First Race in 2 Days + Don't Lose Touch!

Upon receiving an email from one of my followers (thank you!) I realized that I haven't really posted here in a while and am keeping you all in the dark!

Well, now that I've successfully completed the C25K program, I decided it was getting too tough keeping up with 2 blogs at once (hence my lack of posting here). I obviously don't want to stop blogging about my running, so from now on I'm just going to include my running posts on my main blog where I concentrate most of my writing time.

My Pink Thumb

I'd love if my running followers will continue to check in on me from time to time. My first 5K is in 2 days now and although I'm currently extremely nervous , I know I will do great and keep on trucking! :)

C25K: Week 9, Day 3

I'VE GRADUATED!!!!

I can now proudly say that I've successfully completed the Couch To 5K program and after 9 weeks of training (minus a few minor set backs due to injury), I've already done 3 5K runs! I even managed to shave off some time for this graduation run by completing the 5K in 33:19!!!

I now have just 11 days until my first actual 5K race!!! I know that I will be able to do it with no issues and am totally excited - but nervous! lol

C25K: Week 9, Day 2

I seriously can't believe that this program has almost come to an end. I only have 1 run left and I will be officially considered a C25K GRADUATE! It's crazy!

I took full advantage of the beautiful weather last night and completed my WK9D2 run on the track at the local high school. I already knew how many laps I had to do to hit 5K - 12.5 - but was initially bummed about the fact that I wouldn't be able to keep track of time. Well, I fiddled around with my iPod and quickly discovered that this baby has a stopwatch! Who would've known?! :)

Out I went, in my brand new runner's capris (bought as a gift to myself for doing my first 5K Monday) and I had a fabulous run!! I'm not going to lie, I was ready to be done after 10 laps, but I powered through, increased my speed and finished in 33:48! Quicker than Monday! :)

Only one more run to go and that will happen Saturday morning with my mom by my side while she starts week 8. :)

C25K: Week 9, Day 1

Well, I am now in the final stretch! I'm in the last week of the C25K program now and am happy to report that... I did it!!!!!

I went into Wk9D1 tonight with the goal to not only run for 30 min, but I REALLY wanted to run 5K. And that's exactly what I did!!! I managed to reach 2 of my goals in one run!

I wanted to start week 9 Saturday as per my normal schedule, but after a VERY late night Friday (went to a concert in TO) I decided not to push it because I was so tired. I'm glad I waited until today because I felt more ready to reach this goal. I decided to do my run on the tread mill just so that I could get accurate stats for my time/distance.

I ran the first 25 min at 5.1mph .... then ran 5 min at 5.5mph... when I hit the 30 minute mark, I felt amazing! I saw that I didn't have too much farther to go so I then increased my speed to 5.8mph and powered through right until I hit that beautiful 5K mark! My official time for my first 5K was 35:10 and I am SO proud of it.

I now have 2 more runs to go to graduate C25K and 3 weeks to work on reaching my goal of doing 5K in 30 min. Hopefully i reach that goal just in time for my first race!!!

.....oh and i might actually be doing the sportinglife 10K in toronto May 2 now!!! ;)

BIG NEWS!

I have officially REGISTERED for my very FIRST 5K race!!!

Date: April 3, 2010

Location: Ajax, ON by lake Ontario

Start time: 8:30am

I can't wait!!!! :)

C25K - Let's Catch Up Here

I've been so busy lately and haven't had the chance to make my last few posts! Don't worry, I haven't quit!!!!! I'm actually super excited as I only have 4 more runs to go to finish this program!!

So let's to an overview of the last few runs:

Week 7, Day 3
After my not-so-encouraging first outdoor run 2 days earlier, I decided to return to the treadmill to build up some confidence again. I breezed right through the required 25 minutes and felt great afterwards!

Week 8, Day 1
This week all 3 runs are to be 28 minutes long. It was so gorgeous outside that I just had to try an outdoor run again. Thanks to the suggestion of a coworker, I made my way to a local high school and decided to tackle the run on a track. I learned my lesson my first outdoor run and really worked on paying attention to my pace and breathing so that the first 5 minutes wouldn't be awful again! Consciously knowing that I had to work on that really helped and although it felt like forever, I managed to get through the 28 minutes with no real issues!

Week 8, Day 2
Last night we had gorgeous weather again! It was 12 degrees outside after work! I was so happy with the weather that I headed out to the track again with just a tank and long sleeved top on! (along with pants of course lol) I had the track to myself again and breezed through the 28 minutes! Seriously, it seemed to go by so much faster this time - it felt great! The only downside was that the smell of people bbqing was killing me! haha I remembered to count my laps this time and actually RAN 10 laps which equals to 2.5miles (just over 4K). Upon doing research, 5K is 12.5 laps so I'm only 2.5 laps off of the 5K goal!!!

Only 4 runs to go and I will be an official C25K graduate! :)

C25K: Week 7, Day 2

The days are getting longer and the temperatures have been staying above 0 the past few days, so I decided that I was going to attempt this run outdoors. I haven't run outdoors yet, so was pretty excited to actually cover some ground on this workout! I had heard and read that running outside was very different in comparison to the treadmill, but I was finding the treadmill really easy lately so I figured - how hard can it be?!

Well! I'm not going to lie... HOLY SHIT THAT WAS HARD!!!!!!!

It's hard to pick a route in my neighbourhood because there are hills everywhere. My run started basically by going up hill and after a measly 5 minutes I found myself completely out of breathe and feeling so defeated!!! In my heart I was so upset that I wasn't finding this easy because I wanted to get the workout done so badly. I started walking after maybe a 6 minute run and continued up the hill. I kept walking until my turning point was in sight (at the top of the big hill) then crossed the road to head back. I decided at that point that I could NOT give up so I started running again. I changed my route around to allow myself to continue to run, only walking at intersections when I needed to wait to cross. I managed to run for about 23 minutes straight before walking and then heading home.

Overall, I did get the workout done.. it was just broken up a bit in the first quarter. My confidence was definitely shaken, but I am not going to give up! I plan to do Wednesday's run back on the treadmill to give myself a confidence boost, then back outside again on Saturday. I will just try and pick a different route this time. I'm not sure of any exact stats on last nights' run - thinking of buying myself Nike+ for my ipod soon - but I know for sure that I got in a killer workout.

Staying positive!

Back In Action! C25K: Week 7, Day 1

Although it was really hard, I promised my body that I would take care of it throughout this adventure (and well, always) so I rested and did no running or riding for 1 whole week. That might not sound like much, but for me that felt like an eternity!!! After a few days with 0 pain in my knee, I decided to get back on the treadmill and continue on with my C25K training. I literally only have 3 weeks to go!

I went into my run thinking I would just take it slow and see if I could tackle 10 min with no issues. I left my incline at 1, but chose to run at 5.1mph instead of 5.2mph. Well, 10 min quickly turning into 15, which turned into 20... leaving only 5 min to go until I did 25! Week 7, day 1 workout was to run for 25 minutes and I did it with absolutely NO issues! I think it was at this point when I really realized that this program works! After 1 week off, I was still physically able to run for 25 min straight with no issues. I wasn't out of breath or anything - it came easy!My knee didn't hurt at all during my run! I iced both knees for 15 min afterwards for precautionary measures and they feel fine now! I think I'm back on track and almost ready to register for my first 5K!

Yesterday's Stats:

Distance: 2.76 miles (4.44km)
Calories Burned: 313
Time: 35:07

Injured = C25K On Hold

I don't even know how to explain what happened... but what I can say for sure that I am now finding myself completely bummed out because with only 3 weeks left in the C25K program, I am unable to proceed until my knee feels better. The oddest thing happened last night - I was on my way out the door to go ride and as I bent down to put on my boots, I felt some sort of movement in my right knee. I'm not sure if it was a tendon, or a muscle? but at that moment I dropped and was in an immense amount of pain. My mom had to help me out and after walking for literally a min, the pain went away. I proceeded with my night and went to ride my horse with no issues. ... Until 2am when I awoke with a throbbing sensation in that same knee. I didn't sleep much the rest of the night due to the pain and have been hobbling around all day.

Needless to say, running for me now sadly has to be put on hold until all the pain is gone. As much as I want to proceed with this program, I have to be smart about the situation and take care of my body so that I don't cause permanent damage.

Hopefully this break won't be for very long!

C25K: Week 6, Day 3

I have just hit another milestone and feel incredible!

Today I ran for 25 minutes non-stop! I am now only 5 minutes away from reaching my first goal!

What I did today: Brisk 5 min walk warm up, run 25 min, 5 min walk cool down.

Minus a few equipment malfunctions during my last 10 min - ear phones kept falling out, the run was great. I tried out a new podcast and it only allowed me to further my belief that good music definitely makes the run. I couldn't help but to laugh and enjoy myself while listening to Baby Got Back! lol

Today's stats:
Distance: 2.79 miles (4.49 km)
Calories burned: 331
Time: 35:00

C25K: Week 6, Day 2

I did NOT eat before my run today, and it went much better! This workout made it my last interval one of this program!! It will be longer runs for here on out! Yikes! lol

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)
Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)

I'm really loving how the changes in my body now 6 weeks into this program are evident! My legs are physically firmer, I don't start really sweating until about 10 minutes into my workouts, and after my workouts are complete, I am not out of breath! Here's hoping this is a new habit I can keep up for the rest of my life to keep my health in order!

Today's stats:
Distance: 2.52 miles (4.06 km)
Calories burned: 286
Time: 33:00

C25K: Week 6, Day 1

You know when growing up how you're always told to listen to your mother? Well today was a day when I wish I did NOT listen to my mother for a change! lol (yeah, I'm a little goody-goody) Anyway, I had sort of a lazy morning as Friday was a late night and that just put my entire schedule a little behind. I didn't finish my ride until after 11, meaning it was after 12 by the time I got to my parents' house to do my run. Lunch was just about ready to be served and I was starving! My mom convinced me that it would be a good idea to just eat some lunch first and then go do my run. "You need the energy!" she says.

I had a bowl of vegetable soup with cheese stuffed tortellinis and 2 small slices of grilled chicken/roasted red pepper/goat cheese pizza. I waited a good 20 minutes or so and then went to do my run which consisted of the following:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)

Eating before = MISTAKE. My whole body just felt heavy the entire run. I was lethargic, and for the first time throughout this program, I had a VERY hard time. I really had to push myself to get through! Needless to say, no more meals BEFORE my runs!!

Today's stats:
Distance: 2.54 miles (4.09 km)
Calories burned: 279
Time: 34:00

C25K: Week 5, Day 3

I DID IT!!!!

I am so darn proud of myself for completing the famous week 5, day 3 of the C25K program where I had to complete the following:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog two miles (or 20 minutes) with no walking.

I'm not doing this for speed, but I really want to build up my endurance, so I started out with the goal to run for 20 minutes, and that's what I did! The first 5-8 minutes were the toughest, but after that, I seemed to breeze through with no issues. After I passed the 10 minute mark, I realized that as each second passed, I was running farther then I had so far! Next thing I knew, I had 5min left, then 4, then 3, 2, 1! The feeling was awesome!

Stats:
Distance: 2.33 miles (3.75km)
Calories burned: 269
Time: 30:00

C25K: Week 5, Day 2

I am now one step closer to my first big test! Tomorrow is the first big one-I'm supposed to run for 20 minutes straight! I'm not going to lie, that scares me a bit, but at the same time I feel excited to see if I really can do it.

Last night's workout was a breeze! ..well minus the fact that my stomach was growling for most of it. Shame on me for spending too much time in Value Village before going to do my run!

The workout was to consist of...

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:

• Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
• Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
• Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)

...but I decided to cheat again and I did 10 minutes for my last run, instead of 10. ;) I loved how my legs just sort of felt like they were floating along for that last run. I think that's why I'm looking forward to tackling 20 minutes tomorrow.

Stats:
Distance: 2.49 miles (4.01km)
Calories burned: 274
Time: 33:00

C25K: Week 5, Day 1

I can't believe that I'm already into week 5! When I began this program, the famous week 5 seemed like it was going to be so far away. Well, now that I have completed day 1 of this 'dreaded' week, I can say, with no hesitation, that I feel great!

I'm into the portion of the program where each day I have a different workout. Since I had the spare time, I went ahead and made my own playlist again - this time I had the timings pretty band on!

Yesterday's workout consisted of...

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 800m (or 5 minutes)
Walk 400m (or 3 minutes)
Jog 800m (or 5 minutes)
Walk 400m (or 3 minutes)
Jog 800m (or 5 minutes)

After doing the 8 minute run on Wednesday, this workout actually felt easy!!

Stats:
Distance: 2.29 miles (3.69 km)
Calories Burned: 246
Time: 31.00

My wicked playlist of the day...
Fag Hag - Lily Allen
Hey Baby - Cuff The Duke
Them Kids - Sam Roberts
I've Just Seen A Face - Jim Sturgess
Nature Of The Experiment - Tokyo Police Club
Rebellion (Lies) - The Arcade Fire
Bridge To Nowhere - Sam Roberts
Where Are You - Our Lady Peace
Can't Get Your Face Outta My Head - The Golden Dogs
Unusual You - Britney Spears

C25K: Week 4, Day 3

Week 4 is complete!!!!

...and I cheated a little bit! but in a GOOD way!

Is it bad that this program is feeling like it's starting to take too long?? I suppose I take that as a good thing and proof that the program actually works! Although I knew I was going to be able to do this program with no issues 4 weeks ago, after the first workout, the thought of even running for 5 minutes straight kind of scared me a bit! Well, now that I am finished week 4, unlike many people on the C25K forums, I find myself excited for my 20 minute run next Wednesday!!! Last night during my last 5 minute run, I decided that I was feeling too good to stop at 5 min, so said to myself 'let's push for a 6 min run!'.. when I reached 6 min, I decided to push to 7! when I was almost at 7, I thought to myself 'well I *do* have an 8 min run coming up on monday, so why not give it a go no!'. So.. I ended up finishing last night's workout with an amazing 8 minute run AND I could have EASILY kept going!

I am absolutely in LOVE with this program and how amazing it's making me feel! I never bothered weighing myself before starting (I base my weight more on how I look and how my clothes fit).. and last night I was starting to notice a change in my body! My legs and butt are now rock hard! lol When I'm not flexing, you seriously can't even pinch an inch anymore!! hehe Oh C25K how I love thee! :)

Last night's stats:

Distance: 2.60 miles (4.18km)
Calories burned: 287
Time: 34.30

p.s. I used my own playlist again last night and decided that this is the way I'm going to do it from now on. I am running so much better with music that I love and can sing along to!! Last night's playlist consisted of:

Boy - 'Hollywood'

Raine Maida - 'Sex Love And Honey'

Our Lady Peace - 'Where Are You' ----the BEST song to get me pumped up running!

Phoenix - '1901'

Lily Allen - '22'

Sam Roberts - 'Up Sister'

Metric - 'Rock Me Now'

Broken Social Scene - 'Almost Crimes'

Metric - 'Gimme Sympathy'

Metric - 'Dead Disco'

Foo Fighters - 'Monkey Wrench'

Jim Sturgess - 'Across The Universe'

C25K: Week 4, Day 2

Well, let's just say that today was interesting.

To start, I'll admit that I was definitely feeling my pms symptoms today making the moments prior to my workout a little emotional roller coaster. lol Oh the joys of being a woman!

I was really upset about the music included in the podcast I had downloaded for this week, and wasn't too keen on the other selections out there, so after doing some brief research, i decided that I would try and make my own before my run. I chose enough songs to fill the half hour, downloaded the software and plugged in my ipod. I didn't realize until tonight that you can't take the songs from your ipod and put them into itunes! Meaning i had no way to get my songs into the special program to create my own podcast. After doing some googling, i found a way to get around this. It took like 20 minutes to download the 600+ tracks from my ipod onto my mother's computer, making me already 20+ minutes late to starting my workout. I was already pretty annoyed with the situation, and to make matters worse, itunes wouldn't let me import the songs after I had wasted all that time downloading them! Oh i was fuming! Finally I just made a new playlist on my ipod with the songs I had chosen, wrote down what I needed to do for the workout and headed downstairs to the treadmill. i would have my own music, but... i would have to spend my workout watching the clock.

I wasn't in the best mood by the time my feet hit the treadmill, however it was very easy to shake those bad feelings once my workout started to music that I love. it really wasn't that bad, and running to killer music made it seem easier and more fun! So all in all, my worries and woes were for nothing because in the end, my workout was great.

Today's stats:
Distance: 2.42 miles (3.89km)
Calories burned: 264
Time: 32:30

C25K: Week 4, Day 1

I can't believe I'm already in week 4 of this program! Almost half way there!

Saturday's workout went really well, minus a few musical issues. It didn't take long for me to realize that listening to music that I like definitely affects my running quality. The only downside to this C25K program and using podcasts is that I can't chose what music I listen to. If I want the convenience of not having to watch the clock, I have no choice. Up until now, the podcasts have been pretty good with the odd rap song here and there that I don't like (I hate rap), but it's been tolerable. Around minute 16 of Saturday's workout, the most horrible song came on! With all it's blatant DIRTY sexual innuendos.. it just wasn't something I needed to hear to keep me upbeat to finish this workout. It's not like I didn't finish my workout, because I did. My mood was severely effected though after having to listen to that awful music and it made the rest of the workout pretty tough. My mom is starting the program today and I'm definitely going to make sure she never listens to this one!

Despite the awful music, as I said, I did manage to power through this workout and was pretty proud of myself at the end.

Week four consists of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 400m (or 3 minutes)
Walk 200m (or 90 seconds)
Jog 800m (or 5 minutes)
Walk 400m (or 2-1/2 minutes)
Jog 400m (or 3 minutes)
Walk 200m (or 90 seconds)
Jog 800m (or 5 minutes)

This time 4 weeks ago, I never thought I'd be doing this much running so soon and actually not having any issues with it!


Saturday's stats:
Distance: 2.33 miles (3.75km)
Calories burned: 254
Time: 32:45

C25K: Week 3, Day 3

Week 3 is finished!!! I honestly can't believe how fast this program is going. 3 weeks down already, meaning only 6 to go until I should be able to run a 5K!

Had another great run today which I feel really good about. Like Monday, I added one more run at the end of the workout except today I did an additional 5 minute run, instead of 6 minutes. The big difference I did today though was that I've increased my running speed. Up until today, I have been running at 5 mph, so today I decided to increase my speed to 5.2 mph. I want to start to slowly increase my speed because ultimately, when I'm ready to start racing, I'm going to be competitive (it's my nature) and that means I'll need to be comfortable running at a faster pace.

Today's stats:
Distance: 2.26 miles (3.64km)
Calories burned: 237
Time: 32:40

C25K: Week 3, Day 2

Wow! I feel amazing today!

I was pretty upset with myself for feeling worried about the 3 min runs this week. I don't want to ever be down on myself of think even for a split second that I can't do anything. So I went into today's workout with positive thoughts. :)

I blasted though the 90 second and then 3 minute runs with so much ease! I don't even know why I was so worried about it on Saturday! Things were going so well, that after the workout, I incorporated an additional 6 minute run! 6 minutes!!! All at once!! The best part - I wasn't even out of breath! It's amazing how things are getting easier so fast.

Today's Stats:
Distance: 2.33 miles (3.75 km)
Calories burned: 249
Time: 34:14

C25K: Week 3, Day 1

I'm not going to lie.. I was pretty intimidated/worried going into today's run knowing that I was going to have to 3 minute run intervals! I mean, obviously the main goal here with the C25K program is to be able to run for 30 minutes straight, but after running only 60 and 90 second intervals over the past 2 weeks, 3 minute runs just scared me out a bit.

I decided to start the day with a different breakfast this Saturday, just to see how it would hold over in comparison to my oatmeal/poached egg combo. So today, with my cup of coffee, I had 2 pieces of whole wheat toast slathered with peanut butter and sliced banana. I couldn't believe how filling it was!

As per my usual Saturday routine, before I could even think about getting my run in, I first had to head to the farm to work a couple of horses. It was a gorgeous morning though, so there was no hesitation in going up there. Everything was still and quiet when I got there and I couldn't have asked for a better start to the day.

With the riding out of the way, it was time to get to business and start week 3 of this thing! Here is the layout for this week's workouts:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following:

• Jog 200 metres (or 90 seconds)
• Walk 200 metres (or 90 seconds)
• Jog 400 metres (or 3 minutes)
• Walk 400 metres (or three minutes)

The first mistake I made was eating a muffin before my run. About 15 minutes in, I got this nasty stitch in my stomach that I just couldn't shake. I managed to use my mind over matter skills though and made it through. As I already mentioned, the 3 minute runs really worried me for some reason. But you know what? It wasn't really so bad! I certainly don't think that I would have been able to do those runs 3 weeks ago without being completely out of breath! Throughout this program so far, I really have not found myself really out of breath, which is wicked!

Today's stats:
Distance: 1.74 miles (2.80km)
Calories burned: 177
Time: 26:30

I'm really liking how I can see my progress so soon via these stats. I won't be covering as much distance this week due to how the work outs are laid out, but now that I'm doing more actual running it's cool to see how much faster I'm covering the distance.

All in all, I know I'll make it through week 3 with no big problems. I was worried about the 3 minute runs, but was able to prove to myself that I could do it! I chose this particular training program for a reason...they're not going to have me do something I won't be able to do! I was very tired after the run today, but am still raring to keep going on Monday!

C25K: Week 2, Day 3

I'VE COMPLETED WEEK 2!

...and best of all, my 3rd workout this week went amazing! My mind was in a better place in comparison to Monday and I had no issues what-so-ever. :)

Pre-run snack today consisted of a pumpkin/walnut muffin

and an apple. Both which I had at work.

I was especially looking forward to my run tonight because I would get to try out my newest addition to my 'gear' - an armband for my ipod. I really needed an armband because I'm not going to stay on the treadmill forever, and I definitely plan on listening to my ipod for all of my runs. Considering I'm pretty broke, I didn't want to fork out the $20 for an armband so I decided to check out ebay and managed to score a perfect one for only $7 including shipping. It even matches my current running shirt! ;)

So, on to my run. Just to change things up a bit, I decided to set the treadmill to the first incline level. I was going to wait a few more weeks before changing the incline, but you know what? I realized, once I'm running outside, the surface won't be perfectly flat! So... I realized I better just start working out with an incline now so it's not such a shock when I get outside. The run was a little tougher, but I didn't really have a hard time with it! By my 4th running interval, I felt like I was just floating along and really wanted to keep going!

Today's stats:
Distance: 2.05 miles (3.30km)
Calories burned: 203
Time: 31:40 (was listening to a good song at the end)

Today's run didn't finish there though! My parents went away to Florida today and they have my grandmother staying at their house to watch their puppy Charlie. Since my grandmother can't walk him too far, I put on some warm clothes and took the little guy for a walk before going home.

He was still hyper after our walk, so we then played with snowballs in the backyard.

And then I got a nice kiss before going home. ;)

All in all, a great end to week 2! So darn excited to start week 3 on Saturday!

C25K: Week 2, Day 2

Well I never said this was going to be easy!

Tonight's workout was a tough one for some reason. I still felt a bit of fatigue in my legs when I woke up this morning, but by 5:00 they felt ok. I really found myself struggling to make it through the workout tonight though. At about the 15 minute mark, my legs were starting to ache a bit and I was sweating more than I had so far in this program. I actually had to keep telling myself "I can do this, I can do this" for the last 10 minutes of the workout. I don't even want to contemplate giving myself an extra day or two off - especially this early. We all know what can happen then... one day can lead to two, or three, or four... next thing you know, your heart just isn't in it anymore. I'm definitely not going to be stupid and cause any injury to myself, but I'm very adamant at pushing forward. Here's hoping tonight was just a little bump in the road and Wednesday's run goes smoother.

Today's stats:
Distance: 2 miles (3.22km)
Calories burned: 185
Time: 31:09

C25K: Week 2, Day 1

Yesterday I completed the first workout of week 2 and feel fantastic!

As per my usual Saturday schedule, my day started with a good breakfast and then I headed out to the farm for a ride. Although I completely forgot to snap a picture of breakfast, it consisted of a small glass of skim chocolate milk, a bowl of multi grain oatmeal with ground flax, cinnamon, raisins and skim milk, 2 scrambled eggs, and a cup of coffee.

I headed out to the farm around 9am for a great ride on the lovely little Daisy Duke. (Daisy is a pony who I have been training for the past year or so).

The ride went really well and I felt great afterwards.

I then made a little pit stop before heading over to my parents to do my run by going with a friend to video her while riding her friend's horse, Teade. My is he a big boy! Especially in comparison to little Daisy. See! Look how small I look next to him! ... ok well I don't look *that* small lol.. but when this guy lifted his head, he was mighty tall.

After our little trek to see Teade, to my parents I went to get ready for this run! It was already 1pm at this point and I was STARVING! I didn't want to have lunch and then run due to digestion time. So, luckily my mom was in a baking mood the previous afternoon and there was a container of pumpkin spice muffins on her counter. I figured that would be the perfect little snack to give my body a little bolt of energy for this run.

I was really excited for this particular run as it meant that I was moving to a new workout routine. Runs for week 2 consist of the following:
Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

After only one week of this program, I couldn't believe how much easier each run felt! It felt so good, that I was bad and extended the last 90 second run to 2 minutes and honestly, I believe that I could have gone on further. But.. I didn't. I have vowed to myself that I will be smart and not push my body too hard yet. This program has worked for so many people, so I am going to stick to it no matter how good I may be feeling. The last thing I need is to injure myself so that I can't run OR ride!

Stats for this run were not much different from last week because although I am now running for a longer period of time, the walks in between are longer as well. So without further ado..

Yesterday's stats:
Covered: 1.97 miles (3.17km)
Calories burned: 185
Time: 30:30

Is it crazy that although I have some fatigue in my legs right now, that I am extremely excited for my next run tomorrow night? :)

C25K: Week 1, Day 3

FIRST WEEK IS COMPLETE!

I can't believe how fast I managed to get through week one of the C25K program. One week down, eight more to go and I am still extremely excited to keep going.

I did today's workout after work again today, so in order to give myself some much needed energy, I snacked again on an apple with peanut butter.

Today's workout seemed to be even easier than the last two! Of the three workouts so far, day 2 was the hardest to do, but.... my legs are a tad on the sore side today. I was ok throughout the workout, but sitting here now, just over 2 hours later, I'm starting to feel some soreness. I guess that is expected considering I haven't run in so long, and it *is* only week 1 still. Thankfully my schedule now allows for 2 days off, so hopefully I'm good to go to start week 2 on Saturday.

Today's stats:
Covered: 1.92M (3.01km)
Calories burned: 177
Time: 31:00

Distance Correction

After talking to the knowledgeable people on the C25K forums, I have come to realize that my parents' treadmill tracks the distance in miles, not km! I started investigating when I read how some were covering around 3km during each workout of wk 1 and thought to myself "I can't be going that slow!".

So yes, total distance covered so far is as follows:

WK1, D1: 1.80M (2.89km)
WK1, D2: 1.90M (3.06km)

I'm going to start tracking overall distance covered as it will be very interesting to see how much I end up covering in the end!

C25K: Week 1, Day 2

Last night I completed the second day of training for the Couch to 5K program and despite being tired this morning, I feel just incredible!

(I hoped to have more pictures for this post, but silly me forgot my camera at home.)

Since I work from 8-5, my only option was to plan to head to my parents' house right after work to put in my run. Around 4:20pm, I made myself a snack of an apple dipped in peanut butter to ramp up the energy in my body so that I would be physically able to get this workout done. (I'm usually really tired after a long day at the office, especially in the winter months when it's dark when I go to work, and dark when I leave.)

My friend B sent me an email yesterday which included a link to a different set of podcasts done for the C25K program. I am so thankful for that link! I mean, the original podcast that I used Saturday was great, but the music was all techno-ish and it really wasn't my style. So after work yesterday, as soon as I got to my parents' house, I downloaded one of these new podcasts onto my ipod. I was soon working out to the likes of some Mamma Mia and Kung Foo Fighting! I actually caught myself humming and even dancing at certain points while I walked/ran. I mean, how can you NOT make little kung foo moves when listening to Kung Foo Fighting!!! Tell me! How?!

Although I was much sweatier after this workout, it still went well. It was more of a challenge doing it at the end of the day rather than the morning, but it was a good challenge. I actually wanted to do more when the program was done! So instead of more running, I just extended my cool down a little longer. I'm only two workouts in and I'm already wanting so much more!

Stats for last night's run were pretty much the same as Saturday because it was the same workout, minus a little added walking time.

Covered: 1.90km
Calories Burned: 175
Time: 31:26

Training Has Begun

This morning I completed day 1 of week one of the couch to 5k training program and it was a great success!

Since the plan was to go to the farm and ride first, I made sure I had a nice filling breakfast so that I would have the energy to ride in the cold and then run. Breakfast consisted of multi-grain oatmeal with cinnamon, raisins, and skim milk, along with 2 poached eggs, and a cup of coffee.

I then got myself all bundled up and headed out to the farm. I knew it was cold out, but holy cow didn't realize it was minus -16!!! See! proof from inside my car!

Despite the cold, I had a great ride and it acted as a great warm up for my first run. By the time I got to my parents' house, I realized that the cool really helped my body to use up all of the energy that my breakfast gave me. I was starving! So I ate a piece of toast with peanut butter, along with a tiny glass of OJ before heading down to the treadmill. I then put on my brand new shoes....

And I was finally ready to get up on the treadmill that will help me reach my goal. ... this is where all the magic will happen! ;)

Today's workout consisted of the following: (All 3 workouts this week will be the same)
Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

In half an hr, I managed to cover 1.80km and burn 163 calories (not that I care about calorie burning).

Loved the workout and I can't wait for Monday for day 2!

Tomorrow Is The Day!

My brand new shoes arrived today! I'd post a picture but do not have my camera with me, so you will have to wait until tomorrow. They are Asics Kanbarra 4 gel runners. I didn't actually get to try on my size at the store on Wednesday because they weren't there, so I was super excited to get them on. They fit like a glove, are light as a feather and so extremely comfortable. I can't wait to run in them!

Now that I have the shoes, tomorrow will be day 1 of my training! And the first day of my journey! I must give a special thanks to my bloggy friend Basia for suggesting I check out the "Couch to 5K" program. I gave it a good look over and decided that it will most definitely be the program for me! The other program I was thinking of doing consisted of almost daily runs, however the C25K program is only 3 days a week which I can schedule whenever I want. 3 days will be much easier to fit into my current lifestyle.

Tonight I will be downloading a podcast to listen to during my workout and everything will begin tomorrow after my early morning ride on my horse! I can't wait!

One Step Closer!

...To starting this thing!!

I made a trip to the local mall yesterday to look for shoes. It would have been nice to check out the Running Room, but alas, I had just over $80 in mall gift cards from Christmas that I wanted to put towards my new shoes. I had already been to SportChek earlier in the week to check out their stock and prices. Although they did claim to have a 'sale' going on, I don't exactly call a buy one, get one 50% off a great deal if I only need one pair of shoes! My mom and I were thinking of going there and getting shoes at the same time, but she had decided that she was going to wait a bit before spending some money, so I was on my own for this trip. I found myself completely bummed out yesterday afternoon thinking what I was going do to in terms of getting shoes because I just don't have the spare $ to spend on a pair at full price. I actually found myself at a low and then I then was reminded that there was also a Foot Locker in the mall - I completely forgot about that!

I marched right into Foot Locker to find many many pairs of shoes on at clearance prices! They even had several different pairs of Asics gel runners on and after researching, I had decided that Asics was how I wanted to go. I tried on different models in different sizes -- I have freakishly small feet and they didn't have my size in anything!!! Once I found the model I liked (which was on sale for $79.99!!!), the salesman offered to see if he could order me a pair to have shipped to my office. I lucked out and they had 1 pair left in size 6. WOOO HOOO!!!! I ordered them on the spot and with my gift cards, they only cost me $7.70!

Now I am anxiously awaiting for them to arrive so I can start this thing!

Welcome To My Journey

Well I've got the outfit (sort of..) but still need some shoes before I can begin!

I figured that starting out this new journey of mine, while wearing my old cross country running shoes, would not be a good idea. I don't have the best knees to start with due to my horseback riding, so I'm definitely not going to cheap out on myself with this. After doing a lot of research online, and checking out the local SportChek, I've decided that I'm going to give the Asics gel shoes a try. Something sort of like these:

Since there is a sale on right now - buy 1 pair, get the 2nd 50% off - and since my mom is going to try out at least the first part of the journey with me (did I mention that yet? if not, yes! it's true! my mom wants to train for a 5K for me, and then if all goes well to do the Disney Princess Half Marathon next spring!), we are going to go shopping together one night this week and get outfitted with PROPER footwear. Providing I find the right shoes and everything goes as planned, training will commence on Saturday!

Stay tuned!