Day 52

Its hard to believe its been 52 days already and I have already completed one 5k.

My run this morning didn't quite go like what I wanted it to.  First, I didn't feel very well at the beginning of the run.  I was tired and it felt like I hadn't run in days.  I completed a 15 min run, but I really wanted to do more.

I had to be at work at 7:30 this morning so that meant I had to get up and extra 30 min earlier than I already was.  I knows its only 30 min, but that is an hour before I used to get up when I didn't run.

I hope Friday turns out to be a better run and that I actually am able to complete running 3 times this week.  I guess I had probably start looking at when to change it to 5 times a week...

Day 50

So....you may have noticed I skipped a day.  I really want to get to where I am running 5 days a week (at least) but so far I haven't gotten myself to do it yet. My kids have been sick and keep me awake quite a bit of the night which really makes getting up 30 min to an hour before I have to very challenging. 

I did get up and run today, but only for 15 min.  I almost didn't get out of bed in time because I was so tired, but I did none-the-less.  I waited till the very last moment before I got up, made the 15 min run, and then went on to get ready for the day.  Felt good, but was a little harder as I had skipped a day and I am sure that wasn't good for building endurance.

Anyway, there is always this week to make it back to 3 times a week.

Wish me luck.

Day 45

Another 20 min day. Felt good, but was really tough. I thought I would run a different route today, but I forgot that the second half of it was pretty much all up hill. My legs were killing me. I just had to remind myself that 5ks won't be flat, I WILL need the strength to run uphill if I ever actually want to be able to actually run one. It felt good to want to quit, but keep pushing through. Can't wait to be able to run 30 min. :)

Day 43...part 2

So I did it....I ran 20 min without stopping.  Yes compared to college when it was an hour or more that is nothing, but it is a big deal to me.  It was one of those walls I had to deal with so long ago.  My body was saying you need to stop, your hurting me, while my mind was saying..."you're lying"  I'm quite sure how far I ran, but over 2.5 miles for sure.  Felt good to run, but boy were my legs sore.  I don't like that I didn't run the past few days, but knowing that I was able to get back on track and actually run what I had planned was a great feeling.

Day 43...failure to run

So....Friday it was POURING down rain, Saturday I couldn't leave the kids, Sunday I was too tired, and this morning was excessively  windy. I am just saying all that, because I have failed to run the last 5 days and I need to get back out and do it.  I plan on doing it tonight.  Wish me luck!

Day 38....

So, this morning was a bit different.  I knew my distance I was running.  My lovely wife decided the other day to go back through a path that we walked to see exactly how far it was that we walked.  When she told me the distances, it gave me some sort of indication as to how fast I was currently running.  I admit after running that 5k so slow the other day I was a little disappointed.  However, this morning when I ran the two mile stretch in under 15 min, I was relatively pleased.  Sure its not near the time I used to run, but none-the-less it is a time I can be pleased with.

Now that I know this, I can better plan various routes and try to work up to running 3 to 5 miles in the mornings.  2 miles is nothing now, it was a little rough at parts because the whole middle part is up and down hills, but I have strength to run farther.

So...I didn't run my 20 min like I had planned on Monday, but I will on Friday for sure.  The hardest part is making sure I get my butt out of bed so that I have plenty of time to actually run what I want to and not feel like it is going to put me behind the rest of the day.

Day 36

Pretty easy today. Legs feeling better...much better. Run was great. I Ran 15 min followed by a 5 min walk. I plan on running atleast 20 on wednesday. We shall see how that goes. I think the 5k put in perspective how short I have been running. I do think though that my pace is picking up quite a bit from teh first week or so, but the endurance still really needs the extra work. That is all...

Day 33..still trying to recover

Well....I made it out for another runt this morning.  It was quite a bit colder than it has been earlier in the week.  Monday it was almost 90...this morning below 40. 

I was able to run for 10 min with a short walk followed by another 5 min run.  After those hills the other day my legs are killing me and I really felt in the 5 min as a big portion of that was uphill as well.  Other than that I felt pretty good during the run and after the short walk break in the middle I probably could easily ran for 10 instead of 5 if it hadn't been for my calves.

I'm planning on going out for another run tomorrow if for no other reason that to stretch out my legs again.

Day 31....5k

Well, it was a perfect day for a 5k.  The course was a bit different than I expected. From what I looked at before it appeared that the last quarter to half mile was going to be up hill.  That would be a real challenge, but not as challenging as what the course turned out to be.  It started off really nice.  A slight uphill for a quarter mile followed by a downhill for a quarter mile.  Then it hit you.  The whole middle of the course was up hill with a couple short flat areas.  My legs were killing me.  I didn't really want to walk any of it, but I ended up walking about 20 percent of it, but still got a time of a little over 36 min.  That being said the two that had a shorter time than me ran the whole thing, so I must have really pushed the first part of the run because they only got 32 and 34 min.

I was thinking last night about how 9 years ago I would have ran that around 20 min probably.  Mostly because it was probably one of the hardest courses I have ever ran and I don't know how well I would have done up against that many hard up hills.  Combine that with the extra 60lbs I am now carrying and while I am not please with my time, it wasn't terrible considering.  9 years ago it would have been completely unacceptable. 

Well, I guess I better find another one to run and start planning for it.

Day 26 and Day 29

So...I forgot to blog about my last two runs.  I've been quite busy and excited at work about getting a new computer and video editing software to go along with it. 

Day 26 was a rough morning.  My son didn't want to let me go outside and my wife having been up quite a bit over the night I wanted to let her rest so I ran short on time.  I was able to go out for a run, but it was only a 12 min run followed by a 2 min walk.  Felt good....longest I have ran in a while.

Day 29 was similar to Day 26 only I had more time.  I was able to get out and run a full 15 min without walking which was an accomplishment for me, since I hadn't done that in a while.  It felt good, but I was sore afterwards.

Tomorrow is the big day.  I don't have my run in the morning, but rather I have the 5k at work tomorrow night. Its not really a race and I didn't really expect to be running a 5k so quickly, but here goes nothing.

Wish me luck.