Jenn's Battle with the Gene Pool. Advice, encouragement, and buddies needed!

[plgrn]

Today was the last day of week two and I breezed through the 20 minutes barely getting winded! I'm shocked! Guess two days off did me some good as far as cardio goes.

Sadly after a two day break, my knees are bothering me which makes me hope I don't have osteoarthritis already! Going to give it more time to see if it improves.

Week three starts tomorrow!

 

[kimwim8]

Hey Jenn.....how's week 3 goin?? I hope your knees are feeling better.

 

[plgrn]

Just finished workout 2 of week three and it was a breeze! Can't wait for next week to start. My knees are still bothering me a little, but I'm making sure to run only every OTHER day to give them a break. I also started on some joint complex supplements that my dad takes for his osteoarthritis just in case. My mom talked to some runners (who are also medical personnel) where she works and they seemed to think the knee pain was normal and that I just need to take it easy and start doing squats to build up some strength.

DH and I have been doing upper body freeweights too so we'll see how that goes. I'll be looking like Hulk Hogan before you know it.

One thing that helped me breeze through this workout was my mom's ipod! I downloaded the audio to the Jammin' Jungle parade at Animal Kingdom and I swear it was like being there!

 

[npullen]

Glad you're doing so good! Your moms coworkers are probably right, knee pain is normal at first for lots of new runners. I know it was a problem for me. My trainer told me to never run 2 days in a row, for about the first 6 months I worked with her. And she had me doing lots of squats and lunges, and lots of stretching! I am still overweight, but have no problems with my knees now. Keep up the good work!
I have lots of Disney music on my IPod, and I love it when one of the songs comes up! It inspires me and helps me keep my goal in mind!

 

[plgrn]

Today was the beginning of week four of the couch to 5K program, and it was pretty rough! I got through it fine until the last five minute run at which point I had to take two 30 second walking breaks.

Praise God my knee pain is going away! I've found a Pilates stretch that REALLY helps. This leads me to believe that the pain is muscular rather that joint-related which is a huge relief.

Great news....my mom has decided she wants to start the Couch to 5K! She came over yesterday and started her first day of week one which I did with her. It was a breeze for me! Hard to believe I had a rough time with it just 4 weeks ago. So since I'm running only every other day, I'll probably try to do Mom's running with her on my off days to help her stay encouraged. I'd really like to see her feel better physically and feel better about her body.

 

[plgrn]

I have lots of Disney music on my IPod, and I love it when one of the songs comes up! It inspires me and helps me keep my goal in mind!

It's great, isn't it! I just downloaded the couch to 5K podcast for this week since the intervals were just too much for me to keep up with on my watch.

Have you seen the thread on the Theme Park Attractions and Strategies board with all the WDW park music? You can listen to the audio from Soarin', the Country Bear Jamboree, Spectromagic, Wishes, etc. It's the next best thing to being there!

 

[npullen]

It sounds like you are doing great! I am glad your knees are feeling better! Don't worry to much about the last 5 mins being so hard. Just think of how much farther you are going! My trainer always reminds me that the last 1/4 to 1/2 mile shouldn't be easy if I am really trying to build endurance. If it is easy, then I am not going far enough! Keep up the great work!
It is wonderful that you are inspiring your mom! That is such a great feeling to know you are making a difference in someones life!

 

[kimwim8]

Great job, Jenn! Congrats on already seeing how far you've come by running week 1 over again with your mom. Even though they seem easy, just make sure to still have rest days.

Unfortunately I didn't get to start week 4 today, but I'm hoping for tomorrow. Time is not on my side this week.

 

[kimwim8]

Hey Jenn! Miss ya around here. Hope everything's going well for ya!

 

[plgrn]

Thanks Kim! I've been hanging in there with the running, but not the Dising. Miss you guys!

 

[kimwim8]

I'm glad you stopped by to let us know you're ok! Keep up the great work!

 

[npullen]

Glad you're doing ok! Good job continuing with the running! Stop back and let us know how you're progressing!

 

[plgrn]

Thanks for the support guys!

Things are going great and as you can see by my siggy, Mom and I have signed up for the 1/2 Disney Marathon! Our 5K is in less that two months, then we will start training for a 10K, then finally the 1/2 marathon. Hopefully we'll be able to finish training by January.

I'm really not understanding the whole concept of week 6 in the couch to 5K. It's too much trouble to keep up with, so I've just been runnign 22 1/2 minutes straight in prep for week 7's 25 minute straight days.

 

[npullen]

WTG!!! You should be so proud of yourself! You should have no problem getting through the training for the half, you have been doing so well so far, and you still have plenty of time! Keep up the good work.

Nicole

 

[kimwim8]

WOW, Jenn...you're doing GREAT!! Running 22.5 mins at a time is AWESOME!!

 

[plgrn]

Today was day two of week 7 and I'm nailing those 25 minute runs and feel like doing more! I can hardly believe it. It's amazing the tolerance and endurance the Couch to 5K program produces!

Mom is did great on her last day of week three and is more than ready to start week 4 Monday. She's in the horrible knee pain stage that I was in at that time so I hope this doesn't discourage her from running. She's doing lots of stretches which helps tremendously.

Has anyone done the 10K training program on coolrunning.com? Guess that's our next step.

 

[npullen]

You are doing great! Congrats on getting this far!
Sorry I can't help you with the training plan, but it looks like a pretty good plan. You can also check halhigdon.com, his program is what my trainer bases all of my training on, and it worked great for me for a 10k last year, and, so far, seems to be working very well for the marathon.

 

[kimwim8]

Keep up the great work, Jenn!! YOU ROCK!

Thanks also for stopping by my journal!