C25K W2D2 Finished

I did C25K W2D2 this morning, after a false start back on W1D1! Without my reading glasses on, I missed that the app had reset itself back to the beginning at first! So, I got a little extra walking on, no harm done. :-) I went a little faster today, and it felt pretty good. I'm a little more tired now, the good kind of tired that comes after a decent workout. It feels like I pushed myself just enough. I can make it through the workday just fine, but I already know I'll sleep well tonight! :-)

C25K W2D1 Complete

I finished W2D1 today with a new-to-me C25K app by Zen Labs. Enjoyed the app, which gave me voice commands to run 90 seconds and walk 120 seconds, and played my own music in between commands. I went a little slower than normal (ha!) today, since the running intervals were longer, plus I didn't sleep well last night. I have some extra energy left in me now, so I probably could've gone a little faster. :-)

Ran/walked 1.60 miles in 31:07 min.

Race Report: 2012 Run for the Oaks

Lesley, Nancy, and Karen (part of the corporate team competition)

I completed C25K W1D3 with a 5K! I did the Run for the Oaks 5K in Raleigh, NC, and also competed in the corporate team challenge with a couple of Duke employees. I'd paid for the 5K a while back, but hadn't gotten motivated back then, so I decided to participate for the team (minimum of three) but walk most of this race to prevent injury.

Early on in the race, a policeman pulled up me and gave me course directions, urging me to the sidewalk. Thank goodness the print was big enough for me to see without my reading glasses, which I don't run with. For a chunk of the race, I was able to see the people in front of me, but at one point in the race, there were a number of neighborhood street turns. I missed one turn and overshot by a block. Another walker slightly behind me and I asked a man walking his dog, and got back on track. *sigh*

A little more than halfway through, I decided to start run/walk intervals of 30/120 seconds. There were times when I ran a little more. This wasn't my normal 60/90 run/walk for the C25K, but  the distance was longer than I'm accustomed to lately, so I took it easy with the intervals until the last push when the finish line was in sight.

When I got near the finish line, I couldn't see the clock, but I kept running anyway and finished. When they announced the corporate team standings, our team wasn't called, as I expected us to be, so I went back to the finish area, and found Jim, the man who owns the timing company that did the race. I asked about my time, and learned that the official timing had indeed stopped before I finished (a first for me!). He asked if I had a watch time; thank goodness I had my Garmin Forerunner on! It had recorded almost 3.3 miles (thanks to getting lost earlier in the raced), but I didn't mind at that point, as long as our team got credit! I showed Jim my Garmin time (which he wrote on his hand!). A few minutes later, he motioned Karen and me (Nancy had already left) to follow him, and he gave us the 2nd place team plaque! Yay! Okay, there were only two teams entered in the open women's division, but it's still fun getting the bling!

So, I finished 3.23 miles in 1:04:20 yesterday, last by a long shot. Having to find my own way on the course was a little stressful, but I had a lot of fun otherwise. I'm happy to have a beginning time in an official 5K race, as I begin running again. It's great motivation, really. I'm already looking at 5Ks down the road.

I took my new iPhone 4S with me, and loaded some new songs beforehand to help me through this race and training in the months ahead. I took some photos with the phone before and after the race, and they turned out pretty well! One thing I like about taking photos with the iPhone is the ease of adding them to Facebook and Flickr!

After the race, I decided to stop at Big Ed's for brunch, where I had a veggie omelet with grits. Yum!

To see all four of my photos from the 2012 Run for the Oaks, click here.

W1D2 Complete

I completed Week 1 Day 2 of the Coach to 5K Program yesterday, and it wiped me out! I figured out why W1D1 was so easy for me, too. I did 30 sec/90 sec run/walk intervals instead of 60/90 on Day 1! So yesterday I did the assigned 60/90 run/walk intervals for the W1D2 workout. I finished the run/walk okay, but felt pretty tired afterward. The tiredness spread throughout the day, and I crashed and burned last night. I'm still a little tired this morning. I can tell that my fitness level needs big time work, and taking off the pounds will help a lot too.

Started Couch to 5K Program Today!

I completed Week 1, Day 1 of the Couch to 5K program this afternoon, and I'm feeling pretty good! It wasn't too hard, especially considering it's the longest I've spent on the treadmill in a while. The time went by pretty quickly, actually. One thing that helped was that I wore a new pair of running shoes today, birthday present shoes from my sister. I'd been waiting for some good reason, like more commitment to running, to pull them out. Ahhh, nothing like new running shoes! :-)

Anyway, I'm already looking forward to W1D2, which will be in another 2-3 days. My third run/walk of the week will be the Run for the Oaks 5K on Saturday. I'll do my assigned run/walk for the C25K program, then probably walk the rest of the way. It's all good! I'll have to pick another 5K in May to see my improvement! :-)

Running...Just a Little

For the second week in a row, I've added a little bit of running to my walking workout on the treadmill. Nothing long or fast, but just a nudge. No foot issues or other injuries to report so far, so I plan to keep at it, and see if I can build back up. Hoping to shake out the cobwebs in the weeks ahead!

Long Elliptical Workout

I hit the gym this morning, and ended up doing 60 minutes on the elliptical machine, for 4.54 miles. I hadn't planned on staying on it for that long, but I got into the zone, I guess. I needed an endurance workout like that, so I'm glad I stuck it out. I can feel it tonight, though, as I'm more tired than usual. (It's also been a busy week, though.)

I've been working on making better food choices, dumping meat and dairy best I can. I think I need to work on portion control now, as my weight has plateaued. Meanwhile, I've been giving a lot of thought to the differences between vegan and paleo diets, and how each camp has such strong supporters and advocates. Can they both be right?