Back on the Bike

Cooks during the '12 Galloway Pancake Breakfast

I hopped on the recumbent bike at the gym for 4 miles (including several 1 minute intervals) this morning, followed by some light yoga/stretching, then a short workout with the dumbbells. Felt good to get the week off to a good start with some exercise! I missed working out this weekend but I had an okay excuse. Saturday morning, I volunteered to help with the annual Raleigh Galloway Pancake Breakfast. Since I'm not running with the group this season (yet), I figured it would be a great way to see everyone, and it was! Standing out in the sun for several hours took its toll on me though, and I didn't get around to exercising the rest of the weekend.

This is a new week though, and even though I have a final exam and a paper due on Wednesday, that's no excuse not to take care of myself, right?!

Fitting in the Exercise

Well, I haven't been to the gym this week as planned, but I have taken a couple of walk breaks at work, tracking the distance and time with the MapMyRun app on my iPhone. Even though it's been crazy hot the past couple of days, taking a few minutes to walk has made a difference. I'm down 2.2 pounds this week, to boot!

Walking Test

Yesterday I downloaded a Couch to 10K app on my iPhone, and it suggested being able to walk 30 minutes comfortably before starting that program. I decided to try walking for 30 minutes today, just to see how it went. I finished 1.4 miles in 30:19. It was a tiny challenge, but not by much. That being said, I was on the treadmill in an air-conditioned gym! I think I need to to some more walking, and see what my right ankle (subsiding pain) and left foot (plantar fasciitis) have to say.

After that, I did some gentle yoga stretches from a yoga app on my iPhone, then lifted weights on three Nautilus machine. I'm an inflexible wienie. I need to exercise more than just on weekends to see any improvement. Now I'm thinking about the Second Empire Grand Prix Series coming up this fall. Could I do it?

Back in the Gym

I made it back to the gym yesterday morning, and am not sore today, which is a pretty good thing, I guess. I'm still on the injured list with my ankle, but am going to the podiatrist today for another issue, and hope he can take another look at the ankle too. Meanwhile, the stationary bike and strength training seem to be good for staying active. Also, I received a new-to-me book in the mail yesterday, Yoga for Wimps: Poses for the Flexibly Impaired. I've been thinking about going to a yoga class at the gym, but I've been a big chicken. This book seems to be the way to go for now.

Cleaning Plus Elliptical

Yesterday afternoon I got a good bit of housecleaning done, and followed up with a 30-minute session on the elliptical machine last night. I was bushed afterward, and slept hard last night! It felt great!

I've been trying out a couple of new exercise apps on the iPhone/iPad lately, Nexercise and Slimkicker (which has an accompanying website). Both use a point system, and it's been fun having some new virtual gadgets to play with. I would recommend both so far.

Good Bike Ride Yesterday

I had a vacation day yesterday, and meant to get an early workout in to start the day off right! I ended up puttering around, though, just enjoying a morning where I didn't have to be somewhere by a certain time. So, I ended up at the gym around 1:30 PM, since it had gotten so hot! I hopped on the recumbent bike, and went 7.2 miles in 40:05 minutes. I enjoyed working up a sweat!

This morning, I've been cleaning up my blogroll just a little, deleting a handful of blogs where the blogging runners have decided to stop blogging and move on to other things. One or two decided to stop running for now, as their lives have gotten busy with other things. It's made me a little nostalgic about running buddies (in person and through the  blogosphere) that I've met over the years. Some I keep up with, but others I've lost touch with. That's life, though, isn't it?

Easing Back In

I went to the gym this morning for a short workout. After warming up on the recumbent bike for about 15 minutes, I ran on the treadmill for about 5 minutes. Since my ankle has been fussy (tendonitis), and the plantar fasciitis still peeps at me, I decided that less would be more today. So far, so good. Now I'm a little more hopeful about starting a 10K training plan soon. One step at a time, right?

Back on the Elliptical

I returned to the gym this morning, but got on the elliptical instead of the treadmill, and it was such a refreshing break! Wow! No plantar fasciitis or tendonitis pain! I'm looking forward to running again soon, but this morning's break was so refreshing! Wow! Meanwhile, I'm starting to look at 10K training plans. They look doable after that C25K! :-)

C25K W9D3 Complete

I finished the Couch-to-5K program yesterday on the treadmill, not at the New River 5K as I'd hoped. While my sore throat was a lot better, the plantar fasciitis and tendonitis, on top of being bone tired, had me wanting to stay close to home. George wasn't feeling on top of his game for the half marathon, either, so we decided not to make the 3-hour (each way) trip yesterday morning. So, I slept in and hit the treadmill at the gym in the early afternoon. 2 miles in 40:24 min, a decent pace for me these days. What's next? I plan to keep training, but may do some other cardio to give my foot and ankle a bit of a break. I've found a 10K training plan that looks good, so we'll see!

Sluggish C25K W9D2 Done

This morning's run was sluggish and discouraging. Plantar fasciitis and tendonitis were both fussy this morning, and I have a lingering sore throat (but no fever as an excuse). I also overshot my time, so I got in more than my 40 minutes! I'd planned to run the nearby golf course again, but some early golfers were out, so I had to change my course on the fly. I headed through the sunnier, slightly hillier neighborhood, instead. Not so much fun, but it'll pay off later, I hope. It was a training distance PR for me during this C25K, but it didn't feel very good. Some days are like that. Time to look ahead to finishing this C25K!

C25K W9D1 Complete

I can hardly believe I've made it  all the way to Week 9! This morning's run went pretty well, pretty flat course and overcast skies helped. Ran a little extra to hit 2 miles for the first time since Run for the Oaks!

C25K Week 8 Complete!

Had a really good run/walk on the American Tobacco Trail this morning! The skies were overcast, which really helped, especially since I got a late start. This is my longest distance outdoors since running the Run for the Oaks 5K at the end of Week 1. Glad to crack 21:00 avg. min/mile again with this run, as my pace had slowed lately. Just a really nice run.

Couch-to-5K W8D2 Finished!

I did C25K W8D2 after work this evening, 28 minutes of running plus 5 minutes of warmup walking and another 5 minutes of cooldown walking. I ran conservatively, since I woke up with some lower back pain the day after W8D1. The back did okay during the run, and I took an Empson salt bath when I got home. I enjoyed the American Tobacco Trail at dusk, lovely weather and enough company to feel safe. Ready to finish Week 8 up this weekend!

C25K W8D1 Finished

I finished C25K W8D1 on the treadmill this morning. I missed running outside, but it was cold, and I was a wimp. It was nice to be able to go a little faster, and I ended up hitting the 2 mile mark for the first time in this C25K. Whew! Now I'm tired, though, and I can tell the tiredness is going to linger today.

C25K Week 7 is Done!

I did C25K W7D3 this morning, after a fitfull night's sleep, a sore throat, and that pesky plantar fasciitis bothering me even more. I was tempted to quit, but decided to keep going, however slowly, and let the chips fall where they may. It was just a bad run, my slowest C25K run yet. Ah, well. Bad runs make us appreciate the good ones even more right?

I'm tempted to return to the gym machines because of the plantar fasciitis, but I really want to finish the C25K. Just six more runs. One run at a time.

80 Days is Too Long

Back on April 2, I mentioned starting an 80-Day Challenge for myself, but I've discovered that my own challenge was too long and broad, especially in the context of my current life, which has been so busy! So, I've decided to reset my challenge, as well as my weight loss goals, and shoot for 2.5 pounds AT A TIME! 2.5 pounds at a time is a little bit of a stretch (especially since I've been losing and regaining the same 2.5 pounds for a few weeks now!), but a doable goal. I won't feel progress immediately, but I should start seeing progress on the scales soon. Having short-term goals will help me tackle the proverbial elephant, one bite at a time.


Image from http://flog.cookingforceliacscolitiscrohnsandibs.com/scd-facts/how-to-eat-an-elephant/

C25K W7D2 In the Books!

Had a good run this morning, especially once I warmed up. (Plantar fasciitis in the left foot is still bothering me.) New-to-me course this morning, mostly on the golf cart paths of the Brier Creek Golf Course, quite nice! Overcast skies also helped make this my fastest pace outdoors for this C25K.

C25K W7D1 Finished

Ran/walked in Brier Creek today, but turned the opposite direction from my usual route. Today's run/walk interval was the same as Saturday's, but a little bit faster today. Nice to see some progress, even though this morning's route had less hills.

I can tell the heat and humidity are on the rise around here. Wish we could bottle last week's weather!!

C25K W6D3 Complete

Completed W6D3 today, a beautiful morning to run outside! This is the farthest I run outdoors during this C25K, but the slowest pace too. According to my BuckeyeOutdoors stats, it was the most ascent (966.7 ft) and descent (1020.3 ft) too. Lots of action for such a short run/walk. The 25-minute run interval was okay, especially considering I wasn't going very fast! The plantar fasciitis in my left foot is bothering me a bit, but not the toe pain from previous years. I did have a reflexology session last night, which I hoped would help with today's run.

I ran at Shelley Lake today, an old, familiar course, but first time doing it for the C25K. I parked at the Sertoma Art Center, since the lower parking lot was full. So my warm-up walk was downhill, and my cooldown walk was uphill. :->

C25K W6D2 Complete

C25K W6D2 by dukefan86 at Garmin Connect - Details

The link above has my numbers for this run. I almost ran on the treadmill, even drove myself to the gym! But them I decided to TRY running outside again, even though it was pretty windy. I ended up running at a slightly faster pace tonight than I did on Monday, even with more wind and more elevation. I'm pretty happy about that! Still a long way to go, though.