Wednesday, August 21, 2013

This "being a girl" thing...

Couch to 5K – Week 3, Day 2

Today is the second day of two repetitions of 90 sec running/90 sec walking/3 min running/3 min walking.
Last night I was very much looking forward to running this morning. This morning…not so much. Despite seven hours of sleep I was exhausted for most of the day. I’m fairly sure it’s my period dragging me down.

But I did it, I went out. I put on my new coral pink running shoes. No, not the Vibram Five Fingers I wanted. These were just thirty dollar shoes from Target. But they are lighter and roomier than my other shoes, which I was also using for work. They feel cooler too, like they have better air flow. I wanted a pair of shoes just for running.
 
 

So out I go, grumbling about having to do the warm-up walk, grumbling about stretching. At that point I kind of felt, “I just want to get it over with for today.” But I did the warm-up and the stretching anyway. Then I head up Garfield St. and back down. I notice I’m breathing harder. It’s because I’m moving faster. Should I slow down? I’m not really moving that fast, but faster than before, and without even thinking about it. Because my shins aren’t dragging me down as much as they were before. I don’t feel like my muscles are clenched as much; I don’t have to remind myself to bring my joints into alignment as often. Hey…you know what? I think…I think…I’m actually jogging. Not shuffling…JOGGING. As in, almost actually running! And it doesn’t hurt! It’s a bit uncomfortable, but it doesn’t hurt.
I did three repetitions and walked home and felt pretty darn good, both mentally and physically.
The exhaustion came back though. Stupid menstrual flow, ruining my endorphin high.

4 comments:

  1. Ooh. Ooooh!!! I just totally had a realization. And yes, you can smack next time you see me. But I will NEVER have to run with a period again!!! Because yes, that sucks. One of the things I hated. Esp. heavy flow days.

    I am sorry your high didn't last long. Bug glad you ran through it and feel your stride improving. Next weeks runs are going to be GREAT!

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    1. I'm occasionally disappointed on days I don't run...not going to break up the training schedule though, nope. I'm afraid I'll get injured and not want to start again. I know that once I'm done with the nine weeks of training I can go out build up to six days a week if I want. But like this morning, it's raining. I thought it might be fun to run in the rain. Then I remembered today is an off day and I was a little bummed.

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    2. Smart woman! I think (I KNOW) my stress fracture came from improper training. Should have stuck to the plan and not got cocky. *sigh* Live and learn.

      Send some of that rain down here! We aren't in a drought, but it's been a couple weeks and we could use it.

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  2. I would not run more than 5 days/week. If you want more training than that, try some cross training that easy on your joints.

    In fact, you really only need 3 days/week, if you can find good cross training to do.

    I strive for 5 runs/week but usually end up only running 4. I don't sweat the missed runs (unless it is my long run for the week). When you finish C25K, just keep doing week 9 until you figure out what you want to try next.

    You could work on 5K speed, start training for a 10K, or just about anything else. We can point you to some good training programs whatever you decide.

    Now I pretty make my training up as I go along. I occasionally reference training sites, but I usually know what sort of things I want to try each week so I just work them in.

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