4 Day 2

Haven't run this week.

I have been out of town for a class and I just can't get out of my motel to find a good spot to run. For the last four days I have sat in class for eight hours learning how to teach physics. By the time I get out, I am so exhausted that I can't see straight.

And then I go do my homework :(

Oh, and did I mention is was 111 yesterday afternoon???? Ugh.

I'm home today and wasn't sure if I was going to make it outside. But I felt pretty good this morning when I woke up, so I headed out. for Day 2. After mostly sitting for the last four days, I wasn't positive that my legs would actually remember how to propel me forward.

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I made it through with more than a little bit of coaxing, but I had a lot of class stuff going on in my head, so that kept me distracted enough to get me to the end.

Plus, I got so see a deer and the tiniest little fawn I have ever seen run across the shot put ring :)

Temperature: 83 and soooo, so muggy
Shoes: Brooks Ravenna
Miles Today: 2.5
Total Miles: 23

Week 4 Day 1

So I again woke up this morning with an excuse ready to go. A few excuses actually.

Jeff bought a boat yesterday. So, excited as everyone was, we spent the entire day at the lake.  I haven't skied in years. Well, never, to be honest, I have never really gotten the hang of it, but I tried yesterday and didn't do too bad. Between that and the kneeboarding and general exhaustion of spending all day in the sun, I really didn't think I would get up at all this morning, let alone get up and go run. I can't lift my arms, how are they going to help me move?

Second excuse that came to mind was my toe. Somewhere in the last day or so, I ripped my little pinky toenail in half. My goodness that hurts. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to put a shoe on. 

And then I looked at what Week 4 consists of:  Run 400, walk 200, run 800. Repeat. 

My brain immediately laughed at me. There is no way I can run two whole laps. Twice.

But I had laid out my clothes last night. And I figured at least walking down to the track would loosen up my arms (we are after all going back out to the lake today). And to my dismay, my shoe did go back on my foot without hurting any more than without it.

And you know what? I MADE IT!!! I did the whole darn thing. And lived to tell the tale.

On my second 800, I noticed some part of my mind telling me to stop. It seemed to be arguing with my legs, because the more I thought about it, the more I realized that my legs weren't all that tired. Oh sure, I could have convinced myself that, yes, I needed to stop before I started metabolizing muscle fibers, but I know I would have been wrong. So I talked my legs into ignoring any negative waves coming from inside my head and pushed on through. 

And I am so glad I did.

Shoes: Brooks Ravenna

Miles Today: 2.5

Miles Total: 20.5 

Week 3 Day 3

So I didn't want to run today. We drove home from Tennessee yesterday and spent 11 hours in the car. My shoulders hurt and I can't seem to straighten my legs.

So I told myself I was going to take the day off. Another day. I didn't run at all while we were there.

For some reason, I took The Kids down to the track and ran.

I almost stopped.

My shins hurt so bad on the first 200 I thought I would cry.

When I got done, some random thought went through my head that really kept me going.

What would I tell one of my kids? I would tell him to suck it up and walk it off, that's what.

So that's what I did. I got through the workout and you know what? I felt better. Good even.

So I've made it through Week 3. To be honest, when I started, I wasn't sure I would stick with it. But here I am :)


Shoes: Brooks Ravenna
Miles Today: 2
Miles Total: 18

C25K Week 3 Day 2

Third day in a row!

I am really feeling good about this. I took The Dog and The Boy (what is he doing up at 5:00 am???) with me today. Neither of them really wanted to run with me so they went and played in the long jump pit.

Did the same as yesterday. Felt much better about the full lap thing today. I took music with me, though, so maybe that makes a big difference. I'll have to do some experimenting on that.

Shoes: Brooks Ravenna
Temperature: 72
Miles Today: 2
Miles Total: 16

C25K Week 3 Day 1

I did it! I got up and ran this morning!

I was going to take the rest day, but I have been so excited about running that I decided to look and see what Week 3 was all about. Walk 5 minutes and then two repetitions of 200 m run, 200 m walk, 400 m run, 400 m walk. You could also go by time. 90 seconds run, 90 seconds walk, 3 minutes run, 3 minutes walk.

I decided to go by distance since I was going to the track. I also wanted to know if I could make it all the way around the track.

Guess what??? I can!

I goofed up on my 400 m walk, though. I only walked 200 m, so my second 400 m, I was thinking that there is no way I am ever going to make it a whole mile.

But I made it and I still feel good!

Shoes: Brooks Ravenna
Temperature: 75
Miles Today: 2
Miles Total: 14

Week 2 Day 3

Same workout as Day 1 and Day 2.

Finally. Miscellaneous issues have kept me from running the last couple days. In my former life, I would have probably used this as an excuse to give up, but for some reason, I seem to have turned a corner.

I wasn't feeling guilty about not running, I was MISSING not running. It has been a long, looonnnggg time since I felt that way.

It was really cool this morning and I took the little dog with me. Lilly Pepper loved it, but her legs are about four inches long. She was pretty wiped out and went back to sleep as soon as we got home.

I am supposed to rest tomorrow, but I really have an urge to get started on Week 3. We'll see if that holds until tomorrow morning.


Shoes: Brooks Ravenna
Miles Today: 2
Miles Total: 12

Week 2 Day 2

Workouts are like brushing my teeth; I don't think about them, I just do them. The decision has already been made.
Patti Sue Plummer

Same workout all this week as the first day. 

Feel better today. It's so weird because I hurt so bad after that first day that I was not thinking I was going to make it. But today I feel great. My legs are a little tight and I probably need to make a point of stretching more when I get done. 

I found the quote above the other day somewhere on the internet. It really changed my thinking more than anything else ever has. If I wake up in the morning and give myself the choice of whether or not to do something, there is a pretty good chance that I will talk myself out of it. Maybe I need to put a toothbrush next to my alarm clock as a reminder.

Temperature: 66

Miles this Week: 2

Miles Total: 10

Shoes: Brooks Ravenna

C25K Week 2 Day 1

W2D1 starts with a brisk 5 minute walk followed by 20 minutes of 90 seconds running alternating with 2 minutes of walking. This works out to roughly 5 sets of run/walk combo.


I feel terrible today. After the first set I felt like I was going to be sick. It got a little better after the second set, but I just didn't feel like my limbs were doing what I wanted them to :(


On the bright side, it has cooled off a bit! Temperature this morning was 61.


Miles this Week: 2
Miles Total: 8 !
Shoes: Brooks Ravenna

C25K Week 1 Day 3

I didn't want to get out of bed today. The last two days left me exhausted. The Girl had a late softball game out of town on Friday and then rode on her 4-H club's float in our local parade. From there we sprinted to my uncle's funeral. On the way home, my cousin called and wanted us to come out and go swimming.

So I slept really good last night. And did not want to do anything.

But I did.

I made it through the first week. And I feel really good.

My legs hurt really bad after the first workout, but now I am just a little stiff.

So now it's on to week 2!

C25K Week 1 Day 2

This workout is the same as W1D1. 


I was going to do it yesterday, but I woke up to an early morning into late afternoon thunderstorm. I don't mind running in the rain, in fact I love that kind of weather, but I'm not so gung-ho as to take my chances with lightning. Have you ever SEEN the movie Caddyshack???


I actually got a late start this morning thanks to another morning storm. By the time I got done the bank said 85 and the humidity was surprisingly high considering the system that moved through.


It's probably a good thing that I had to wait an extra day to workout because I was having trouble moving my legs. My quads were hurting more than they ever have, but this morning I could make it down the stairs without wincing. 


I am not good at counting my laps, so I'm not completely sure on this, but I think I ended up covering a little over two miles again.


I'm not sure how to record mileage. Do I count the walking, or only the running? I'm going with only the running right now, although it might seem more impressive if I add in the warm-up and cool-down :)


Temperature: 85, no wind
Shoes: Brooks Ravenna
Miles this Week: 4

C25K Week 1 Day 1

Today I started Cool Runnings Couch to 5K program. I actually started the program last spring and got through week 2 before I got sidetracked.

W1D1 starts with a brisk 5 minute walk followed by 20 minutes of 60 seconds running alternating with 90 seconds of walking. This works out to 8 sets of run/walk combo. I have never been good at counting, but this wasn't too bad.

I walked down to the track to do this at about 3:30 this afternoon. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. I had wanted to run this morning, but forgot to set my alarm and I had a funeral to get to. Luckily, it wasn't quite as hot as it was supposed to be today.

I ended up going just a little bit over two miles not counting the walking. The second to last set was kind of hard, but for some reason, the last one wasn't. Maybe because it was the last one.

Temperature: 81, no wind
Shoes: Brooks Ravenna

A List of Whys

There was a time many years (actually decades) ago that I was in fabulous shape and could make one lap around the track in well under a minute. I would have probably looked at me now and and raised an eyebrow or two at this particular shape that has become me.

My brother has really gotten into running in the last year. I would be lying if I were to say that I am not just a little bit jealous.

It's not that I'm terribly fat, I'm not.

I'm just really tired of this section of goo that somehow has attached itself to my stomach. And probably my rear. Don't even get me started on my arms.

I was watching the 3200 m race at a track meet this spring (did I mention I coach running???) and this random thought flashed through my brain.

I wish I could run this.

WHAT???

I have never in my life had any desire to run ANY miles, let alone two. But, for some reason, that little voice has stuck with me.

I came across the Couch to 5K program awhile back and thought it sounded interesting. I've never been able to run much in the way of distance, but the program is broken down into parts and designed to get you there gradually.

So here it goes.