Beating the Storm

I had 2 storms to beat today. The literal one seen here:



As well as the figurative one of "omg I suck at running and I failed and why did I think I could do this in the first place".

I'm happy to report that I have slayed them both.



My run today was scheduled to be 2.75 miles. Considering I was supposed to run 2.5 on Sunday and failed horribly, I was not confident - to say the least. In fact, I spent Sunday and Monday feeling like a complete loser and failure. I was a nervous wreck about this run today. I just knew that if it didn't go well, I was going to lose it, big time.

I plotted out my route and off I went. The first half mile went very smoothly and I thought hey maybe I can still run.

By the time I got through the first 1.5 miles and was still feeling great*, I knew I had it. I decided just to take it all the way to a 5k. I needed it for my morale, and it worked.

So, I'm back in the game, and I've beaten both storms (it started to sprinkle just as I finished stretching! I just made it!). I think I better have another smoothie.

*The word "great" when used in a post about running can be assumed to be implied in a very relative manner. I felt great as in "I'm sweaty and hot and can't breathe, but I think I can finish!". Not to be confused with "sitting pool side with an ocean view and a margarita" great.

Cliff Notes 4/27

Strength class = hard and GOOD
Pregnant instructor kicking my ass = bad for self esteem
Large smoothie at Smoothie King = comically oversized and took 2 hours to drink
Greek salad from Panera = yum

Over and out.

The Good, The Bad, and the Suckass

Good: Scale reads 202.0 this morning. OMG almost the 100s. Of course, I tend to hover at the same weight for few days, go up a pound here, back to the same, and then suddenly drop 2. So, it'll probably be a week before that moves but I see the light.

Bad: Failed the 2.5 mile run today. A combination of errors, I think. First off, I decided not to plan my route, but just go out and run. Yeah, that's not so great. I ran and ran and was like woot that was fun, ran far, etc. Looked at watch... .73 miles. Oh. Shit. Then ran some more, got a little lost, little nervous, frustrated that I didn't have a "goal". At least when I plan the route I can look forward to the next landmark. "Ok... almost to the school, that's where I turn the corner". This way just seemed endless, I dunno. Also, I always forget to stretch after soccer because I'm too damn freaked out about getting my shoes and socks off OMG RIGHT NOW because I hate socks anyway, but when it's 80 and I'm running around, especially not. So, that usually leaves me sore on Sundays. I didn't sleep well last night, and I just plain haven't been eating. Yesterday I had 1/3 of a salad from Panera, a Klondike bar, uhh.. I think that's about it. So, yeah, not much stored up there. I really need an unfill, but who wants to drive 4 hours round trip for THAT. Surely not me.

Suckass:

Ya know...

I spend the whole week working on getting the house half clean, always thinking that the next week I can start working on the details.

Then the weekend comes.

How is it possible that my house is this trashed by 8am Saturday?

It's like running on the treadmill around here. (like how I tied that in?)

Week 7, Day 2

2.5 miles, take 2.

I once said that it takes me 1 mile to get in the groove.

This was not the case yesterday. Unless it mysteriously moved to the 3 mile mark, there was no groove. The entire run sucked badly. I'll blame the cold weather / the tad faster pace / the economy / whatever. The important thing is, I did it, I finished it, and I even went .10 extra. (I'd quietly hoped to be able to run 3, and truthfully I probably could have, but I was so damn miserable, and I was back to my house, I just couldn't bring myself to run by it.)

That was yesterday.

Today I went to the strength class, which seemed wimpy and now I have guilt that I haven't done enough today.

Tomorrow, is soccer. And it's supposed to be 85, so that should be a blast. ;)

Updated Photo

I'm not impressed with the upper stomach or the 4 mile wide hips. But, I suppose it's progress.



In case you forgot, here's the before:

FYI

Since we're "catching up". ;)

Strength Class Day 1

Yay, it was perfect! Exactly what I was looking for to fill my non-run days! I wasn't the oldest or fattest, which pleases me also. It was an hour of pure strength training, no cardio at all.

Note: I can do crunches all day long but o.m.g. planks. Fail.

I am fully prepared to have zero use of my arms tomorrow, because we worked them to the point of quivering. I probably could have chosen lighter weights, but oh well. No pain no gain.

Came home and cleaned entire first floor carpets, just in case I wouldn't be in enough pain from class. Haha.

If you don't hear from me tomorrow, you'll know it's because I can't lift my arms high enough to type.

April 21th 2009 - C25K W7D1 (backdating)

(last of the backdated posts, then we can be current yay)

2.5 mile run.

I chart these out on Google and don't think I can do it because I swear it looks like it's around the whole damn town.

I am noticing that it takes almost exactly a mile for me to get in the groove. This also confuses me as I don't ever expect to actually be able to run a whole mile. Nevermind 2.5. The first half mile I am pretty unhappy, but eventually I settle in.

Today I noticed a change in my inner dialog now that I am off the track and running straight through. Where I used to encourage/negotiate with myself "just one more lap!", I now basically say "STFU and get over it, you still have 2 more miles to go, fatty."

Tomorrow I am going to try a new strength class at the Beautiful People Gym. My lone hope is that I'm not the token fatty.

April 19th 2009 - C25K W6D3 (backdating)

(I kept 2 pages in a paper journal before going DUH, BLOG. I'm a bit slow. Anyway, here's what I wrote.)

The idea was to keep a journal all through training. I am a couple months late for that (of course), so I will simply utilize the first day of my running journal to say this to myself:

The first 5 weeks of running SUCK.BAD. Do not ever do them again. Whatever you do, make sure you can run for 30 minutes at a time so that you will not have to repeat this agony.

I've been through runs where I could barely get up the 2 back steps into the house, or walk for the next 2 hours. And that was running half a mile. Yeah, not looking forward to repeating that anytime soon ever.

Having said that, I just completed week 6, day 3 of Couch to 5k. A 2.25 mile run. It was my first run on the streets instead of the track. And it followed the first outdoor soccer game of the year (the day before). It was also my first run on the streets instead of the track. I did not want to go. I was sore, tired, nervous about the hills and hard concrete, and convinced I could even DO it. It amazes me that I can run more than 2 miles without requiring medical attention at the end. Even though I toughed it out for 2 months to get to this point, it still doesn't seem possible.

But, I did it. I could have gone further, and I wish I had just to see how far I could go.

There are still many miles (groan) and many pounds to go - but I think it's safe to say that this journey is officially underway. (It was tempting to spell it underWEIGH. You can thank me later that I didn't.)



(not sure what's with the dip. didn't happen. :P)

OMG HAI

So. Yeah.

I think it's time to resurrect da blog.

Mostly because my running books all say I need to keep a journal, and I'm super too lazy for all this writing.

So, prepare to be bored out of your mind with my running thoughts.

FYI, I'm down a total of 51 lbs so you haven't missed much.