Stretching and surfaces

Thursday:

I'd been toying for a while with the idea of straying away from the boring grass oval for my training run, but that would mean running on the hard surface of the footpath -- bad for my shins and possibly hips, ankles etc. Today Tim brought it up, and then when I got to the oval I found someone there practicing their golf. I'd rather run away from imaginary zombies than real golf balls, so I headed off on a big loop of the neighbourhood.

I walked the first five minutes, stretched, then walked the whole second five minute "free form run". I wanted to be sure I was completely warm and limber. Then my first 60 second running interval. I started running on the grass beside the path but it was uneven and I had to watch out for sticks so I quickly moved back to the footpath -- and it was so much easier! The end of the interval was up a steep hill but I made it (possibly going slower than I could have walked, but I was still doing jogging movements). Second interval was along a flat bit of footpath. For the last 10 seconds or so I veered off onto dirt and it instantly became much harder to keep up the pace.

But I still hadn't learned my lesson. I was at my destination, an interesting raised dirt path. Although after trying to run on it I shall revise the phrase "dirt path" to "dirt path covered in gravel, big rocks, sticks, leaves, and ants". I only got to 45 seconds on intervals 3 and 4, which made me sad. Was I never going to be a confident runner?

I got to the end of the dirt and scrambled down a steep crumbly incline, back onto a civilized surface. Interval 5 came up (so quickly!) and off I went without much hope in my heart. But I flew through it! I can't say easy, but so much easier! Was this the answer I was looking for? Is the grassy surface I've been running on just too uneven for me, making my legs and ankles work much harder than they do on the even footpath? Even allowing for stretching helping (I stopped a couple of extra times to stretch during the session) and natural improvement from being consistent with training, today's run seems to show that, contrary to all received wisdom, I've been running on the wrong surface.

I got to the free form section of the session -- two 8 minute run/walks with a 2 min walk in the middle. I did SEVEN more runs of around 60 seconds! Such awesomeness! That is ten altogether, not including the 45 second ones. And I didn't finish up limping and gasping, they were ... again I won't say easy, but managable. By the end of the session my shins were a little bit sore, but nothing like as bad as they have been other days.

And going a different way instead of round and round an oval was much more interesting.

I am filled with a new hope.

Party and Zombies

Sunday:

Last night we had a cocktail party for my husband's birthday. The actual birthday was a couple of weeks ago but having the party then would have meant getting up the next day to do the Verti-cool challenge. I am so so glad we didn't do that! I can barely even type this morning, let alone run up stairs.

It meant spending most of yesterday cleaning the house. Housework is always pretty low on our priorities list but when we have people over we do a huge clean. Sometimes unfortunately that makes us a bit tired by the time people get here! But yesterday was ok. Got everything ready, got the kids to bed, mixed up the first jug (strawberry margaritas) and got the party started.

It was an awesome night. We had a group of fun friends over and after a while of chatting we got into the Singstar and the Just Dance. Usually I'm pretty good at both, but I've found that when I've had a bit to drink I can still dance ok but I can't sing! I think my pitch was not too bad, but I had trouble keeping up and was often a word or two behind where I was supposed to be. No-one cared about who won any of the games, we all helped each other.

We had quite a lot of alcohol and I think most of us are not usually drinkers (Tim & I probably average one glass of wine a month if that) but no one got unpleasantly drunk, just happy and a bit silly. The last person left a bit before 2am, so much later than my usual bed time.

We crashed into bed but I had a lot of trouble sleeping for some reason, even though I was exhausted. I'm sure must have actually slept on-and-off but it felt like I was wakeful a lot of the night. My wrist was aching (a little dancing collision) and I felt a bit nauseated. So I'm pretty trashed this morning. Need to get some fluids into me.

Tim got up first so I came out to a clean kitchen! All the bottles and dirty glasses and squeezed husks of lemons gone. Lovely.

I had a lot of extra calories yesterday, mainly in alcohol, but it was actually a very active day.

The friend who was recently able to run 3K without stopping told me about the app she's been using, "Zombies Run", and I've downloaded it to try in case it makes run training more fun. There is a C25K type version, which I got, and another one for more advanced runners. Instead of just a boring voice telling you to start running or drop back to walking, you get a warning that a zombie is chasing you to inspire you to run faster! If it gets too close you get scary sound effects of groans and twigs snapping. I hope it doesn't give me nightmares! Haven't tried it yet, but it does sound inspiring. And apparently it starts off easier than the program I'm currently struggling with, with shorter run sections. I look forward to trying it.

As you can see I am still wavering between continuing running or not. So far I suck at it and hate the training, but on the other hand I would love to be able to run. I remember being a kid, running and leaping down stairs and feeling like I was flying. It would be awesome to get back to that.

I think today is going to be a rest day.

Quitter

Tuesday:

I have this 5K in three weeks. Less than three weeks now. I don't like running but was determined to do this one race (the other race I did was only 3.4K and I wanted to complete a real 5K). I didn't want to be as unready as I was for the Tower Race on Sunday. So this morning I went for a walk and then to the oval for a training run.

I went back to W1 D3 of C25K because I can barely run 60 seconds, let alone move up to 90 seconds. I did three intervals on sopping wet grass covered in clippings that got all over my legs, then halfway through the fourth intervals I just stopped running. I mean, why the hell was I doing this form of exercise that I dislike so much and that I am terrible at (and which seems to damage my body) when I could be actually having fun dancing -- smiling and enjoying it instead of slogging through misery?

Another consideration is that I recently found out that the Canberra String Festival is on the same weekend as the race, and Jasmine's violin performance is two hours before my race. Even assuming they are on time, it would still be a rush to eat something and get to my race.

So I walked home.

I looked up the race website and I can't get a refund, so I am still thinking about just walking it. I feel a bit sad and guilty about being such a quitter; my previous plan had been to run this 5K and then quit running forever. I'm feeling very torn. Why do something I hate when I can still get exercise doing something I like -- even love?

And now my ankle is hurting again.

I can be a zombie if I want so shut up

Thursday:

I have both PMS and the flu so I'm not feeling at my best. Eating junk and zombie-ing around the house.

I have a trip away this weekend including my cousin's wedding plus road-trip fast food so I'll be honest, I'm just putting the diet on hiatus for a few more days. And if you think that is a really bad idea, please just keep it to yourself unless you want a smack in the face.

I've told my friend Joe I'm not going to run with him any more. I'll still be doing training for my 5K (when I get over this flu) but I refuse to get up at early to do it. I hate getting up early. I work very flexible hours from home so I can exercise whenever I damn well like. And if it is raining I'll damn well exercise inside in front of the Kinect instead of slogging through sodden long grass.

I think I'd better go back to bed now.

Running all eight intervals

Thursday:

Woo hoo! I ran all eight intervals this morning. Pretty good improvement from only two a couple of days ago.

I had another very restless night, both from knowing I had to get up early and from having to get up to pee a lot. Got up before the alarm and dressed but Joe was here while I was still pouring a glass of water -- no time for breakfast! I think he was early, he said he had been up for an hour.

It had rained during the night but only the lightest of sprinkles as we set out. I strapped up my ankle and it felt ok during the run. Sopping wet grass again but I just put up with it and avoided complaining about everything. I actually felt much better overall than I had on Tuesday.

Joe had been telling me for a while that if I couldn't go the distance, just jog slower until I could. I felt I was already jogging very slowly, but today I really tried. I felt like I was practially jogging on the spot. I worked on relaxing my body and keeping my head up. My goal was to do five of the eight intervals, I thought I might reduce 3, 5 & 7 if I needed to. But I got through the first four, then six, and I only had two more to go! The last two hurt but I did it. Once you factor in my slow recovery walks in between, I probably could have averaged a faster pace walking briskly, but I'm working on endurance at this stage not speed. So I am pretty happy with that.

My ankle is a bit worse, which is a worry. I have it strapped and will rest it.

Re-starting C25K training

Tuesday:

I usually get up at 7.30 but this morning I set the alarm on my iPhone to 6.45 and put it beside my bed (I usually leave it charging in the kitchen all night). I woke in the dark and checked the time: 4.30. Back to sleep. Woke in the dark and checked the time: 5.45. Still an hour to go. Couldn't get back to sleep. Why can't I just trust that the alarm will wake me! I always do this.

Finally got out of bed in the dawn gloom and got into my running gear, ate a nectarine and drank some water. Joe was at the door before I was really ready but I grabbed my stuff (iPhone, earbuds, tissue). We walked briskly to the oval -- as usual it was a real effort for me to keep up with someone else's brisk walk, not only is everyone else fitter than me but they are also considerably taller. I am only 5' tall (152 cm) and leg length makes a difference! But I pushed hard and kept up.

Once there I did C25K training, starting again from day 1 week 1. Eight 60 second intervals with 90 second recovery walks in between. I stayed in the running lanes. Joe was jogging around the outside of the oval continuously for the 20 mins at about 12 kph. The lanes are just marked on the grass, which is usually a lovely surface to run on but after days of rain it was utterly sopping wet. My shoes and socks were sodden before I started the first interval, which was a bit cold and uncomfortable.

I managed the whole 60 seconds on the first two intervals but after than only got to about 30 seconds before dropping to a walk. I am determined to get better, and I will, but I am just not a natural runner. I really struggle to get any kind of rhythm and it feels uncomfortable in a way that is different from just muscle tiredness. I haven't done many of these running training sessions, but this was possibly the worst so far. The low-carb diet may be contributing to that. Whether that is the case or not, I'll just keep trying and I'm sure I'll improve in time. We are going to do two mornings a week.

With walking there and back and the intervals and a bit of stretching it was 45 mins of exercise.

Joe has an interesting way of setting his goals for races -- he aims to complete the race in less than double the winner's time. The winner of any race is generally a pretty elite athlete, so this isn't as easy as it may sound. Some people can do a 5k in about 13 minutes!

The first female in the Verti-cool challenge last year did it in 3:26, which gives me a time of 6:52 to aim for. That seems achievable.

The first female in my age group in the Canberra Times fun run last year did it in 23:48, which gives me a time of 47:36 to beat. I certainly hope to do that, it's only about 5 mins less than my current best. But the first female overall did it in 17:23 and I don't think I can do 34:46. Whatever, I'll do my best! Looking up those times again just then I discovered another fun run in September to aim towards.

Whatever my results are, it is all good exercise.

Training Goals

more Saturday:

I just signed up for a 5K (the Canberra Times fun run) -- my first 5K. So now I have two things to train for.

The Verti-cool Challenge, a 403 stair race up Telstra Tower, is on 24 March -- 4 weeks from tomorrow. As I have no continuous set of stairs to train on, it is very difficult to set a realistic goal based on my current knowledge. I nearly died doing up + down in under 10 minutes yesterday, but I should be fitter than that by race day (and won't have any "down" to worry about). I plan to be. I looked up last year's results and the winner did it in 2:47. OMG, right? The first woman (12th place overall) took 3:26. She probably wasn't over 40, but who knows. The first 100 or so people did it in 5:00 or less. So that is my goal, 5:00. That may be unrealistic, I just don't know. It is something to aim for.

To train for it I will use the library steps again at least once a week, plus climb Mt Ainslie (only 50 or so stairs, but lots and lots of "up") with Caroline on Saturdays. Which means I may never get around to doing Parkrun on Saturday mornings, but I'd rather climb with my friend. If she can't go some weeks I could do Parkrun then.

The Fun Run is on 13 April, so I have 7 weeks for that. I am going to start up my C25K training again, this afternoon I organised with a friend to run at the local oval two mornings a week, getting out of bed a bit earlier than usual. He is much fitter than me (like most people!) and has even run a marathon but we'll just be doing laps of the oval so we don't have to be going at the same pace. It's just nice to have a companion to make sure you get up and do it, and keep you company.

Unfortunately we have storms forcast all week so I'm not sure how that is going to go.

I had a look at my C25K app to see how many weeks the training course was (it's 9, I only have 7 -- and only plan to do two days a week not three, but then I don't expect to run the whole 5K) and it's been so long since I'd done it a suggestion came up that I start again from the beginning! I'd only done the first two days anyway, so I didn't have that much fitness to lose.

Last year's results for this particular fun run included the first woman in my age group of 40-49 (91st overall) with a time of 23:48. Since my best ever time is about 52 minutes, and I still can't run eight 1-minute intervals in a row, I don't expect to get anywhere near that time. I have seven weeks to train so of course I will get better ... I'll set a goal closer to the time but atm I think 40 mins would be pretty good for me.

And on in-between days, I'll keep on dancing at home!