My First 5K!

(Okay, so this wasn’t technically my first 5k.  I did a Color Run about a year and a half ago, but since I walked it, spent a bunch of extra time at the “color stations” and they don’t even keep time, it doesn’t really count. )

I ran my first 5k on Saturday, and it was so awesome that I decided to share my experience with you!  As far as time goes, all I can really say is that while my time was “awful” by most runners’ standards, for me, it was pretty good!  I finished in about 46 minutes, with an average pace of just below 15min/mile.  While my time wasn’t the best, the experience of running my first 5k was awesome!  Here are the highlights:

I kept a decent pace!

Life’s been a bit crazy lately, so I wasn’t really “training” for this race, and I haven’t run even remotely consistently since about May.  Since then, I’ve run/exercised only a few times a month at best.  When I first started running, I was between a 14-15 minute mile pace, even when running short distances less than a mile.  So be able to keep up that pace even over a 5k route was pretty exciting!

Everyone has to start somewhere!

I was strangely nervous before this race, despite the fact that I had no intention of trying to win and no “personal best” to try to beat.  Having never run a 5k before, I was anxious about whether or not to eat the morning of the race, and if so, how much.  I was self conscious about having never attached one of those shoe tag thingy’s to my shoes before and whether people would be able to see that I was struggling with putting it on.  Not only did I get all of those “firsts” out of the way for next time, but I also now have a time to beat for my next 5k!

We did both manage to get our shoe tags on eventually!

Motivation!

I feel like most people are motivated leading up to a 5k, 10k, etc. because they are trying to train to get ready for it.  Well, I really didn’t have the time to put into it, and wasn’t trying to beat a time, so I wasn’t really motivated to prepare for the race.  After the fact, however, was a completely different story!  Despite the fact that I was up fairly late Friday night and up early for Saturday’s race, I felt absolutely FANTASTIC on Saturday, even with a bit less caffeine than usual!  So fantastic in fact, that I decided to think about running in the mornings before work.  (For those of you who don’t know, I am NOT a morning person.)  So I stopped by my local running store last night and bought some reflective armband things so I don’t get hit by a car, and this morning I actually went for a 1 mile run!  It was even raining and I still did it!

So here is my advice to you:  if you have never run a 5k before, and you get the opportunity, do it!  Even if you have not trained or prepared, it will be worth it!  Go at a pace you are comfortable with, you are still faster than the people on the couch!

60 Day Running Challenge: Status - Failed

Okay, so far, the one thing I’ve learned from my 60 Day Running Challenge is that working out while traveling is nearly impossible!  Especially if it’s not a “lounge on the beach and relax” vacation where you have endless amounts of time.  During these 60 days, I’ve had one volunteer trip and one business trip… both completely disrupted my workout routine.  Whether it’s a long day of driving or flights get delayed or you lose time with a time zone change, it’s pretty tough to do any exercise on the days traveling to or from your destination… So those days are pretty much a loss from the start.  Then there’s the days leading up to the trip where maybe you are busy doing laundry or packing, or maybe finalizing travel plans… It’s tough to find time to exercise!  Then you’ve got the trip itself… On the volunteer trip, I was basically busy all day and then exhausted in the evenings.  In reality, the volunteering itself was a workout – spending an hour lifting 50 pound bags of dog food or spending 5 hours in the hot sun moving debris from a disaster area are not exactly couch-potato activities! – but that meant I did not stick to my plan to actually run in the evenings.  On the business trip, I was partially at the mercy of my schedule and my co-workers schedules, as well as trying to do some sightseeing.  Again, I did a decent bit of walking, so some might consider that a workout, but I did not do any running.  And traveling was just one of many things that threw a wrench into my plans…

At this point, I’m on Day 45 of my 60 Day Running Challenge and have only actually run for 21 of those 45 days. I had two streaks of 10 days in a row, and one random other day.   I’m at a less than 50% success rate, which is pretty disappointing.  And right now, I’m feeling very overwhelmed with some other things going on in my life, making it even more difficult to find time to run.  I know I always feel better after a run, but I feel like I have to sacrifice time from something else important in order to do it. 

I don’t want to give up, but I do feel that I need to reprioritize a bit until I get a few things under control.  The entire point of my 60 Day Challenge was to make exercise a habit, and I’m not doing that if I’m skipping 2 weeks at a time.  My hope was that by making running (and exercise in general) a daily habit, I would be able to keep at it even when life gets crazy… Unfortunately, life got crazy before I had a chance to develop the habit.  Trying to make your own changes in life when life is trying to make other changes for you is a tricky thing to do. 

So unfortunately, I think this is the end of my “60 Days of Running” – at least for now.  I am not giving up on making exercise a habit though, so keep an eye out for an upcoming post about what I’ll be doing instead!

60 Day Running Challenge: Week 5 (sort of)

If you read my last post, then you know this doesn't really count as week 5 since I basically took about 2 weeks off.  But for the sake of avoiding "repeat" weeks and getting myself all confused about things, I'm still calling last week "Week 5" and will continue to do so.

Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed in myself after last week.  I started out strong, but then had a crappy end of a week in general, which resulting in a crappy end of a week running-wise.

Sunday:  0.99 miles          14:43 minutes       14:48 min/mile pace
Monday: 2.28 miles          32:16 minutes       14:10 min/mile pace
Tuesday: 1.11 miles          13:44 minutes       12:20 min/mile pace
Wednesday: 0.32 miles     5:00 minutes        (On treadmill, - too lazy to calculate pace)    plus 1 hour yoga
Thursday: 0.75 miles         13:28 minutes       17:57 min/mile pace
Friday: 1.28 miles              22:51 minutes      17:50 min/mile pace
Saturday: no run, skipped "muscle mix" class

Now at a glance, if you look strictly at distances, this week doesn't look too awful.  Wednesday would be the worst day if distance is all i'm looking at, but Wednesday was yoga day, which I usually stick to a shorter, lighter run anyway.  I was running late getting to the gym though, so I ended up running after yoga instead of before it - I don't recommend that... Running at 9pm after an hour of relaxation does not go so well, but i still ran for 5 minutes, so I'm okay with it.

Thursday and Friday on the other hand... I have mixed feelings about.  Both days I was just not having a good day.  I was in a bad mood to begin with, plus I got a new phone that is awkward to run with which put me in an even worse mood when it came time to run.  On the one hand, I'm proud of myself for at least putting on the running shoes and heading outside.  On the other hand, I only actually ran for probably less than 3 minutes each day, but I did make myself at least stay out and walk a while longer... I'm disappointed in myself for letting a bad attitude get in the way of sticking with my running plan, but I also know that even attempting to get out and run is a huge improvement over what I would have done before I started this plan.

Saturday morning I was supposed to go to my Muscle Mix class, but since I'd had such a mentally and emotionally exhausting week, I decided not to set an alarm and that I would go if I woke up on time but otherwise I would skip.  Well, I didn't wake up on time.  And then i decided to be lazy all day and basically do nothing all day.  And by mid afternoon I had decided I wasn't going to run at all that day either.  I felt a bit guilty for skipping my run when the previous two days had been basically skipping too, but sometimes you just need a day off where all you do is relax.  So I lounged around all day and then went to a movie with a friend Saturday night.  I did no run, I did not go to the Muscle Mix class, and I basically did nothing productive all day.  And it was wonderful.

Even at the end of the day Saturday, I wasn't too terribly upset with myself for not such a great end to the week.  I definitely felt refreshed after having a day to just relax and felt like I would be able to get this week off to a good start.  Unfortunately, the downside to taking a day off is that there are things that need to get done sooner or later... So Sunday I was playing catch-up all day.  I had a relatively productive day and was able to get caught up on most of the things I needed to get done over the weekend... but I didn't run.  Mid-afternoon I even changed into running clothes, but I just continued with everything else I was working on.  I took a few breaks to read and do a few other things, but I still never went for a run.  I had a lot to get done, but I could have made the time for a short run if I had really made an effort.  But I didn't.  I made one excuse after another.  First I was too busy right then and decided I would run when I reached a good stopping point.  Then it was too soon after lunch.  Then I was too hungry and ready for dinner.  Excuses.  And that is why I am most disappointed in myself.  Not only did I have a couple lazy "runs" (let's be honest, Thursday and Friday were walks), and then took a day off, but I had no good reason not to run Sunday, and I ended up skipping two days in a row because I was making excuses.

I know this week is going to be a tough week to stay on track, because I'll be doing some traveling for work.  There are two days that I pretty much know I won't run because of the time spent flying, dealing with security, and the time zone changes.  I know tonight will be tough because I will be busy trying to get all the last minute things figured out and packing finished and everything.  And when I get back, I will be tired from the jet lag and the late flight... Not to mention the days that I'm actually working out of town, I'll have to eat out, and some of what I do will be dependent on co-workers and how things go during the day, so it may be a bit more challenging to find time to run since I won't be sticking to my usual schedule.

Last time I got completely off track when I took a last minute road trip.  I think it's understandable that it's harder to work out when you're traveling, but I shouldn't have let it get me completely off track for two weeks when the trip was only 3 days.  This time I'm determined to do better, but I know it will still be a challenge... Wish me luck!

60 Day Running Challenge: Back on track! (Week 4 update)

A few weeks back, I started a 60 Day running challenge with 4 basic rules… I lasted 10 days.  Then I hit a few Road Blocks and had a hard time getting started back up again. Now I'm getting back on track!

Here's my progress so far: 

Week 1: Ran 7 days.  A total of 7.53 miles… Awesome first week!

Week 2: Ran 3 days.  A total of 2.52 miles… Not so awesome…

Week 3: What week 3? 

Week 4: Started up again!

     Sunday: still not running again…

     Monday:  0.81 miles  11:31 min  14:14 min/mile

     Tuesday: Lazy and skipped a day

     Wednesday:  .83 miles  15:00 min (on a treadmill) followed by a 1 hour Yoga class!

     Thursday:  1.98 miles  31:28 min 15:55 min/mile  (day 1 of Couch to 5k!)

     Friday: 1.16 miles  16:20 min   14:02 min/mile

     Saturday: .75 miles   12 minutes   (on treadmill)  followed by a 1 hour pump class!

This means in Week 4, even though I missed two days, I still ran a total of 5.53 miles, ran for about an hour and a half, plus two fitness classes… That’s 209 fitness minutes in one week! 

A few things I’m doing differently now to try to stay on track:

• Run at a more consistent time – Wednesdays are different because of my yoga class, and weekends are a bit more inconsistent, but I still try to plan out when I’m going to run ahead of time… If I have it scheduled into my day, it’s harder to skip!
• Variety! – I’m still going to run every day.  But I’ve also added yoga and strength training!  Since I’m doing other exercise, I run less on my yoga and strength class days.  I use these as sort of my “taking a break” days and try to run at an easy pace for no more than 15 minutes before class.  Plus, a treadmill is slightly lower impact than the cement and asphalt I usually run on, so it gives my body a little bit of a break from running. 
• Vary the distance/intensity – The first time around, I was basically just running as long as I could or as long as I felt like each day… Since I was really motivated in the beginning, this means I was probably running a bit more than I should have to get started.  After about a week, I was dealing with shin splints, which made the idea of running a bit less exciting… just one of many factors that led to taking two weeks off.  This time, I’m adding in 2-3 Couch to 5K runs a week (which last for 30 minutes and follow a run-walk interval).  These are longer runs, but they force me to take regular walking breaks, rather than just walking once my body absolutely needs it.  As the name of the program suggests, it’s great for beginners, so it’s not too physically demanding, while still getting a good workout in.  As I move forward, the walking intervals will get shorter and the running intervals get longer.  On my non-C25K days, and my non-class days, I still have to run, but it can be whatever length and intensity I feel like that day – or whatever I have time for!  If I’m feeling great but only have a few minutes, maybe I run for 10 minutes but give it all I’ve got.  If I’ve got a lot of time but not feeling up to a full blown C25K run, maybe I’ll run for 5-10 minutes but also do a really long walk… Doesn’t matter as long as I run!

Let’s hope week 5 is as awesome as week 4!  So far, I’ve run both days, and a total of 3.27 miles!  

Road Blocks

If you’ve been following this blog at all, then you know I’ve been trying to make some positive changes in my life, including Meatless May and a 60 Day Running Challenge.  Well about a week and a half ago, I had to make a slight detour on the road to change (cheesy, I know, but I couldn’t help myself.)  I made a very sudden decision to go on a volunteer trip over Memorial Day weekend… Needless to say, I did not exactly stay on track with my goals.

As far as Meatless May goes, I was able to continue with not eating meat, but I wasn’t exactly cooking delicious healthy meals during the trip… Food provided for volunteers in some areas meant cheese pizza; convenience microwave food in the hotel was popcorn and easy-mac; and food on the road was taco bell bean burritos and subway veggie sandwich…  Not to mention, there were a lot of peanut butter sandwiches.  I did manage to stay vegetarian though, and even was still able to make a few healthy eating choices (I brought an entire bag of apples!), so I’d say for a last minute road trip, it was pretty successful!  This was probably more accurately described as a speed bump than a road block.

My 60 day running challenge, on the other hand, took a detour, got lost, and had no GPS signal with an out-dated map.  My last run was May 21^st (nearly two weeks ago!)  The Wednesday and Thursday leading up to the trip were pretty jam-packed with last minute preparations, leaving little time for anything else, so I ended up not running.  Friday, I was on the road from the minute I left work until about 2am, so once again, I didn’t run.  Saturday and Sunday were full of volunteering, and the volunteer work was pretty physically demanding, so I don’t feel too bad about not running on these days, but I probably could have managed a short run in the evenings if I’d really wanted to. Monday we volunteered in the morning, followed by another long drive home, which meant I didn’t run.

While I was kinda disappointed that I didn’t run while I was gone, I was okay with it, because it was for a good cause, and two of the days I did still get some exercise just by the volunteer work I was doing.  I told myself that I would start running again after work Tuesday and would just add the missed days onto the end of my 60 days to make up for them…  Then Tuesday after work I was still exhausted from my trip, so I told myself I’d start Wednesday… Now here I am, an entire week after getting back from my trip, and I still have not run again!  Some days I was making excuses (like still being really tired) and other days I simply forgot! 

This is exactly why I started this challenge!  When I first started, running was something I had to consciously plan on and make time for.  Even though I was barely a week into the challenge, it was already becoming a bit more routine… After 60 days, I think it will just be something that I’ll automatically want to do and won’t feel like it’s such a chore.  The first few days, I had pretty decent reasons for not running, but then it became excuses, and then it just got to where I didn’t even remember that I was supposed to be running. 

Well, now I remember, and I don’t have a single reason not to run (though I’m sure I could think of some excuses if I tried), so tonight I will be starting my running again.  I’m still going to count my first week and all of my missed days as part of my “60 Days,” and when I get to the end, I’ll at least add on the missed days.  Honestly, I am not as excited about running as I was when I first started, and I am not really looking forward to running tonight, but I’m hoping after a couple days I will be back on track!

60 Day Running Challenge: Week 1 Update

In the first week of my 60 Day Running Challenge, I ran 1 hour, 44 minutes for a total of 7.53 miles with an average pace of 13:51min/mile! (You can check out the end of this post if you're interested in the daily breakdown.)   I am honestly shocked that I ran this much!  If I hadn't made this challenge and decided to commit to it, and just gone with my usual “I think I’m going to start running this week”, I would have maybe run 1 day for probably less than a mile. 

Here is how I’m making it work:

Be strict, but flexible:  Making some semblance of a plan, but still keeping it flexible enough that I don’t have to stick to a specific schedule was very helpful for me!  There were a couple nights that I was really caught up in a new book series I’m reading, and did not want to run – on those days, I did wait until the last possible minute to run just before dark, but I still ran!  There was one day that I just really did not feel like running, but I told myself I had to at least go run for 5 minutes… I ended up running more than twice that long and ran almost a mile!

Keep track of progress:  I use the Map My Run app on my Smartphone, but there are a variety of other apps you can use, or even a basic pedometer.  If running on a treadmill, it gives you your stats as you go anyway, so just write them down or snap a photo of the display when you are done.  For me, it’s really motivating to glance down at my phone while I’m taking a short break to walk and catch my breath and then see that I am doing better than the day before or that I’ve been running longer/farther than I thought I had!  According to what I’ve been reading, more serious runners tend to keep track of weather conditions and other factors, but I don’t worry too much about all that. 

Stay Accountable:  The other thing that has made a HUGE difference to all the other times I’ve tried to start working out, is that I have some AWESOME friends who are helping to keep me accountable.  In the past, I’ve tried a couple times to plan to work out with someone or sign up for a class with somebody in the hopes that we’d keep each other accountable, but it never seems to work out, mainly because schedules don’t always line up.  So this time around, I decided to not worry about working out with somebody, and just find several friends who would be willing to help keep me on track in other ways.  I told them all my plan ahead of time and they agreed to help, so after each run, I snap a screen shot of my Map My Run results and send a text with the photo.  Sometimes I’ll include a simple message of “I ran today!”  or sometimes I will elaborate on how the run went –  “I really didn’t want to run today, because I got a new book and it’s a perfect rainy day to sit around and read, but I made myself do at least 5 minutes (which turned into 13!) and now I can relax and read guilt free!” –   One evening I forgot to send the message out right away, and two of them texted me to ask if I’d run yet that day.  Also, these are some of the encouraging responses I’ve received so far:

      

     “Good! Keep up the good work! You’re doing a lovely job! =D”

     “Niiiiiice! Way to go!”

     “I don’t even gotta motivate/push ya… doin’ it yourself!”

     “Great job. Looks to be faster which is great”

     “DON’T FORGET STRETCHING!!”

…Have I mentioned I have awesome friends?  Well I do.  They’re pretty great. :-D

So far, I haven’t had to actually have them remind me or convince me to run, but knowing that I am “reporting back” to them on how I am doing is a good motivator for me to actually get out and run.  And once I am out there, I push myself harder knowing that I am going to be sending them my stats.  I chose 5 of my closest friends, some of whom are currently trying to lose weight and/or exercise, some who are not, but all of whom I knew would be supportive of this new endeavor.  If any of you 5 happen to be reading this, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week's workouts:

Sunday:                1.55 miles - 22:03 minutes - 14:16 min/mile pace!

Monday:              1.07 miles - 14:58 minutes - 14:00 min/mile pace!

Tuesday:              .74 miles - 11:47 minutes - 15:52 min/mile pace!

Wednesday:      .89 miles - 11:48 minutes - 13:13 min mile pace!

Thursday:            1.2 miles - 15:30 minutes - 12:57 min/mile pace!

Friday:                  .92 miles - 12:23 minutes - 13:24 min/mile pace!

Saturday:             1.16 miles - 15:32 minutes - 13:21 min/mile pace!

60 Day Running Challenge: Days 1-4

In the past 4 days, I have run a total of 4.25 miles in about 1 hour!  I am a little sore, but mostly I am feeling great!  About a year ago, I was just graduating college and had decided to start running and trying to get back in shape.  Over the course of a few months, I went for the occasional run, I tried the Couch to 5K plan, I signed up for a yoga and a boot camp class at my local YMCA.  I was actually getting to a point where I sometimes enjoyed running, which is completely insane since I spent my entire life hating “running for no reason.”  Put me on a softball diamond or a soccer field, and I’ll give it all I’ve got, but ask me to run a single lap around a track and I was in agony. 

Even though I was getting to a point where I sort of enjoyed running, and I liked my bootcamp and yoga classes, when life got busy, it wasn't a priority and the next thing I knew, it’d been months since I put on my running shoes or saw the inside of a gym.  Not long ago, I decided it was time to change that, so I came up with a 60 Day Running Challenge for myself.

4 days in, after last night’s run, I am so glad I’m doing this!  Surprisingly, my new appreciation of running from last summer actually stuck, and I still don’t hate it!  I still wouldn’t say running is my favorite thing ever, and honestly the hardest part so far is pulling myself away from TV or a book or whatever else I’m doing to get started.  Once I’ve got my running shoes and my iPod on, I’m fine.  I won’t say it hasn’t been physically challenging, but even when I am out of breath and sweating and have to take a break, I’m still glad to be doing it, because I just mentally feel so much better when I am out there.  Even knowing how great running can be, there are still other things I would rather be doing, like reading a book, hanging out with friends, you name it!  I can honestly say if I hadn’t made this commitment to myself and if I didn’t have some great friends keeping me accountable, there is no way I would have run every day these last 4 days.  So a great big THANK YOU goes out to those friends and to any of you who happen to be reading this!

If you want to learn more about the 60 Day Running Challenge, check out my original post!

60 Day Running Challenge

About a week or so ago, I decided I was going to try the Spring into Shape Bootcamp Challenge from SparkPeople.  So far, I’ve done one 10-minute workout… Not exactly what I’d call successful.  To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of most of the workout plans you find online, because I feel like they are always either too intense, or not intense enough, and I’m not great at modifying them to find a balance.  I do one work out and decide it wasn’t enough of a workout, so I feel like it is a waste of time.  Or I try one and am out of breath after just a couple minutes and feel like there is no way I can keep up with it.  This one was strangely a combination of both, so I think I need to find some other way to get back into exercising more often.

So far, the only structured exercise plan I’ve ever found and even remotely been able to stick to is the Couch to 5K running plan.  I didn’t stick with the entire program, but I did a few weeks of it and then continued running at least semi-regularly (which for me is success.)  I got to a point where I at least somewhat actually enjoyed running, and I do want to get back into running more.

Then, the other day I came across zenhabits – a blog all about how you can change your habits – quit a bad habit, start a good habit, etc.  For anyone trying to make a change in their life, I highly recommend these four particular posts:

The habit change cheatsheat: 29 ways to successfully ingrain a behavior

Two simple ways to form new habits without really trying

The ultimate guide to motivation - how to achieve any goal

Autopilot - how to turn your goals into habits

60 day Running Challenge

Based on what I know about my own exercise tendencies and on what I learned from those four posts, I decided to challenge myself to run every day for 60 days.  Here is the workout plan:

• Run every day.  Even if it is just for 5 minutes.  Even if it is slow.  Even if I have to slow down and walk for part of it.  Even if I already did another workout.  Run every day.
• No Excuses.  Run every day.  Even if the weather is insane and I have to drive to the gym to use a treadmill. Even if I get stuck working late and don’t want to.  Even if there is a good movie on TV.
• Improve.  Each week, run more than the previous week.  Even if it’s only by a few minutes.
• Never skip 2 days in a row.  Remember that part about run every day?  That’s not realistic.  This is Rule #17 on the ultimate guide to motivation.  It’s inevitable that I will occasionally miss a day.  It’s important to acknowledge and accept that, because otherwise when it happens, I will potentially get discouraged and give up because “I’ve already failed.”  This is the loophole that allows you to instead say, “you know what, I missed today, but I haven’t failed yet, I just can’t skip tomorrow!”

That’s it.  That’s all I’ve got.  4 rules.  Because when a workout plan gets too complicated, we start missing things and we get discouraged.  Because when we set goals that are too specific without any basis, they seem unattainable.  But anybody can do anything for 5 minutes a day.  Even if I only run for 5 minutes a day for the first week, that’s 35 minutes.  So the next week I have to run at least 36 minutes, and then at least 37, and by the end of 60 days, I will have run a total of 395 minutes… And that’s just if I do the absolute bare minimum – that’s still only an average of about 6 ½ minutes
a day!  I can do that! 

Now ideally, I will end up doing more than the bare minimum, but if I do the bare minimum, that’s still an accomplishment, and I still achieve my goal.  And by the time day 61 rolls around, running every day will have become a habit and I can stick with it… right?  That’s the idea, anyway!

I’m starting my challenge this Sunday – I’m calling it Run Day Sunday – because #7 on the Habit change cheat sheet, says “Don’t start right away.”  Because if we start right away, we don’t give it enough thought, and we don’t prepare ourselves for change.

Along with keeping some of my friends up to date on my progress, I’ll also be posting updates here on Knee Deep with the label 60Days as part of keeping myself accountable.  So if you’re interested in how my plan is working, be sure to check back for updates!  And if any of you decide to do your own 60 day running challenge, I would love to hear about it, so leave a comment!