So I started a 21 day challenge to run every day. I'm very much a beginner, so it's been difficult, and I already missed a day due to pain. I'm working through it, and it is making me feel pretty good about myself. I've been keeping a daily journal after each run, and here it is so far:
Day one: I “ran” about a 15.4 minute mile. Last time I ran- around my birthday last year, I was at 17 minute miles, so its better. All the cycling I’ve been doing has helped a bit with my cardio strength. I was able to run for two minutes straight, and could have gone a little more, but I don’t want to go too hard and have to stop before the challenge is even over. I’m happy with being able to run for two minutes at a time! Before, when I’ve tried running, it was a struggle to get to 30 seconds at a time- even when I was in better shape than I am now! So, I warmed up for five minutes walking, ran for two then walked for three. I repeated until I got to twenty minutes. I’m planning on running twenty minutes each day the first week, 25 the second week, and 30 the third week. If I can manage that through this challenge, I will then start focusing on shaving time off my pace. My legs feel like jello, and I was a little dizzy when I stepped off the treadmill, but more water before I run will help that!
Day two: My time went down a bit, today I did a 14.19 minute mile. It’s not great or anything, but for me, I’ll take it. My shins hurt a bit when I was on the treadmill, but I think they’re just more sore than anything. To be safe, one day a week during my running challenge, I’m going to get on the bike instead of the treadmill. I know that it isn’t running, but I’m hoping it will help with stretching out my legs. They’ve never really run before. I kept with the run two minutes, walk three minutes thing today, but I upped the speed a bit, where my “rest” periods were at a brisker pace, and my “work” periods were a bit faster, about a 5.7 on the machine- about 10 minute miles. I wasn’t dizzy this time, and ran a bit later in the afternoon, after eating breakfast and having a couple glasses of water, and binge-watching The Following. I definitely need to find some stretches and exercises to get my knees stronger, they are sore.
Day three: I skipped today. :( I didn’t want to! I busted my toe up real nice at work and it was too swollen to get into my running shoes. The group at work I’m doing the challenge with is starting tomorrow, so I’ll “start” with them.
Day four: I ran outside today. It was difficult. It’s pretty hilly by my place, and my toe was still in bad shape. It hurt to jog, so I mostly walked. I went about 1.5 miles in 25 minutes, and only made it through one “work” period of about 1 ½ minutes. I am glad that I went for a run, but I will stick to the treadmill for right now. As a beginner, it is nice to be able to set a pace, and see the timer for each rest and work set. I like knowing exactly how fast I am going at each interval.
Day five: Back to the treadmill today. I picked up the pace a bit, and ran 1.44 miles in 20 minutes. I’m trying to decrease my rest interval times, so I warmed up for three minutes today, then did 2 minutes on, 2 minutes off for the rest of the run. This is difficult, and very challenging for me, but something about it also makes me feel strong. Running through the shin splints, sweat, and past the voice in my head saying “stop!” makes me feel pretty powerful.
I'm getting faster on the treadmill and am able to shorten my rest periods, which makes me feel pretty badass. Tomorrow is TOPS, so I'll see at weigh-in how it's working. We haven't been as diligent with our food as we have in the past, but we are slowly getting back on track.
I'm also working on a presentation for TOPS, every week someone does about a 20-30 minute talk on anything weight-loss related, and it's my turn next week! I have it done, if it goes over well, I'll post it here.
If you want to come along for a weight loss challenge, let me know!!
Also, I've had a few people tell me they've had problems commenting directly on the blog- I removed the word verification part, if it helps, comment! If it doesn't, email me! eringesine@gmail.com
Thanks! Talk to you soon!
You are a source of inspiration.
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