W5, already!

or..."running with a sunburn". Started off today with Naomi reading in the car. Her torn ligament is still healing and she would just as soon not tag along. Beautiful day today. My 5 minute walk began with a rabbit on the trail (oh, and a nice walker, too!)Things changed this week, as I am running 5 minutes right off the get-go, after the 5 min warm up walk. Then I walk for 3 minutes, and run again. 3 times I run for 5 minutes. I actually ran, as opposed to jogging, when the podcast played Girlfriend. I can run to that song! I should just play it over and over on Friday when I am slated to run for 20 minutes straight. This I've GOT to see....
I'm feeling some muscles in the glutes today, and my clothes are looser, so something's happening! Slathered on the vitamin E to take care of that nasty sunburn. At least Naomi wore sunscreen to the beach!

Jogging with Everyone

Here's Week 4, Day 2 in the bag! Naomi is home with a 'headache', but I am determined to run when I'm supposed to, as I suspect I am now addicted. Moreover, (a new word I've imported from essay-writing) I indulged in a baby-sized ice cream last night and must run it off. Sugar, surprisingly, does not taste as good anymore. I'm glad I've had plenty of it up to this point. Ah, the memories.
So, Naomi and the dog have come along with me, first waiting in the car, and then right on the trail when Nomes felt it would be fun to race along in front of Mommy. Boy, was she in for a surprise! There's Mom, running 5 minutes at a stretch, and who's got a stitch in her side? It ain't Mom! Three quarters of the way through, who's saying "this is more running than I do in basketball and soccer put together!"? Again, not Mom. I am starting to know when the 5 minutes is going to come to an end, when I am involuntarily thinking "Surely to God this is almost finished!". But the FB people are right when they say it's 90% mental. I think I need to stop, but really, I'm just exhibiting some laziness. Note to self; Pick up the pace! And maybe don't bring along a creature who will ultimately need to be carried back to the car when you wear her out. Silly dog.

Thanks for the distraction!

Well, here I am in W4, the week I've been dreading, the week everyone on FB was saying was the toughest week yet, even harder than following weeks. And I DID IT! I did it because halfway through the 5 minute run, a couple and their lovely big husky came toward me, running. There was no way I was going to bail while someone was actually watching! It's so much easier to do something like this (5 whole minutes!) when there's a distraction. When it's just you and the music, there's too much time to think about what you're doing and how long you've got to go. Thank God they weren't walking, is all I have to say! I always think someone walking watches someone running to see if they'll be able to keep going. I know I do that! I don't know if what I'm doing counts as running during the 5 minutes, but I DID run during the 3 minutes, which is now, officially, and unfortunately, the short run!
Today-a heron, a Baltimore Oriole, a chipmunk and still, the robins. Beautiful.

OMG, Here comes W4

Did an extra day of W3 today, to be completely honest about the program, since D1 was a bit of a washout! I found it harder to run today, but walked very briskly during the walking portion... I think the thought of daughter and dog waiting in the car for me at the end of the trail pushed me along.
I do not know how I'm going to do W4. The music's faster, and it's FIVE minutes at a time! Yikes.

Lovely rainshower today while I was running. Everything, however, hurts after mowing the lawn yesterday. Hot bath, here I come!

Week 3 in the can!

Wow, that's done. Amazing. I did my 5 minute warmup walk with Nala around the block and then hopped in the car before she realized that she was in the house without me. Not a happy dog. It's going up to 28 degrees today, and I had hoped to walk earlier, but it was either I go to class or I go to that silly echocardiogram. The tech was a little overenthusiastic with the equipment. Didn't really need that hole in my ribcage, thanks. So with the imminent heat, I have sweat off some pounds, I hope. I didn't feel very energetic today, and I may do W3D3 again on Saturday before braving week 4. I didn't think I'd be able to run 3 minutes before I did it, so this next week might not be as bad as all that.... I'm listening to the podcast for next week as I write, and the music is....well...different. On my return walk to the car 2 Canada geese flew overhead. I was accompanied this morning by robins all along the route. Lovely.

What a beautfiful morning!

W3D2 under my belt! It was a bit harder to run the 3 minutes today, and I think it's because of the podcast. I know which songs I"m running to now, and I expect them to end sooner than they do....But I did all the runs-90 seconds is a breeze now, and I hope that 3 minutes will be a breeze next week. I'm not looking ahead tho. No sense freaking myself out!
The rabbit was there on the trail waiting for me this AM, and watched til I came nearly level with him. I certainly don't pose much of a threat, especially without the dog! After I passed him, a blue heron flew overhead. While I was stretching in the car, when it was over, I saw a beautiful Baltimore oriole. Great day for seeing wildlife! And I feel pretty good, too. **Note to self-if you hope to lose weight, do not eat Clif protien bars!! Now we're playing catch-up!

Finally, alone.

Ahhh, that was nice! Did all of W3D1 (I am tempted to call it D2, but the last run certainly didn't qualify...) I ran 9 minutes! Carli from Running into Shape sure knows how to pick the music. There I am running the final 3 minute stretch to "whip it, whip it good". Not much else would make me want to keep running except the knowledge that I'm 'whippin'' it! So peaceful today. No one on the trail at 9 AM, there was cloud cover, and a bit of sun for a minute. The leaves are all coming out, it smells like lilac, and a rabbit came out on the trail to laugh at my efforts on the way back! I will not be running with the dog again....Poor puppy. But this was absolutely decadent.

ARRRGH!

Stupid dog! Stupid Mp3 player!! So looking forward to W3D1 just to see if I could really do it. And yay! I ran 3 minutes! But had to walk 12 minutes first as Mp3 player stopped working. Twice.
Well, it's all exercise. And I can try again on Wednesday. Lots of people on the trail today.
But I am NOT NOT bringing the dog with me next time. I'm sure I can actually run without being pulled along. Sheesh.

Glitches galore!

W2D3, wow! I can't believe I won't be running to some guy singing, "alrightalrightalrightalright" at me anymore. Actually, that's a real incentive to run. If he can run one word together like that indefinitely, surely I can keep jogging til he runs out of breath...
The earphones to the Mp3 player crapped out while I was in the midst of my 2nd 90 second run, so I stopped jogging and walked while I got the thing to just play without earphones. A bit tinny, but still there. I had to just make it up as I went along, as I didn't know how long 90 seconds was! The dog crapped out, too, while I was running, and went bananas. I begin to suspect there's something odd right at that point on the trail.
AND it's cold out today-I discovered that my body does not respond nearly so well to running in the cold. I think I'll be just fine when the 30 degree weather hits. But it's very hard to run when it's 8.

Running, with encouragement

W2D2 today. I don't know where it went, but I lost all the enthusiasm I had, and couldn't motivate myself to run! Posted a message on the Facebook group and boy, those people don't hold back. 'Get off your ass!" they yelled at me in capital letters, "Just get out the door and do it!". Yoiks. I'd like to see what they have to say when it's -20 and I can't get motivated. So I went. I went farther than I've gone yet-I suspect I'm actually running now as opposed to the meagre jog I was indulging in earlier. I turned around at a spot farther on and then I had to walk for 10 minutes just to reach the car. I actually threw in an extra minute of jogging, which doesn't sound like much, but considering the first week, when i couldn't walk and jog past 12 minutes, this is a big thing. Met lots of people on the trail, all with dogs, of course.

Running (and Dancing) with the Dog

Week 2! And now I'm running 90 seconds at a time. I think I notice it less because now the Dog has decided, as she's part poodle, that dancing around me while I attempt to jog 90 seconds would be much more fun. I'm worried that I might wear her out, but it's a blessing to have her flaked out on the floor here beside me now as opposed to pawing at my leg. I feel good having run this amount of time, but I also wish that I could see instant results. I want to be thin...yesterday. I started using a podcast today, too, and that makes things much easier, with someone telling me when my running time is up. So now I've gotten rid of the cell phone to tell time. I just need someone to tell the Dog to stop dancing....

F** it!

So after going to Urgent Care and discovering that everything was fine, I decided to carry on with the C25K program, carefully. It's easier to do the 60 second jog now, and I'm carrying on with W1.
Brought the dog with me today and I don't know if the jogging's easier because the dog is dragging me or if I'm actually becoming used to the running. I don't think I'll repeat that!

No ill effects after doing the whole 20 minutes. So off we go! I hope I can figure out the MP3 player next time, but it was nicer being able to hear the birds, and maybe easier on me to set my own pace, too.