Couch to 5k Week 4/Week 8 weigh in

Summer Challenge Weigh in

week 8: 181.9 
week 7: 182.3 
Week 3: 174.6 
Week 2: 175.9 
Week 1: 176.6 

Couch to 5K

Week 1 - 5 min warm-up 60 sec run 90 sec walk for 20 minutes
Week 2 - 5 min warm-up 90 sec run 2 min walk for 20 minutes
Week 3 - 5 min warm-up 90 sec run 90 sec walk 3 min run 3 min walk repeat once
Week 4 - 5 min warm-up 3 min run 90 sec walk 5 min run 2.5 min walk repeat once

I did it. I completed week 4. Monday I thought I'd die. That final five minutes was awful!! I was pooped the rest of that day and the following. Although to the next day's credit, I did stay up late (think 1:30 am) and then got up to take my mom to the train station at 4 am. Thankfully I was able to go back to bed when we got home, but still. Not a very restful night. I had absolutely no motivation that day and was really muscle sore. We finally made it out of the house at 6:30 to go swimming (which closed at 7pm). But I digress, I went around the entire neighborhood and passed my house in the course of the training. I walked a little bit further to cool down. When I mapped it, I had gone 1.85 miles. A 5K is 3.1 so I'll need to go twice around my neighborhood to get the job done. The boys haven't had to go run with me since we left for TX, so I have been a little anxious about that dynamic. Since Mom was still around, we all went on Monday. Aaron decided to use his bike to go around the neighborhood. I am glad Mom was there to walk with him because he was SO slow!! It will take awhile before he is really comfortable and confident. 

(short side note:

I am so proud of my mom! She has decided to take the 5K challenge and began a walking regime with me. She is doing the sparkpeople.com 5 week walk to 5K program. She'll walk 3 times a week gradually adding the mileage until race day when she walks 3.1 miles/5K. I signed her up for sparkpeople so she can keep track and even seemed excited about having a food plan to follow. So far she is using it. Go Mom!!!)

When it was time to go on Wed Aaron threw such a fit that I decided to use the treadmill. Oh he was excited then!! He had to have his turn. Well, so did Jared. After falling off twice because of not following instructions, Aaron's turn was cut short. Day 2 was much better than day 1. Perhaps it was because the treadmill is nice and even compared to the neighborhood, or maybe it was that my body was ready for it. I kept my run at about 4.3 mph and my walk between 3 and 3.8 mph. I will say that the last 90 seconds of that final 5 min run were bad!! It felt like it was the longest 90 seconds of my life!!! I had set up the computer so I could watch America's Got Talent while I ran. Each performance is only 90 seconds, so I thought no big deal. Oh my goodness, time seemed to stand still!!! But, I did it. I finished it. Again. Go me! It really helped to have chubby jones' voice in my head telling me to not give up. Love her podcasts!

Today was day 3. I woke up at 7 and seriously considered going for my run outside while the boys slept. After my experience today I am kind of wishing I had :p It was about 9:30 when I finally decided to go do the treadmill. I thought Jared would be the first one up, but it was Aaron. He came down just as I was getting ready to put my shoes on. By the time I had everything set up, Jared was up. We hung out for a little bit and then I got on the machine. As soon as I started the run part, craziness broke out. I had put food and bowls on the table so the boys could get breakfast and had America's Got Talent on for us to watch. Aaron fired question/request/complaint after question/request/complaint and kept coming next to the treadmill after being warned not to come near. I am not able to run and hold a conversation. I just can't. It was so frustrating to have to talk while I ran. Finally by the end of the 5 min run Jared stepped in and explained how hard it was to talk when you are out of breath and together they went to go eat. *whew* I was not in a happy place those first 15 minutes :/ I think Monday they will have to go take it on the road with me because I can handle that much better. 

All that aside, I felt pretty proud of myself. When I started the run at 4.3 I felt like it was too easy (amazingly). I realized that I needed to up the incline to mimic outdoors so I did that and it felt a little more challenging. Of course, the first interval is always the easy one for me because I am fresh, so I didn't want to push myself too hard in the beginning though I felt I could go faster. The first 5 minutes was surprising to me when I only had 30 seconds left. The phone screen had gone to sleep so I couldn't see the countdown. After it happened on the second 5 minutes I realized I really need to be able to see that because seeing the numbers help me talk myself through it. I was really tired and having a hard time catching my breath by the second 3 minutes. The 90 seconds between went way too fast. But off I went for the final 5 minutes. The screen had gone off again when I had about 2 1/2 minutes left. I told myself it was ok. I can do 2 1/2 minutes. I've got this. But soon I was starting to panic b/c I had no idea how much time or energy I had left. I quickly swiped the screen and discovered I only had 30 seconds left. Awww relief. I can do 30 seconds. I did 30 seconds plus the other 270 seconds of that run!! I walked another 7 minutes or so afterwards to cool down. When the program went off I had gone 1.95 miles in 31:32 which about a 17 min mile. I know that's not great, but I think it's pretty good for a girl who doesn't like running very much :) And now I feel pretty good. My muscles are not sore like Mon/Tues and I still have energy for other things. 

My running buddy in TX called on Wed in a panic because of next week's schedule. We have 5 and 8 min running intervals ending with running for 20 minutes straight. I wouldn't really allow myself to think about that 20 minutes, only day 1 and felt confident we could handle it (although I was thinking mostly she could handle it ;)) She is repeating week 4, after having done it two times already,the rest of the week which I think gives her a slight advantage. I had been debating repeating week 4 but if I move forward that would put us back on the same week again which would be nice. I think Monday will be really hard, but I believe I *we* can do it! 

Other fitness/health news:

I finally managed to get my own legit copy of P90X while I was in TX. Not just my beloved CardioX and KenpoX, but the whole shibang!! I spent yesterday morning laying in bed reading over all the guides that came with it. I am not sure I can commit to the nutrition plan side of it, but I think I could do the lean schedule. I have been trying to figure out how to balance the 5k training and P90X. P90x is a 6 days a week program, but I think I may do my own modification and run for 3 days and do the DVDs on my off days. Yesterday would have been core synergy if I'd had the guts to do it. I tried it once before and didn't finish. It was really hard and felt like it was one I couldn't do without friends. But, I am willing to give it a try once again. I know I need to do some strength training on my off days and P90x would certainly fit the bill. I have high hopes for next week being more organized and productive, so I will commit to beginning on Mon (well, run on Mon and p90x Tues). hm, or maybe I should p90x it tomorrow (core) and rest Sunday.... that may be a better option because it would put CardioX on Tues. ...

We (Matthew and I) have been invited to a formal event for his unit at the end of Sept. I am kicking myself for not being more diligent this summer. But, I have one month to give it my best! Go team Val!!