C25K W3D1, W2D1 combined

I bought the full C25K app to day and jumped right in. I figured I was in good enough shape to start at least at week 3. W3D1 was a little harder than I'd expected (the 3min run part), so for the 2nd half I went back to W2. That spot on my left shin hurt most of the time again; it's been achy pretty much since my last run (about a week ago). It lessened after warming up (~1/2 hr) .

Max HR 200bpm. Workout 60min, ~3.5mi. My walking speeds, esp toward the end, dragged my overall speed down. I'm still having trouble with a 15min/mi pace here at this altitude.
Shoes: Asics Gel-Blur33. Temp ~50deg, beautiful, sunny day. I took a picture under a tree to try to capture the brilliance of the sky contrasted against the bare branches, but the sky looks darker in the photo than it looked to me.

Monday's Run

Slow. I had only eaten cereal, granola bars, and a cream soda (plus water). Plus I'd had trouble sleeping last night. Lots of walk breaks; achy right knee; achy left shin. Still felt good to get out and run though.

2.43mi, 32:54min

Thanksgiving run

Great run. No walking at start, went right into run. After a while my right knee started bothering me, felt tight or something at the inside back, and a little bothersome below the kneecap also to the inside. It felt, or at least sounded, like my left foot was hitting the ground harder than my right. Inside left shin a little achy too.

2.36mi, 30:48min.

P.S. I also ran last Wednesday, through my old neighborhood: 10min walking warm-up (0.6mi mostly uphill), 33:33 running with walk breaks (2.3mi fairly flat), 11:15 cool down (0.5).

Time flies

I finally went running again today. I didn't realize until just now that it's been 6 days since my last run/workout. The run was 2.2mi, 30:48 min. 14 min/mi.  I need to get that down to 11 min/mi & add in push-ups, sit-ups, etc.

I've recorded a yoga & a tai chi workout on tv, but I haven't fine either of them yet. I've been really tired, esp in the mornings. Plus as soon as I got back from TN, my sinuses went haywire, mostly stuffy & quite annoying.

I need to create or find a comprehensive workout plan. I also need to get a new tube for my bike; the front tire's flat now. I've been driving to & from work these last 2 weeks partly due to the cold mornings & no gear for biking in it, partly due to not getting up early enough to walk to work, but DH found all our gloves & some hats.

Soreness

Tuesday I ran 2 miles on a treadmill. At about 4.5-4.8mph, 0 incline. I forget at the moment how long it took. I'll have to check mapmyrun.
Yesterday we got to work out at a customer's gym (I'm on a business trip with 2 coworkers). It was poetry pretty nice: they had a weight room with treadmills, etc. and a Crossfit kind of set up. I don't like weight machines & didn't feel like running on a treadmill again so soon & no trails outside, so I found a 12kg kettlebell & did some swings. The handle was painted & the paint was chipped and uneven. Plus I didn't have anything to wrap my wrists wirth. I did a little bit of LC & tried a snatch but the bell hurt my forum too much. I did a single hand swung ladder & then a 2-handed overhead swung ladder them some cleans. I finished up with some leg swings, grapevine-like steps a la RW.  My back muscles all the way up into my neck are sore today from all that.
Today I walked 3 miles on the hotel treadmill while doing laundry. It took 55:57 min. I was going to work on my 15 min/mi walking pace but wasn't quite "feeling it." Can't wait for tomorrow! :P (you know, all that 2nd day after soreness)

Back on the bike

DH fixed my bike's flat tire last Tuesday, so I was able to ride to work again. No matter how much I told myself I'd walk to work while my bike was out of commission, it only happened twice. Either I was running too late to walk, or I had to be sure to be home on time, so I drove most days.  Also I haven't been eating as well (healthy) this past week.

Wednesday morning when I rode to work it was quite chilly. My fingers hurt from the cold, & my ears felt it too. Thursday was more humid and warmer (or at least felt warmer). Friday was like Wed again, but I was more prepared: I pulled my jacket sleeves as far down as I could before I got on my bike, which helped my fingers not freeze.

Also on Thursday I went running. I dressed a bit on the warm side, changing clothes in my chilly closet, only to discover that it was warmer outside than in my closet! After warming up I ran 1.65mi, increasing my distance by .55mi. I did a little of the run/walk until I slowed down enough to just run. On that last (3rd) lap my arches and ankles were feeling a bit strained. I was wearing my new shoes, and my feet weren't used to going that far on so little arch support. The new shoes do feel more comfortable to my feet than my old ones now though. When I put on the old ones they feel weird around the ankles, particularly on the outsides.

I've been feeling a bit out of sorts the last couple of weeks. I think it's related to the decrease in exercise, especially since I wasn't riding my bike most days. I had a class to run last week, so I didn't get my usual exercise in, plus the flat tire. My husband and I often take a walk in the evening, but it's usually just 1 0.55mi lap. And he's not been feeling well, so he's had to ask me to slow down. (!) Used to be I had trouble keeping up with him.

My dad and brother came to visit last week. They arrived later Wed after I was asleep and left Friday morning after I'd gone to work. If I'd known when I went running on Thurs that they were leaving so soon, I'd have postponed the run, or at least run less. Dad did agree to stop back by on their way home from visiting the rest of the sibs, if only for a night.

Missing Runner's World

For some reason I didn't receive my Nov issue of RW. :( I went online and got my subscription extended--it would take 6-8 weeks to get a replacement copy, so I just decided to read it online. Why don't I just read them all online? because I'm a paper girl at heart. I like the feel, smell, and experience of reading off paper better. I did find some useful info on training about "ditching rules"/conventional "wisdom" like static stretching before running, etc.

Speaking of running, I ran again on Thursday (new shoes) 1.1mi, 12:46min plus a .55mi warm-up walk. Total time 21:57.  I had to cut it a little short due to equipment issues, things weren't staying in place. I started out too fast with the first lap & ended up with a headache on Friday. There was a little bit of shin muscle soreness the next day, the kind that feels good. I also did 100 KB cleans (50L, 50R); my forearms were a little sore too on Friday.

Man, my sinuses! How long is the grass going to be polinating??? Trees around my neighborhood just started turning yellow. There are sticker plants in my backyard that still need uprooting, or rather the grass needs them to be uprooted. I'd like to have just one solid patch of grass that the kids can walk in barefooted.

This week I'm in charge of a class at work. I don't know when I'll run. I can do KB while watching kids. Plus my dad and brother are coming out at the end of the week for a couple of days.

Polar plan Day 1

I set up a new, 4-week training plan at PolarPersonalTrainer.com
Plan: 10min WU, 15min run, 5min CD

	Execution: It went pretty well. 1 lap (0.55mi) warm-up ~8min; Run portion: 2 laps in 13:04. Had to walk a couple of times. Cool down walk another lap, 10:01 Cool, sunny day. Gorgeous blue sky.

Testing

Trying to update blog-phone connection.

And on the 8th day...

(since my last run) I finally ran again. I did a half mile walk to warm up and was feeling pretty tired. (Stayed up past midnight last night reading a book.) As I was approaching the end of the lap I was tying to figure out how far I would be able to run at any given time the 2nd time around. I got it nearly figured out but ended up running the whole lap. Actually I did do a little running last week: I got outside of work & realized I'd forgotten my bicycle helmet. I ran nearly all the way to my desk and back (I had to beat the kids home from school), and my left calf felt really tight.

My back tire has been low, and I finally tried to pump it up on Saturday. I think I broke the valve. It won't stay inflated now. Walking to work tomorrow (I drove yesterday and today, in the interest of time).

You're not missing anything

I haven't done anything since Tusday but a few presses and a mile walk. Next week I think I'll work on that kettlebell workout I copied from Thierry Sanchez' blog a few months ago...if I can find where I saved it.

UPDATED: Fitness Test

Push-ups: goal was 26-30, actual: 28
Sit-ups/crunches (they're actually somewhere in-between, like when you cross a mule with a horse and get a donkey, hmm): goal 40-45, actual: 42
1.5mi run: goal when I got up this morning was 16:30 (yes I'm slow), then I saw that there was a 3.7pt difference from 16:22min to 16:23min, so my new goal was 16:20 (just to be on the safe side :p ).
Actual time 16:12 which is in the same point spread as 16:22.

I haven't done the math yet, but the score will be around the same as my last fitness test.
Oh, and I actually wasn't the last runner to finish! I passed a girl on the first lap. When I finished my run I went back and ran her in. She'd picked up the pace by then and finished strong--if I hadn't walked back to meet her I don't know if I could've run that fast. ;)

I took a swing of xtra strength 5 hr Energy this morning, on an empty stomach. I had some toast & milk as soon as I could after, but man! was I anxious this morning. I haven't had any 5 hr energy since early spring.  OK, gotta shower and get to work.

UPDATE:
My last fitness test: sit-ups--42, push-ups--21, run 16:11
And I decided to wear my old shoes; I realized Friday I'm still used to that stride, so there was less stressing about that as I was running.

C25K improvise

I walked 1.5 laps (~.8mi, ~14min) for a warm-up. I was going to run 2 laps, walk some, then run some more, but once I finished the first lap I decided to go for 3 laps (1.65mi) continuously running & JUST made it! Yay! I was getting a heckuva stitch in my side at the end there. 11:05min/mi pace which makes for a ~16:37min 1.5mi which will let me pass the run portion of the fitness test. I'd still like to do it in under 16:30. At least I've finally run 1.5 since moving here. Oh, & I wore my old shoes today. I'd been wearing only my new shoes since I'd bought them, but I was noticing a new tender spot on my left shin lately, so I figured I'd try my old shoes again.

(1 lap = 0.55mi)

Last night I did 5 min long cycle with the kettlebell, 1 switch, somewhere between 25 & 30ish per hand, so 50-60 reps total. Then I did push-ups (2x10) and sit-ups (30). Still have work to do for Monday.

C25K W5D2 repeat

Much better than yesterday. It also helped that someone stopped me in the middle of the walk between 3/4mi repeats to talk to me about something; that definitely helped me get through the second repeat. No cheese b4 running today, just a Jolly Rancher, mostly to delay the dry mouth. I like running with gum to keep the spit level up. 2 days off/cross-training now, plus su & pu. Then Friday one more run before my test on Monday.

C25K W5D2

1/2mi warm-up walk. Jog 3/4mi, walk 1/4mi, jog 3/4 mi. HARD!!! The 3/4mi repeats took more than 10min each! Felt almost like puking at the end. NO cheese before running. (Usu it\'s ok given a little more time to digest it and lower effort.) I was surprised this run was so hard, Friday's went pretty well. I've been getting about 5:30min on the 1/2 miles. Biggest difference--today I ran first thing in the morning (hence the cheese) instead of in the afternoon. My fitness test will be in the morning, plus it's been harder running in the evenings b/c of cross-country and football practices. I had a headache by the end of today's run, but it didn't get worse over the course of the day. I kept hydrated and ate decently. I plan on getting to be much earlier tonight!

C25K W5D1 repeat

Last Friday I did a repeat of the couch-to-5K week 5 day 1 workout. It was still rough. I've had a hard time getting a good night's sleep lately. Thursday I jsut kept waking up, then about an hour b4 I needed to get up my nose started running, so I couldn't sleep for that. Friday night and last night I was sandwiched between my two younger kids. I think I may finally have found the motivation for keeping my nearly 7yo daughter in her own bed all night: pierced ears. She's been begging to get her ears pierced. Apparently she's the only 1st grader in school w/o pierced ears. I had been telling her that she had to wait till she was 10, then just that she had to show enough responsibility by brushing her hair and teeth every day. (It's amazing how hard it is to get kids to brush their teeth once they're older than 5.) This evening it hit me: she has to stay in her own bed all night for at least a month to get her ears pierced AND keep staying in her bed or she loses the earrings (& likely the holes they go in). We need to put up a calendar, and I'm leaning toward making her start over after each night she comes to our bed. We've done this before, and once she got what she wanted after 30 non-consecutive nights of sleeping in her own bed all night, she reverted back to coming into our bed. The 3yo, being smaller, is easier to deal with, but he'll sleep on his own better than the 6yo will.

I've been working on push-ups and sit-ups too. I just wish I could progress faster with the running. I just can't seem to reach the endurance--half a mile? Tomorrow I'll do W5D2 which has 3/4 mi stints. I'd better get to bed for that. Oh and I got new running shoes a couple of weeks ago: Asics Blur33s. They have a lower heel so I'm able to get more of a midfoot strike than I could with the 1140s. And my 10yo's doing much better in football practice, plus the weather got a lot cooler for a week. He has a scrimmage this Saturday then the games start. I stayed for a little over an hour of yesterday's practice, & they had 2 water breaks in that time. It still kills me to see the 5yos crying as they run though. It's very physically demanding.

C25K W5D1

I tried to post this the other day from my phone, but it wouldn't publish.

Last Wed:
Walk 1/2 mi then WOD: run .5 mi, walk .25 mi, run .5 mi, walk .25 mi, run .5 mi. Total time 36:46. Nearly had a stitch in my side by the end. Didn't do any push-ups or sit-ups today. After workout ate a banana & had a glass of Ovaltine. Later around 10:30-11 had Greek yogurt w/raspberries & honey. By noon it occurred to me that I hadn't had anything to drink since the chocolate milk; I was getting a headache. It got worse during the afternoon, esp when ever I stood up. Motrin, Tylenol, food & drink mostly took care of it by bedtime, which is now, or rather a hour ago.

Running and football

Saturday I took my son to football practice. He really didn't want to go. He'd had practice the night before and stayed up till between 10 and 11 and was just really tired. Sat practice was at 9am. I made him go, had to drag him there. About 50min into practice he came over begging to go home. I gave him some water then noticed the coach yelling at him. Since he'd gone to get water w/o his team, they *all* had to run a lap. I pulled DS along and ran with him. 5 or 10 minutes later they got a water break (finally).

I took the opportunity to do laps myself. I ran outside the field on two sides where there was a sidewalk, then along the edge or just off it the other two sides: 1 lap = .22mi. I did something akin to my latest C25K workout, but I forgot to stop my watch right after the 8th lap. I caught it after a couple more minutes.

In the second half of practice, the kids were broken out into groups according to their positions, and my son's group was down at the other end of the field. My son was still having a hard time at practice, complaining about a headache too. His coaches checked his helmet, but it was fitting the way it should. In an effort to show solidarity with him, I did another couple of laps. On the second one, as I moved from the sidewalk to the field, he came over to me, crying, so I walked back over to the group, apologizing. His coach and the neighbor pulled him back into practice. I finished my lap but felt like crying too. I already felt they weren't giving enough water breaks.

I continued to watched how practice was going, but without going down near the end of the field again. I saw my son and other boy get pulled aside for some high knees/drop action. My son was actually doing the drill faster than the other boy. (!) Back in the group, they were paired off to do some defensive stuff. I saw my son get pushed way back by another kid. I didn't know, though, if that's how he was supposed to respond or if he should have been pushing back harder. The smallest kids had another water break (2nd) after ~40 min, then the next smallest boys. At the 2 hour mark the other two groups got a break too. My son came over and got a drink; happily, he was feeling much better and finally enjoying himself. Then this "short" practice continued for another 45 min, but the last part was relay races, and my son one at least one of them, so he was back to his old "I'm so good aren't I" self. :P

I talked to my husband later about my concerns about the kids' hydration, esp since they're in their pads and helmets the whole time except for water breaks. (The sweat can't evaporate and cool them.) He talked to the neighbor who was surprised to find out that the breaks were that far apart. My husband said when he played football as a kid, the had short breaks every 15-20 minutes. I hope our neighbor remembers to be more aware of the time between breaks next time. He's not one of the coaches, but he helps out.

Thursday 1 Sep

Walked 44.5 min. Haven't mapped it yet

UPDATE: the walk was 1.73mi for a 25:43min/mi pace! Wow! I knew I was slow but didn't think I was that slow. I'd been up till at least 11 nearly every night last week and was pretty tired.

C25K W4D2

Distance: 2.2 mi. Pace: 13:20 min/mi Duration: 00:29:20 Speed: 4.5 mi/h
Harder than Saturday and slower. I did feel strong on the run even though I was barely keeping my breathing rhythm.

Why Kenyans Run

http://runimal800.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/its-not-to-be-a-kenyan-runner/

An eye-opening and inspirational post.

C25K W3D1 Making progress

I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do the 1/2 mile runs b/c I hadn't run more than 4 min at a time yet, but I did it! The first one wasn't bad either, though the second one was hard. I pretended Hardin Field was a 1/2 mile square loop and ran for distance this time instead of running for time. I ran a mile! --in two halves, but still. Running for time instead of distance I couldn't keep track of how far my running parts were.

I walked 1 lap (.55mi) for warm-up and again afterward, but I'm logging those separately from this on mapmyrun b/c I wanted to see my min/mile on the workout: 12.73 min/mile! Better than I expected. I still need to get faster. I also want to start running in the mornings instead of evenings. I'm just afraid that I'll end up getting caught up with the kids as they get ready for school and that I'll over-sleep even more than I already do. But I'm going to be fit testing in the morning, and it's cooler (it was still 88deg by 9pm tonight!) then too, so it would be nice to get used to running early(er).

It's all in my head?

"The brain f%cks with you. You aren’t sure if the pain and fear is in your head or if it is real. You aren't sure if you need to toughen up or pull back. You question if you’ll ever, truly be back in the game with full self-assurance and gusto. You wonder if you are destined for a life of slow running, very low weekly mileages and too much cross training to bear. "  --ShutUpAndRun

Thank you  SUAR. That's just how I feel. I usually err on the side of caution (& wimpiness). I'm paranoid of redeveloping stress fractures or developing new ones. So I end up not training hard enough.

need more running

Friday C25K W3D3, 2.2mi, 34:09. I have heart rate data for this one.

This evening: walk 10min/1/2 mile; run 90, walk 90; x2; run 3:00 walk 3:00 x2, run 60, walk 60, run 30, walk. 32:21 total; HRmax ~190, 2.2mi total

The two shorter runs at the end were at faster pace, the pace I hope to be able to end up running. I really need to up my endurance so I can do my fitness test next month. I still haven't run more than 3 min continually. The logged workouts include warm-up and sometimes cool-down--whatever's left to complete the last lap.

I've been forgetting to do push-ups and sit-ups, gotta do those too.

Yesterday 3mi bike ride (took the "long" way home), 18min.
Today run/walk 29:04min. I haven't mapped it yet, so I don't know the distance. Also KB: 2x10 snatch and clean.

Busy busy

Last week was another busy week. I ran C25K W3D1 on Mon or Tues (I logged it as Tues; I seem to recall being extremely tired Mon). On Wed I flew out to CA for a quick business trip. I took a short detour to check out Solvang and the Santa Ines Mission; it was maybe 80deg. I had some delicious pomegranite/raspberry yogurt. That evening I met with an old friend from college, and she took me to dinner. We had a great time catching up.

Thursday after my meeting (which went quite well, thank you), I had time to go for a run before heading back toward the airport. The weather was misty, cloudy and less than 70deg. I ran a lush 1.5mi trail. (C25K W2D3, 90sec run, 90sec walk). I saw lots of vegetation I'd never seen before. On the way back to the airport I stopped at a lookout point to check out the ocean. I was somewhat disappointed that it was still cloudy. It didn't clear up at all till between 3 and 4:30, kind of a bummer, but otherwise the weather was nice. I got back home around 10pm

Cross-training, sort of

Today I rode my bike to the store & back, pulling my preschooler on the bike trailer. We went to buy some school supplies for the older kids. I haven't mapped the distance; I think it was about a mile. Later I weeded the part of the back yard inside the patio fence. I pulled up a whole paper grocery bag of goathead sticker plants. They were huge! I had thought the grass was growing well; turns out at least half the green was from those stupid weeds. And we don't have a hoe & couldn't find the shovel, so I was using a hatchet to soften the ground to be able to pull out the roots. I think that actually worked out better than the shovel would have b/c I could aim better & avoid pulling up what grass there was.

Next step running

It's been quite nice in the evenings lately, and yesterday evening it stormed for an hour. The rained lightened up quite a bit after a while, but there was still thunder and lightening. So much so that DSS's flight couldn't land and had to be re-routed to El Paso to refuel before coming back. I also didn't get to run yesterday, so I did a 15min KB workout before bed.  I did swings: 1min each hand then right into 45sec each. I had to take a break to fix some Ovaltine for a kid. Then I finished the swings with 30sec and 15sec sets back to back. After another (shorter) break (the 1st one took 6 min as I had to wash out a sippy cup) I did 20 ea LC--that's all I could jerk! Maybe I could have done a few more, but not many. After another break I did 10 snatches ea hand.

This morning I had the chance to run, so I did W2D2 of the C25K program. (W2D1 was Monday). After that and the "cool down" I did some sprints. Total workout >41min, and I was beat!  I slogged home, grabbed some bread & honey and some yogurt, showered and headed to work (on my bike--glad it's a short ride). At least the morning traffic was done by then. I didn't have time to finish my yogurt; in fact, it's still in the kitchen. I had a sausage biscuit after getting to work (Jimmy Dean, mini) and an orange soda--I just really wanted some sugar by then.  Lunch was Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake; love me some platano!

I didn't eat quite enough today though apparently. That plus the business of work today, and I was shaky by the time I got home. Now I could fall asleep no problem, very sleepy.  It's a lovely evening. The clouds are high enough for the more distant parts of the sky to still look blue. The clouds above are turning pink from the setting sun, and a bit ago I saw some of the moon too.

Walking & Running

Last week I went on a business trip with 2 of my coworkers. After dinner on Mon and Tues we went walking. It was hot! >100deg and we walked something over a mile each time, but we weren't trying to go fast, just to keep moving.

I got back Thusday around noon and crashed for a couple of hours--or tried to. Everytime I dozed off the kids would yell, scream at each other, or make some other loud noise. Finally I got ready to take them to the pool, but then it started thundering. Lightening too close, no swimming. Later I went running, did more C25K W1. At least the weather was nice and cool!

Friday I went in to work a little over half a day. Repeat Thursday's experience with trying to go to the pool. Later I went walking with my sons as the older one walked the neighbors' dogs. I can't remember if I ran on Friday. :(

Yesterday I finally took the kids to the pool for an hour or so, till we heard thunder again. I went grocery shopping, suitcase shopping, and DH & I went and saw Captain America. It wasn't as action-packed as I'd expected; I didn't feel that constant adrenaline like in, say, X-Men, but we really liked the movie a lot anyway.

Running again--maybe

I finally ran last week--once. Went back to W1D1 (or D3 as the case may be) of C25K. I was feeling rather winded by the end of each of the last few running minutes. That was Thursday. I was supposed to run again yesterday, but I slept later than I'd hoped, too. And of couse it took me an hour or more to get ready to get ready for the day. Ran some errands, including grocery shopping, took the kids to the pool, finally did laundry. DS#1 and DD had sleepovers last night: DD at "their" house and their son at our house. The boys watched Battlefield: Los Angeles from 8:30 to after 10, and so I watched most of it too, not packing until afterward. Didn't get to be till after midnight. Waking up this morning before 5 was not fun (or easy). Couldn't even eat a sausage biscuit for breakfast (didn't even try), just a cup of cereal. Just now starting to get hungry. Got some fruit and snacks with me.

Behind on running

Saturday I was hoping to run, but we were busy moving instead, just a mile away, but, you know, you gotta get all the big heavy items moved over in as short a time as possible so you can return the U-Haul trailer and maybe not get charged for the 2nd day. :~) So I did exercise even if I didn't run.

I need to find a new bike route to work. I'm a lot closer, but I'm now UP the busy road instead of across it. Yuck; I hate riding in traffic. I need to start Couch-to-5K week 2 and do a kettlebell workout. (I shouldn't really say "kettlebells" since I still only have 1. I can't decide whether to get another like the one I have or save up and get a better one.)

My shin has been hurting more lately, so I used the ultrasound on it yesterday. I should probably use it daily again.  Also, it has finally started raining! YAY! In fact, today I got rained (sprinkled) on both this morning and this afternoon.

Saturday I did W1D3. This week I started week 1 over again. I've been tired, sleeping well into the mornings.
This morning I took my watch off before looking at it so I could take my time waking up without feeling pressured b/c of the time. When I finally did look at my watch (after brushing my teeth) it was an hour later than I expected! I slept from ~11:30 last night till 9 this morning! The poor dog next door hadn't been out since 8:30 last night! Apparently he was fine though as he didn't meet me at the door by the time I got over there.

Monday I did W1D1 again and Wed was W1D2. I also took the dog for a walk yesterday and today. 1 problem with sleeping so late is that it's hot by the time I get out. I also need to improve my nutrition, but I feel rather at loose ends in that regard--trying to figure out what to eat, meal planning, etc.

Tomorrow we start moving to a new house. The only thing packed is the kids' clothes and that barely. I thought we still had at least 1 box full of packing paper, but apparently it got dumped, so we'll have to wait until we unpack some of the boxes currently still packed and in the garage. Also my shin has been hurting again.

Couch to 5K W1 D2

Did this last night & took the neighbors' dog with me. He hasn't been getting out much. I did slower running this time, easier and then faster on the last run. 1.88mi again (finished up the distance in the cool down). That dog sure was glad to get home! He went straight for his front door!. :~) 

It was cooler than average yesterday evening; it was mostly cloudy and had rained some in town (scattered showers). Then I stayed up till midnight. yay. Slept till ~8:30/9 this morning. (Yay! rested in the morning!)

This morning I took the dog out for a walk. It's hot again already, and all the clouds are gone. We walked ~1mi taking ~20min. (There were a couple of sniffing stops.) It felt like we were walking faster, but I also forgot to stop my watch once we got back to the house.) Later today I plan to do that "10 min" kettlebell workout. I haven't done it all week, maybe just Monday. Oh and the Active Warm-up from Runner's World.

Couch to 5K: Week 1, Day 1

5 min brisk walking warm-up. 60 sec run/jog, 90 sec walk for 20 min (8 rounds), 5 min cool down & stretch. 1.88 mi.

"Ice" bath

After my long, hot "run" yesterday I did the closest I've ever come to an ice bath--I filled up & sat in the kids' wading pool. That's as close to an ice bath as I ever plan to get. I borrowed my husband's hat b/c I was tired of the sun in my face.

(Untitled)

Yesterday I went running, or at least tried to. I did a long warm-up (13min) from work to a trail, then started alternating running and walking. I think the first minute running was the longest I ran. I think each running period after that was around 30sec each. I wasn't looking at my watch, just went with how I felt. I went 15 min out then turned around. It was hot and sunny and took longer getting back than going out. It was a little over 3mi total and took me just over an hour. Almost as soon as I started running it felt harder to breathe. At one point my HR was ~200bpm. I was tired before going out as the kids have been staying up late. In fact, the night before I was the first one to go to bed! By the time I got back to the car I had a headache at the base of my skull. I'd forgotten to pack my visor, good thing I had sunglasses at least.

Today was a complete and total rest day. I drove to work instead of biking and took a nap around dinner time. I still had the headache all day till after the nap. No pain med worked to relieve it even though part of it was tightness high in my neck just below my skull. Well, feeling better now, and it's past bedtime again. ;)

Finally a big workout day

Today I did a long ride in addition to my bike commute. (Remember, "long" is a relative term.) My commute is 3.58 mi, and I did an additional 4.23 mi for a total of 7.81 miles. After I got home I finally did the full kettlebell workout from kettlebell-dk's blog plus 15 snatches each side, plus some push-ups, and sit-ups. Feels good!

Racking up the miles

Well, relative to what I usually do. I've been riding my bike to and from work and throwing in a long ride once a week so far. I walked ~2mi Thursday, and we've been taking occasional family walks.  Theirry Sanchez posted this quick kettlebell workout and I've done 1 round twice. My back got sore from it! Talk about out of shape.

Thurday was work's Sports/Family Day, & I played volleyball for the first time in I don't know how long. It was fun. At some point during the day I got sunburned on the backs of my calves. DH and 3/4 of the kids didn't hang out much past lunch. A bunch of kids took over the dunk tank afte lunch while the adults were still eating. Spiderboy was nearly running it. Princss tried it a couple of times, but she was only as tall as the water was deep, & she can't swim. She'd bounce up quickly and doggie paddle fast the 1 ft to the side and latch on really fast to the chain link above the tub, then 'walk' herself to the step. She didn't know when to hold her breath though, that's why she only did it twice.

Monkey boy and I stayed after everyone left. I pushed him on the swing so long that my shoulders were sore Friday! (Probably ~20 min). We got a soda, he jumped in a bouncy house, we had the run of the baseball toss. Eventually we saw our neighbors and hung out with them till they left. Then we started walking home. Thankfully the big brothers met us across the street with the bike trailer. That way Monkey Boy didn't have to walk a 1/2 mile in the heat & I could ride my bike. Later I took the two big boys to the pool. Spider Boy enjoye it; Teenager didn't. The temp had gone down, and the wind had kicked up, so it wasn't hot enough for me to get int he water. I sat on the side and dangled my feet in. That's when I realized the backs of my legs were sunburned. Good day though.

I've started bike-commuting to work at least 3 days a week. It's ~3.5mi round trip & takes about 12 minutes each way. My butt is sore from riding! My legs have been tired too. (I'm using the netbook to post this & it's dark in the room. I wish this keyboard were backlit so I could see the keys. Anyway...) I've logged 11mi this week and 18+ so far this month. It's been chilly in the mornings; my hands were freezing till I found some gloves, and my ears hurt from the cold Thursday and Friday.

I work about 7:30 to 4. You'd think I'd be able to get some TV time in the evenings. Nope. I do get in kid and husband time, then it's dinner, baths, kids' bedtime, get my stuff ready for the next day, then it's my bedtime. I'm trying to go to bed by 10pm so I can get up easily before 6:30am. The earliest I've made it so far is 10:30.

I still haven't been able to run more than a minute at a time. In fact, the last run/walk I did was run 1min, walk 1.5min, and I had a headache later. I need to do some high-volume KB swings to build up my cardio more. I was doing some blog reading catching up and saw Diana had posted a HVS workout. I'll have to adapt it. I also need to get back to doing those exercised from Runner's World I was doing before we moved. They made my tight hip feel better (both have been hurting lately). And Thierry Sanchez has posted a 9wk KB snatch program I may do...if I can get more chalk soon(!)

It's been pretty nice being back in Abq. The lack of humidity is appreciated even though it's been chillier than expected. We went up to Sandia Crest recently and did some geocaching on the way down, or tried to. It turned out to be too hard to find with the little kids in tow...too far off the beaten path. Actually, we did find 1, but not the 2nd one.

Last Tuesday I Ran

Finally, since moving here I ran more than a block. I tried to do 1min run/1min walk for 20 minutes. I managed it for 10 & then reversed it for 8 more. (In other words I took a 2 min walk break at the 9 min mark and quit running at all at 18 min). My legs were tired the next day but not particularly sore. I finally got a new issue of Runner's World yesterday--yay! It was motivational.

Moving in

So I finished my thesis, graduated, went to a conference, and moved. We just got our stuff at the house today. BUT we're not staying in this house very long...just until the house we really want opens up, which it should in a couple of months or so. I haven't been running, only walked to the grocery store a couple of days ago. We're supposed to be doing daily family walks in the evenings. Yesterday was too cold for me; DH took a couple of the kids but they never made it past the neighbors' house. The wife saw them out and invited them in to visit. I still have to write a paper for a journal; I can't remember if it's due at the beginning of May or at the end--better figure that out fast. Got the kids enrolled in school yesterday; they start Monday.

I FINISHED MY THESIS!!!

YAY!! Now I can focus on final exams, fitness testing (less than a week away), making a poster for a conference, catching up on laundry, oh, and planning a move! I'm already too far behind on that last one, and it doesn't help that my husband has been trying to rush things. (Again. Like last time.) Gotta get some running in; I probably don't need to say that I've hardly run at all lately. I jogged a fair way around th block with the dog the other day. Yesterday I restarted push-ups, on the stairs. It also doesn't help that I got sick a few days ago (a cold). Seems to be abating. I'm going to run tomorrow.

Ow, dang neuroma!

I went running at the gym yesterday, but since I wanted to maintain a steady pace I used the treadmill. I can't remember the last time I ran on a treadmill. The run went well. 8min walking warm-up, ran a while, walked a bit, ran some more, cooled down...I ran at between a n 11:30 and 12:45 min/mi pace. It felt slow, but I (think) I ran longer, not that that's saying much these days. This morning the ball of my left foot hurt. At first I didn't realize what the deal was. It's never hurt this way before, hurt to step on. After my shower I noticed that the ball of my foot was swollen. I took some ibuprofen, but I couldn't tell that it helped. This evening I tried an Aleve. When I touch the ball of my foot, it hurts at the top just before the toes start. I guess my foot didn't like the treadmill. Those narrow blue Asics don't help either. I think I'm going to have to replace them sooner rather than later.

I've been doing about half of the active warm-up most every day, doing the leg swings and scissors. Day before yesterday I pulled up all of them & did them w/Princess.  When we got to donkey kicks, she said "I know what those are!" and jumped right in. We also did some exercises she does in P.E. It was fun. Later I did a KB ladder. I couldn't find the printout, so I made it up. Accidentally did a set of snatches one minute! Just snatched that bell right up there.

Last night DH and I tried melatonin for the first time. & for the first time in weeks I woke up without feeling weak and shaky. I actually felt rested, sleepy still, but otherwise rested. I was expecting to be in bed by now, but Monkey Boy and Princess took late naps on the couch. Princess just went up to bed finally, but Monkey Boy shows no signs of returning to sleep. :( It's so late now that I don't know if I should take melatonin again tonight. (I took it at 11:45pm last night & got to sleep sometime after 12:30am (Monkey Boy again).) I got up before 8 this morning w/o much difficulty. Sleepy now though.

I've been up for almost 2 hours

School holiday today, so I got to sleep in. I wanted to be up by 8, but even by 9 I was still extremely sleepy, couldn't keep my eyes open. Part of the problem was that I was up till midnight last night. I was going to make a training plan last night. I was going to go to bed by 10:30. Instead I continued fighting the "watch more Doctor Who" urge and Googled this guy (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0855039/) my latest actor crush. (so I was "looking at" as opposed to "watching" :P )

I have been so tired this past week. I was chalking it up to not sleeping last Sunday night due to working on my thesis. Every morning last week, except Friday, I went back to bed for an hour or two after getting the kids off to school. Friday I fell asleep in class; I sit close to the front. Yep, got caught. Even 5 Hour Energy hasn't helped; I've fallen asleep after taking that too. I've been trying Sudaphed (the good Sudaphed, pseudoephedrine) and Tylenol for congestion and sinus pressure. It helps some.

I did work out Saturday (yay), I didn't feel like braving the 25deg weather and so did a cardio workout in the comfort of my own living room. Thanks Jade and Brooklyn on ExerciseTV. I threw in some situps and side crunches b/c I hadn't felt like I'd had much of an ab workout either of the last two times. The rib cage muscles were sore yesterday.

So my plan for today...is KB swing ladder #1 from kettlebellfitness.dk, and active warmup from RW's Fully Fit series, and...running outside ... cringe. According to Accuweather it's 22 and feels like 13. But it's SUNNY, or at least partly, and I could so use some sunshine. (Watch it be cloudy by the time I get out there.) Maybe I'll take the dog. I ran in 19deg once last winter. OK. Here I go.

I worked out yesterday!

I'm finally getting back into a workout schedule. Yesterday I pulled out my latest Runner's World and did the Fully Fit sets in there. It took between 15 and 20 minutes. My legs are really sore today! (I didn't do the "Carioka" exercise as I only had ~3yds rather than 20 to move in.) Today I also found a 9 week kettlebell workout plan. It's prep for a 5min clean and jerk session, which I think I already can do, but hey, it's structure which I don't have on my own.

I don't anticiapte a workout today. I've been so tired in the mornings that I've gone back to bed after getting the kids to school. I didn't this morning & fell asleep in class.The prof had to ask the girl next to me to wake me up. o_o  I created a running program at Polar, which was supposed to start today. I think I'll give the Fully Fit and KB workouts a week or so and then re-set up the running. Next fit test by March 12 as far as I know. Aside from the fit test I'm looking for an event to do so as to have a target to work toward, some extra motivation. I looked into a local indoor tri, but it's turned into an indoor duathlon: run-bike-run or bike-run-bike, for time: 25min bike, 30min run. I'm much less interested in it now.

We're moving in the spring, so I was trying to find an event there to do this summer. Didn't find much, especially since I limit them to Saturdays.  Well, time to read for class and work on my thesis.

Crazy morning

It got really dramatic here this morning getting the kids off to school. Princess took her sweet time getting dressed. Of course, since the clothes she brought down weren't enough to keep her warm even in the house, I had to find her some other clothes (LS shirt, pants, socks...). Spiderboy took his time getting up; he was supposed to have left by 7:20 to eat breakfast and do Safety Patrol. Instead he got up ~7:20. Then he suddenly remembered his reading log for the week was due today. He typed one up, but I questioned its veracity & marked off what he'd put for yesterday. So then he got upset (because the log would be incomplete & he'd miss recess) and reprinted it. I went ahead and initialled it. THEN he realized he was supposed to do Study Links HW but forgot to bring home his book. We were able to find a school site online that had the assignment, but he was all worked up & had trouble doing it. ("Long" division. They're only just now learning it? How have they been doing the other big division problems they've had?) Finally at 8 I got them into the car and drove them 4 blocks to school. I was just telling Princess yesterday that I felt like such a wimp for driving her to school when other kids are still walking despite the cold. I got back home and cried in the car and got some of the stress out. It would have been significantly less stressful if the clean clothes that have been washed over the last few days were put away, if the kids would put they're shoes reletively neatly when they take them off, if they wouldn't leave 3 big Nerf guns on the floor at the bottom of the stairs by the front door. Reading a few blog posts has helped me relax.

Now I get to put away laundry. I have to. The kids aren't the only ones with clean clothes filling up a laundry basket (at least they're mostly still in baskets). And DH doesn't fold laundry either, so it's not a simple matter of putting clothes in the right rooms. It's not like I have data to analyze and a thesis to write. I wish DH would sort out his delayed sleep phase disorder, or at least put it to good use. Yeah he's pretty noisy at dishes, but what about the living room? kitchen floor? downstairs bathroom? budget? It doesn't help that, now that the kids are back in school, I'm only getting about 6 hours of sleep a night. I stay up late working on my thesis or unwinding from the day but have to get up and get the kids up. Yesterday I had some 5 hour energy and still fell back asleep.

Running? What's that?