Phew, that was close!
So if you were with me yesterday, you know that I had a terrible eating day. Even after my last post, I ended up going home and eating even more crap. It was just one of those days, I guess.
I also got in almost two hours of yard work after dinner last night, and I got back on the C25K wagon this morning. The result, even after eating what was probably double my usual allotment of cals?
I lost .4 pounds. Halle-&%$#-lujah! Seriously, I'd never been so happy to see a wee loss like that before. I was completely prepared to gain at least two pounds.
I'm still kind of holding my breath for tomorrow, actually. This bloated feeling I've been having is driving me crazy and I bet anything it's contributing to this plateau I've been on. My water intake is always good, so it's not that, probably just the dreaded "female" stuff. So I am waiting this out and will just keep on keeping on, like I always say. It's OK, it's not a race.
But I have to tell you about my run this morning! Holy crap, it was incredible. I woke up feeling kind of crappy (food hangover, anyone?), but got right out of bed with the alarm, got suited up and out the door. As what always happens, I warmed right up and started to really enjoy myself almost immediately. Week 5 of C25K is when it starts to get a little more hard-core: today's workout was the following sequence sandwiched with the usual five-minute warm up and cool down walk. 5 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, 5 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, 5 minutes running. And I did just great! I think it is amazing how my legs don't bother me one bit compared to when I started walking back on May 1st. Not to mention... my speed is improving! I was usually going 3 mph or so, maybe 3.1 if I was lucky. Today, though? Try 3.5 mph! Positively zippy for this fatty. Seriously, I was pretty psyched. It probably wasn't until one of the last weeks the last time I tried C25K that I reached that speed, so I am obviously improving faster. (NOTE: I double checked this, and it turns out that I never got that speed until a month or so after completing C25K last year! Wahoo!)
I am sure that the hills I walked and ran at my dad's house has a lot to do with my improvement. After tackling that route, my neighborhood is a piece of cake. Sure, I was huffing and puffing pretty well this morning, but I was fine, you know? Now I am having visions of hitting 4mph by the time I finish C25K (four more weeks to go!). Who knows, maybe I'll be able to run 5K in 45 minutes or something outrageous like that!
...only to get home and tell C. about my accomplishment, when he replies, "Isn't that like walking speed? You're SLOW!" Like he didn't know that already. But screw it, I didn't let old grouchypants get me down. I am still so proud of what I did this morning, my head is in the clouds.
Some days are diamonds, some days are stone. Today is definitely the former!
I've started some "pre-training" for the C25K program (to give my knees a chance to get used to the higher impact) . . . I'm curious as to how you calculate your speed.
ReplyDelete(1) When you say 3.5 mph, is that average for the workout (including running and walking intervals), or is it for just the running or just the walking intervals?
(2) How do you figure it out (if you're not on a treadmill)?
TIA for the information, from one beginning runner to another :)
Ria,
ReplyDeleteThe speed I am talking about is the average of the whole trip -- running, walking, everything. I don't have any devices, so I keep track of my time, and map my walks and runs at http://www.mapmyrun.com. You input your route and the time it took you to finish, and it calculates all kinds of nifty info for you. :)
I know, I am REALLY slow.
Thanks for the information - I use mapmyrun to check distances, but I didn't think of using it to calculate speed. I'm definitely going to check it out, since I'd like to do some of my C25K sessions outside with some idea how my outdoors pace compares to my pace on the treadmill.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that you're already up to Week 5 - that's a *lot* of running intervals! I'm still on my "pre-training" . . . planning to start the actual program by July 1.