First 5k

Sorry it's been a month since I've posted. My littlest one got sick the day I posted the last post and was in the hospital for a week. After that I've been working 50 hour weeks and it's been insane. Because of that I haven't been running much (or at all) the last two weeks. But I went and did my 5k this morning anyway. I just told myself that I would just do my best and try to keep moving. That's exactly what I did too. I don't know my exact time yet since they're not posted yet but I did chip timing so I'll look it up in a few days to see. I do know it was less than 50 minutes though. ****edited to add that the final time was 49:13**** Not awful considering. Not only had it been 2 weeks since I'd run at all, I've NEVER done 3.1 miles before in my training AND I had my two oldest kids with me. The teenager complained half the time and the 10 year old had to pee from mile 1. lol

Other than that I've been doing well on my diet since I've lost weight. This morning I was down to 239.9.  :)

I've also got the race bug!!! I came home and registered for a Santa Run for Dec 4th and a St Patrick's Day 4 miler March 10th. I think having those to work towards will help keep me focused. I really need to keep it up if I'm going to do my half marathon June 2nd. I want to do a 10k at some point in April or May too. I just feel like I need the experience of running a longer race before the half.

To prepare I'm running as much as I can in the coming months. The half is just over 6 months away and I think I need every bit of that time to train. I bought a 3 month membership to the community center gym near my house so I can use that when the weather is bad. It's still nice now but in a week or so it could turn! It'll be good until Feb 24th. By then the weather should start turning the other direction.  I plan to start Saturday with the bridge to 10k app on my phone. I'd started it before but I think I need to start over. It's a 10 week program so I should be done by the end of January. At that point I'll start my half training.

Journal 10/20

EXERCISE
Today I went out to run with the intention that I would just see how long I could go before stopping. The answer is 30 minutes!!! I guess that means I'm graduated from C25K! This is amazing. After my epiphany Monday it is like a switch just got flipped. It is so hard to believe that I just started this 5 weeks ago and now I can run for 30 minutes. Also it means I have 4 weeks to increase my speed. In 30 minutes I did just under 2 miles. I know I'm slow. But that's okay. I am fine with going slow. I'll get faster as I get thinner too.

FOOD
I have been really good about eating vegan lately. It just seems normal now. I will occasionally eat dairy (well . .. cheese) but I'm not too concerned about that. I don't miss meat at all and I doubt I'll ever eat it again. I splurge on cheese about once a week or so. Also, I have been doing great on the pop situation as well. I have about one or two a week. That is amazing considering how much I used to drink!!

Epiphany

Today is a monumental day for me. Just 5 weeks ago I started the C25K program. The first day is just 60 seconds run, 90 seconds walk for 8 reps. I was only able to complete 4. But I got back out there and tried again. And I have continued to do that all the way through this program. The day I was most dreading was week 5 day 3. It's a 5 minute warm up walk, a 20 minute run and a 5 minute cool down walk. I didn't think it was possible. Even last week when I did week 5 day 2 (two 8 minute runs with a 5 minute walk in between) I struggled and didn't think I was ready for the 20 minute run. Well let me just tell you that I was wrong. I should not have sold myself short. Today I ran 20 minutes. No walking. No stopping. I had turned the app off on my phone because I didn't want to tell myself that I was going to do that. I had the jog tracker app on and it told me every 2 minutes how long I'd run. I walked for the first 4 minutes and then started to run (well it's very slow so I'm not sure you can call it that!). Every two minutes I told myself good job and I kept on. Once I had done 8 minutes I decided to go for 10. Once I hit 10 I decided to push myself to 12. Once I did 12 I decided to go to 14 and so on. Truth be told I could have actually run more than 20. I felt pretty good. I felt strong. I concentrated on my breathing and kept my pace slow. I could care less how fast I do it. I just am proud that I can do it. This is what I needed to keep going. Now I know that it's possible. And at this weight!!! Honestly if I can do this anyone can. I am still 80ish pounds overweight and I just ran 20 minutes. Next month is the 5K and I am feeling so good about that now! I'm going to be able to run the whole thing!!

Weight Loss Update 10/13/11

I LOST 6 POUNDS!!!!!!!!!

that is all :)

Journal 10/12

EXERCISE
Yesterday I didn't work out. I worked out hard all weekend and Monday I had a hard and disappointing run so I felt like I needed a rest day. Well it paid off because today I tried week 5 day 1 again and I did it!! For me I don't think I need to take every other day off but it never fails that when I work hard three days in a row I need one off. I don't think that's bad. One day off per three working out is not bad!!! It's just once or twice a week average. I did my run in the neighborhood again. It was tough but I felt really good. I felt like I might die when I was done but I think that means I worked hard enough! It was 31 minutes and 2.1 miles so that's not a bad pace either!! Especially since 16 minutes were walking and 15 minutes were running. Although I don't think my running is much faster than my walking at this point!! Oh well. I am not concerned about my speed at this point. It's hard enough to carry 250 pounds around. I will get faster as I get thinner I'm sure.

I posted something on Facebook yesterday about feeling guilty about wanting to take a rest day and someone (skinny lady) posted that I should just go out and try to run for at least 10 minutes. I wanted to laugh. Does she not realize that I am just now up to 5 minute runs?! I'd like to see her strap 150 pounds to herself and run 10 minutes. I'm not sure why but it really rubbed me the wrong way. I know she just doesn't get it because she's never been 250 pounds but it still stung a bit. Five weeks ago I could barely do a minute and now I'm running 5 minutes. It's an accomplishment I'm proud of. And at this pace in another 5 weeks I'll be doing 25 minutes. That's kind of the point of this program.

My plan is to try day 2 of week 5 tomorrow. If I can't do it then I'll try again Friday. I am just fine with week 5 taking two weeks instead of just one. I have heard that's pretty common. Plus I  need to make sure I can do it before moving on. After week 6 it's all long runs. I'll get there. I know I will.

The conclusion I've come to is that I want to run. I want to be a runner. I signed up to run a half marathon on June 2nd. The focus has shifted for me. In the beginning it was about losing 100 pounds. Now it's all about running that half marathon. The weight will come off in the process and I'll just get faster as I get thinner. I no longer want the focus to be the weight loss. Don't get me wrong I'm THRILLED to see the weight come off. But as long as I've been going on this weight loss roller coaster I've had the weight as the goal. It feels good to have something else be my focus. I can't always control the fluctuations that my body does when it comes to weight but I can control getting out there to run.  It's free and I'm in complete control of that. The weight loss is a side effect to the goal I'm really working towards. This is also something I can keep doing. There will always be another race to train for. Another challenge to tackle. I can do this for the rest of my life. It's not finite like losing weight and dieting is. With this I think I can keep this off long term.

FOOD
I have been doing really well on my food. I am still tracking on www.sparkpeople.com and I feel like it is helping me stay accountable. I know that I don't want to log stuff that is going to be really bad. So I just don't eat it. I have been almost entirely vegan as well. Also, I have only had like 2 sodas in the last 10 days. That is huge for me!!! I am also drinking lots and lots of water.

All of these things combined hopefully will make for a great weigh in tomorrow morning. I think this is the most successful 10 day period I've had since I started. I feel like I'm finally on a good stretch. I am totally killing this thing and I couldn't be happier!!!!

Journal 10/9 and 10/10

EXERCISE

Yesterday (Sunday) was great. Love and I worked out on the treadmill in her dad's exercise room in his apartment again. Since I ran on Saturday I just wanted to walk. I set the time for 35 minutes and a speed of 3.5, which is 17 min/mile.  I plugged along and then the last 5 minutes I put the incline up to 3 to give myself a little extra challenge. I was drenched when I quit. So much for an easy day!! Oh well. It felt good.

Today I decided to do week 5 day 1 of C25K.  We all 5 went out to a park nearby to do it o the track they have there. I started off running with the girls but they surpassed me quickly! Week 5 day 1 is a 5 minute warm up walk, 5 minute run, 3 minute walk, 5 minute run, 3 minute walk, 5 minute run and then a 5 minute cool down walk. I did it (slowly) up to 2 minutes of the third run. I just couldn't breathe anymore! I am really disappointed in myself. All I can do though is to go back out there and try it again. Day 2 is different than day 1 so I'm going to try to do day 1 again until I can do it before moving on. 

I've been dreading week 5 for a while now and this is why. It really is going to require a lot more stamina. That will just take time I suppose. I am totally fine with repeating days until I can complete the runs. No matter how long that takes. The goal is to be able to run a 5K. Not walk it. I know I can walk it. I don't want to set a time limit on myself for it. I just want to be able to do it. That being said, I am registered for a 5K on Thanksgiving day. It is in 5 1/2 weeks. I've only been at this about 4 weeks and I've really improved so I absolutely think it's possible. 

FOOD

I have been pretty good on my food lately. I've cheated and had dairy here and there but I think I'm about 80% vegan on a bad day and 100% vegan on a good day. And they're mostly good days. I have also been better about drinking a lot more water. Plus I've only had one pop in the last week or so. That is a huge improvement!!! Oh and I haven't had meat in over 2 months. I have no desire to ever eat it again. It just doesn't appeal to me. I have also started tracking my calories through a sparkpeople app on my phone. That has been really helpful. I'm averaging about 1300-1500 calories a day. 

Journal 10/8/11

NEW SHOES!

EXERCISE
We are visiting my love's family in Arkansas this weekend. Her dad has a gym in his apartment building so we took advantage and went to run on the treadmill this morning when we got up. It was my first time doing my run on a treadmill but it went well. It was my final run of week 4. It was also my first run with my pretty new shoes!! It was great. The new shoes help a lot. My toes didn't have the same  problem that they've had before. I did get a half size bigger than normal and I think that really helped. I finished this time which is good. Those 5 minute runs still kick my butt. It's not my legs that bug me. It is the breathing I think. It'll just take time I guess. I was getting a pain in my right side just under my rib cage. Week 5 consists of three 5 minute runs on day 1. Then a couple 5 minute runs alternated with 8 minute runs on day 2. Then day 3 is a 20 minute run. We'll see how that goes. If I have to repeat week 5 I will. From what I've heard it's not that uncommon. I just will keep doing it until I can do it. I WILL finish this program. I WILL be able to run a 5k. I've just decided.

FOOD
Since we're in Arkansas we're not eating as well as normal. Oh well it's just a weekend. We will go back to normal when we get home tomorrow. I just can't come down here and not eat fried pickles. It's a must. It's just a couple times a year so I'll not beat myself up about it.