Running - 2 Weeks down

I've completed 2 full weeks of my running program.   With this program we run 5 out of 7 days each week, and each day the number of minutes spent running increases.  The first day I only had to run 1 minute before being able to walk.  By the 10th set, I wasn't sure I could run for a full minute.  Today I'll be lacing up and heading out to run 4 sets of 5 minutes.  I'm a little nervous, as I've only gone as long as 4 minutes at a time one other day, so this is a big jump.

Running a full 5k still seems very far away.  Right now I'm averaging about 3.8 km with the 30 minutes I'm doing each day.  I know that as I add more running minutes and have less walking ones, that the distance will increase.  It's still another 7 weeks until the actual race, so I feel good that I have lots of training time left.

The one thing I find I'm struggling with the most is what to wear.  It's April in Nova Scotia, so it rains a lot, it's foggy and drizzly, there's a lot of wind and it's still pretty cold out.  But within 10 minutes of running, I'm so hot that I'm ready to strip down to my bra.   I hate having to take off my hat, gloves and coat while I'm running and try to stuff them in pockets, or tie the coat around my waist, so I've given up on all of that and have accepted that I'll just be cold to start and freezing when I do my cool down walk.

Overall I do enjoy running.  I know, it surprises me too.  There is something to be said about the sense of accomplishment when you finish.   Of course that might change today after my 4th set of 5 minutes!!

Gadgets

 I never would have considered running to be a sport that required a lot of gear or gadgets.  And really, it doesn't "require" anything beyond a good pair of shoes and a great sports bra (DO NOT skimp on a good sports bra ladies, it is not worth it)

But I have found that I now have 3 different gadgets that have become part of my running kit.

Fitbit

This one isn't specific to running, in fact I wear it everyday.  It's a step counter that automatically syncs up to their website to track your daily number of steps.  I was amazed at how many steps 30 minutes of running/walking can add.

TimeTimer watch

I recently won this watch from a Toys are Tools giveaway.  I was very excited because I knew that I was going to start learning to run and this has a great counter feature.  You can not only watch the timer run down, but the whole watch vibrates letting you know when the minute is up.  This worked great for the first week of training when my intervals were all 1 or 2 minutes.  Now that I'm getting into sets of 4-5 minutes, it's a lot harder to keep track of the number of times it's gone off during each set.  That led me to my next gadget.

Ipod Touch with an UltraTimer App

I searched out a few apps before settling on this one.  It has the ability for me to set up any combination of run/walk times as well as lets me pick the number of sets to do for each run.  It has great sound effects like a groaning crowd when it's time to run, cheering when you are supposed to walk and applause when you are finished all sets.  It runs in the back ground while you listen to your music, even turning down the music so that you can hear it's updates.  The counter numbers are also nice and big and you can set different background colours, so that at a glance you know if you should be running or walking.

I love technology and any new toy to play with while I take up this new activity helps to keep me interested.  What gadgets do you run with?

Weigh In - April 14

Starting Weight - 217 on January 1st, 2013
Current Weight - 209.4

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It's been a month since I last checked in here with a weigh in.  I've really been struggling this last month and I'm up 4 pounds since then.

I'm doing well on the exercise front, keeping up with TKD 3 days a week and I can now call myself a runner.  I just can't seem to keep my appetite in check, and worse, I can't make good food choices when I am hungry.  I know that if I were to knuckle down and get my calorie and carb intakes back under control, that the weight will start coming off again.

I'm tired of making excuses and simply need to gain control of my will power.

I am a runner

It’s been almost a week since I officially entered the land of being a runner. I joined a “Learn to Run” program offered through Liam’s school. The intent is to get all of us non-runners up and running (pun fully intended) by June 15th so that we can run our first 5k trail run- The Ocean Breeze – which is a school fund raiser. 

The program is based on interval training – running, interspersed with 1 minute bouts of walking. The first day we ran 1 minute and walked 1 minute for 20 minutes. Surprisingly, no one died. No one even cried or threw up. We all made it back to the school for a stretching session and lots of high fives. It even rained, so I can even call myself someone who runs in the rain.

Since then I have followed the daily program, working my way up to running for 6 two-minute intervals. Tomorrow will be our second group session and the trainers seem to think that we will be ready to run 4 sets of four-minute runs….I’m skeptical , but willing to give it a go.

I never thought I would be a runner. It always seemed like a silly sport, a bit of a waste of time. But I kinda get it now. There really is something to the endorphin high you get when you stop. I like being alone with my thoughts (even if my thoughts quickly become a mantra of “just a few more steps, you can do it”). I’ve also been struggling with weight loss for the last month, gaining instead of losing. That has finally turned around this week, I think in no small part thanks to the great workout I’m getting by running 5 days a week.

So if you are in the North end of Halifax and see a bald headed woman plodding along, give me a shout out.  Any and all encouragement accepted.