Lesson Learned

You cannot go running on a strained ankle.

Stupidly, I decided to go ahead with Week 3's workout anyway. And hurt my ankle more. Now I'm all ace-bandaged up and in need of some ice packs. Ugh.

I'm just antsy to go running. It's kinda cool! I actually kinda like running! Of course, it's not so much fun when I'm injured and miserable and feel like an old lady shuffle-jogging down the bike trail. I just want to not be injured so I can get back to working out on a regular basis. I think in the meantime I'm gonna join the local gym so I can do some strength training while I stay off my ankle.

Here's hoping my ankle heals soon!

Sore Ankles

So after my miserable run yesterday (my allergies kicked in half-way through, which just makes everything miserable), I must not have stretched well. My ankles are now killing me. So much so that I had to resort to icing last night in order to get to sleep. They're feeling slightly better now. I'm just hoping I'll be okay for my run tomorrow...

Speaking of which, I'm gonna keep this port short so I can go ahead and create my new mix for tomorrow!

It's Been a While

I been lax about posting to this blog, though I've been keeping track of my running/walking on dailymile.com, my new favorite website.

Last week was really good. I finished week 1 of training (60s jog/90s walk), and it went really well. This week was week 2 of training (90s jog/2m walk), which was a bit more bumpy. I kicked it off on Monday and actually felt really well throughout. Then Tuesday, I played soccer in this pick-up adult league with my dad, which was a ton of fun, but quite draining. So Wednesday morning, I overslept and missed my run, which was probably good anyway, seeing as my muscle needed some rest. Then Thursday was my little sister's high school graduation (besides being the hottest day of the year), and Friday I had a massive work project I needed to work on in the morning.

Long and short of it: I'm behind on my training. Again. But that's okay. I've built in plenty of room in my training schedule that a few bumps in the road should be okay. I'm considering last Tuesday Day 2 of Week 2, and doing Day 3 tomorrow. Then next week I'm gonna do Week 3's workout Tues/Thur/Sat.

I will successfully run this 5K!

So Much for that Idea

When I woke up this morning at 6:30, I knew that my whole idea of running every morning just wasn't gonna happen. Besides, rest is good for your muscles. It's like how you can learn in your sleep!

So, I did my usual walk to the Metro, but no running today. Back to it tomorrow. I've decided to shift back my training schedule entirely and make this Week 1 all over again, so I'll still be running 20 minutes, alternating between 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking. Only this time, I've created an iTunes track that will tell me when to start and stop running so I don't have to keep track on my cell phone. Genius!

Only problem? I accidentally left my sneakers at the office... Hopefully, I can borrow a pair before tomorrow morning!

Back on Track

I ran this morning! I've decided to alter my three-day running schedule to every morning, though I may run slightly less on the previous off days in order to not over-exert myself. I just know that if I don't force myself to run every morning at 6am, I'll sleep in on the off days and then oversleep on the days I'm actually supposed to run, which happened last week.

So today, I ran the same 2mi route as before, alternating between running or 60secs and walking for 90secs. There were a few times where I lost track of time and ran longer though. I was very proud of myself. Tomorrow, I'm going to do the same pace, but I think I might either only run half or three-quarters of my usual route. We shall see...

The Only Thing that Keeps Me Okay with My Incompetence

I walk to work every single day. I work in downtown DC, so living out in Arlington, VA is a bit of a hike. I also don't live right next to the Metro. It's about a mile walk from my house to the nearest Metro station, so I've been dutifully slipping on my flip-flops every morning and trekking along the bike path. At least if I can't convince myself to run, I'm still getting some exercise...

This is Getting Unacceptable

I seem to be really, really good at making excuses. Today's reasoning for not running this morning was that our office had a softball game after work. However, then the softball game got cancelled. So then I said I should run when I got home, but I made the excuse that the sun was going to set too soon.

Tomorrow's Friday, and I'm going to get up when my alarm goes off and I'm going to go for a run. Besides, now I have this cool widget to count my miles! Can't keep it at 2 miles!

In the meantime, I'm going to do a quick thigh workout, and maybe some sit-ups...

First Slip-Up: Determined Not to Repeat It

After my super early morning on Tuesday, I needed some sleep this morning. For my own sanity, I think it was the right choice, and I'm definitely going to make up for it tomorrow morning. I have to. I can't give up on my 5K goal so early on in the process!

A Day "Off"

After nursing my groin injury last night, I was looking forward to a day off, but alas... We had a big event at my office today that had me at work at 6:45am and on my feet running around all day long. And of course I made the mistake of wearing 3-inch heels.

So now my upper thigh is still sore AND my ankles and feet are dying. Hopefully, I'll feel better tomorrow morning! Here's to watching the Glee finale and a bright and early morning!

Morning #1: Nearly a Failure

So I somehow managed to open my eyes at 6am this morning. I nearly wimped out and didn't go and actually attempted to go back to sleep, but I had this annoying nagging feeling inside that wouldn't let me sleep. So I made it out on the bike path!

I'm working off of CoolRunning.com's Couch-to-5K program, so this week, I'm just alternating between jogging for 60 seconds and then walking for 90 seconds, which is surprisingly doable for someone who literally never runs (though I love walking).

One lesson I learned today: stretch! I definitely didn't stretch enough and one of my groin muscles is not happy right now. In fact, I think I'm gonna cut this post short, sign off and ice it a bit.

Day 2 on Wednesday!

Summer Goal: Running a 5K

After a year of being surrounded by friends who run constantly and are always training for marathons and various other races, I've decided to embark upon a quest to run a race myself. I'm registering for the Komen Race for the Cure on September 12 in NYC. I'm excited to not only finally get into running, but it's for a good cause AND in Central Park, which should be beautiful.

This isn't going to be an easy journey, however. I didn't get the innate athletic genes in my family. I've never been one for running. In fact, I hate it. While this is going to be quite the bumpy journey, I've done my research and come up with what I think might actually be a doable!

The rough part is going to be waking up early every morning... Since it's so hot outside this summer, the only time it'll be cool enough to run is in the morning. I've decided to wake up at 6am every morning and go running in the neighborhood.

We put the plan to the test early Monday morning. Wish me luck!