Running for my Disney - a PPTR...

[zanzibar138]

So for the last few weeks, I haven't been able to upload any of the data from my Garmin to my computer, so I've been going around a bit blind about my pace, distance etc.

I FINALLY managed to fix it, and have just spent the last half an hour looking at my progress from Week 2 of the C25K program until now! My running pace is hovering between 7-8 minutes per km (have no idea what that is in miles - must look up a conversion), but I'm pleased to say it's been getting faster as I have progressed and is now more under 8 minutes than over

It was also fun to see how much further I've been getting (I'm doing the same route every workout) since I started.

You can see from my signature too that I have signed up for the DIS Walk to Disney challenge on the WISH board. Not sure how far I'll get since it's SOOO far to Disney! But it will be fun to track my progress

 

[Avail09]

Have just uploaded my workout into my garmin for first run of week 4. Might have to do it on a treadmill at the gym as it's pretty wet now and might still be in the morning. Can't wait to hear about your progress for week 5. Happy training!

 

[Alysa]

Hi Lana, I really enjoyed reading your report so far. I had planned to do the TOT this year until we had to cancel so who knows, maybe I'll see you at the 2014 one! Looking forward to reading more about your successes!

 

[zanzibar138]

Yay Mum's here! Welcome Mum

And thanks for your support Alysa, glad you've enjoyed the ride so far

 

[PrincessInOz]

Have just uploaded my workout into my garmin for first run of week 4. Might have to do it on a treadmill at the gym as it's pretty wet now and might still be in the morning. Can't wait to hear about your progress for week 5. Happy training!

Zanzibar.......is this your mum????


Hello, Mum! Will I have to watch my manners?

 

[zanzibar138]

Zanzibar.......is this your mum????


Hello, Mum! Will I have to watch my manners?

Yes, that's my Mum Better keep it civilised now

 

[PrincessInOz]

Yes, that's my Mum Better keep it civilised now

Dang!

 

[Avail09]

It's OK Zanzibar, PIO and everyone else, don't get nervous, yes I'm Zanzibar's Mum, but never let it be said that I cramp your style! Lovely to see all the support out there for people on a mission, such as Zanzibar and PIO. You can all do it, it's way more mental than physical. Keep up the good work and the support network.

My run tonight was pretty good considering I was thinking I might just have to walk it! I find it very motivating to be doing the program in tandem with Zanzibar. One more week 4 workout to go then onto the serious stuff!

Happy Training!

 

[zanzibar138]

I'm feeling very pleased with myself at the moment, because this morning I completed my first 20 minute run EVER!

When the Garmin starting counting down to the end of the run, I triumphantly punched my fists in the air and felt a huge grin force its way onto my red and sweaty face lol! I wanted to yell out to all the passing cars 'I did it!' but managed to refrain. There may have been a few tears shed.

Now, some of you may wonder what the big deal is and think I'm just slightly over-reacting... But for someone who has always hated running, and never been able to run for more than 2 minutes without feeling like I'm going to die, running for 20 minutes in a row is a massive achievement! It's the big milestone where I feel like if I can do that, I can actually jog for 16km (with a lot more training of course lol!).

Yes, going up some of those hills, I wondered if I would ever make it and used all my psychic powers to try to get my Garmin to count down faster - turns out I don't have any psychic powers But what is really amazing is that now I find running downhill a kind of recovery period, and in those sections, I felt like I could go on all day (as long as there were no more uphill bits!). It's amazing to think that in just a few weeks I could get to this point, after needing nearly the whole walk interval to recover in my first few attempts.

Unfortunately though, this morning's run has reminded me of that most terrible spring affliction, hayfever I get hayfever quite badly, and as well as the sneezing and runny nose, I also get coughing fits, itchiness all over my face and down my neck, and in my throat and ears, burning, blood-shot eyes, and generally feel exhausted from all these symptoms. The only way I can control it is with eye drops (when it gets bad) and a daily dose of a strong nasal spray, although I've left it too late for today and I will be stuck blowing my nose every 10 minutes for the rest of the day! I got caught a bit off guard because I usually don't start suffering until well into October. Must be an early season this year.

Quickly on the savings front. I do plan to treat myself to a couple of small running related items after completing such a milestone run, but this will ultimately come out of some birthday money, so won't dip into my savings

 

[PrincessInOz]

Congrats on running 20 minutes!

I've been taking a leaf and inspiration out of your book.....er.....TR. I've actually gotten off the couch and am starting with walks to the park. I keep looking at the oval....and I do intend to start jogging round the oval. S-l-o-w-l-y.

 

[PrincessInOz]

It's OK Zanzibar, PIO and everyone else, don't get nervous, yes I'm Zanzibar's Mum, but never let it be said that I cramp your style! Lovely to see all the support out there for people on a mission, such as Zanzibar and PIO. You can all do it, it's way more mental than physical. Keep up the good work and the support network.

My run tonight was pretty good considering I was thinking I might just have to walk it! I find it very motivating to be doing the program in tandem with Zanzibar. One more week 4 workout to go then onto the serious stuff!

Happy Training!

Happy Training to you too Avail!

 

[zanzibar138]

Congrats on running 20 minutes!

I've been taking a leaf and inspiration out of your book.....er.....TR. I've actually gotten off the couch and am starting with walks to the park. I keep looking at the oval....and I do intend to start jogging round the oval. S-l-o-w-l-y.

Thanks! Still feeling pretty chuffed despite my awful hayfever

Glad you're feeling well enough to start some exercise now - told you you'd have plenty of time Slow and steady is definitely the way to go

 

[Avail09]

I didn't get my run in today, we had a bit too much going on so I'm heading out tomorrow to do it, but will have to be in the afternoon as we've got a 67 (approx) bike ride planned for the morning. I only have to do the 3 min jog, 1min 30 walk, 5 min jog, 2min 30 walk series tomorrow so it (hopefully) won't be too hard, and our ride tomorrow is just around the river and not a 'hills' ride.

I'll be pleased to start the next week now, where each workout is a bit different, although I know it's going to get tough.

Glad you got started PIO, and so excited for you achieving your major milestone Zanzibar! Awesome work, I'm going to check out what next week has in store for you!

Keep up the good work!:

 

[Avail09]

Sunday afternoon run went pretty well for me. Today's was a bit harder, always tough on a Tues morning following Body Pump on Monday evening. However, I managed to do the distance (time) ok, just a bit slower. My next workout is the 5 min warm up followed by 8 min jog, 5 min walk, 8 min jog. I'm looking forward to that one, will definitely have to settle for slower pace with that much jogging.

Hoping you're all having fun and achieving with your training....

 

[zanzibar138]

Glad to hear you're doing well with week 5 so far. Good luck with the next one!

I uploaded yesterday's workout from my Garmin last night and, for all my complaining about the run, I actually averaged a decent pace. Was 9.19 average for the whole workout (including warm-up and cool-down, plus a tiny stop for stretching on the way back - saw a step and thought I'd try that calf stretch). I felt like I was going ridiculously slow!

DH reckons he's going to come with me tomorrow morning since the runs are now getting more challenging. I told him I still go really slowly, but he said that should be fine if it's for longer distances at a time.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm cycling again....not long distances...but at least I got my bicycle tyres pumped up. I live about 1 km away from the local park and it has a velodrome in it. So, I used to cycle 5 - 10 km round the velodrome 4 times a week. now that the warmer weather is here, I'm going to start aiming for that again.

 

[zanzibar138]

I'm cycling again....not long distances...but at least I got my bicycle tyres pumped up. I live about 1 km away from the local park and it has a velodrome in it. So, I used to cycle 5 - 10 km round the velodrome 4 times a week. now that the warmer weather is here, I'm going to start aiming for that again.

Sounds great PIO You're lucky having such great cycling facilites nearby!

 

[zanzibar138]

This week I completed the final interval session for the program, which is a bit scary! All my runs from now will be at least 25 minutes of actual running (where is a scared smiley when you need one!).

Unfortunately I am struggling. I even struggled with the interval sessions earlier this week. And that darn hill is the bane of my existence! It just seems to get harder every workout! Isn't it supposed to get easier?

BUT I'm still feeling good, because I am completing every workout in full, with all the running that I'm supposed to. And I'm still going. My legs have been feeling it, but just in a having been used way, not in an injured way. I've been very careful to do my full warm-up, and my full stretch routine afterwards. I have added some extra calf stretches as that's where it's worst at the moment. Mum is going to send some calf compression sleeves over that she doesn't use, so I'm looking forward to getting them. I think it will help wearing them to work on the days I run just to keep the support going a bit longer.

This morning's workout was a 25 minutes run, which was hard Coming up to the 20 minute mark and beyond, there were a couple of very short moments where I actually felt physically sick. Luckily most of the last few minute is downhill, so I was able to recover slightly. When I finally finished the running and slowed down to a walk, my legs felt like jelly! But I felt better by the time I got home, and especially after my stretches. And after I had a (reasonably long) shower and got into my normal clothes, I felt pretty human again! I went out for brunch this morning, but when I got home I had a bath with mineral salts to soothe my legs a bit more.

Next Saturday is the fun run I've signed up for. I plan to walk the first 500m as a warm-up, run 4km, then walk the last 500m as a cool-down. DH is still planning on joining me but has neither registered nor done any training. Luckily he has until Friday to register, and he's pretty fit already so he'll probably be able to make the distance since I run so slowly.

And since it's the end of the month I have a finance update too... I've actually managed to get a great kick-start this month with birthday money! After my end of month transfer, I'm up to $375



**I just uploaded the workout from my Garmin and found that I'm actually averaging 8 minutes kms. It felt like I was almost running on the spot, but that's about my fastest pace so far, so no wonder I found it so hard!**

 

[PrincessInOz]

That's great progress.

It's too cold here to cycle. So, I'm going to go jogging on the spot in front of the Telly. Grand Final is on....might just go see which bird wins.

 

[zanzibar138]

I finally seem to be getting into a bit more of a rhythm now. This week I've had 2 x 25 minute runs, plus a 5k fun run today, of which I ran 4km.

No denying that the runs are still hard, and do leave my legs a bit sore. But my recovery time is improving again, and I find once I'm in the rhythm it's actually easier to keep running than to stop and start all the time.

Luckily the rain held off until after the fun run this morning It was a very casual one, just a small group of people and not much in the way of formalities. Was good fun though - the people there were very nice and we all got cheered on coming up to the finish line They put up a little streamer for each of us to run through, which was a bit of fun!

I walked the first km as a warm-up, and because I wanted to cross the finish line at a run. It worked out quite well, once I started running I knew I just had to keep going until I crossed the finish line. I think because it was fairly flat, I actually improved my pace again without realising it, and averaged between 7-7 1/2 minute kms.

After the run we all went for coffee and brunch at a nearby cafe, which was a nice way to finish off the morning

Here's a (very bad) pic of me triumphantly crossing the finish line