Week 4/4

Today was a lesson in what not to do.

Don't take the dog if you don't feel like dealing with an obstinate pain in the ass.

Don't eat a big sandwich an hour before you go running.

Don't forget sunglasses if it is sunny.

Don't touch the ipod. Just let it do its thing - if you restart the podcast in the middle of the last 5 minute run you'll be very frustrated.

Today was a disaster. And here I was repeating a week 4 run to hopefully go a little faster and be more ready for week 5. HAH!

Here is a recap of today, interval by interval.

5 minute walk - fine
3 minute run - 1 minute in Dessie decides she must pee in a very specific spot. I paused the podcast to allow her to pee, then we went on the rest of the 2 or so minutes.
1.5 minute walk - fine
5 minute run - OMG DESSIE WAS A PAIN!!!! I had to stop running (and pause the podcast) to give her a very stern talking to. After that she was fine, stayed right with me.
2.5 minute walk - fine
3 minute run - pretty much hopeless, I had to drag Dessie along to keep her from looking for road snacks. Made it 3 minutes without stopping but I was frustrated.
1.5 minute walk - fine, and I extended it a little to get to a street corner and avoid having to stop at a light.
5 minute run - first minute was ok, then Dessie absolutely HAD to pee again - and then I somehow reset the podcast to the beginning at which point I was ready to give up - but didn't - probably ran another 3 minutes, dragging Dessie the whole way. Really really frustrating.

walk home was probably an extra 2 minutes or so...

top that off with a side cramp for about half the time and my right foot is still bothering me.
Not a fun run at all.

week 4/3

Today I decided not to go running - that I would do it tomorrow, but then I had the idea that if I went today and it was hard, I could get in another week 4 run before Mark gets home and we could start week 5 together. Good plan?

Anyway - I think the run would have been a piece of cake, except Dessie was a total pain today. This is the first time I took her on my own and she doesn't want to run with me. I think I go too slow for her - so she'd just as soon walk. Or maybe she just wanted to sniff. I don't know. But I think it would have been way easier for me to go on my own. I might still do my original plan - and redo this run on Saturday by myself to see if I can go a little faster.

I'm wondering if Mark has managed to do a treadmill run in Banff. I don't have high hopes.

But all in all - the third time around of week 4 was not hard. I was mostly trying to get Dessie to pick up her pace which was annoying.

week 4/2

I so didn't want to go today. Tired from recording. Mark isn't here - and it is rainy and overcast. But I went and once again, it didn't entirely suck. I didn't go as far as I on week 4/1 - maybe Mark pushes me to go faster or maybe we just had better luck with the timing of lights. The run itself was easier for the first half, and maybe about the same for the second.

not a running day

Tomorrow I'm going to be in the recording studio from 9 am until 9 pm and I am seriously thinking about getting up and doing week 4/2 before we leave in the morning. Does this mean I've become an addict?

I won't do it - because that would mean getting up at 6:30 when I could get up at 7:30 and 7:30 is just much nicer, but I am still thinking about it...

Week 4/1

I wasn't sure I'd be able to do this one - but WE DID IT!!! All of us. And it didn't suck.

Observations? 5 minutes is way longer than 3. Running into the wind isn't fun but dogs like it.

Not much else to add. I never want to go. Then we go and I'm glad we did. I really hope the 5 minutes gets easier by the end of the week. And I'm glad my mind obsesses over little bits of music because the opening of In the Garden played over and over and over while I was doing the 5 minute run.

Here are the pics.

week 3/3

Hey - today was easy! Dessie stepped on glass :-( and I felt a little woozy - needed to go earlier or eat more.

Dare I say it - I am looking forward to this getting more challenging!

Week 3/2

I am continually surprised and happy that this running thing doesn't totally suck. Today was almost easy - and I felt like I could have done another set of intervals. I still don't feel like going initially but then I find myself looking forward to the next run.

I am considering entering us in the SF Marathon's 5K on July 25. I want to make it through a longer run than 3 minutes first.

Week 3/1

Not so hard!!! After watching the Bay to Breakers runners I'm certain we look like banana slugs when we run though.

New shoes = good. Not sure if I'm in love with them but they're good.

Not much else to say - I'm just glad it wasn't horrid. I do want to keep track of our progress so here are some statistics.

CW weight: 128
MW weight: 172

And here are our post-run pics

 
 
 

is it really just about shopping?

So I've started running. Not only have I started running, but I've dragged Mark into it - and Dessie comes along because Dessie is a dog and dogs like to GO WITH.

We're about to start week 3 of the Couch to 5K program and I'm nervous I won't be able to do it. But we spent today getting new shoes. I'm usually extremely happy and excited to try on shoes but today was a different experience. Running shoe stores are crazy. I don't want to go to one again for a very long time. And I can't afford to go to one again for a very long time so hopefully our purchases were good ones.

I got these: http://bit.ly/9M9IOy

and Mark got these: http://bit.ly/b9Nre0

We went to two fancy running stores and 2 discount stores + I looked at a bunch of places online. I'm hoping the choices are good ones. Mark ended up with a full size larger than he usually wears. Mine are my regular size, although the shoe guy at the first store wanted me to go up a size. Kata says I'll know if I made the right decision based on how many toenails turn black. My toenails have only just returned to normal after last summer's Cascade hike so I'm hoping for zero black nails.

Summary of the first two weeks of this running program? The first week was really easy for me and I did it on my own. The second week was harder and not as fun - but I had a cold and I'm hoping that is why. Mark & Dessie started coming with me for week 2. Dessie really seems to like it, and Mark is into it too. He says he is feeling better already. I don't know if I feel any better. I think that's because I've been sick.

Last night I had really horrible foot pain that kept me up most the night. It reminded me of some pain I had after the cascade hike - at the base of my big toe. Hopefully the new shoes will take care of that.

Tomorrow I'm going to start taking beginning of week pictures. Maybe by seeing a week by week picture we'll know if we're progressing at all. I also want to figure out how to put music under the podcasts so I don't get bored if I go by myself. But maybe that won't be an issue if Mark keeps coming with!

I still can't believe we've started in on this. I guess it was only a matter of time.