Thursday, February 25, 2010

Murphy's Law

Have you ever stopped to think about just how bad this Murphy guy's life must have been to have a law named after him that states, "Anything that can go wrong, will."? Sheesh! Almost makes me feel kind of guilty for what I'm about to complain about.... Almost. After all, Its my blog and I can whine if I want to.... (But its not all whiney...I promise)

I remember back in the 9th grade my mother wrote me a note to get out of gym for a day because I was having "female issues" and didn't feel like participating in gym because we were doing something quite physical. I gave the note to my gym teacher and she made a comment about how she didn't know why girls always did that because exercise releases endorphins and endorphins ease pain, so it is good to exercise during those times. I still sat out that day.

Today is a school day for Carson. It was the day I planned to do the second day of my program. I was looking forward to it. Today I woke up with "female issues". Heeeellllooo Murphy.... I am not feeling great, have a headache and did not get a lot of sleep last night, thanks to an adorable, but squirmy bed-mate we had join us around 1 am. I was supposed to meet my dad to run today and was looking forward to it. I looked at the weather and saw it was only 22 degrees out at the moment, and would be a mere 32 degrees by 10 am when we would be meeting (Really Murphy?!?!) That was it. I called my dad and told him I didn't feel well, it was too cold, and we were just going to have to reschedule for next week. Of course, he understood, told me to take my headache medicine and nap while Carson was at school. I found this to be an excellent idea and to be all the permission I needed to skip today.

Then Motivated Kym who made the "No Excuses" rule started nagging me. Brandon is right, she IS annoying at times. I tried to ignore her, but she just kept going on and on about how if I skipped today, it would be easy to skip other times, and if I pushed through today, I would be so proud. Also if I can run in cold weather, I can run anytime. I'm not sure where Motivated Kym came from, but she's a bitch. So I went to the track.

I decided since I didn't really want to be there, I was just going to do my best but not follow the program to the "T" and get through 2 miles as best I could. Today I should have repeated Day 1's plan of running for 60 seconds, walking for 90. I did my 5 minute warm up and then decided I would just try to run the distances from memory on Tuesday( I tried to mark in my mind how far I ran in a minute using landmarks). I started out jogging and each time, made it to the landmarks I was supposed to. Then I walked, but my walking pace was slower than it should have been. It was cold and it hurt to breathe after having jogged for a full minute. I picked it up after the first mile though and even decided to sprint up the hill that is on one side of the track every time I got to it. By the end of the second mile, I think I was actually jogging a little more than I was supposed to be. I was walking less time between jogging, but I may have been jogging for less than a minute. I'm not going to stress over it though. Then, I sprinted up the hill, the final distance to my car. It was finally over and I had made it! Without music might I add, because Brandon left my iPod at work yesterday....Yeah. I ran 2 miles in the freezing cold, not feeling well, without ANY music. I will accept your applause now.

Motivated Kym was right. I am proud of myself. Very much so. I still will probably complain about running when I don't feel well, but I will continue to push myself to go when I am tired, because I know that I will able to do it. I do NOT have the burst of energy I had when I finished on Tuesday. I was sort of hoping for that. Oh and did I get pain relief from endorphins? Heck no! That gym teacher lied! Well, maybe its supposed to happen, but I didn't experience it. I will continue to try to get to the point of releasing endorphins though.

I know now that I can do it, even in freezing cold, even when I don't want to, even when I'm hurting. I now know that I have it in me to see this through to the end. Running in 32 degree weather without music will make you realize things about yourself. At first, you will think you are just about crazy. Then, you will realize that you are dedicated to doing something for yourself for the first time in a very long time. I have not done anything for just ME in a while. Sure I see my friends and do things like that, but this is something that I'm working at and will accomplish on my own. Its been a LONG time since I have been able to say that about anything.

Take that Murphy!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Couch 2 5k: Day 1

The past 2 days have been the most beautiful little teases of Spring we have seen since before the Ice Age of February dawned upon us bringing, not one , but, TWO accumulating snow showers within days of each other. Practically unnheard of in Alabama! I'm pretty sure we are going to refer to this for years to come just as we do with the "Blizzard of '93".

It was sunny, the temps were in the low 60's, even into the evening on Sunday. I was thinking how it was going to be a GREAT week to start this program. It couldn't be better! The weather was a sign! So imagine my disappointment and dread when I looked at the weather forecast last night and see "46 degrees" as the high for the time I planned on jogging today. I grumbled to Brandon about it off and on until bed.

This morning I got up and bundled up and stuck cotton in my ears, a long sleeved shirt, a zip up hoodie and sweat pants. Cars was in his jacket and had his hoodie on and as we walked into his school, he said "Brr, Mommy!"

Thanks for reminding me, son.

So off I go to the track. Its a half-mile each lap, so the time goes by pretty quickly. I walked a quick warm up lap, then started in on the plan. Day one is to alternate jogging for 60 seconds with walking for 90 seconds. I started off pretty good. I thought it wasn't going to be too bad. I'm not going to lie, it got tough and I had to slow down my pace a few times and even walk a bit longer at other times. I stuck it out though and even sprinted the last 60 seconds of the jogging and decided to walk a cool down lap.

I got in my car and sat there to catch my breath and thought of all the things at home that needed my attention. The usual, laundry, vacuuming, dishes, mopping, etc. I was afraid after exercising for the first time in months, I would be too tired to do any of that. Surprisingly I got home and got right to work. I accomplished EVERYTHING on my list and showered before having to go pick Carson back up from Mother's Day Out. I definitely got that "burst" of energy you hear about that exercise supposedly gives off. This was really the first time I ever really noticed it after exercise though.

While I did finish my list and even got quiet time to read during Carson's nap, my day wasn't ALL perfect. Dinner was disastrous . I made a pork tenderloin and it said "cook 20 min per lb". So I planned it perfectly to be ready when we would want to eat. Well that thing took about 40 min per lb. I sliced some off while it was still cooking and browned it in a skillet so we could go on and eat and let the rest finish in the oven, but I was still disappointed by the taste and tenderness. We have tons of left overs, so I'm going to buy some ciabatta rolls and make cuban sandwiches with some ham, swiss, and pickles. Yum! (not the healthiest, I know. Diet is another topic)


I'm pretty proud of myself for Day One. I have to admit that. I know that Day 2 is probably going to be a little rougher, but luckily, I will have my Daddy right there with me to run with me and support me Thursday :) I'm excited to see where this takes me!

Welcome

I decided to do a blog to keep up with this fitness program, Couch 2 5k, I started today. Its basically a 9 week program that trains you to run a 5k starting from the fitness level of the proverbial "couch potato". That would be me. You can Google it if you want the week by week schedule. That's how I found it. I'm not here to promote any type of program or diet, I'm just here to try and keep myself motivated and on track. I want to finish this program and run a 5k for charity at the end of this. Wow! That's an undertaking! So that's the main reason I started the blog. To share my experiences with, my success, my failures, and to keep myself accountable to finish what I have started.

I then decided that I would probably like blogging, because I like talking and writing is almost like talking, right? Well at least now I'm "talking" to a computer and not to myself. Its a step up. I'll take it. So this blog will also be about normal, every day things. Mainly Carson, (just because he is the cutest thing ever! ) random thoughts and tangents, and just daily funtivities that we get ourselves into. I'll maybe throw some recipes on here if I find a good one, as well!

Hope you stick around!