Set Backs and Catch Ups

December:

            The week before Christmas I worked about a 30-hour week, which has never happened before, but I was still able to run for the majority of the week! I loved working that much, and would come home and do my run then relax. It worked very well for me. At the end of the week, the 16^th to be exact, I ran for four songs! Turns out that was a little over a mile! I was so excited and proud of my progress, as you can imagine. Meeting my goal early gave me the strength to want to do more before the new year.

            My family travels to Iowa every Christmas to be with the rest of our family, and thankfully our hotel had an exercise room! I ran the day after we got there, and again on Christmas day. I tried out a bike and elliptical, and they weren’t all that bad. Each machine had its own little TV so that was fun ; )

            We got back the day after Christmas, and I was back to working and running like I had been. Before I started class again on January 5^th I was able to add another song onto my routine. I was still holding strong to my “slow and steady” progress, and it felt good!

January:

            When classes started I began to work out with a close friend of mine, Kelley! She had just come back from a semester abroad in Ecuador, and had signed up to run the mini when I did. We started to go to the recreational facility on campus together when we were both free. It was a great motivator to be able to go with her since I had been by myself until then. I would highly suggest running with a buddy to anyone!

            On January 12^th I ran two miles! Talk about pumped! I had run 1.5 my previous workout, and felt really good while I was running that day so I went for it. Why not! Yet again, I had impressed myself like I never have before. I hit two miles again after a rest day, and was looking forward to when three miles would be my new distance.

            Two days after that last two-mile run my left calve was really giving me problems. I had not run since then, and the pain was not getting any better. I went into the place where I bought my running shoes to ask for some advice and insight. The woman I talked with thought it sounded and felt like a slight tear or a bad strain in my muscle, and her solution was to not run for a week. She reminded me that she wasn’t a doctor, but in her experience that is what she thought would help.

            So I took it easy, not happily I might add, for a week only using the elliptical. A physical therapy student friend of mine suggested a couple things to help, and they seemed to be working (thanks again Katie!). On the day marking the end of my resting week I decided to give running a try, or at least walk for a while. The second I started to run my calve froze up, and I had to stop. Frustrated is hardly a strong enough word to describe how I felt. Along with the feeling of helplessness, it was not a good day.

February:           

            My leg continued to give me problems into February, and I was not working out at all. I would see people running outside while I would be driving, and be filled with such jealousy. I promised myself that when I was able to run again that I would not complain about being tired, or make excuses not to run. I had taken such advantage of my circumstances, and not being able to run gave me a great perspective on my goal of running the mini.

            Finally after not exercising for four weeks straight, I felt good enough to give it a shot Saturday February 18^th. I was at home, and wanted to run my street, which is just a big mile-long circle. I walked for a little bit then kicked it up to a run. I started to walk again a couple of minutes later, because I wanted to feel how my leg was doing and the cold air was not being kind to my lungs. After I determined everything was fine I started to run again until I was almost back to my house. After walking the rest of the way and fully cooling down, I laid on my kitchen floor trying to see how I felt. Other than coughing because of the chilly air I didn’t feel any pain! Halleluiah! After all that time, just running that little bit did wonders on my spirit.

            Today, February 19^th, I did two laps on the elliptical then ran for half of a mile and walked for a while as a part of my warm up and cool down. I’m not too stiff either! Even though this means basically starting over, I am so thankful that things are looking up. I feel more focused and motivated than I was before, and am all the more determined to run the mini in April.

So look out y’all, this redhead is back!

Song After Song

         Friday, December 9^th: The treadmill works! Halleluiah! I was afraid I was going to start sneezing while running because of the dust, but all went well. I felt lost because the screen doesn’t work, and the speed is a dial without numbers. I was so glad I had started operating on songs! I did the same as Thursday, running for two songs and doing a good warm up and cool down. It was definitely different doing all this in my basement, but my legs don’t care if I’m here or at my apartment- they’re still going to work!

            Saturday, December 10^th: Today’s goal was to increase my distance again, but since I don’t have a screen to track mileage I decided to stick with songs. So my equivalent was adding another song onto the two I already used. Each song is over three minutes, and their total time added together is 12:21 minutes. I figure if two songs was 0.66 miles, three would be around 0.9 miles- totally a guess though. So I ran for those three songs! It was a little rough, but I’ll get used to it.

            Sunday, December 11^th: I wanted to walk and run outside today. I thought it was about time for me to try working out outside. I knew it was going to be harder, but I also knew I needed to do it- I won’t be running the mini on the treadmill in April! So the plan was to walk my street, which is one big circle, and then run it. After walking it I tried to run for a bit and it was just too cold for me. My joints hurt when I ran, and it wasn’t worth the pain I knew I would have tomorrow. So I power-walked into my house and downstairs to the treadmill. I checked the time, and thought I only had forty-five minutes until I had to be at work. I still had to shower and eat before leaving, and it takes twenty minutes to get there! So I only ran for one song and booked it upstairs. Turns out my ipod’s time is an hour off and I really had an hour and forty-five minutes! I chalked it up to a rest day, and didn’t do back down to finish my workout.

            Monday, December 12^th: I made sure I ran for a full workout today! I did the three songs again, and it felt good! I worked for about seven hours last night and did a lot of squatting and lifting, so I was feeling pretty sore this morning. I’m hoping I won’t pay for running later on, but like I said I feel pretty good right now so I’m not too concerned. I work a lot this week, and am a little worried that I will be tired and not want to exercise. We’ll just have to wait and see! I have been pretty good at keeping up with working out every day, so I’m hoping I will continue to motivate myself. I had set a goal to run a mile by the end of December, and I think I’m close! When I can run for four songs, I will equate that with roughly a mile.

Cotton-Headed Ninnymuggins

Hello everyone!

            Between working eight-hour shifts close to every day and traveling these past couple days for Christmas, I have certainly been slacking on my entries! I have been keeping up with exercising quite often, and will post my progress here as soon as I can. I hope all is well with you and yours this Christmas season!

Loving J.Cole

            Tuesday, December 6^th: I didn’t work out on Monday, because my right ankle was bothering me again. I listened to what the doctor said and didn’t push it, but I didn’t say I was happy about it! I remembered how excited I was about hitting half of a mile, and wanted to keep that up. During the last part of my walking warm up my calves felt really tight, so I took more time walking to make sure I prepped them enough to run. I hit half a mile again! I took more time walking afterwards to make sure my claves weren’t going to give me problems later, so that brought my total time to an hour and ten minutes and my distance was 3.3 miles.

            Wednesday, December 7^th: I decided to try to add in jogging to my little routine today, just to see if it helped or not. I don’t know if I was doing it wrong or what, but it hurt more to jog than to run! So I won’t be doing that again, unless I really am doing something wrong and get shown a different way. I ran half a mile again, and still feel so accomplished! I am making a goal to go a little bit farther tomorrow, no matter how small the increase, and can’t wait to give it a try! I have just been having this great feeling like I can do anything right after I run while I’m cooling down, so I hope that will help push me. My distance today was 3.2 miles in an hour.

            Thursday, December 8^th: The strategy going into this workout was to not look at my distance while I was running. My thought was that if I didn’t know how long I had left I would go farther. I told myself at the beginning of the song I was listening to when I started to run that I could look at my distance at the end of it. I was close to half of a mile at the end of it, so I kept going and told myself the same thing for the next song. At the end of that one I had run 0.66 miles instead of just half, success! I tell you what though, I have never wanted J. Cole’s “Work Out” to end faster! It was definitely a good way to go about increasing my distance for me, so I will be doing it again for sure.

            I am going home tomorrow for Christmas break, and hope the treadmill still works. I swear it hasn’t been used in at least fifteen years! I am still learning what my body can do, and what it can’t. I am also learning that this is all way more mental than physical- case and point with me running longer today.

            I see any increase in my working out, no matter how small, a success and hope to keep it up!

I can only go up from here!

            I have been writing about each time I workout as I go, so my entries will be composed of each day's progress. Be on the lookout for posts about twice a week!

           I went for my first walk/run at a park near my apartment on Thursday November 10^th! I didn’t know what I was doing, but my plan was to walk a little then try running. Since I had not run in years I knew it was going to be difficult, but I knew I had to start somewhere. I walked for about ten minutes before deciding I needed to run, then I ran until I was where I had started walking.

            To be completely honest, it was awful. My heart was going a mile a minute (unlike my legs), my throat burned, and I would have given anything to lay down. I knew that if I didn’t cool down right I would be paying for it big time, so I continued to walk. I felt a lot better at the same spot I started running the first time, so I ran again for the same distance. After feeling like I needed a third lung when I started walking again, I decided that was enough.

            About a week after I ran my right ankle was really bothering me, so I went into an urgent care and got it looked at. Looks like I just need to stretch and walk more before I run! So if you’re starting off like me, always warm up for a good amount of time!

            Saturday, December 3^rd: This time I went to a room my apartment complex has with a couple machines in it. I walked on the treadmill for half of a mile, and wanted to run for a half mile. I was only able to run for 0.2 miles before I felt like dying so I had to slow it down. I walked for various speeds until I hit the 2.5 mile mark, which was also right at an hour time wise.

            I was not feeling too confident in myself knowing the training I have ahead of me. 13.1 miles kept flashing in my head; I couldn’t even run half of a mile! I had to keep thinking about motivational things while I was running which had helped the first time, but it wasn’t enough. I pride myself on my optimism and knew that there was no point in putting myself down after my second go at running. With that in mind, I went to bed knowing I would be back at it the next day.

            Sunday, December 4^th: I went back to the room at my apartment, because it was nasty and rainy outside- who else is sick of this weather?! On Saturday I was stuck on the worse of the two treadmills, but I got the good one on Sunday! I was determined to take it all really slow, and see where I got in an hour.

            I walked at different speeds until I hit two miles, then I started to run. My legs felt good enough to give it a go, and I ran for half of a mile! I couldn’t believe it! I didn’t even feel like I needed to stop, but I knew I needed to take this one step at a time. It was with a very big smile that I took the speed down a couple notches to a good walk. I cooled down for a little over a half mile so that brought my total distance to 3.2 miles in an hour.

            I felt like I had won first place in the Olympics! I do realize it was just a half of a mile, but the key is that I could see myself crossing that finish line in April. I can do this.

The first step is the biggest, right?

Hello all!

            I made a rather big decision recently to run the mini marathon on April 28^th! There were several different reasons why I thought it would be a good thing to try to do and among these were having a better class schedule this coming semester, and not being as involved as I have been in my sorority.

            I found myself thinking about what I would do with all of the free time I was bound to have with my open calendar! Almost immediately getting in shape became a goal. Working out has always been one of the things I have had to push aside, because of my classes and involvement. I operate on goals and deadlines otherwise things don’t get done, so signing up for the mini has given me a date that I have to work towards!

            I would like you all to keep in mind that the last time I ran outside for any period of time was in high school, and my last time on a treadmill was over two years ago. I have never participated in sports unless you count marching band, and the maximum I have run at one time has been two laps around a parking lot. Along with my inexperience I started a battle with muscle and joint problems a couple years ago. So consider me a clean slate!

           I am fortunate enough to have friends who want to train and run the race too. It’s a good thing because I already draw inspiration from them, so I know they will be great motivators!

          This blog’s purpose is to mark my journey publically, and I also have a hope to get others off Facebook and Pinterest (two of my favorite things) and get active by showing that anyone can do it if I can!

Thanks for reading!