Week 6 ~ Day 2 & 3

Yes I'm still here!!! I forgot to post my last run, so I'm just going to combined it with tonight's run.

Thanksgiving morning I did day 2. The plan called for some crazy walking/running combo but I couldn't do it. I can really run around 3 minutes before the pain starts. So I did my 5 minute warm-up walk and then alternated running 3 minutes and walking for a few minutes. But it was so windy that it just wore me out. I managed to do a little over a mile in 18 minutes and to me that's better than nothing.

Tonight I did day 3. The plan called for something crazy like a 5 minute warm-up walk and then running for 25 minutes. Yea right!!!

My friend and I have decided that since we are nowhere near what the plan calls for we are just going to go at our own pace. We alternated 5 minutes of walking with 5 minutes of running for a total of 25 minutes. Eventually we should be able to shorten the walks and run longer.

I'm out there doing my best and that's alot more than I was doing two months ago. I'm still going to run at least three days a week and post my progress. I also still plan to run one 5K each month.

Week 6 ~ Day 1

Brisk walk - 5 minutes
Jog - 5 minutes
Walk - 3 minutes
Jog - 8 minutes
Walk - 3 minutes
Jog - 5 minutes


First I just need to say "WOW"!!!! I can't believe that I just started week 6 of the program. AMAZING!!!

Now to my workout.......

Last night was the first time I ran on the treadmill. While it's much easier than running outside, I still was not able to run for 8 minutes without stopping. Heck - I don't even think I ran for 5 minutes without stopping. But I did the best I could and completed all 29 minutes. I used a level three setting for speed and kept the incline at zero. For the last minute I upped the speed to four and just ran as fast as I could. Not bad when you consider that when I bought the treadmill in January I used to walk on speed two. Progress!!

Week 5 ~ Day 3

Brisk walk - 5 minutes
Jog - 20 minutes (no walking)

I've got one word for this day. HA! If I had a few more it would be something like "are you freaking kidding me?!?".

This day just proves my theory that this plan was not designed for people over the age of 40. And unfortunately that is me!!! :(

I just can't seem to be able to run for more than 3 minutes. About that time, the pain in my legs takes over and I've got to walk. I did manage a couple of 5 minutes runs but they were HARD!!!

But I'm not giving up!!! :)

I'm going to keep going out there three days a week and hopefully one day I'll be able to actually do what the plan calls for. The way I look at it, something is better than nothing!!! :)

Week 5 ~ Day 2

Brisk walk - 5 minutes

Jog - 8 minutes

Walk - 5 minutes

Jog - 8 minutes

OH~MY~GOODNESS!!!

This plan just keeps getting harder and harder. I was not able to jog for 8 minutes at all. The most I did was 4 minutes. I managed to do that on both tries and then just alternated a brisk one minute walk with at least a one minute jog. But it was HARD!!!

And day 3 is going to be even harder!!!

But I'm going to go out there and just jog at my own pace. Eventually I'll get there!!! :)

Week 5 ~ Day 1

Here's the plan for this week:

Brisk walk - 5 minutes

Jog - 5 minutes

Walk - 3 minutes

Jog - 5 minutes

Walk - 3 minutes

Jog - 5 minutes

I don't know if I was still tired from the 5K - I mean 4.3 miles - on Saturday or what, but it was hard!!! I did ALOT more walking than jogging. :(

Plus I had mapped out a route on RunKeeper based on the distance the plan calls for and we didn't even come close to finishing it. I guess we don't jog/walk as fast as the plan expects us to. But we did stick to the plan times and actually went over.

When I got home I put the new route and times in RunKeeper and was very discourage to see that I averaged an 18 minute mile. So much slower than my pace in the two races. I'm hoping that it's just because I was still sore from the race and didn't have that "race momentum" running through my veins. :)

Viking Voyage 5K Run

Yesterday was the BIG day - my first "official" 5K run.

It was super cold and windy outside when the race started promptly at 8am. But I was ready with my layered clothes, BondiBand, MP3 player and running plan in my pocket. I started as always with a brisk 5 minute walk and then I started my jogging/walking plan. Things were going great until about halfway through the second lap around the college. I was exhausted!!! But I kept going!! I gave myself little pep talks and just kept telling myself to jog for at least one minute at a time. I laughed thinking of those people lapping me and hearing me talking to myself. But I did what I had to do to finish the race.

As I was nearing the finish line I saw a co-worker up ahead of me and my competitive nature kicked in. I thought to myself, "oh HELL NO - there is no way she is going to finish in front of me". So for the last 200 yards I ran as fast a I could. I seriously thought I was going to burst into tears (I didn't!!) but I figured if I did or if I keeled over at the finish line there were plenty of people there to help me. The funny thing is I don't even think this co-worker was participating in the race part, I think she was walking. And they only had to do two laps instead of three.

My official time for the race was 53:54. Not bad, but way over my goal time of under 45 minutes. :(

But then something happened. Something BIG!!!

As soon as my friend Mary finished the race she dropped a bomb on me. One of her trainers (Gabe) was also running in the race and somewhere along the way told her that this was no 5K run. Based on his running time, he guessed each lap to be around 1.4 miles, meaning we had just run 4.2 miles, not 3.1. SAY WHAT!?! I had to hear it for myself, so I talked to him and he verified that there was just no way that was a 5K run.

I just found an awesome website to keep track of my running - RunKeeper. I put in yesterday's run and sure enough it came up at 4.3 miles. I now feel much better about my finish time.

Overall it was an awesome experience and running with my friend was great. Even if we didn't stay together. LOL!!! I can't wait for the next one. Only this time I hope it's truly a 5K.

Waiting for the race to start!!

YEA!!! WE DID IT!!!!

At the glorous finish line!!

Mary - you are a ROCK STAR!!!

A definite thumbs up!!!!

Tomorrow is the BIG day!!!

Tomorrow I'm participating in my first official 5K. I've got my walking/jogging plan all worked out and hopefully I'll be able to follow it. It's Week 4 ~ Day 3 of the Couch to 5K but I had to add a few extra walks/jogs because it wasn't quite 5k.

My friend Mary is also competing in the race. She has been a HUGE influence on my getting back on the exercise wagon. I can't wait to run with her.

There is some rain forecasted for tomorrow but I'm praying it won't happen until after the race. And please everyone - pray for NO wind!!

Results and pics (hopefully) tomorrow!!!

Week 4 ~ Day 2

Same running plan as day 1 and I managed to do all but the last five minutes. I ended up walking/jogging the last 5 because I was exhausted. But I did it!!!!

I'm also happy to announce that we've had to extend our running path because we're running a farther distance in the same amount of time. Woo-hoo!!!!

I also got my first official race packet yesterday for the Viking Voyage 5K on Saturday. I'm racer #30. I can't wait!!!!!

Week 4 ~ Day 1

I started Week 4 last night and it definitely moves into more running, less walking.

Brisk walk - 5 minutes

Jog - 3 minutes

Walk - 90 seconds

Jog - 5 minutes

Walk - 2 1/2 minutes

Jog - 3 minutes

Walk - 90 seconds

Jog - 5 minutes

I was actually able to complete all but the last 5 minute jog. It took me past my ending point (my house) so I ran to the end of the street and turned around and came back. I think I ended on 4 minutes. But - WOW!!!! I DID IT!!!! The first 5 minute jog was really HARD but I told myself to stop looking at my watch and just keep my pace. It didn't hurt that it was getting dark outside and I couldn't really see my watch. LOL!!!

I run again on Wednesday and then I'm saving day three for my first official 5K run on Saturday. Hopefully it won't be as windy as it was for the "fun run" and I can improve on my time.

Did somebody say "free"??!!??

If you know me at all, you know that I take my shopping seriously. VERY SERIOUSLY!!! I never, ever shop at a major department store without at least one coupon and I never ever pay full price for anything.

So......when I read a post over at My Life in the Making about 50 Free Shutterfly Christmas Cards I was all in!!!

I've purchased several items from Shutterfly over the past few years and I LOVE them. My favorites are their calendars and photobooks. In my calendars I coordinate my pictures to the months. It's a fun way to see what we were doing last year at any given month. The photobooks however are my all time favorite. They are AMAZING!!!! There are hundreds of designs, layouts and backgrounds. I can't even begin to tell you how many hundreds of hours I've spent on our books. So far I've made one for 2009, our Disney trip this year and our 12th anniversary. The latter being another "free" gift from Shutterfly. I've also got my 2010 photobook and calendar designed through October.

As luck would have it, I had already started designing my Christmas cards for this year. I had a really hard time picking just one, but so far this is my favorite. I really like the cards that have more than one picture and my favorite Christmas decoration is a snowman, so it just seemed right. To check out all of Shutterfly's amazing Christmas cards go here.

All you bloggers who want to get in on this generous deal can go here to submit your request.

Happy shopping!!!!

Do I really see a difference???

I told Randy that this year for Christmas I want some new running attire. Specifically winter running attire. In our home that means I go buy what I want, give it to him and he wraps it and says it's from him and the girls. That works for me - at least that way I know I'm getting exactlty what I want. LOL!!

I had visions of shopping at Academy, but that store is sooooo expensive and that don't ever have good sales and don't have coupons. If you know me at all, you know that's not how I shop. So.......JCPenneys (my all time FAVORITE store!!) was having a HUGE sale that ended today. I went there at lunch just to see if they had anything I might be interested in and all I can say is "BINGO!!!!".

I bought two pairs of running pants and two racer-back sleeveless running shirts. All for a grand total of $45. But here's what got me.

I tried on one of the shirts and it fit me really well. I mean it fit PERFECTLY!!! It wasn't thistight and I didn't feel like a sausage stuffed into its casing. That made me wonder........have I really lost even a millimeter of an inch around the stomach pouch area?!? Do I really see a change?!? Or am I just getting my hopes up because this one shirt happens to fit me perfectly?!?

What do y'all think????

Week 3 ~ Day 3

Third verse........same as the first.

Day 3 was exactly the same running plan as the first two. But today there was one big difference. I actually ran both 3 minute intervals.

Woo-hoo for me!!!

Week 3 ~ Day 2

Before I talk about my run, I want to talk about the weather. It was 60 degrees outside with winds of 20-30mph. Brrrrrrr!!!!! I wore capris, a long sleeved shirt with a short sleeved shirt over that and my Bondiband. And I was freezing!!! I pulled the headband over my ears and while it covered them, they were still cold. And my hands were freezing and felt like ice cubes. I will definitely be putting winter running attire on my Christmas list.

As for the run..........second verse, same as the first. It was the exact same walk/run pattern as day 1 and I pretty much ran it the same way. I managed the first 3 minute run but had to stop around 2.30 again on the second one. But that's still a HUGE improvement from week 1.

But you know what I've noticed? When I first started the Couch to 5K I couldn't even run for one minute. I constantly looked at my watch and it was always on 33 seconds and it seemed to take FOREVER for that one minute to go by. Now I can run 90 seconds without stopping!! And I find myself thinking "Wow - that 90 seconds went by pretty quickly".

Amazing progress!!!!!

Lookin' Good!!!

Back in January when I bought my treadmill I bought several pairs of "wicking" shorts and matching shirts. I figured if I was going to be suffering, I mean exercising, I should at least look good while I'm doing it. Plus this type of material is supposed to help absorb the sweat and we all know how gross it is to run in wet clothes.

Last week when I ran in the "fun" run I noticed that the majority of runners were wearing black, white and very muted solid colors. Not me!! I had on a pair of pinkish-purply Nike shorts and a purple Nike shirt with a pink swirl. I'm sure you could have spotted me a mile away. LOL!!

I had also ordered a BondiBand and sure could have used it in that wind. It came in the mail a few days later and I wore it on my last run. It was great and kept my hair off my face. I'm thinking of ordering a few more in different prints.

But I would also like to try out SweatyBands. But they are twice the price of the other ones and I just can't commit. Maybe I'll put them on my Christmas list.

Is it wrong that I care so much about how I look when I'm running??

Week 3 ~ Day 1

Yesterday I started week 3 of the Couch to 5K running plan. And I did it!!!

If you would have told me two months ago that I would be able to jog for 3 minutes without stopping I would have told you that you're crazy. But I did it!!! And I almost did it twice!!! On the second repetition I had to stop at 2.30 minutes, but I almost made it!!

When I first started this program I could barely make it through 1 minute of jogging. Now I just did 3. Twice!! Progress indeed!!!

It's Halloween night!!

This was Halloween 2010.....

Walk like an Egyptian......

Yee-haw.......

New look!!

Did y'all notice the new look??

I wanted to freshen up the look of this blog and so far this is it. I'm not sure if I really like it or not, so if may look like this tomorrow or it may be completely different.

What do y'all think??