day 27

today’s workout (W9D3) from c25k: brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).

stats: time 1:45:25; distance 6.56 miles; calories 1046; pace 16:04 (max of 7:57); heartrate average 145, max 181

thoughts: hallelujah! i completed couch to 5K! it wasn’t easy for this super out of shape kid, but i did it! super pumped, as clipart so obviously conveys. when i started the program, i was definitely emphasizing the couch portion of the title. and now, though i’m not fast or a super awesome runner, i am running 5k distances! i am so incredibly excited.

thoughts on today’s run: today wasn’t an easy run. apparently my body quite likes the (at least) one day rest between runs, but if i wanted to finish this week, it had to happen this morning because of the impending storm. so i was pretty pokey. don’t care though–no cheating, no worries.

as for the future: i don’t know yet. i know i’ll be working on my speed in the upcoming weeks. i’m looking forward to being off a training plan as i can then do what i feel i need to do. after i feel comfortable with my speed, i think i’ll do the bridge to 10K program. lots to think about, so we’ll see. i’ll definitely keep you updated.

day 26

today’s workout (W9D2) from c25k: brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).

stats: time 58:37; distance 4.18 miles; calories 667; pace 14:01 (max of 9:50); heartrate average 155, max 180

thoughts: not a bad run, but suuuuper hot (okay it was 60*, but i have lots of built-in insulation and it wasn’t comfortable). we’re expecting up to 14″ of snow tomorrow night so i shifted my running plan this week. if we actually get 14″, i’m not going to be able to run for quite a few days. so, i’m going to finish c25k tomorrow morning, barring the storm’s early arrival. i normally have at least one day off between my runs, so i thought it best to keep this run shorter so i don’t die tomorrow.

almost there!

oh, and for another gratuitous photo of my beautiful running route:

january round up

so today, the last day of january, i thought i’d go through and do a little round-up to see what i’ve done this month.

miles: 58.89 miles–the equivalent of going from my last place in DC to the battle of spotsylvania court house just outside of fredericksburg, virginia.

total time: 14 hours, 5 minutes, 42 seconds–the length of time it would take to watch titanic 4 and 1/3 times.

average pace: 15:44–a little more than the length of fame for talentless nobodies.

total calories: 8,349–a little more than the quadruple bypass burger at the heart attack grill in chandler, arizona.

the miles/time/pace/calories are just for january whereas the weight/inches differences below are from when i started couch to 5k all the way back on november 22nd. i haven’t been good about taking measurements, but wanted to document the difference from the beginning to the (almost) end of c25k. i’ll try to document measurements once per month from here on out to make sure i’m staying on track.

weight difference: zero. nada. zip. zilch. this is really disheartening, but my goal in starting all of this wasn’t just to lose weight, but to become healthier. and the fact that i can run for 45 minutes without stopping makes me happy. while this number may not reflect it, i feel so much better already.

inches difference: waist: -4.5 inches; hips -2 inches; thighs: -1.5 inches; calves: ±0 inches; upper arm:-0.5 inches. woo hoo! this all is very exciting for me and shows that while i’m not losing pounds, there are definitely changes occurring.

so there we have it. january, it’s been real. on to february!

day 25

today’s workout (W9D1) from c25k: brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).

stats: time 1:46:52; distance 7.09 miles; calories 1051 (hot damn!); pace 15:04 (max of 7:51); heartrate average 144, max 182

thoughts: all right! today was definitely a good run–consistently faster than my long runs have been, the longest yet, and it just felt good (except for the nasty first 10 minutes, but those are always awful). i’m finally starting to feel like a runner! hopefully i can continue to speed up and go longer distances! super pumped.

hot damn, indeed!

day 24

today’s workout (W8D3) from c25k: brisk five-minute warmup walk, then go 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).

stats: time 1:01:17; distance 3.99 miles; calories 666 (eek!); pace 15:58 (max of 6:46); heartrate average 151, max 181

thoughts: holy moly it was cold! they had predicted snow for today, but i went out anyway as it wasn’t supposed to be hard. halfway through it turned into a blizzard with maybe 30 feet visibility and lots of sideways snow. so i turned up the dial and ran home quickly. the run didn’t feel quite as awesome as monday, but certainly better than wednesday.

next week is the last week! so excited.

day 23

today’s workout (W8D2) from c25k: brisk five-minute warmup walk, then go 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).

stats: time 51:02; distance 3.42 miles; calories 549; pace 14:57 (max of 9:44); heartrate average 153, max 182

thoughts: not good. my calves still had a good amount of residual soreness from monday that i just couldn’t shake. it’s also quite warm so i was sore, hot, and generally uncomfortable the whole time. also, i cheated for the first time. i only walked a total of maybe 20 seconds, but the damage is done. i am a cheater.

can’t do anything about it now but plan for friday to be better. oof.

hope y’all had a better workout today than i did.

day 22

today’s workout (W8D1) from c25k: brisk five-minute warmup walk, then go 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).

stats: time 1:42:14; distance 6.65 miles; calories 1002; pace 15:24 (max of 9:17); heartrate average 145, max 191 (oops).

thoughts: as awful as saturday was, today was awesome. every time i run, the first 10 minutes is an absolutely miserable experience that, if it were to always be like that, i would not run. but once i push through it, i find that i can deal with it and running becomes fun. i’m not sure exactly what a running high is, but maybe that’s it. i definitely pushed myself more today–my heartrate was higher that it has been (not necessarily a positive) and my overall pace was much faster than it has been on the long runs (15:24 today whereas 16:18 was my fastest last week, which was a shorter distance). and i’m super excited to break the 1000 calorie barrier! not by much, but i’ll take what i can get!

photographic evidence:

happy monday!