Today Was My 5K!! :)

So, today was the last long Saturday run of the training session, and I have had a good week, so I was hopeful that I could pull off a good run this morning. The last time I tried this, you may remember, I had a bout of shin splints just about halfway through, and I had to walk most of the second half.

On Thursday morning, I was able to run my entire 2.3 mile neighborhood loop with two 1.5 minute walks up what we call "heartbreak hill." The weather was very unsettled, and I ran through a double rainbow on Holly Branch, which was VERY cool!

My new Running Club shirt

It was a great run, so I was pretty pumped about running the Run the Quay 5K course that we've all been training for. It was the last test run on the course before they all run the actual race next weekend. For me, it WAS my 5K, since I probably won't be able to run it next weekend since I'm the race organizer. So, my goal this morning was to run the whole thing, or as much of it as humanly possible. I haven't run 3.2 miles yet in my training, so I knew it would be a stretch for me, and I was worried about the shin splints reoccurring.

I stretched this time, and walked to warm up for about 2 minutes, and when we started off, I ran much slower to start with than last time. Amazingly enough, I only had to walk twice for one minute each time to stretch my hamstrings which had started to tighten up. My shins hinted at issues, but pain never really materialized. I ran up all three major hills, which I had never done before, and I finished the course in 35:58!! I was so excited! It's been an awesome day and I'm so very glad I embarked on this journey two months ago! I still have to find a 5K to get an official time in, but now I know I can do it and it won't kill me! Hmmm..... which one should I do?? :)

Intervals are My Friend!

So, today was interval day at the track, and after Monday's not so great attempt, I wasn't sure how it was going to go. I used a rolling pin to roll the muscles in my shin before I left the office, and did a couple different shin stretches. When I got to the track, I did some hamstring stretches and a couple more that stretched both my shins and calves. Then I made sure I walked for 4 minutes before I started running.

Today's workout was a full mile with a 4-minute walk, a half mile with a 3-minute walk, and then two quarter miles with a 2-minute walk in between. I was surprised how good it felt. I think I could have run another couple of laps, but with my recent shin splints I decided not to be noble and stop when I was supposed to! ;)

It was only 2 miles, and it was relatively flat, but it was great to get a good run under my belt after a poor one, and now I can look forward to my run on Thursday. I think on Thursday I will run my normal route backwards just to change it up and see how I do with the major hill first and the rest of the route being mostly downhill.

Sometimes it Sucks (Sorry, Mom!)

Today we woke up to rain... lots of it. But, as Mindy says, "They don't cancel a race for rain, so you might as well train in the rain." So, I put my big girl shorts on and headed out at 7:00 am. Unfortunately for me, I didn't stretch before I went out. I did my 5 min warm-up walk, but no stretching, and it showed.

I ran the first mile without much trouble. It poured several times, but the rain didn't seem to bother me at all.  By the time I got to the 1.5 mile mark,though, the shin splints and ankle pain started up. So, I walked it off, and then tried running again, but my legs felt really heavy and my hamstrings couldn't pick my feet up enough to prevent the shin splints from coming back. So, I walked and ran (more walking than running) the remainder of the 2.3 miles, then picked up the dog for our regular cool-down walk.

All in all, I ran more than I walked, and I was out there doing SOMETHING for at least 45 minutes, so it wasn't all a wash! But, I've had better days. I think I am in desperate need of some hamstring stretches that I can do a couple times a day in between runs...

Like I posted on my fitness challenge Facebook page recently, I think that running is like labor and delivery (sorry, guys!). While you're doing it, you're hating it and swearing you'll never do it again, but when you're done and it fades into the haze of short-term memory, you start planning the next one! :)  I stand by this analogy -- it totally fits for me!

Week Eight...

So... Week Eight was my first week where I had to miss a Saturday morning run. Considering how unsure I was at the beginning that I would ever make it to Fuquay to run on Saturdays at the ungodly hour of 7:00 am, its amazing to me how much I was going to miss the Saturday run. The reason for it was our trip to Myrtle Beach for a dance competition -- my daughter Kennedy's last major competition for the year. I had Saturday morning free, and one of the dance moms asked me the week before if I was going to run on the beach, and I thought, "why not?" People were of divided opinion -- saying either that it was much harder than running on pavement, or that it was okay if you ran on packed sand.

Anyway, I woke up Saturday morning to a bright, cool, breezy day. My intention was to run on the road, but it was clear to us the night before that the road was crazy busy with lots of intersections and my run would be  all chopped up with waiting for lights to change and dodging motorcycles, etc. So, off to the beach I went.

I decided to do as many 5-minute intervals as possible before dying from fatigue. I started off and discovered that running on the beach was a little more difficult than running on the road but that it was manageable as long as I stayed on the packed sand closest to the water. I was on my second 5-minute interval when a small dog on a retractable leash ran at me and bit me on the leg. It was several seconds before I realized that he had broken the skin, but I was having such a good run that I didn't want to stop. I knew that if I stopped to deal with the dog's owners, I would never get back to running. So, I continued and ran another 5-minute interval after that, which brought me to the second pier, where I turned around and headed back to the hotel. I ended up running five 5-minute intervals before I called it quits. I was so excited! The only downer was the dog bite, which I ended up having to deal with on my own, since the hotel didn't have any medical equipment or personnel.

The rest of the week I found the running to be more difficult. The heat increased this week and made the running a much messier ordeal. I was able to keep the length of running versus walking at the same rate. On Monday, I ran for 30 minutes and only 3.5 minutes of it was walking. I was very impressed! On Wednesday at the track, I ran 1/4 mile, walked a lap, ran 1/2 mile, walked a lap, ran 3/4 mile (3 laps), walked 2 laps, and then finished with a 1/4 mile. That 3/4 mile almost did me in, but when I think how far I've come -- from not being able to run a half lap to being able to run THREE full laps, I'm amazed.

Unfortunately I didn't get any additional runs in that week. I felt horrible on Friday, which would have been my fourth running day of the week, so I didn't run. Sometimes I think I'm progressing too slowly. The goal was to be ready to run a 5K by June 1st, and here it is May 17th and I'm still not running 3.2 miles. I run 2.3 miles in the neighborhood, and over 3 miles on Saturdays, but its still a struggle, and although I've come a long way, I'm not confident I'll be ready by June 1st. But, I'm still healthy and injury-free, and I'm still making slow but steady progress, so I'll keep going until something prevents me from doing it! I've lost almost 7 inches since the end of March, which is incredible! I'm starting to see some weight loss as well, but I'm discovering that I no longer worry about that so much. I no longer look pregnant and my clothes are falling off. :)  Keeps me going, that's for sure!

Week Seven...

On Saturday, May 4th, Mindy surprised us with a trip to the Presbyterian Church on Ennis Street to run the "Run the Quay" 5k course for the first time! This was our first attempt at the 5K route, and we were all a little nervous and excited. I had been doing so well that I thought I'd do a pretty good job. I was all pumped up.

Unfortunately, we took off like it was the race itself, so I didn't do my 5 minutes of warm-up walking. I ran the full first mile without having to stop to walk!! I was so proud of myself! That's almost a 1/3 of a 5K! :)
Then, after a 2-minute walk break, I started running again, and ran up the hill to Angier Road. Up a HILL! Again, I was psyched! Then it happened... shin splints! Ugh! I hadn't had any trouble with shin splints up until then. I don't know if it was pushing myself to run a whole mile without stopping, or if it was the run up the hill, or if it was the lack of a warm-up walk, but I was pretty much done for. I walked at least another mile until Megan Sardeson caught up with me. She was suffering from shin splints, too, so we walked together until we got partway up Aiken Parkway, and then we were feeling better, so we ran the rest of the course together.
I was really disappointed in the whole morning. I felt let down and wondering if all the pain and muscle exhaustion was worth it. :(  I was told to ice my legs for a couple of nights and take it easy, which I did. Thankfully, there hasn't been a reoccurence of the shin splints since then.

Luckily, Monday's run was better. I ran three 6-minute intervals with only 1.5 minutes of walking in between. I also was able to run the whole second loop instead of having to stop in the middle! On Tuesday at the track, Mindy had us run two 1/2 miles with most of a 1/4 mile loop after each, and then 2 1/4 mile loops with  a 1/4-mile walk after each. Those 1/2 miles (2 laps plus) were killers, but I made it! My other neighborhood run that week was pretty good, too. Consistent, not phenomenal, but just enough to keep me going! :)

The other huge deal for me that week was that I was at a race planning meeting and I heard from three runners -- who I highly respect -- that they all use a running method where they run 5 minutes and walk 1... for entire races! One of them runs marathons, and he runs 6 and 1! It never occurred to me that you could run entire races in intervals like that!! So, going forward, if life is throwing me a curve ball, I can run 5 and 1 at the very least and make it work!

Weeks Five and Six...

Week Five, we ran 2.92 miles on Saturday morning with Mindy and the group. By this time, I had gotten to the point where I didn't want to miss the Saturday morning runs. I couldn't say I liked them, but I looked forward to them. I know that sounds crazy, but the feeling I got after I ran was worth every painful minute I spent running. :)

I was able to run 4 minutes, then 6 minutes, then two more 3-minute intervals. I was so excited about it -- I didn't say anything to anyone because I thought it sounded really lame to say I could run 6 minutes in a row! But, it was amazing to me... I'd been struggling to run three minutes at a time, feeling like I could hardly breathe afterwards. To do 6 minutes in a row was a big deal to this old lady!

The rest of that week, my run time improved slowly but consistently. At home I was running 4 minutes at a time, with 2 minutes in between. I got 3 intervals in on my regular weekday morning run. At the track, we ran a full lap, then walked for half a lap -- four times. I added a 5th one just to push myself a little, which I had made a pact with myself to do on track days. On Thursday, I added another 2-minute interval at the end to try to push myself a little more.

Week Six started off with a longer Saturday run -- just over 3 miles. Mindy promised us we wouldn't know the difference between 3.02 miles and the 2.92 we ran last week. She was right. This time I ran 6 minutes, 10 minutes, and 4 minutes, with 2-3 minutes in between. I rocked it! :)  Again, it wasn't monumental for the average person, but for me, it was tremendous! I think I was on some kind of a high, because I lengthened my run on Monday to include two loops in my neighborhood, and I was able to run 12 minutes without stopping on one of my weekday runs! When I ran that long at once, it shortened what I was able to do after that, so I could only do two 4-minute intervals before I petered out. Still, I was happy with that! At the track, we ran two laps around and then walked for a lap. We did that four times. It just about killed me! As a result, I was only able to do 4-minute intervals at home on Friday. My butt and upper thigh muscles were burning! They do on a regular basis these days, but this particular run they were worse than normal.

I have been struggling with fatigue -- I don't know if its muscle fatigue or just overall fatigue from working so hard to fit all this running into my already crazy schedule. I just know that I don't want to stop doing it -- I just sometimes find myself having to talk myself into running, which takes a lot more time than I have. I guess its just a work in progress...

Week Three and Four...

So the next two weeks I ran intervals every time I ran. Although I couldn't find it in me to "enjoy" the actual running, I felt so good after I ran that it kept me going. Saturday, April 6th we ran a longer route than the previous week. Mindy said she would gradually lengthen our route so that by May we could run 3.2 miles and not be afraid of it.

Our homework was gradually lengthening our run time, but I was still running 3 minutes and walking 2. It was all I could do to keep running for those 3 minutes, so I didn't see how I could do any more than that. I tried several times to do an extra 3 minute interval at the end, but sometimes it was all I could do to add an extra 2-minute interval.

Hills were my nemesis. I just couldn't run up them, no matter what I did. I tried to give myself markers to shoot for, but even though I'd say "I'll just run to that next mailbox," I couldn't will myself to do it. I made myself a goal to just get to the point in my running where I could make those small markers. I figured that until I could find it in me to push just that much farther, I wasn't going to progress much more.

Breathing was still problematic, but I was doing breathing exercises at home in addition to doing them while I warmed up, so it was getting easier to focus on my breathing and take deeper and deeper breaths while I was running. It was making a bit of a difference, and my legs no longer felt so heavy.

By Week Four, we were up to 2.5 miles in downtown Fuquay with Mindy on Saturday. I was still just doing 3 minutes of running, but I was trying to walk only 1.5 minutes in between the intervals. I was managing okay, but wondering when I was ever going to be able to do more than 3 minutes at a time! That Monday, I was finally able to run from the starting point to the stop sign on Holly Meadow where I had to turn onto Holly Branch in my neighborhood. That's about .6 miles, for those who don't know my subdivision. It maxed me out, though, and I had to cut back to 3 minutes for the rest of my runs that week.

Week Two...

I showed up at 7:00 am the next day and my coach told me to try to concentrate on my breathing as I ran. We ran about 2 miles through Fuquay (by running I mean mostly walking between intervals). I tried to run 2/2 again, but I ended up walking most of the 2nd half, and at one point, I was in tears. It wasn't a good start to the week, that's for sure!

But, for some reason, my feet hadn't shown any signs of problems, and my knees felt good. I determined that I could keep going if I made sure I listened to my body and didn't push it too hard. I ran on Monday in my neighborhood, still at 2 minutes of running and 2 minutes of walking. I seemed to do better if I made sure I warmed up by walking for 5 full minutes first, and I went one time around the loop. That night, just by chance, one of the owners of our gym did an in-service training on breathing. It made so much sense -- breathing with your diaphragm instead of with your chest! He showed us how to practice deep breathing from the core in a variety of positions, and it was like a lightbulb went off in my head.

Tuesday afternoon at the track was a different story. I practiced the breathing while I was warming up, and when I started running, I found that if I breathed down into my pelvis while I was running, that it relaxed me and I could focus better. Even though the task was to run 3 minutes and walk for 2 (3 or 4 times), the run was manageable and I ran the full four times PLUS 2 extra minutes. I decided then that, if my body would allow it, that I would push myself beyond Mindy's requirements each track workout just to see if I could catch up with some of the other 5K trainees.

I continued to run 3/2 the other two runs that week in my neighborhood. Mindy's homework wanted us to run 20 or 25 minutes, with us running as much as we could, but I felt like I just needed to stay with the 3/2 intervals at home until they weren't killing me.

Step One...

I have to admit that I was afraid to start this whole journey. I anticipated more pain and more problems than before. After all, I was now 52 -- 6 years older than last time, and less healthy. My running coach kept telling me I would be fine, but I didn't have history on my side, and I was the oldest woman in our running group. But, I was down to 190 pounds, which was 35 pounds less than the last time I tried running. I hoped that would help.

We get our homework on Fridays, and run together on Saturday mornings. But, I skipped the first Saturday morning run. It was at 7:00 am, and I convinced myself that I was too tired from the work week to get up at that hour. To be honest, I think I was embarrassed about how bad I would look in front of all those other runners who were in better shape than I was. I wanted at least a week to run on my own first and see how bad things were before I ran in public. Call it selfish, but I wasn't sure about throwing my hat in the ring where people could see just how out of shape I really was.

The first week we only had to run 2 minutes and walk 2 minutes during our track run on Tuesday afternoon. I started on Monday with the same assignment. We were supposed to run/walk for 20 minutes on Monday, but I just did the 2/2 to see if I could do it. It was soooo hard. I wasn't sure I could make it two minutes. I was having such a hard time breathing. I could barely get my heart rate down between intervals. I was really disappointed. On Tuesday, I blended into the masses that were on the track, praying my running coach wouldn't run with me much because I couldn't talk and run at the same time. My legs felt like lead. I couldn't even make it around the track one time without having to walk. By Friday, after feeling the same, I emailed my coach and asked her why it was so. She said that if I wasn't breathing correctly, it could prevent my legs from getting enough oxygen. I wasn't sure how to fix it, but it sounded reasonable.

And so it begins...

I started a journey in March that several people have been telling me I should blog about. So, here goes with a little background...

In 2006, I decided to run a 5K to prove I could do it. I was turning 45 and I felt that I needed to try it before I got any older. The problem was, I weighed about 225 pounds, and had not done any physical exercise in many years. I was pretty sedentary, and I thought that running would be the miracle cure. Besides, I had seen other "stocky" women running and seemingly doing a good job. So, I started training, but ran into problems almost immediately. I had shin splints, my feet hurt, I developed plantar fasciitis, and my knees swelled. I trained sporadically starting in January of 2007 with three neighbors, using the Couch to 5K program online. That was before cellphones had downloadable apps you could use. :)

When race day came, I felt woefully unprepared, but I had signed up. I felt I had to do it because my friends were doing it. I went to the race, completed the event in 37 minutes, and thought I was gonna die!! I never ran after that again. I was done. I was tired of the pain and was ready to put it behind me.

So, what made 2013 different?

Two years ago, I realized that my life had to change. I had been diagnosed with diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Not enough of a problem to be life-threatening, but enough to catch me off-guard and make me choose to make a lifestyle change. I read a book by Dr. Mark Hyman called "Ultrametabolism," and it was just what I needed to change my life! I cut out the four whites: white flour, white sugar, white rice, and white potatoes. I stopped drinking soda and juices. I added lots of vegetables to my diet and cut way back on breads and pastas. We did a Mark Hyman detox for two weeks that jump-started a 25-pound weight loss, without a fad diet or pills to help us. I felt so much better!

By last Fall, however, I realized that my weight loss would not continue unless I added regular exercise to it. So I found a small gym where I entered a fitness challenge, and then another in early 2013. Although I didn't lose any weight, I took it seriously and could tell that I was firming up in many places. :)  When the instructors started talking about a 5K in the spring, I decided to try it again. I was terrified that it would be the same as before -- painful and exhausting. But, I wanted to give it another try, since I don't have the funds to afford tons of bootcamp classes or personal training sessions. I figured running might be the least expensive way to lose the rest of my weight. I signed up, told my running coach that I had to start running before everyone else because I was so out of shape that it would take me twice as long to get ready for a 5K, and took a deep breath...