Couch to 5K week 4, workout 1 - The Balance Flips

I have been dreading this week ever since I started couch to 5k a few weeks ago.  Up to this point, the running had been at most a combined 9 minutes over a total workout of 28 minutes.  I would sometimes throw an extra minute or two of running in there because I felt weird walking for 8 minutes at the end of a workout in week 3, but overall the amount of time walking was much longer than the amount of time jogging.  Another advantage to the first three weeks is that the walking legs are equal to or even greater than the jog that just proceeded it.

In week 4 both of these things change and it feels a little like you are being thrown into the deep end after slowly building a little momentum.  The total for jogging in week 4 is now 16 minutes - two legs each of 3 minutes and two legs each of 5 minutes.  Two weeks ago I wasn't even sure I could run for 3 minutes straight and suddenly I needed to run for 5 minutes, twice.  For me the walking  legs were actually a harder change because now they were half of the previous jog, so the 3 minute legs were followed by 1.5 minutes of walk and the 3 minute legs were followed by 2.5 minutes.  The total jog time to walk time is now 16 minutes of jogging to 15 minutes of walking, including the warmup and cool down.

Couch to 5k week 3, session 2 - Can I even run without the stroller?

This hill still drives me nuts, even without the stroller

I missed writing about the first session because of family coming in to town and other craziness, but I did do it.  While not a great run, it was better than the previous slow day. This week the run times jump from all 90 seconds to two 90 second runs and two 3 minute runs. There are longer rest periods between the runs but by the second 3 minute jog I was checking my watch and counting down the seconds.

Because my parents were in town I decided to run earlier and only take Lucy, trying my first run session without the stroller. This is my plan eventually, to run very early one day a week now that my older son is done with school, so I thought this would be a great time to start.

Couch to 5K week 2, workout 3 - Well That Sucked

Mommy running makes me tired

When I started out today my title was going to be "When your route is dictated by your children" as I had to start my warm up by walking to our community pool because one of my 6 year old's shoes did not make it home from swim team.  This was actually route I had been thinking about taking, because like last week, I wanted to make session 3 of the week my hardest and this would take me to the lowest point in my neighborhood.

But today was not a good day.  It was hot and muggy, the real feel was about 88 degrees at 8:30 and most of my run was in the sun.   This route was also going to be pretty steadily uphill for the first mile and a half, and with the stroller I was running slowly.  Did I say slowly, it turns out I was running even slower than I had been walking the last two sessions because when the first mile notice came up, I was shocked at how slow it was, almost 16 minutes.  For the first time ever I wanted to quit running before the 90 seconds were up.  I had to talk myself through each run session, but I didn't stop.

Couch to 5K week 2, workout 2 - It's Really Hot

Where I always start running - uphill

Saturday started our first heat wave of summer, and while it's great for warming the community pool, it's not great for running.  Add to that the DC area humidity and at times it feels like you are moving through water.

I decided to switch up the days I run in preparation for school ending in a few weeks.  I'll probably drag my 6 year old (on his bike) on at least one run during the week but don't want to make him go three days a week because he also has morning swim team practice.  With this in mind I decided to switch from Monday/Wednesday/Friday to Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday.

Couch to 5K Week 2 - The Real Fun Begins

Lucy after our workout today

I've been dreading the run today since I finished my last session of c25k on Wednesday. The first week is pretty much about easing the runner in, honestly a lotof people can run a minute, but increasing it to 90 seconds feels harder. I knew I had to get it together and go though, because if I didn't, I would end the program then and there.  And I needed to enjoy it because my next two runs will be hot and humid.

So I started with the warmup, and I noticed I was walking a little faster than my previous warm ups, but it felt good and Lucy was into it so I prepped myself that I was going to start running just as we got to an incline.  The run command came and I started to jog, up the incline for the whole 90 seconds.  I was really feeling it, especially by the second 90 second run and then I hit a mile and I discovered why.

Snacking - Morning, Noon, and Night

I would be the first to tell you that snacking is definitely one of the things that has contributed to my weight gain over the course of my life. But it's not the act of snacking that was really my problem, it was snacking without tracking or measuring, eating mindlessly. It was snacking because I was bored and not necessarily hungry.

Tracking food on SparkPeople has helped a lot, and I have instituted a personal rule that I have to track before I snack. This takes away mindless eating because I have to actively add the information to my log before I put it in my mouth.

Let's Get Running Again - Couch to 5k

My 4 legged running buddy

10 years ago I was actually a runner, not a marathon runner, but I regularly ran 5K races with the occasional 5 mile and 10Ks when I wanted more of a challenge. Things came up, work got busy, we moved further out into the suburbs and I slowly fell away from running. Three years ago I got back into it, even finishing a 4 mile race on Mother's day of 2014, but then I developed planters fasciitis and I had to pull back. When I was ready to start again I found out I was pregnant with our younger son, and while it was a pretty easy pregnancy, I was not allowed to run because of a minor complication.

Getting Started - Again

I've had been here before, staring at the scale wondering how my weight has gotten to this point. It was the highest non-pregnancy, non-medication related number I had ever seen on the scale and I knew that I needed to do something. I am now 39 and with each year, weight loss and lifestyle change is only going to get harder, so I need to make those changes now.

I have always known how to eat correctly, in fact most of our family meals are very health. We try to model good eating habits for our children and have always eaten a lot of different types of fruits and vegetables. We're also very lucky that our first grader is willing to try new foods and has a pretty varied diet for a child his age.