I did it!

I DID IT! I finished my Week 5 Day 3 run! Wahoo!

That's 20 minutes of running without any breaks. And you know what? It actually wasn't that bad. That's not to say I wasn't happy to stop when the time was up, because I was. But I feel a great sense of accomplishment.

Yay!

Now onto week 6! Check back Tuesday to see how it went.

It's been awhile...

I'm horrible at updating this blog. I know it's been awhile, but no one commented to me that I haven't updated in weeks, which leads me to believe that I'm the only one reading this. Or, writing this I guess.

That's okay. I just need to be better at keeping records. I'm usually not one to follow through on physical activity goals, unless it's soccer, and since I'm not really a fan of running usually...it's easy to want to quit.

But despite the fact I haven't updated this in weeks, I have not quit. I'm pretty determined. I'll admit, my motivation isn't so much to become a runner, it's because I think running is a great form of exercise. Something you can do anywhere at any time. I am excited to compete in a 5k, I just hope to finish without embarrassing myself too badly. But I'd be lying if I said that losing weight wasn't a motivator. Because it is. It's been years since anyone could reasonably call me 'skinny', and I've struggled a bit. But right before I got pregnant, I was in a pretty good spot, I think. I was almost fitting into the size I wanted, and felt pretty good when I looked in the mirror. For the first time since getting them I liked my curves (it doesn't hurt that Matt has always loved my curves and told me so regularly).

People always told me that once you have a baby, your body doesn't go back to the same shape. And boy, that's the truth. I probably weigh close to what I did before I got pregnant, and to be honest, I didn't even gain that much weight when I was pregnant, but my body has definitely changed.

I've never had many problems with having a belly, my issues have always been in the butt/thighs area. But for the first time, I've got a belly. And I hate it. I feel like I look like I'm 5 months pregnant. I'm fitting into jeans and whatnot from before, but I have this belly that hangs over. Yuck.

So to get this body back to some kind of order, I started running. So far, I'm not seeing much of a difference. So to help it along, I've given up sugar. Not for forever, my goal right now is to go without any for a month. After that, I'll be sure to do it in moderation. I don't eat a ton, but every now and then I crave it and eat too much. Other than that, my diet is fairly healthy(ish), I have cheerios in the morning, a sandwich for lunch and a variety of things for dinner...sometimes more healthy than others.

But lately I've been having fun experimenting with different sweet items, like various ice cream flavors and cakes (I just made a crock pot cake earlier this month which was so yummy), and when it's just Matt and myself to eat them, well, let's just say I could do without.

So no sugar+running=smaller belly (hopefully). I know I can do it, women do it all the time. There are people in London who have more than one kid who look great.

Okay, enough whinging and on to the running portion.

This morning I just finished day 2 of Week 5. This week is different than the others because you actually do something different each day. Day 1 is warm up 5 min, run 5 min, walk 3 min, run 5 min, walk 3 min, run 5 and a 5 min cool down.

I found day one pretty easy, not exactly sailing through it, but I never felt like I was going to die at any point. So that was Tuesday.

Today it was 5 warm up/8 run/5 walk/8 run/5 cool down.

I was pleasantly surprised at how I did. It wasn't easy, but again I didn't feel like my legs were going to fall off or that I was going to die. Maybe this couch to 5k thing really works. I'm not sure I could've gone 8 minutes running without stopping before this.

I'm a little nervous for day 3 though. In fact, I've got a huge mental block about it. It is running for 20 minutes, without any walking breaks. Plus the 5 min warm up/cool down. I know I can run for 20 minutes, I've done it in earlier runs, but it was always broken up. So I'm honestly not sure if I can go for 20 minutes without stopping. I'm worried that I won't be able to do it and then feel like a failure.

I guess if that's the case, I'll incorporate a Week 5 and a half, where I'll spend the next week running trying to get the 20 minutes. So we'll see.

I do feel that if I can get over this mental block, I'll be well on my way. From then on, it's just adding more minutes to the run, though I think week 6 goes back to intervals.

Okay, that's it. Hopefully this long post makes up for my lack of updating.

I'll check back in on Saturday and update how I did.

Week 3 Day 1

So today I completed the first day of week 3. Yes, I didn't complete week 2 last week, I admit it, it got away from me. Amelia has been teething and waking up every hour for the last few nights and I just couldn't drag myself out of bed. And I didn't run yesterday because I couldn't find my iPod, I need it to help with timing and everything. But I ended up finding it last night (behind a bookcase in the hall) and so this week I'll run T,Th,Sat.

However, since I felt that I could handle week 2 pretty well, I again decided to stay on schedule and start with week 3 today as planned. I know I don't have too many more weeks where I can skip like this, and I'm pleasantly surprised that my fitness level is higher than I originally thought. I guess all the walking in London helps a bit.

But back to today's topic, this week's runs consist of a 5 minute warm up/90 second run/90 second walk/3 minute run/3 minute walk/90 second run/90 second walk/3 minute run/5 minute cool down.

So basically the time spent running is the same as last week, it's just in different intervals and you're running for longer periods. I thought today's run actually went by faster, I guess it's feels faster to be half way done after two runs than it does after 3 or 4.

So yeah, good run. It was cold, cold, cold though this morning in London...yikes I really hope it starts to warm up. In a way it was nice, because I was looking forward to the running parts, just to stay warm.

Well that's it. I'm determined (as always) to actually complete the entire week this time, mostly because next week is a killer (at least according to those who have done it before). I'm very much looking forward to being right next to Regent's Park when I start doing my longer runs, as there is a trail that is just under 5k, so that will be nice.

See you on Thursday!

Week 2 Day 2!

Boy was it hard to get out of bed this morning! I woke up right before the alarm was supposed to go off and I admit that I laid there, trying to convince myself to just go back to sleep. However, I'm bound and determined to not let anything stop me from going out (if I can help it). So even though I was tired and still dealing with a few stomach issues...out I went.

And I'm glad I did. Nothing feels better than coming back in from exercising. I know I would've beaten myself up if I'd gone back to sleep. Only one more day this week and I'm on to week three.

The run today was pretty good. My legs felt a bit heavier than on Monday, but still it wasn't a problem to do the 90 second increments. I didn't even find myself mentally yelling at the guy on the podcast to tell me that time was up (not much anyway). But yeah, I feel pretty good. Not too wiped at all.

I'm going to sign up for a run in Regents Park, it's a 5k and it's for Race For Life. It's also on Amelia's birthday, which is a Saturday. I think it'll be good fun.

So that's it for me here. Tune in on Friday for the thrilling conclusion of Week 2!

Week 2 Day 1

I just got back from my second week of running, day one. It's actually only the second day I've been able to run. I opted to skip the rest of week one when I wasn't able to get out because of the weather. But since I found the first week to be relatively easy (I wasn't even sore after that day, which if you've pushed yourself, you should be feeling a little sore) so here I am. And since I completed today with no problems, I think it was a good move.

Week 2 workouts involve running 6 intervals of 90 seconds with 2 minute walking in between. As always there's a five minute walk to warm up and to cool down. So you're moving the entire 30 minutes, and running actually about 10 minutes or so. I was doing pretty good. I felt good for the first two intervals, the third one was a little more of a struggle, but the fourth and fifth ones felt great. The sixth one was the worst though, as you'd expect it to be.

Body wise, I'm feeling pretty good. My right calf muscle is a little sore when running, it was that way last week as well. I made sure I stretched it really well, but it's certainly something to keep and eye on. And my antibiotics are kicking in on my stomach issues. I hadn't realized how bloated and sore my stomach had been (think constant dulling cramps...) until it's well, not completely gone, but certainly less severe.

So that's it. One day down, 2 more to go. Look back Wednesday for my next update. I'm going to hop in the shower now, I hear that Matt and Amelia are awake...so I need to take advantage of him being home!

Cheers!

Week One, Day One

Well, today was my first day W1D1 and I'm very pleased to report that it didn't suck! In fact, I feel like I held up better than I thought I would. The way the first week works is that you have a warm up walk for 5 minutes and then you run for 60 seconds, and walk for 90 seconds and you do 8 intervals of 60 second runs. Then you have your 5 minute cool down. You do this three times a week. Each week increases the running time until finally at week 9, you're running for 30 minutes straight. I didn't find the 60 second stretches too long and I was often surprised when I heard that time was up. So I'm taking that as a very good sign. Granted, I was taking it a very easy pace, but at this point I'm trying to build up stamina, rather than speed.

The hardest part was waking up this morning. I'm still having trouble sleeping through the night for some reason. I go to bed tired, but around 3am I wake up and struggle getting back to sleep. Amelia hasn't helped the situation much these last two nights, she's woken up at 4am wanting to play. So needless to say when my alarm went off at 6:30, I struggled to get up. And looking outside it was dark and wet and looked so cold, I immediately started trying to justify not running. But that's not an option for me, so I bundled up and out I went.

I think I need to rethink my running route though. We've had an unusually high snowfall here in London and the sidewalks still had snow and were a little slippery, so I found myself running in the road. I initially planned on running in Regent's Park, but the pathways there were so full of snow, it was obvious they hadn't been cleared off at all.

So on Wednesday I think I'll try to find some side streets to run on that don't get much traffic. One little incident I had today was that apparently there'd been some horses that had gone down one of the roads I was running, so my running form was a little off as I was trying to keep up my 60 seconds while dodging horse manure at the same time.

Over all though, I'm very pleased with how my first run went. I know I'm going to be sore tomorrow, but hopefully this is a positive beginning.

Good times. I'm very much looking forward to Wednesday!

Just for Me...

Hey, this is a blog to chronicle my running. I'm starting the Couch to 5k program (www.c25k.com), which is supposed to get you running a 5k in just 9 weeks. My goals for running are to lose some weight, get fit and actually run a 5k here in London. My goal is to run the 5k by May, and I think it can be done. I've given myself plenty of time for setbacks etc.

The way the program works is that you run 3 days a week, I've chosen to run M-W-F, I'm planning on doing it in the mornings while Matt is home and can help with Amelia. It's really the only time that works well for us.

I'm giving this address to you, my dear close friends and family in hopes that by letting you all know, you'll help encourage me and motivate me.

So starting on Monday (12 Jan), I'll be a running fool.