couch-5k update
Sep. 29th, 2013 11:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganursulaI have been doing the couch-to-5k training schedule for running. I decided to do it because I was having no luck in getting back into running condition. (Running really hasn't been fun in a long time. But I want to be able to be a runner again; there is something useful and cathartic about being able to run.)
I had been thinking i'd swap out some of the actual running workouts for similarly lengthed in-door training workouts. However, spurred by the advice of a friend, and the nice weather, i have so far done every running workout. I have repeated a couple of weeks, so i'm not quite on the week that i would be. I have been doing my best to do augmentary work-outs; i've come up with targeted strength or stretching exercises for basically every day. They are minimal, but non-zero. I'm also doing some sit-up goals with Josh.
Generally speaking i think this has been a positive experience. I have, by and large, enjoyed my 'runs'. They have been doable, and i like the short format of the work-outs. I finally, after years of thinking i should, found a real way to implement an interval workout. I like being able to run full-out for the shortest of the intervals. I also like the time-based format, because i've been able to run around the neighborhood without route planning. I'm glad that i've done all the runs as runs, because I think it is beneficial for me to get out and move a bit. And i've proven that i *can* get out and do a half hour workout, even when the day is long.
On the other hand, after today, i'm sort of convinced that i'm just never going to be able to run again, and i'm terribly frustrated with it. I've gained weight since i started the program, and my knees hurt. My lungs don't work and i'm tired all the time. It took an ibuprofen and two different inhalers to get me out on the road today. And that first three minute interval still seemed like it was never going to end. It took about 1.5 times through the prescribed workout to get around the inner-loop (2.8 miles), so i'm not really feeling that 5k is going to come easy any time soon. I have been able to run a 13 miler before, and i feel like i've been pretty dedicated about doing the work, so its all particularly frustrating.
*Sigh* Maybe its not as bad as it always feels, when i have an asthmatic gasp. Maybe its just all some convoluted excuse to quit my job in favor of long walks. Maybe its just fall depression setting in (you all had better hope not. Not only is September some sort of record for that, but it just is not long enough after summer mania set in).
Unless something particularly dire happens, i'm going to see the entire program through. For one thing, it is a commitment I made to myself. For another, its a commitment i roped other's into sharing to shore up my dedication. For a third, i don't currently have another method lined up for staving off death.
I had been thinking i'd swap out some of the actual running workouts for similarly lengthed in-door training workouts. However, spurred by the advice of a friend, and the nice weather, i have so far done every running workout. I have repeated a couple of weeks, so i'm not quite on the week that i would be. I have been doing my best to do augmentary work-outs; i've come up with targeted strength or stretching exercises for basically every day. They are minimal, but non-zero. I'm also doing some sit-up goals with Josh.
Generally speaking i think this has been a positive experience. I have, by and large, enjoyed my 'runs'. They have been doable, and i like the short format of the work-outs. I finally, after years of thinking i should, found a real way to implement an interval workout. I like being able to run full-out for the shortest of the intervals. I also like the time-based format, because i've been able to run around the neighborhood without route planning. I'm glad that i've done all the runs as runs, because I think it is beneficial for me to get out and move a bit. And i've proven that i *can* get out and do a half hour workout, even when the day is long.
On the other hand, after today, i'm sort of convinced that i'm just never going to be able to run again, and i'm terribly frustrated with it. I've gained weight since i started the program, and my knees hurt. My lungs don't work and i'm tired all the time. It took an ibuprofen and two different inhalers to get me out on the road today. And that first three minute interval still seemed like it was never going to end. It took about 1.5 times through the prescribed workout to get around the inner-loop (2.8 miles), so i'm not really feeling that 5k is going to come easy any time soon. I have been able to run a 13 miler before, and i feel like i've been pretty dedicated about doing the work, so its all particularly frustrating.
*Sigh* Maybe its not as bad as it always feels, when i have an asthmatic gasp. Maybe its just all some convoluted excuse to quit my job in favor of long walks. Maybe its just fall depression setting in (you all had better hope not. Not only is September some sort of record for that, but it just is not long enough after summer mania set in).
Unless something particularly dire happens, i'm going to see the entire program through. For one thing, it is a commitment I made to myself. For another, its a commitment i roped other's into sharing to shore up my dedication. For a third, i don't currently have another method lined up for staving off death.
