I've been slacking on my fitness blogging! Oh well...life goes on! I've restarted my journey with running. Again. I know, it wasn't long ago I did a post about giving up on running and feeling ok about it. But, for some reason, its just something I can't let go of, it just keeps coming back and nagging me! So I've started again. I've been posting my progress on Facebook, and i'm sure that my friends are getting sick of it, so I thought I would start blogging about it so that only those you care (maybe just me?) can have a place to go read it.
About 5 weeks ago Ryan started doing the Couch to 5k program. I decided that I would attempt to do it with him. Very slowly. And see if I could hold my injuries at bay if I built up very slowly and carefully. I had recently bought some new shoes that helped me to improve my stride, so I thought maybe I would have some luck.
For those of you not familiar with Couch to 5k, its a running program and slowly builds up from mostly walking to mostly running during about a 30 minute period over 8 weeks, running 3 times a week. The app we are using is actually a Couch to 10k app, so I think its a 14 week course to build up to running for an hour, but the first 8 weeks are the same as the 5k program.
We started the program, and at first you run for 60 seconds at a time, with walk long walk breaks in between and that was hard! We took it slow, but it was hard to imagine running more than that. But we made it through and moved on. Week 2 is 90 second jogs. Week 3- 90 seconds, walk break, then 3 minute jog. 3 minutes seemed like forever! We ended up repeating week 3 to make sure we were ready to move on without stressing our bodies. This past week we moved on to week 4 and finished strong. Week 4 including 3 & 5 minute run segments. We weren't sure we were going to be able to handle 5, but we made it through. With those longer segments we crossed the threshold and are now running more than walking during the run part of the workout (there is a warm-up and cool-down built into the workout). It feels good to feel like I'm running again. We watch our pace carefully to make sure we don't push too hard that we can't maintain. Its a little hard for me to think I need to go slower, not faster, but I know that's what my body needs to make sure I don't hurt myself. But, so far its working. Week 5 really steps up the game, its not the same thing 3 times, it gets progressively harder each day of the 3. We are planning to take it one day at a time and repeat as necessary. But, i'm happy to say that I'm looking forward to runs again. I get excited when I know that is what is on my workout plan for the day. I've been lifting weights on my run days, and just walking and doing PiYo on the days between. I like the hard days, and I think the active recovery days have been really helping me. Its a little different from how I was doing things, but so far, so good.
I was still feeling fine, but it was more of a struggle. My IT band is staying at bay, although I am careful to stretch it often and roll when I feel any tightness. My biggest problem has been my calves. I've always had very tight calves and hamstrings, and I can feel how tight they get when I run. I think the discomfort actually comes from my achilles tendon. When I first started running years ago, my calves always hurt, but I never put it together as an achilles problem, but I think it probably was. I think my new stride helps all of my other issues, but actually stressed my achilles a little more. But its not too bad. Its something I can handle. I've been stretching, using my foam roller, and icing my achilles if I experience any significant tightness. I also experience some ankle and feet tiredness, but I think I just need to build up strength there. Doing PiYo on my off days from running, a pilates/yoga mix that is a ton of stretching, I think is helping me stretch my hamstrings and achilles and strengthen my ankles and feet. I think it will be really beneficial for my running in the long run.
So, for now, running is working for me. I'm enjoying it. I can still walk the next day, so that's a bonus! I'm taking it a day at a time, but hopefully I can keep it up. I'm signed up for a 5k on November 1st and hoping to be able to run it strong. The next run i'm signed up for is an indoor run on January 1st, i'm sincerely hoping I can build up to a 10k by then, but if not, that's ok too. I'll do what I can.
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