RUN TODD RUN, Week 7

WEDNESDAY, 6/9/10
Wednesday was our last day on vacation, so we made the most of it...pool, beach, stroll around the park, watch an outdoor play, etc. Decided to run around 8:30pm and gave it a shot. Not my best run, but at least I put the time in. My legs were shot after a full day of fighting waves with Jonah, so I didn't have much to throw at the trail.

Put in a very slow run for 10 minutes (don't think I hit a mile, but I was close...) and then walked the rest of it. The run was lousy, but I took some solace in getting half-an-hour of cardio in.

THURSDAY, 6/10/10
Spent most of the day in the car. Packed up and drove to Texas. Instead of heading to Tyler, we drove to Lufkin to see our parents. We crashed at my mom-in-laws, which happens to be the neighborhood we lived in just before moving to Tyler. How could I not run in my old neighborhood?

I ran 17 minutes without stopping! If you've been following these posts, you'll know that 17 minutes has been my ceiling. It probably ended up being 1.35 miles (if my measurements were correct.) I was feeling pretty sick by the end of the run - lots of junk food today - but felt pretty proud once I hit the 17 mark.

This was probably the first time where I could have pushed a little and hit the 20 minute mark without too much trouble. However, I got really nauseous during my cool down, so 20 minutes might have actually pushed me into vomit territory. Which is not a place I like to hang out it.

SATURDAY, 6/11/10
Didn't run on Friday. Spent the day with family. Would have liked to run first thing on Saturday morning, but I had promised donuts to the kids and I might have accidentally eaten some donut holes. And had a chocolate milk. Which isn't necessarily running food.

Opted to wait an hour or so just to make sure my run wasn't going to be vomitous. However, I was a bit unprepared for what 10am is like in East Texas. (How quickly we forget, huh?) The heat was terrible. Overall stamina was good, but my breathing was all messed up. I just couldn't could get a comfortable breathing pace. That may sound weird, but for me, right now, finding a good breathing rhythm is vital to me getting strong time in.

I'm making it sound worse than it was because I did run a mile in 10:30, which seems to be my pace these days. I keep forgetting that running a mile each day is brand new for me and that I probably shouldn't be quite so hard on myself.

MONDAY, 6/14/10
Since my wife is now determined to join me in the running project, we're going to be starting the "Couch To 5k" program ALL OVER AGAIN! Since she had exercise already scheduled on Monday, she wants to start to co-running on Tuesday. I decided to keep up the work so I ran the Day 1, Week 1 once again. This is a 60-sec. run / 90-sec. walk for 20 minutes. As I've rerun this plan, I've realized why it's still hard to run this simple course.

I've discovered that when I have a walk break, I immediately start off too fast when it's time to run again. Instead of a normal long run where you establish and pace for the run, this day 1 stuff doesn't allow you that. You get a good rhythm and then have to stop. I found that I was winding myself because each time the 1 minute came back around, I'd take off too fast because I felt rested. It's a good workout and I sweated plenty! Sheesh, it's hot. I'm excited to run it with Kristen on Tuesday. She isn't nearly as excited as I am, somehow!

TUESDAY, 6/15/10
This was it.
The day Kristen and I had decided to kick off Couch to 5k together. Since I've been running enough lately to realize that it gets hot and humid fast, I got out of bed pretty quick and started getting ready for the run.

Then it happened.
My wife. Didn't. Run.

I'll give her some grace - she's hasn't been feeling great lately, and she's easing back into her exercise regimen after a week or so of vacation. We talked later in the day and I'm pretty sure she's just gonna' stick with the Body Pump class and leave the running to hubby.

I ran by myself, which was fine. I did 15 minutes, which I felt pretty good about. As it turns out, that 15 minutes put me right at running through our neighborhood twice, which is a nice benchmark. Probably will mix that in to my goal-setting. Some days will be time runs and others will be neighborhood runs. I've been trying to run different routes but in a small neighborhood, it's hard. If I could run farther at this point, I'd head out onto the highway, but right now that wouldn't take me very far.

The weather is really getting bad for running (unless I'm out there at 5am or something.) I'm just trying to stay consistent with it and not let the heat scare me back into the house.