Back in the saddle again...

I didn't want to be one of those people that quit C25K in Week 5, but that is exactly what I turned out to be. After a few weeks of Week 5, I finally just got angry. WHY as I not able to push past this? I see people running everyday - like RUNNING the whole time. And I can't run 6 minutes after weeks and weeks of training. I also got frustrated with my weight loss. I was barely losing anything and I was restricting my calories to 1250 a day. That didn't make sense either. In my anger and frustration, I took a week off and ate whatever I wanted. I didn't gain a thing. Then I entered week 2 of lazy-days and gained a pound. Whatever - better than dieting.

So after about 8 weeks of not running and not eating well, I've only gained 2 lbs, but lost all conditioning. I restarted Day 1, Week 1 yesterday and did Day 2 today. It was not as easy as I wanted it to be. I struggled on the minute runs, but hit most of them (which was better than when I did it the first time). Yay!

My son and daughter are running with me this time. I hope we all can keep on track together. Both have expressed interested in running since I first started and both have been out enough times to know what it takes.

I guess this is starting over then.

I did my long run of 6.2 miles (or 10k) yesterday. I have been on Week 5, Day 1 of C25K for to weeks and I haven't really been pushing to bust through it. I have been more working on speed. I don't know if it's a mental block keeping me from running the distance or what. I've seen people on TV shows who start running and are able to do it - and they seem heavier and in worse shape than I am... so it must be mental. In any event, I am loosely following C25K for the first 30 minutes of the run and then walking faster for the rest. I have been doing 3 miles on Mondays and Fridays, and 5 miles Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, with a long run on Sunday. Next Sunday, I will do 7 miles.

My pace is getting faster, which is good because I want to be fast enough not to get swept at the Princess Half. I am considering a Half Marathon in May for my first Half - the Run Like A Diva race in Myrtle Beach. I just have to get my brain on board.

I also have been strictly treadmill, but I hope to start going outside more in the coming weeks. The weather has been nice, but I don't want to go by myself, so I think I will see if Zaine will run with my after school. Since she gets out at 4pm and it starts getting dark at 5ish, we have a tough time if we don't start right when we get home. And do you know how hard it is to make a 9 year old child HURRY? We are going to try it today and hope for the best!

I haven't written in a while. I guess as running becomes a habit, it doesn't seem as important to come here and gush about it. I am still on Week 5 Day 1 of C25K. I just have a mental block on the run amount, I think. I'm not putting too much pressure on myself because I've been trying to walk longer and faster after my run time.

Weigh day & long run

My last few weigh days (let's just be honest and say the last SIX) have been somewhat disappointing. I would lose a bit, then gain a bit and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. I still have no idea! (Although the fact that it was the HOLIDAYS might have something to do with it!) For some reason, this week it all caught up. I lost 3.6 lbs doing pretty much the same thing I have been doing. Well, minus a holiday cookie or two. I didn't deny myself anything, but I did track every bit of food on my Lose It app and kept under the calories it set for the day. That plus 4 days of running seemed to kick start my plateau. So hooray! It's about time.

I did my long run today - 4 miles at 16:35/mi average. My fastest yet. I start Week 5 of C25K on Tuesday.

6 miles DOWN! Charm day!

Was it my lucky socks? I don't know, but I conquered the 6 minute run today! I did Week 4 C25K exactly as scheduled for the first time, with 4/6/4. I am so happy! After my first 4 minute run, I felt like... "hmmmmmm, I could go longer" instead of "oh dear God, I am counting down the seconds until I can walk". This is a change, for sure! So I thought, hey maybe I CAN do 6 minutes today. Then about 2 minutes into the 6 minute run, I started to falter. I was thinking I should just do 2 and 2 like I had been doing. But then I pushed myself and said - "at least do 3 minutes". Then at 3, I said "might as well do 4 so I can say I did 4/4/4 today". But I kept going and the last minute was hard, but I pushed through. At that point, there was no way I was quitting when I was so close! So, I DID IT! Now I just need to rinse, repeat for the rest of the week so I can move to Week 5 on Monday.

Because I broke through the 6 minute barrier, I get a charm today! I picked the boy charm that matches my girl charm, since I have a son and a daughter. Zaine got me a dangling heart charm for Christmas so I have the girl on one side of the heart and the boy on the other. Now, let me tell you about my boy... There is no person on this earth more like ME than my son. His father calls him "Little Lisa" because he acts, reacts, and generally IS so much like me. This can be a blessing and a curse, because I see in him the mistakes I have made in life. Of course, at 13, he's not really interested in me telling him how to change those things, but I do try! I love the child he was and the young man he's becoming. For those reasons, I will now look down at my bracelet and have yet another reason to push myself to be the best me I can be!

For the last two days, I have done a 5k in about 52 minutes at a pace of about 17/mi. Yesterday was faster (16:56) and today was 17:20/mi. Since my treadmill lies, I think this is in the 16/mi neighborhood. I am thinking of running a 5k on the road when it warms up later this week to see what my road pace actually is. Until then, I just keep trying to improve on the treadmill and hopefully, I will make progress even though it is a filthy fib-teller.

YAY for today! Week 5 looks doable and I look forward to it. Now I just need to replicate my success from today for the rest of the week!!

Happy New Year! 4 miles today!

My mother says what you do on New Year's Day is what you'll be doing all year long and I am the superstitious type so you know I had to get in a run today. Hal Higdon 1/2 Marathon training calls for a long run on Sunday so I decided to go for his Week 1 suggestion - 4 miles.

I basically did Week 4, Day 1 of C25K TWICE (minus the 6 minutes - it still eludes me) and it took me 1 hr and 10 minutes at a pace of 17:42/mi. My plan right now is to follow Hal for distance and on/off days and follow C25K for intervals (repeating until I get the times down). This way I don't get too stuck in a C25K week (which has definitely been happening!)

I didn't get too bored being on the treadmill for more than an hour, but I was ready to get off of it when it rolled around to the 4 miles mark. I can see how running for longer distances would be better suited for outdoors. Still, I hung in there for more than an hour so this was a WINNING day for me! Definitely a great way to start the New Year!

Days off make me slower...

So, I took two days off to see if I wasn't giving myself enough time to recover and here's what happened:

1) First, I felt antsy and cranky for not running the last two days.

2) I went to go HARD this morning and conquer the 6 minutes and WALKED THE WHOLE THING. It was a crappy, crappy walk for 2 measly miles.

It seems like when I take days off, I lose my momentum. I know I need days of rest, but I guess not two days in a row because I was a lazy daisy today.

Tomorrow I am going for my long run of the week. Week 1 of Hal Higdon calls for 4 miles so I am going to do that.