"SO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW?"

After finishing my C25K training, there has been one question I have been asked regularly...

"So, what are you doing now?"

I have only run two times since coming off of a sixteen day sickness break (after completing C25K). So, honestly....I don't know what I am doing now! Ha! Here is what my plan is...for now...

I want to get to a place where I am running 2 miles at a faster pace. Why two miles? I don't know...because I like even numbers? Because three miles seem like too much (I survived a 3 mile run at the end of C25K, but it was fairly torturous) and one mile seems too little?

Two sounds right...I have 2 feet to carry me as a run, 2 ears to listen to music as I run, 2 eyes to watch as a run (actually four-eyes if you want to tease me about wearing glasses), 2 x 2 = the number of children I have. 

Two. It's a good number. 

In addition to running 2 miles faster, I am also making sure I run for a minimum of 20 minutes. During C25K, the app assumed I ran a 10-minute mile. So, in my desire to run 2 miles faster, I need to get it under 20 minutes, but even if I do that, I am going to continue to run past the 2 mile mark to finish a 20 minute run. I figure that way, I am increasing my speed and distance. So, "2"night I ran my 2 miles and did my best to push myself to run as fast as possible.*

*Please know my general running speed is a pitifully slow jog....some may even call it a fast walk.

So, I did it. I pushed myself to increase my speed, and did well! I covered more ground than I usually do in a 20 minute window, and got a good workout. 

I want to get to a place where I feel "comfortable" running. Is that bad? I could just keep increasing my distance. I have the "5K to 10K" app ready-and-waiting, but every time I increase the distance when I run I feel like I am suffering. I am suffering a lot on this journey so far (I started off on the couch after all). I just want to feel a little, itty, bitty, bit comfortable while running. I long for that feeling. I think to keep going long-term on this running journey, I "need" to feel that...even if it's only occasionally.

So, that is what I am doing for now. I am running two miles as fast as I can. 

SIXTEEN DAYS OF SILENCE

Sixteen days.

I finished my C25K program....(a.k.a. I ran three miles for the first time in 20 years)....16 days ago. Why does that matter? Well, because up until tonight, I had not run since "that" night. After I finished the C25K training program on May 8th, I caught "something". That something started as a general blah feeling with a tickle in the throat, then became a terrible sore throat and headache, that grew into a full on infection of some sort that needed five days of antibiotics, and ended with a nasty chest cold. YUCK!

I was not up to running for over two weeks! I tried to allow myself time to heal. However, as each day passed, I was feeling disappointed that I was somehow losing the little bit of stamina I had managed to build over the previous 8 weeks. I usually run at night, and each evening I kept thinking, "Tonight. Tonight, I will feel good enough to run." It did not happen soon enough for me. 

So, tonight, with a still lingering minor cough, I went for a run. I thought it might be wise to not push myself too hard, so I only ran for 20 minutes (2 miles)....When I look back at my earlier posts, it is funny that I just wrote "only 2 miles"....hahaha! 

It was a bit tough, but I did it! My lungs felt like they were burning a little, and I coughed up my lungs a couple of times, but it felt good to get a run in. One thing I dread...and hope does not happen....is allowing myself to go back to my previous physical state where running even three minutes seemed impossible.

I like that I can run 2-3 miles now. They are not easy miles, but I can run them. I want to keep it that way and continue to push myself further. Just as there was a time when I could not imagine running for 5 minutes, now I can't imagine running 5 miles, but I know I will get there.

So, after a 16 day set back, I am glad to be back on my "ever so slowly running" feet.

I DID IT! FROM THE COUCH TO A 5K!!!!!

I DID IT!!!!!! I finished the C25K training program! 8 weeks x 3 trainings each week...through cold, wind, heat, and pouring rain...on land and on sea...I made it from my couch to a 5K!!! My first major milestone on my journey to a marathon is COMPLETE!!!!!!

WEEK 8, DAY 2....TAKE TWO!

I was very excited to start my last week of training one week ago! I ran "Week 8, Day 1" last Sunday. On Monday morning my family left for a 4 day cruise to Mexico (our first non-camping vacation in seven years....yay!). I had dreams of finishing the last two days of training on the ship. However, with a couple of very late nights onboard, I was not able to run on the ship until Thursday. I tied my laces, turned on my C25K app, looked at the beautiful ocean view, and calculated how many laps I would need to run on the small track to equal 2-3/4 miles...."only" 28 laps!  

Getting ready to run on the ship's track

I began running, and to my extreme disappointment, about 10 minutes into my run, I began having extreme pain in my right ankle that shot up into the side of my shin and just below my knee. Now, I have run in pain before...but this was different....I could not push through it. I was so disappointed! There has not been one run I have not finished. Even though during every run I feel like I will not be able to complete it, I some how manage to keep going and finish. I was struggling with the thought of not finishing the run. My silly pride wanted to be able to say, "I completed every training session." I tried walking for a few minutes a few times and tried to start running again, but as tough and stubborn as I am, I could not take the pain. 

Trying to be tough as I run

I had to embrace the fact that this would be the first training session I would not be able to finish....and only two trainings away from being finished with the C25K program. Uggg!

So, I stopped. I was bummed.

I was so disappointed, and everything I told myself did not help my disappointment...
-"You don't want to push yourself and really get hurt."
-"You are on vacation."
-"You tried your best."
-"Of course your ankle hurts...the boat is rocking!"
-"Just do this training day over when you get home."
-"You ran 1/2. That is better than nothing."

I had to try to change my attitude and not see this as a "failure". So, I embraced the idea that I did my very best, and this time, my very best meant I did not finish the training session. I also decided that I would do "Week 8, Day 2" over again when I got home.

So, when I arrived home, I planned to run that night just to prove to myself that I could do it. However, for some crazy reason, when we got home, I was swollen. Swollen ankles. Swollen fingers. I was in no condition to run. I extended myself some grace, and did my best to wait for the swelling to go down.

So, two days after I returned home, I finally got the chance to run "Week 8, Day 2" of my C25K program...exactly one week after I ran "Week 8, Day 1". I did it! I feel redeemed. 

I am going to blame my failed first attempt on the sea.....or maybe the insane late-night buffet I had eaten at the night before. However, my set back was a set-up for a come back! "Week 8, Day 2....Take Two" was a success! One more training to go and I will be running 5K!!! Woo hoooooo!