I have good news and bad news...

I have clearly fallen behind on my blogging, but I will try to summarize the last week or so in my quest to run a 5k.

When we last left our heroine, she (okay, I) was going to start running with buddies so that I would have some motivation to keep going. Thursday morning I went to Erin's house to run around the water reservoir near her house, which was roughly 2 miles total. It was about 40 degrees outside and the beginning was a little trail-y (through the woods), and I got about 10 feet before I realized this was going to suck. Erin was really great at coaching me and trying to get me to run for a minute or two at a time and then rest for the same amount of time, but I was getting really discouraged. By the time I got to our marketing retreat later that morning, I was not feeling at all confident about being able to run a 5k in a few weeks.

All day I went back and forth about what my goals were (whether I should still shoot for running the whole thing, or just try to do my best and not worry about running the whole thing, etc.) and whether I should still be running the 5k on April 9 or if I should cancel/postpone the 5k. I even looked up the cancellation policies and found out that I could get a deferral (less a processing fee) and use it on a later race. I was just all over the place and really doubting myself.

But on Friday when I drove back up to the retreat, I told my friend Stephanie about maybe postponing the race, and she immediately told me to stop. She decided to sign up for the 5k and encouraged me to not worry about running the whole thing, just to try my best and see what would happen. I also talked things through with Erin and Carrie, and they all agreed that I should just keep going and not put so much pressure on myself. (Kudos to all of them for listening to me jabber on about my 5k all day!)

So, I went to the gym for a run on Saturday, and I managed to do two miles in about 26 minutes, and only 8-9 of those were walking. I found out that if I paced myself by going at 5 mph instead of 5.5 mph I lasted a lot longer, so I managed to run stretches of 3-4 minutes at a time. I forgot to add an incline of .5, but suddenly I was feeling sooooooo much better about myself! I was really excited that I ran 2/3 of the way and didn't even feel like I was going to die at the end. It was amazing the difference half a mile per hour could make, and how much my confidence level changed from just a few days before.

After that, I was feeling a lot more confident about actually running the whole 5k, and I reminded Steph to sign up Monday morning so we were all set to kick some butt. I went running Monday night for two miles again, this time with an incline of .5, and I didn't manage to run/jog the whole time, but I walked the same amount or less than before, plus the incline. I figured it was progress all the same, which is my overall goal, regardless of whether I make it all the way to 3 miles running by April 9; the date isn't important.

Unfortunately, Monday night my left ankle was bugging me, but I just figured it needed to pop or stretch or something. But Tuesday morning it was hurting when I walked or moved it a certain way, so I asked Natalie how I would know if I was injured. She says that if your ankle hurts, especially if you're just walking, it's really not a good sign. She told me to RICE it (rest, ice, compression, elevate) and just do some upper body and ab work for the night. I did the same thing yesterday, and today my ankle is better but still feeling a little sore.

Natalie said that if my ankle isn't better by our running appointment Saturday that I might have to drop out of the race, but I was talking to her today and decided that I would do the 5k on April 9 anyway, even if it just turns out to be a run/walk that's a baseline for future races. If I can't run the whole thing that day, I'll sign up for another one and try to beat my time. She was really supportive and thought that was a great attitude to have. I'm really frustrated that my ankle is messing up my training (if you had told me a month ago that I would be mad I couldn't go running, I would have laughed in your face), but I would also rather take it easy and make sure I'm completely healed than start doing too much too soon and injure it further, perhaps taking me out of the race altogether. I'm hoping it's better in the next day or two, but if not, I'll just have to deal with it.

So those are the ups and downs over the last week or so. Sheesh. :P

Strategy

So I have a new strategy this week...I decided to take Natalie up on her offer to run with me in case I got discouraged or needed a coach, so she is going to run outside with me Saturday afternoon, which will be the second two-miler and the last half-and-half run; after that I will be trying to run/jog the entire time. Anyway, not only will I be running with someone who can run circles around me and therefore yell at me when I need it, but I will also be running outside so that I can get more used to the kind of running I'll be doing during the 5k.

Once I got that figured out, I decided to call in a few other favors with friends who have volunteered to work out with me. So tomorrow morning my work friend Erin and I will be running near her house for roughly 2 miles, showering at her house and then heading off to our marketing retreat in Bantam, CT, at this giant house we rented for the occasion. The plan is to also do my yoga day Friday with Erin at the house, but we'll see whether I decide to just get it over with Friday morning or get lazy and do it Friday night or Sunday.

Another work friend, Carrie, is addicted to running (*cough*crazyperson*cough*...j/k, I love her), so I also asked her if she could take a day and run with me. Next Thursday at lunch we're going off on a run for roughly 2.5 miles...she mapped out a nice loop that's 3 miles, and I told her to figure out where the 2.5 mile mark was and after that we can walk and cool off.

I'm hoping that having someone else with me either encouraging me or yelling at me (or alternating between the two) will help me push myself. They might also distract me enough to make it seem faster, which I would appreciate. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm starting to get really intimidated about running an entire 5k, but so many people have been incredibly supportive. I was talking to a friend that used to work at TicketNetwork, and she reassured me that what mattered was that I was making progress, getting in shape and building endurance. She said she was proud of me just for trying and sticking with it, and if I wasn't quite ready to run the 5k April 9, I'll just do what I can and register for another one. The time frame doesn't matter as much as the fact that I achieve the goal I have set, and once I get rid of the stress I feel about the time frame, I feel a lot better about the whole thing. What do you guys think? Can I still be proud of myself even if I don't work up to running an entire 5k by April 9?

Why am I doing this again?

I went to the gym this afternoon and went 1.5 miles, half running, half walking/jogging (or pretty close to it, though I may have erred on the side of walking a little bit more). It was not fun. By the end my legs hurt, my side hurt and I was breathing hard for like 20 minutes afterward. Why do people do this to themselves?

Despite my skepticism that I will actually turn into a person that can run/jog an entire 3.1 miles nonstop, I will press on. I think I'm going to ask Natalie if she can run with me Thursday or Saturday, possibly outside so I can get an idea of what that's like compared to the treadmill. Also, she can yell things at me to keep me going.

P.S. Thanks to Charity for texting encouraging things to me after I told her I was about to die on the treadmill. Bonus friend/coach points for her.

Success!

Just had my second running day at the gym. I decided to walk for 2 min., then jog/run for 1 1/2 min. and alternate until I had done the required 1.5 miles. Basically my reasoning is to keep upping the length of my running spurts so eventually running a whole 3.1 miles won't seem so bad. The first three sets I walked at 4.0 mph and ran at 5.5 mph (which is about the max required by my whole regimen), and then I backed down to 3.5 mph walking and 5.0 mph jogging. And I made it the whole 1.5 miles!

By the way, I think taking a lunch break to go to the gym is about the best thing ever, because it gets me out of the office and gives me a mental break, as well as a physical workout. PLUS now I don't have to go after work or later tonight. Win!

My First Hurdle(s)

This week I started my real running workouts, and so far I've been successful. Monday I half walked, half jogged a whole mile, alternating tenths of miles. This was a little bit more strenuous than I was supposed to do, but I wanted to see if I could run half and half instead of walking most of the way. On Tuesday Charity came with me to the gym for my conditioning day. So far so good.

Then yesterday we had a weigh-in for Biggest Loser, and I gained weight over the last week. Suddenly instead of feeling proud of myself I was really bummed and ready to give up on everything. So it got me thinking about whether I'm trying to do too many things at once. I've still been kind of working on eating better (and feeling guilty when I don't), but mostly I've been focused on getting in better shape, and I think I should maybe just take it one step at a time. Maybe I should work on getting in the habit of exercising, work up my endurance, and then add in a weight loss goal (which will be easier than it was in the past, since I'll actually be working out). Basically, I'm thinking about dropping out of the Biggest Loser part, including the food logs and weigh-ins, and feeling good about myself for completing all of my workouts and getting healthier, even if I don't lose weight. I think focusing on getting in shape and exercising instead of worrying about how much I weigh would be a nice change for me in general.

Unfortunately, this morning I tweaked something in my shoulder/neck, so I decided not to go to the gym in case I would be jarring something that shouldn't be jarred. If it's not better tomorrow I'll try to get into the chiropractor to either fix it or at least get the okay to start working out again. I'm under somewhat of a time crunch with this 5k schedule, and I really don't want an injury to ruin the whole thing. Wish me luck.

My Complete Training Schedule!

Yesterday my coach Natalie sent me the entirety of my training schedule between now and the 5k on April 9th! I'm surprisingly psyched to get on the treadmill and see how far/how fast I can go! So I'm finishing out this week with a few more gym circuit/conditioning days (today and Sunday), and then next week I begin this (the weeks run Mon-Sun):

Week 1 (3/7-3/13): Intro to the Treadmill

• 3 Days of Running


• 1. 1 mile


• 2. 1.5 miles


• 3. 1.5 miles


• 1 Day of Conditioning (same as in my previous post)


• 1 Day of Yoga

Notes from Natalie: "For Week 1, don’t worry about running continuously on the treadmill. Start at a fast-paced walk (0.5 incline and 3.5-4.0 speed) and then practice running at 5.0 for 15-30 seconds at a time and then go back to fast walking until you make it to 1 mile (or 1.5 miles as the case may be)."

Week 2 (3/14-3/20)

• Goal: Longer stretches of running


• 3 Days of Running


• 1. 1.5 miles


• 2. 2 miles


• 3. 2 miles


• 1 Day of Conditioning (same as in my previous post)


• 1 Day of Yoga

Notes from Natalie: "For Week 2, try to work on running for longer stretches on the treadmill. Start at a light jog rather than a walk this time (4.5 speed w/ 0.5 incline) and then practice running at a harder pace (5.0-5.5) for 1 – 1.5 minutes at a stretch. Then, reduce speed to 4.5 if you can or 3.5 if you need to. But try to keep a 1:1 ratio this week (1 minute running to 1 minute jogging/walking). You can do it!"

Week 3 (3/21-3/27)

• Goal: Keep increasing your stretches of running


• 3 Days of Running


• 1. 2 miles


• 2. 2.5 miles


• 3. 2.5 miles


• 1 Day of Conditioning (same as in my previous post)


• 1 Day of Yoga

Notes from Natalie: "Weeks 3 and 4 will be the toughest, but it will be worth it when you cross that finish line! This week aim for no walking at all. When you have to reduce your speed, try to do a light jog at 4.5. Also, try to increase your ratio to 3:1. 1.5 minutes running (at 5.5) and then 30 seconds jogging."

Week 4 (3/28-4/3)

• Goal: Make it through this week


• 3 Days of Running


• 1. 2.5 miles


• 2. 3.0 miles


• 3. 3.1 miles


• 1 Day of Conditioning (same as in my previous post)


• 1 Day of Yoga

Notes from Natalie: "Week 4 will be hard, but if you can power through this, you will kick some butt next week at the race! No walking at all this week, and try to do a continuous 1 – 1.5 miles of running (at 5.5) before slowing down, and then try a 2:1 ratio of running to jogging. You should be feeling pretty accomplished by the end of this week."

Week 5 (4/4-4/9)

• Goal: Celebrate at the end of the week!!


• 3 Days of Running


• 1. 3.0 miles--No Walking Allowed!


• 2. 3.2 miles--No Walking Allowed!


• 3. RACE DAY!!!

Notes from Natalie: "Take 1 day this week in between your 2nd run and the race to really stretch out. No doing other cardio or strength training activities this week. Stretch and run – that is it!!! And be so proud of yourself when you cross that finish line – you’ve earned it!!!"

The Gym

So, today was my first gym workout. Because of my crazy schedule this week, I figured the best way to fit in a workout was to get up early and go before work so I would be done. So this morning at 6:00am I jumped out of bed (well, maybe more like rolled/crawled), got together all my stuff, and headed out to the gym where my company has a major discount (it's $2 a week for us!). Unfortunately I hadn't gone and filled out forms and gotten a key tag to sign in, but the man at the desk very nicely let me in after writing down my name and company.

There were plenty of people at the gym considering it was before 7am, but lots of machines were available, which made it easy to make it through my circuit smoothly (if you recall, it's treadmill, rowing machine, bicycle, elliptical, and then pushups/crunches/stretching on a mat). I actually made it through the workout fairly easily, which surprised me...I could feel my legs working, especially toward the end, but I pushed through and finished the whole thing!

Also to my surprise, I actually kind of enjoyed working out in the morning...once I was out of bed, it was nice to be up and about getting something done before I even go to work, and now I don't have to worry about cramming it in after rehearsal tonight. I also felt way more awake than I expected, considering I got up two hours earlier than I normally do. I'll probably wake up early tomorrow for my yoga video, too, and then after that we'll see. I will have time to do workouts after work starting next week, but I just might end up being a morning person after all. Who am I and what have I done with Liz?!

P.S. My shoes were an excellent choice. They were so cushiony and I did not notice my feet at all, which is pretty much what I was going for. :)