Like Hitting Yourself With A Bat...

...it feels GREAT when you stop!

Just kidding about the bat - running actually feels pretty good when it's in progress too. But this evening I had about as much trouble convincing myself to run as I would have convincing myself to get hit on the head. I worked all day, I was tired, I'm lonely... oh, the excuses. But Jonathan called this evening while I was (VERY slowly) getting changed into running clothes, which reminded me that they'll be home tomorrow, and that was the boost I needed to get started. Once I was going, it really felt great.

This was, ahem, actually my first day of Week 2 of the C25K program. But it's Friday, you say! Yes, it is. So this should be my third day? Yes, it should. I was traveling for work earlier in the week (Sunday thru yesterday, to be exact), and although I packed my stuff and had all the best intentions, there never seemed to be half an hour available to squeeze it in. The week was probably worth it, work-wise, but I was disappointed not to keep up with the program. Especially because Jonathan has been doing his bit without me!

Jonathan has completed two days of Week 2, and I've now completed one. He'll be traveling all day tomorrow, no time to do his third. So we'll do a Week 2 day together on Sunday and then re-evaluate whether we want to start Week 3 next Tuesday, or repeat Week 2 another time. No shame in that!

Today's run was easier than I expected! After the last group of 60-sec intervals in Week 1, I thought I was in pretty bad shape. Today's run was fewer, longer intervals (6 x 90 sec, instead of 8 x 60 sec), and for some reason it was easier even though it's a minute longer of total running time.

Week Two: Florida

This week I've been visiting my family in Florida and have been able to run outside in much warmer weather. I got myself a pair of Nike Free 5.0 running shoes at Ross; I'd had a pair of Free 1.0 in Portland but I didn't really wear them for running, and I figured these would be worth a try.

Week Two is 90 seconds of running alternating with 2 minutes of brisk walking. I'm noticing that my right hip is getting sore during the runs, but everything else has been okay. Oh, and I've been getting bug bites because, hey, it's Florida.

You can see in the photo that Ridley is trying to run with me too. Every so often when I pass by the playground area she joins me for a bit and then heads back. Today she went with me for a lap during my cool down walk.

Run #3

Well, Jonathan and the girls are with his family in Florida, so today's run was a solo affair. I'm proud that I did it! It was kind of difficult, though, maybe because I'm used to running in the afternoon or perhaps just because I didn't have company to distract me.

In any case, I've now completed Week 1 of the C25K. Yay! Jonathan hadn't done his yet when I talked to him, because he needs to go buy new running shoes while he's in Florida. When he's done it maybe he can blog about it, too.

This picture is, obviously, a fake. However, it is TRUE that we did our second day of week 1 of the C25K program. We just didn't get a picture of both of us in action.

Today's run happened in the hallways of the Greeley County Schools, for it is COLD outside! We dropped off the girls at the home of a lovely couple who fed them rare steak, sweet potatoes and broccoli and kept a Chinese cartoon running on the DVD player. Life does not get much better for those two, I swear it. Then we trotted over to the school, broke in through the gym and snuck around the boys' basketball practice, dropped our coats in a corner and headed out. The schools are all connected, high school, junior high, grade school, with hallways that join up, so there's a good bit of space to go back and forth. There would've been more had I had the gumption to scale the stairs too. Next time!

I'm ordering a sports case for my Treo, but for the time being I still carried it in my hand partway. The rest of the way I wore it in my waistband holster but it tended to make my pants sag.

We passed several people in the hallways whilst jogging back and forth. Some of them were teenage girls I've seen in the clinics who aren't always making the best decisions about what's good for their bodies.... Maybe, just maybe, says the eternal optimist, I inspired them a little bit? Or not. Who can say?

The run was marginally easier than Monday's, even given the fact that I have been battling a headache since Tuesday morning. Hooray for progress! :-) I don't want to speak for Jonathan, but he seems to have an inborn runner's physique. This is just not hard for him - he doesn't have to think about it. I, on the other hand, am chunky! So keeping up is my gig, while he just lopes easily along.

First Run

No pictures today, because when we went out for our inaugural run it was DARK! I got home from work a little late, about 5:30. Jonathan was finishing up dinner preparations and by the time we got the girls ready, the church bells tolled six. We walked over to the high school track to begin our workout. We thought maybe we could leave the girls with the ladybug trailer in the football field to play while we just jog/walked circles around them. But it turns out they don't really like us to set them down in the dark in a strange place and then just run off.

Other lessons learned:
- We need a different means of carrying my Treo if we're going to use it as an iPod. We downloaded the C25K Podcasts by Robert Ullrey, which cue the intervals and play upbeat music while you run. Nice, but not if I have to hold it in my hand the entire time!
- It's cold outside! We (especially Jonathan) need warmer gloves!
- Jonathan can kick my butt, even jogging on a lane outside mine and pushing both kids in the stroller. I need to work on that.

Gettin' Started

Greetings! In the interest of fitness and family togetherness, we are going to start a running program. This blog is here to give us a fun place to talk about the experience and help us stay accountable. (If we know you're reading, we'll have to explain ourselves if we don't post!)

Here's the plan: Starting tomorrow (February 18, 2008), we are going to embark on the Couch to 5k new runners' program. We'll jog/walk three times a week as outlined on that page. We want our kids to be a part of this adventure and also to see us doing this, so we'll either take them in the ladybug stroller (on cold days), or if we're jogging on the high school track we can let them run around on the field, or let Ridley ride her bike with us, or something.

This running program is three days a week. On the off days, we hope to do some weight training. I (Robyn) got pretty regularly into this while we were in Portland, and have let my muscles atrophy since living here, despite totally free 24-hour access to a nearby well-equipped weight room.

The program is 9 weeks, which happens to be exactly 2 months. Our first workout will be February 18, and the final 3-mile run will happen on April 18. There will be challenges, no doubt - call nights when I get no sleep, illness which puts one or the other of us (or a child) to bed, travel where we aren't together (next week we'll both be in Florida, but may or may not see one another at all!). Through it all we'll write on the blog and try to post pictures every so often. Thanks for reading.