Change of Scenery

A runner friend told us that although he thoroughly enjoyed the marathon that he ran in New York last year, he's apprehensive about the one he's going to do in his hometown later this summer. In New York, he was a tourist, excited to see all of the different neighbourhoods; in his own city, he's seen it all before. Plus, he knows just how far it is from one point to the next, which can be discouraging.

We traveled this weekend so I ran in a new environment. Unfortunately it was much less enchanting than New York. The run (C25K Week 5 Day 1) was actually quite difficult, for a number of reasons. First, I wasn't on my usual turf, and it kinda threw me off. I made up the route as I ran, so I ended up doing some loops and doubling back in order to finish close to the place where we were staying. Which was a boring suburb. Second, I ran in the noonday heat, which was not fun. It wasn't even sweat-inspiring humid heat but just the feel of hot sunbeams on my head. Third, my husband joined me for the first time and he had no problem doing what it took me over a month to work up to. I shouldn't be surprised because he does other kinds of intense cardio (mostly hockey) but I secretly hoped he'd find it challenging and marvel at my running capabilities. He did indeed marvel and compliment me on how far I've come... but he also had no trouble keeping up.

Luckily tonight's run (C25K Week 5 Day 2) was very encouraging! We're back home so I went to my usual park and it was a cool evening. The 2 8-minute intervals were totally do-able.

So my first 20-minute running is coming up this Tuesday or Wednesday!

Weight

My motivation for taking up running is much more "be healthy" than "lose weight." I must admit, however, that I wouldn't mind losing 5-10 pounds and I'm surprised that I haven't lost any weight AT ALL since I started the Couch to 5K program. So if I hadn't started running/walking 3 times a week, would I have GAINED weight?

I'll let you know, dear internet, if I do lose any weight over the next few weeks.

Sweatin' it up

We're experiencing a sudden heat wave in this large Canadian city of mine. I waited until nearly 11pm to go out for my run last night (C25K W4D3) but the temperature was still significantly higher than it has been for any of my other runs thus far. I ended up sweating a lot more than I ever have. I must admit that I kindof enjoyed sweating more because it felt somehow... cleansing? It testified to the fact that I really had worked hard. I prefer the sweat-dripping-down-my-face sensation over the beet-red-face-but-somehow-no-sweat-is-being-released sensation that I often have. (Not sure if this distinction makes sense to anyone!) With all that sweating, I was really glad that I was wearing my contact lenses because feeling my glasses slide down my sweaty nose is one of my pet peeves! I do prefer running in cooler temperatures so hopefully this humidity will subside soon. Even after a long cold shower last night, my face was still red when I went to bed.

I'm a bit nervous about Week 5 : the runs jump from 5 minutes to 8 minutes to 20 minutes! But I have learned to trust this program over the last 4 weeks so I'm thinking positive and believing that if I've made it this far, I must be ready for Week 5. I think back to my first run with my buddy when I ran about a half of the big circle track at the park. This past Saturday I ran at least 5 times that before taking a walking break. (Can you tell I'm all about the positive mental talk?)

Another Safe Run

Last night I ran Day 2 of Week 4 of C25K and it went well. I did start to feel a little stitch in my right side during the third running interval but it went away before the end of the run.

Earlier in the evening, we were sitting outside having supper with our neighbours and one of them told me that he has heard of a few women having been assaulted recently in our neighbourhood. He said that he noticed me going out to run late at night in my tank top and big earphones and he wondered if he should call me back to warn me. It's true that I run late in the evening (10pm, 11pm, sometimes a bit later) at least twice a week. That's just the way that my schedule works and I'm a night person anyway (to the extent that it's possible to be a night person and mother a toddler!).

Am I naive to feel safe? I thought a lot about my neighbour's caution as I was out running last night and it wasn't the most motivating or pleasant train of thought. I suppose someone could pull me into the park bushes or hustle me into their car, but honestly, I just don't think that will happen. I don't run on particularly secluded streets, and the park is big, relatively well-lit, and surprisingly populated even late at night. There are always a couple other runners, people on the soccer field, and people sitting on the benches around the lake.

Ultimately I think my decision to run in the late evening is part optimism/naivete (I think I'll be okay) and part defiance (these spaces are mine too!).

Why Now? (Part One)

I have never been attracted to running. So why the change? The short answer is that as snow melted and spring came around, I felt like I wanted to be spending more time outside and active. For me this meant riding my bike. Unfortunately, my bike has spent about 2 years outside on our balconey and is consequently in need of a major tune-up. And we just never seemed to get around to doing it. So the easy answer to the question of Why Run Now is that I felt like exercising in the fresh air and running was the most accesible and immediate choice.

But in retrospect, I recognize lots of other factors that led me to running...
which is why this post is
To Be Continued...

C25K Week 4 + New Shoes

Runners seem to be really zealous about the need for appropriate footwear so I'm ashamed to say that for the past 3 weeks, I've been running in shitty sneakers that I bought 4 years ago at Payless. But lo and behold, the situation has been rectified! I am now the proud owner of (okay, wait, let me go check...) Mizuno Wave Inspire running shoes, purchased this morning at the Running Room.

Generally speaking, I find running shoes to be quite ugly. Even these ones are all gray mesh with lime accents and those ubiquitous jagged lightning bolt details on the side. BUT these are comfortable and I really do feel like they are facilitating better running.

Which brings me to tonight! I did Week 4 Day 1 of C25K, which entailed running two intervals of 3 minutes and 2 intervals of 5 minutes, with walking breaks in between of course. I remember some friends sharing that they found the jump from week 3 to week 4 to be pretty startling. Although I am amazed that I ran for a total of 16 minutes out of 21, I didn't find it too overwhelming. As usual, I think my longer weekend runs really build my confidence for starting the new week with C25K.

Joyful Weekend Runs

It seems like I always surprise myself when I run with my buddy.

This won't mean anything to my myriads of random readers, but for my own personal record-keeping: today we started running as we crossed the train tracks and we ran down and around the little lake, and then all the way around the circular "track" BEFORE I took my first walking break. Honestly, three weeks ago, I would run maybe half of the "track" and then walk half. Today as we ran that first stretch, I kept thinking to myself, "does my body need a break? could I go further?" and then I'd be swept up in our conversation again.

So is distraction the key to running success? I don't mind if it is, although interestingly, my running buddy was telling me about another running friend of hers who refuses to listen to music as he runs, preferring to stay in the moment and just do running. Although I'm generally attratcted to the "be in the moment" type of sentiment, with running, I'm looking forward to the days when I won't need the C25K interval cues and I can download some podcasts from CBC or something to listen to as I run my 5Ks.

C25K Week 3 Day 2

I think I prefer my late-evening runs. I would have done this one last night but I was out (watched a documentary and wandered around downtown) so I did it this morning. It was fine, but not as invigorating as the last. I actually did one more 90-second run than the program called for because of a screw-up on the ipod. The ipod's name is Lily, by the way.

First Impressions of Week 3 (of C25K)

I've probably never listened to 30 consecutive minutes of hip-hop before. The podcast that I downloaded for C25K Week 3 was all-hip-hop-all-the-time and I liked it as much - and maybe even more - than the pop (Nicole) and techno (Robert) ones I tried last week. This one was from somebody named Suz, who showed up on the ipod as "kiss my black ass." Hmm.

The run was easy. I found that it went by really fast because there were only 4 intervals of running. The longer 3-minute ones felt entirely manageable. I even found myself running a little faster than I have, enjoying the sensation of (relative) speed. Again, I ended the run feeling excited about the progress I've made. I would even say I'm eager to try next week's 5-minute run, and beyond.

So far, I feel like this program is perfectly suited to my level of fitness. I wouldn't say that I was a couch potatoe before starting it because we are a car-less family in a big city so I'm used to walking quite a bit. So far the demands of C25K have never felt overwhelming; in fact, I've never felt pushed to my limit at all. For me, this is ideal because it's empowering - it leaves me wanting more.

The only thing that bothered me tonight was some slight pain in the inside of my left knee. I had noticed it when I was walking today and yesterday, and I noticed it when I was running, although it never really seemed to get worse. I think it probably has more to do with the way I scooped my daughter up out of her bed the other night than with running. But still. I am so afraid that I'll hurt myself and have to stop. I know the first thing I need to do to prevent injury is to get some new running shoes! Maybe tomorrow.

List of Runs Thus Far

(Just to be clear, when I say "run" at this point, I mean intervals of walking and jogging.)

Saturday, April 24 - my very first run with my running buddy. I felt this one for a few days.

Monday, April 26 - Day 1 of the "Couch to 5K" running program. This was a lot easier than what I'd done on Saturday so I felt encouraged!

Thursday, April 29 - C25K Week 1 Day 2

Saturday, May 1 - another run with my buddy, roughly equivalent to C25K W1 D3

Monday, May 3 - C25K Week 2 Day 1

Wednesday, May 5 - C25K Week 2 Day 2. This one felt hard, for some reason. My body felt tired and heavy. But I sprinted for the last few seconds and that felt good. I remember smiling as I pushed it.

Friday, May 7 - C25K Week 2 Day 3. I tried a new time of day (mid-morning) and some new scenery (the posh neighbourhood next to our poor one) but still felt kindof sluggish, like on Wednesday. I wonder if it's because I was expecting my period.

Sunday, May 9 - run with my buddy. This was the best run ever, even though it was freezing cold out. I was amazed at how far I was able to go before I stopped to walk a bit. Our conversation (about books and birth and families) was stimulating and maybe the fact that I wasn't running for a set amount of short time enabled me to really feel whether or not my body needed a break. Plus there was something invigorating about the cold.

So these are all the pre-blog runs that I've done. I'm proud of how much I've improved in only 2 weeks. It feels like it's been longer than that.

Excited to tackle C25K Week 3!

the Brand New Title of my Brand New Blog

Mornings around here are usually very leisurely. Our alarm clock / 2-year-old daughter wakes us up sometime between 7:30 and 9:00 and we loiter, read some stories, eat breakfast together, and generally spend a couple hours waking up and getting ready for the rest of the day. So on the morning of my very first run, when I had planned to meet up with my running buddy about 15 minutes after I got out of bed, it was a bit of a jolt for me to announce to the 2-year-old that mama was going out. I tried to minimize my hasty departure by saying that I was "just going for a little run with Joey's mama." She felt sad to see me go. I may have promised her a timbit on return.

Later my husband brought her to the park, where Joey's mama and I had finished our run and were stretching on the grass. I told her that I was doing a "biiiiggggg stretch." And thus, a few days later, when she was pretending to go out by herself, she announched that she was going out for "a little run big stretch with Joey's mama."

So all of the credit for my lovely blog title must go to my little girl.

And I suppose it evokes other things as well, like how the idea of even a "little run" seemed like such a "big stretch" for someone as anti-running as me.

Yet here I am.