Monday, February 11 Day ONE
I was up early (by 4:30 AM) to ensure that I had plenty of quiet time before the day began. The children joined me in the living room just after 7:00 for our family morning devotions. As soon as we were finished, Emily found a pair of sweats for me to wear (I don't own any). It was cold and very windy outside.Those who are participating are:
Stephanie (24), the "instigator": Emily (20), my 60 day juicing buddy; Corrie (13), probably the most disciplined member of our family; and Isaac (12), who secretly desires to follow in his daddy's footsteps (Terry was a successful high jumper and track star in high school). Terry will attempt to train during his breaks at work. Our friends Elizabeth (25) and Hannah (18) are joining us as well, but they couldn't make it over on this particular morning.
Stephanie, who has been on this journey for a few months already, gave me some running tips (I usually get shin splints whenever I run) and explained rhythmic breathing. As a former 20-year cigarette smoker, this is especially important to prevent me from getting winded:
- Pace yourself
- You should be able to carry on a light conversation during running
- Breathe in every two steps and exhale every two steps (for beginners)
- Drink lots of water throughout the day, especially in the morning before running
- Keep your arms at a 90 degree angle
- Pump from the elbows
- Work on building stamina first, then work on speed (this advice came from her dad)
We did some stretches then hit the road in front of our house, walking two long laps to "warm up". Then we began following the plan: 8 rounds of jogging for 60 seconds with intermittent 90 second walking intervals. By the half-way mark, I was wondering if I could continue, especially with the wind blowing so hard, causing much resistance. Corrie and Stephanie stayed right with me. I'd like to think I was keeping up with their pace, but I cannot be 100% sure they weren't slowing down for me.
In the end, my muscles were screaming and my lungs were on fire. Steph said we needed to stretch. I agreed and pictured stretching...out on the bed. Once my jello legs calmed down and my breathing returned to normal, I felt much better.
I told the girls that on Wednesday they may need to coerce me outside, otherwise, this could be one of those situations where I'll fondly look back on "that one day back in February 2013 when I ran for 8 minutes..."
Tuesday, February 12: Day TWO
After a hot soak last night in a tub of Epsom salt and lavender essential oil, I didn't feel as sore as I thought I would this morning. Steph was adamant that we HAD to do T-Tapps on our "off days" (the days we don't run). The video we have is Tapp Core, which we won in their giveaway the first time we tried (they give away 10 DVDs every 10 days! Enter here). I kept reminding myself, "It's only 22 minutes!"There are several things about this workout that I appreciate, including no music, no bouncing, aerobic movements, it requires only small space (so that all of us can do it in our small living room), Teresa's clothes are not as immodest as most exercise videos and the core exercises are truly effective.
By the time we finished "Hoe-Downs", my hips felt like rubber bands, but I persevered to the end.
As today was our day in town, I had to climb in and out of the van many times. I felt every movement and stifled "ouches" as I made my way down (and later, back up) the steps at the library.
I asked Amanda, "How on earth am I supposed to run tomorrow when I can barely walk today?!"
Wednesday, February 13: Day THREE
I got up early again (at 4:30 AM) this morning and had plenty of Bible study time before the children began waking. I honestly thought I would be hesitant to run, especially considering how sore I am, but I was pleasantly surprised to feel motivated!I quickly discovered my comfortable breathing pace is 3 steps per breath, until the final two rounds of walking, when the pace felt better at 2.
Once we began, my muscles quickly adjusted and I felt fine. It was later when I sat down for any length of time and then went to get up that I was reminded of that old saying, "No pain, no gain".
Thursday, February 14: Day FOUR
I wasn't as enthusiastic about getting out of bed this morning, mostly because Terry stayed home (in an attempt to cut costs, no one is allowed overtime at his work and he already had in 40 hours this week!). One plus was that he joined us outside!
At the "starting line":
Having Terry training with us was fun, though his stride is much longer than most of ours and he and Isaac sped ahead. At one point he came back with me and made a crack about how slow we were. I said, "A wise man once told me to focus first on stamina and then worry about speed." He just grinned his "you got me" sheepish smile.
We did it!
We won't be running tomorrow, so for all practical purposes, today is the end of week one.
Week One Results:
I. Am. Sore.
Do you have any training tips to share?
Follow my Couch to 5K journey:
What a great family activity to do together! I am a former runner (I can no longer do it due to back issues) but I can say my #1 trick was to focus on breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. Sometimes we begin to panic like we aren't getting enough air and our breathing goes crazy, but if you focus on breathing in through your nose and out through you mouth you will always have the most oxygen.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip, Amy! It is a little hard right now to breathe through my nose, as the air is so cold, it burns. But focusing on breathing really is helping!
DeleteI think I may get sore from just reading about you. At least I am tired just thinking of it. HAHAHA!!!! You Go Girl!!! You can do it!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Charlotte for the encouragement!
DeleteYou are an inspiration. I was inspired by your juicing and now this. I have painful heel spurs, but I will try walking and biking for now. You can do it! And also...what a lovely family you have.
ReplyDelete