Couch to 5K: Week 3, Day 3

I had a great run this morning.  The first 90 seconds was nothing.  I was barely breathing hard by the end of the 90 seconds and actually forgot to pay attention to the time and I went 20 seconds over before realizing I needed to stop.  The first 3 minute run was also a breeze and I considered trying to push on to the 5 minutes I've been dreading.  I decided I better take a walking break though because I still had another 90 second and another 3 minute run left to do.  I told myself that if I still had anything left in the tank at the end of the last 3 minutes I would keep going.  The next 90 second run was a little more difficult but still not so hard that I felt like I needed the 90 second walking break.  I picked up the pace a little for the final 3 minute run and pushed myself to 4 minutes and 20 seconds, the final 20 seconds at an all out sprint.  I was really sucking wind, but I did it.  The odometer in the car died on me yesterday, so I couldn't measure my exact mileage, but based on previous runs, I'm estimating it was somewhere around 2.2 miles in right at 28 minutes. That comes out to a 12:44 mile.

Adding on the additional 1:20 to the end of my last 3 minute run boosted my confidence.  I'm certain I can do the 5 minute runs next week, though two 5 minute runs on top of two 3 minute runs still sounds a little intimidating coming off of 90 seconds and 3 minutes. 

I've had a little shin and right ankle pain since my run on Wednesday, which is odd because I didn't push myself at all Wednesday.  I'm glad to have the next two days off.  I'm going to spend some time icing my shins this weekend and hopefully I'll be ready to go Monday morning.

Week 3 is officially complete, which puts me 1/3 of the way through the program.  I really believe I'll be able to run a full 5K when I'm done.  I don't feel like any of the workouts have pushed me anywhere near my physical limits so far.  They've not been easy, but I've never felt like I was going to keel over if I didn't stop.  I hope that continues on into the coming weeks.

Couch to 5k: Week 3 Day 2

I had a good run this morning.  I got to run with Lauren at a park in our hometown.  We run at different paces but we tried to stay together anyway.  I think I did about 2 miles in 30 minutes doing the prescribed w3d2 of 2 repetitions of 90 seconds running, 90 seconds walking, 3 minutes running, 3 minutes walking.  I was working pretty hard by the end of the last 3 minutes but felt my body could take me further if I had asked it to.  Overall I'm pleased. 

I'm looking forward to being back in "my" park Friday for the last day of week 3.  I'm pretty sure I can do the 5 minute runs next week with no problems.  I'm just going to have to watch my pace.

Couch to 5k: Week 3, Day 1

I dragged myself out of bed at 10 'til 6 this morning for my Monday run.  I didn't want to get up but made myself do it anyway.  On today's agenda was two repetitions of run 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds, run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes.  I've been somewhat dreading the 3 minute run because I remember from doing this before that this is where it started to get pretty hard. 

The first 90 seconds was a breeze and I was barely breathing harder than I would during a brisk walk.  I spent the next 90 second walk trying to tell myself that 3 minutes was just two 90 second runs back to back and that it would be no problem.  At the 90 second mark, I was ready for a walking break, but I convinced myself to push on through it and made it to 3 minutes followed by a much needed 3 minute walking break.  The next repetition was more of the same, only harder because my body was still feeling the 3 minute run.  The last 30 seconds of the second 3 minute run seemed to drag on forever.  I found myself running faster out of both habit and the desire to be done sooner.  I think my oxygen deprived brain thought I could make time speed up by running faster.  It didn't work but I did run the three full minutes and was really huffing by the end. 

I didn't go quite as far today as I had been going last week.  I went 2 miles in 28:45.  That's about 14:23/mile.  I slowed my pace significantly today.  I also realized that I had been doing 7 sets of 90 second runs/walks last week instead of 6.  This week, I'm actually reducing my total time by 3 minutes so my distance will also go down.  I'm not sure if that's by design or I did one more set per day last week than the program calls for.  No big deal.  Either way, I ran 3 full minutes without stopping today.  Twice! 

The rest of this week is the same routine.  Hopefully by Friday the 3 minute runs get a little easier because those are the short runs in next week's routine. 

Couch to 5K: Week 2, Day 3

Week 2 is in the books.  It's a good feeling to have made it this far without any major setbacks.  I'm encouraged that I still have little to no pain in my feet or legs.  I've had a few very slight twinges of possible PF pain in my right foot. It's nothing major, just something to pay attention to.  I was studying my feet this morning before my run and noticed that my right arch is considerably higher than my left arch.  I'm sure that's why I've had PF there in the past, but never in my left.  I've been careful to really stretch my feet and take good care of them since starting to run. 

This morning I was back in the park.  It was about 75 degrees and insanely humid.  I'm looking forward to running in the dryer and cooler fall air.  60 degrees with a cool autumn breeze sounds really appealing to me.  I did 2.5 miles in 31 minutes this morning.  That's 12.4 minutes/mile.  I intentionally tried to slow down a little this morning but it's hard to do.  Apparently, I'm a digital person.  It seems like it's either full throttle or nothing with me.  It's the way I operate in most other aspects of my life, but I know it's not going to work with running, so I'm intentionally trying to hold myself back a bit.  I know I'm going to need that for next week's 3 minute runs and I don't even want to think about week 5 day 3.  Twenty minutes without a walking break sounds insurmountable.  I just have to keep reminding myself to take it one step at a time. 

Totally unrelated: I'm pretty sure I saw a fox disappear into the woods as I was running this morning, which was pretty cool.  Also, the whole park smelled like horses.  I didn't actually see any horses, but I have seen evidence of them in the past.   

Couch to 5k: Week 2, Day 2

Day 2 of week 2 was the same routine as day one: 5 minute warm up, 90 seconds of running followed by 60 seconds of walking for 20 minutes and then a 5 minute cool down.  I ran on the treadmill in the fitness center at work today because for reasons unknown the park I've been running in is closed on Wednesdays.  I did a total of 2.5 miles today in 30 minutes.  That equates to a 12 minute mile.  I increased my running speed today to 6.2 on the treadmill with a 1% incline.  I'm not sure, but I think my pace is a little faster than that when I'm running in the park.  It's hard to know for sure without a way to monitor my pace when I'm not on the treadmill, but I do know I felt more winded after my 90 second runs in the park on Monday.   

As usual, the run started off easy and I was barely breathing hard after the first 90 seconds of running.  My body progressively got more tired from there but I was never exhausted to the point of not wanting to go on.  During the last 90 seconds I increased my pace every 15 seconds or so until I was up to a 7.5 minute/mile pace.  When the 90 seconds was up, I was feeling really good so I kept pushing myself at that pace for about 30 seconds until I could no longer regulate my breathing.

I find myself enjoying the running more.  I'm looking forward to my first 5k and to being able to run for more than just a few seconds at a time. 

I do enjoy my days off to rest my body, but more because I dislike getting up early enough to have time to run and shower before work than because I dislike the running. 

My body seems to be handling the stress of running well.  I only have a few minor pains, still more muscle soreness than actual pain.  I had a slight ache in my right knee after this morning's run, but it's barely noticeable and I'm not going to worry much about it unless it gets worse.  My feet feel good, no signs of PF.  I've not had any back or shoulder pain since I started paying attention to my posture.  I do have to focus on relaxing my arms or I find them tensing up and riding high. 

The biggest struggle right now is mind over matter when the alarm goes off at 5:50AM and then late in the run when I'm starting to feel winded.  The good thing is, once I'm awake in the morning, I have a hard time going back to sleep so I'm able to reason with myself that I might as well get up anyway.  Then, at the end of the run, I'm making it a point to push myself as hard as I can go for the last 30 seconds to combat the desire to quit. It's hard to tell my body to speed up when it's telling me there's nothing left but I've done it consistently and obviously my body is lying to me. 

For now, I'm looking forward to resting my body tomorrow in preparation for the final day of week 2.

Couch to 5k: Week 2, Day 1

I went out at 6AM today for another run in the park.  The routine today was 90 seconds of running followed by 2 minutes of walking to recover.  Rinse and repeat 6 times.  I started with the 5 minute warm up and then took off.  The first 90 seconds went by pretty quickly but my body reminded me that it expected to stop after 60 seconds.  30 extra seconds make a difference.  The first two sets weren't too bad.  After the third I was huffing pretty hard.  I was so glad that I had reached the halfway point that I forgot to turn around and go back towards my starting point. I didn't realize until I got to the end of the road and thought to myself, "wow, I'm going to go almost 3 miles today" and immediately followed that thought with, "dork, you forgot to turn around!". So I ended up going 2.8 miles in 37 minutes this morning, but walked the last 10 minutes or so instead of the normal 5 minute cool down because of my error.

I intentionally tried to slow my pace today knowing that I was increasing my running intervals by 50% and total time running by a full minute.  I must have paced myself fairly well because I had enough left in the last 30 seconds to really sprint it out.  My body was screaming at me, but I pushed it anyway.  I was completely out of breath after that last sprint, but it felt good to know my body could go even though my mind was telling me I was done.   

I still have no significant pain, only minor muscle soreness. 

In addition, on Satuday I went with the family to the park and walked about 2.5-2.75 miles.

A quick note about last week.  My entries make it sound like it was easy.  It was by no means easy, it just wasn't as hard as I had expected it to be after a long hiatus from any meaningful exercise. 

Couch to 5k: Week 1, Day 3

I've made it through week 1. I took the run outside today to the local park. It's nice running outside. It was about 76 degrees and quite humid, but I think that's about where they keep the thermostat in the fitness center at work, so I didn't notice a significant difference in my comfort level.

I did the same routine as days 1 and 2 today. I did the 5 minute warm up, stretched and commenced with the 60/90 routine. During the first 60 second run I found myself looking around and enjoying the scenery. When I remembered to look at the stop watch I took with me it was past the 1 minute mark and I found myself wondering if it had really already been over a minute. The rest of the runs were the same way until the very last one. When I got to the last run I was pretty beat. Despite my exhaustion, with about 25 seconds left I decided to see how hard I could push myself and broke into an all out run until the last 60 seconds were up. It felt good to know my body still had something left when my mind thought I was done for the day. I probably could have gone on for a little longer, but I saw the hill that lead back to the parking lot and my mind won the battle to go into walk mode. I finished with a 5 minute cool down walk and then stretched again.

I measured my run with the car and it was about 2.25 miles. I was afraid I would have trouble pacing myself without the treadmill to tell me how fast I was going, but my distance was pretty close to what I did on the first two runs, so I guess I did okay.

Running on pavement is definitely harder on my legs. I do have to say that good shoes make all the difference. I tried the couch to 5k program a few years ago and actually made it most of the way through before allowing life to get in the way. When I did it before, I was running in off the shelf generic department store shoes and I remember my legs taking a real beating. Thanks to my friends at Fleet Feet and some shiny new New Balance shoes, I've noticed very little discomfort in my legs and feet so far. There's the expected muscle soreness that comes with physical activity to which my body has become unaccustomed, but no pain. My knees and ankles don't ache and there are no signs of the plantar fasciitis with which I was plagued the last time I tried running.

Monday starts week 2. It doesn't sound like too big of a leap. The runs are 90 seconds and the walking is increased to 2 minutes per repetition. 30 seconds of running doesn't sound like that much. I plan to be back in the park Monday morning.

As of right now, I can't say I enjoy the runs as I am doing them, but I find myself looking forward to my next run as soon as I'm finished. I look forward to the day when going for a run is a part of my daily routine.

Why I want to run

When I was younger, being physically fit was just a way of life. I didn't put any thought into it, I just was. I stayed active. I swam, water skied, played both basketball and baseball at one point in my life, participated in marching band, and was just generally an outdoor person. All of that started changing as I progressed through college, and then got married and had kids. I wouldn't trade my wife or children for anything. I unfortunately have used them as an excuse for not being physically active for far too long. I have let the busyness of adult life get in the way of taking care of my body. I've tried along the way to get some exercise here and there, and I've even tried running before, but I've always allowed other things to take priority over getting the exercise my body needs.

It's time to make a change.

I work behind a desk. I sit almost all day long, 5 days a week, every week. When I'm at home I crash in the recliner or on the couch and watch TV, Play games with the kids, or read a book. There's simply not enough physical activity in my life.

My dad retired recently. He's in his mid 60's and is easily more physically fit than I am. No, I've not completely let myself go to pot, it's just that my dad is a very physically fit man. I never thought of him as my hero when I was a kid, but I do now. He's an inspiration to me. At the age of 65 he can probably keep up with most 20 year olds. I'm proud of him and want to be like him in many ways. He's a good man, a Christian, and has been a very good steward of the gifts with which he has been blessed. He's been a good example to me of what a husband and father should be. Perfect? No, but that's what makes us human. I knew all of that on some level for a long time, but not until a recent visit with my family did I realize the depth of the desire I have to be like my dad. That may be an odd thing to realize at 35 years of age.

With that realization, I now know that I want to be that for my children. I want to set a good example of what it means to take care of this body that God has blessed me with. I want them to grow up with good habits in place that they can take with them throughout their lives. I also want to be healthy enough that when they are grown and have families of their own I can enjoy those times. I've realized that if I want that, I have to make it happen. I have to "be the change I want to see in the world" to quote Mahatma Gandhi. To take that to a personal level, I have to be the person I want my children to be, and part of what I want them to be is good stewards of their bodies so that they can be healthy active adults and pass the same habits on to their children.

To put it all in one sentence, I could sum it up like this: I want to run for my own health and as an example for my children.

That and I want to run faster than my wife.

Couch to 5k: Week 1, Day 2

Today was similar to Monday. I did the 5 minute warm up, stretched, and commenced with the 60 second run, 90 second walk routine. There were 8 total sets of 60/90 followed by a 5 minute cool down. I maintained the same pace as Monday for a total of 2.4 or so miles in 30 minutes. I had no unusual pain and felt like I could do several more sets without completely exhausting myself. I guess I'm not as bad off as I thought I was.

I started out with some soreness left over from Monday's run. That's mostly limited to my lower shins. Precursor to shin splints? I hope not. It's not intense pain and goes away when I start running, so I'm not too worried about it. I'm hoping it's just my body getting used to being used again.

I concentrated on posture today, too. Monday, I had some pain between my shoulders about halfway through. Lauren thinks it's probably due to poor posture. I had little to no pain today, so she's probably right. That's something I'll have to force myself to think about from now on. It certainly doesn't come naturally.

I've not been completely out of breath during a run yet. I think this is due at least in part to reading up on proper breathing techniques. When I tried this before, I didn't have a pattern, I just breathed. I'm using the two in three out technique now: breathe in for two steps and out for three. I've not had any stitches in my side nor have I been out of breath.

I sweat like there's no tomorrow, though. Even after a long cold shower, I sweat profusely. It's a minor annoyance.

I had hoped to run outside today but realized I had no way of keeping track of how long I'd been running other than a stop watch on my cell phone, which I didn't want to have to carry with me. I'll have to add a simple watch to the shopping list.

Speaking of shopping, I picked up an Under Armour shirt for running in. I wore it for this morning's run and was impressed with the improvement in comfort over the cotton T I had been wearing. I was skeptical that a different shirt could make that much difference, but I've been proven wrong. I noticed when I first put it on that I was cooler with it on than I was with no shirt at all. That was an odd sensation, but probably to be expected given the heat and humidity that come with living in the southeast.

That's it until Friday.

Couch to 5K: Week 1, Day 1

I started the Couch to 5k program today.

Week 1 Day 1 calls for 60 seconds of running/jogging alternating with 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes. I started out with a 5 minute warm up walking at 4.5 mph on the treadmill then stopped to stretch. After the stretch I started the C25k routine with 90 seconds walking at 4.5 mph then 60 seconds jogging at 6 mph. I continued this same routine for the prescribed 20 minutes and finished up with a 5 minute cool down walk at a continuously decreasing pace.

The first half of the 20 minutes was a breeze, I started to feel fatigued after the next 5 minutes and I was exhausted by the end of my last 60 seconds of running. I had to push myself through the last two segments of running.

Overall it felt good to be running again. I had no abnormal pain which was a pleasant surprise. The heavy breathing caused a little scratchiness in my throat, but nothing unbearable.

Total distance today was 2.25 miles in 30 minutes.