day off from training and such...

so i took a total day off today, no walking, no running, just errands around town and oil change.

it is a good thing as it was raining on and off all day and the left knee is still letting me know it is there when i bend it 90 degrees or about that (stairs, in and out of car)

i will start phase three tomorrow and then drive to vermont. i will not slack off on the trip as i love it up there, so being out more in nature is exactly what will spur me on! where i will be training is where my father ran for many years daily, so i look forward to following in his footsteps for once!

ok, i am going to pack and finish up everything for the trip tomorrow. i hope i will be able to get some decent access to blog a bit and track my runs where i will be...at least to upload!

finished phase 2 day 3 and such...

so i did part 3 of phase 2 which is warm up (i do between 8-9 mins brisk walk warm up) then 90 sec jogging/2mins walking

well the knee is still letting me know it is there and it was rather hot and bit humid, so i jogged a little slower, but i def feel an improvement in my overall endurance

i took some nice stretching time and once i started jogging and paying attention to how i land my feet the knee didn't feel bad at all...once i stopped and rested a bit then moved, the pain, or actually twinge when i move it came back....

i wanted to go out today, i really wanted to, and finishing i felt heavy, my legs felt heavy, but that is fine with me...i am going to take tomorrow off to rest then move on to phase 3 on friday!

friday afternoon i head to vermont for a week or more, but i will be sure to continue on my progress up there.

i know i said i wasn't going to be obsessive about weighing in, but since this is my first time with this program and being a female, i decided to see what changes happen as i go along and such...i gained another freaking pound!
so this means since starting this program i have gained three pounds....astonishing to me since i have not increased anything i have eaten, in fact, cut down a bit and making healthier choices!

oh well...after this weekend i will worry about those pounds since again it is that time for me and it began today, so that stupid bloating i go through every month is just on a much more observed scale than i have ever cared about before!

sorry if any guys are reading or have bothered to read, but hey, it happens, i am a woman and these are things i have no one else to discuss with, plus i want to be sure to document all that i go through during this couch to 5k program

tomorrow, for my day of rest, i am debating actual resting or maybe a nice walk on level ground....maybe a mile or two, just to keep the motivation going, or stay off the feet and knees and give them an elevated on the couch watching ab fab season 2 while working from home?

not sure what is better, total rest, or just a calm walking? any opinions?

my knees have always been bad (as my mom pointed out again this morning on the phone when asking about my progress), so not sure if total rest or continue with at least a walk to work toward strengthening the knees and losing weight

still inspired, just feeling all of my overweight 36 years at the moment....stiff and sore, but that is ok, just means i am working!
i do a nice stretching combo for about 10-20 mins before each session now, a combo of yoga poses aimed at lower body and legs and back...feels great and limbering up before the warm up walks!

phase 2, day 2 and such...

it was so humid out!!!

it was 81 degrees and 61% humidity!

yesterday it was about 90, but not nearly as humid

my left knee is feeling a bit wonky today. i know it is because i am not paying attention to how my foot is landing when i jog or walk, so i must pay more attention to that. knee problems are not new to me, that was what ruined my Olympic aspirations many years ago and have had to deal with it since.

i feel like if i get a better insole for my left foot, slightly raising it up, it would realign that side as when the hip feels off the knee is right behind it.

and if i pay attention to it and do not allow my foot to roll inward upon landing, i am fine.

i know once the strength builds back up, it will be much better, as i am so terribly out of shape now, but i am going to look into that insole very soon

i also shot an email off to RexFoundation.org letting them know my intentions for matching at least what i have already raised for them this year with my 5k.

there, see, now i cannot take it back! not that i would, just nice knowing the wheels are now in motion.

next week i will contact my cousins and brother and let them know my intentions as well and see if they want to help out too!

i want to get a few weeks in on this training to show them i am not kidding around or will give up, this is serious and it is for my health and to help others, so double whammy of good karma!!

my warm up walk was a little slower today then recently clocked, but that is fine, as i said today was very humid and even though the weather.com folks say it is 61%, it had rained within an hour and i could feel the humidity coming off the pavement...made for lots of huffing and puffing!

i tried not eating before training again today, and i have to say i rather enjoy that!

i drink tons of water, all day long, in fact the only time i don't is when i treat myself to a glass of santa cruz organic lemonade and i cut it with half water because it is so sweet and tart

i just worry about losing something valuable to my body (always hear people touting electrolytes on tv) and not replacing it with enough veggies or fruits or what have you and i am not a fan of gatorade at all, so is it wise for me to buy a bottle or two of smart water? or how about coconut water?

a glass of that a day?

i have cut out almost all dairy (i have to occasionally yogurt or string cheese snack, but milk products really gross me out for the most part), all high fructose corn syrup products, rarely if ever have coffee (mainly because i have it with dairy and sugary stuff, so why bother)

i weighed myself this morning before going out training, having had nothing in my stomach and same clothes as last weigh in last week and gained two pounds!

i have no idea what that is about, but then again it is getting close to that time and i do gain a few in water weight, then a few days after go back to normal, so shall be very interesting to see what next weeks weigh in will hold.

i am not really looking to weigh in obsessively, why bother...i am fat...not obese, but way over weight and in dire need to be a good looking mom once again!!! people say how much my daughter and i look alike and i think, poor kid, i hope she doesn't end up like me, then i realize if she does it is my fault! look at what a horrible example i set for her...

NO MORE!

the example i am setting now is healthy eating (she has always eaten healthier than me, I cannot stomach certain veggies she loves and fruits, i am a very smell and texture person, but forcing myself over that to get healthy) and lots of exercise....

how can i make her play soccer or tennis and go to sport camps when i do nothing but yoga....see i have lit that fire that has not burned in me for a long time and now that it is going again i feel so good!

today's workout inspired me...my knee hurts a little sure, but i won't give up. i have been through this, i know what that means, i know how to care for it, i know it does not mean quit and get lazy and use it as my excuse anymore...i had to use crutches for it once, i won't let it be my crutch anymore!

missing jerry, phase 2 of 5k training and such...

i really miss jerry....i cannot believe it was 15 years ago today he left us....i will never forget where i was or how i heard, it was horrible and all alone, no one understood....i was laughed at, people thought i was some sort of cult member...

it still hurts as much today as it did 15 years ago

i spent late last night updating the dead www.PhantasyTour.com summer tour list and thought of jerry almost my whole running/walking training today.

i make sure to document what music i listen to during my workouts and today i listened to closing of the winterland disc 2....the only thing that kept me from crying was the distraction that moving to the 90 sec jog/2min run in 90+ degree weather is hard for my fat ass...i keep thinking i am doing this first for me and second for the www.RexFoundation.org....i haven't told my family or asked if they will help yet, i think if i do it a few more weeks, to show my commitment, they will be there to sponsor my run and support me...

below is my training blog

i took yesterday off...felt good to rest...i didn't even go for a long walk, just relaxed...

today i went out and upp to phase 2 of the couch to 5k.
this meant my usual warm up walk which was 8.21, then 90 sec jogging/2min walking which i did for just over 21 mins for a total of 1.3 miles!

then i had a nice cool down walk for .6 miles at just over 13 mins...i tried to walk around in the shade because i did not realize going out there that it was about 90 degrees!

humidity not too bad, but wow, upping that program just 30 secs per jog and that heat, i had sweat coming from the creases of my elbows! never in my life have i ever had that happen!

i also pulled out an older sports bra i forgot i had and used that for my run and it really made a difference.
i have never had big girls when working out before, so this is new to me...i was practicing yoga 3 times a week, but it is easy to work around them there...they are not ginormous, but 36-38DD and can get in the way when jogging, so ii have been trying dif bras i have here and a few of my older ones from when i was smaller are working out great...the more recent ones, not so much because i have been losing weight, so while they work for day to day stuff, this jogging, well, not so much!
never thought i would post a blog about that!

as for this blog...i don't know if anyone reads it and that is fine with me either way, this is for me and my records of what i am doing...though a little support is nice too!!!

i am just trying to say that all i put here is to keep track of what i am doing for my sake so maybe if i need to change it, or see a change in my attitude about it, it will all be there, no denying it! i will have to own up to my results! which is fabulous in my opinion

also, i am truly liking the hand writing out my daily results into that $2 desk calendar i bought at barnes & noble last week! i have already seen an improvement in my distance and there is just something about putting it down on paper that is so very satisfying as well as logging them here!

oh well, i think i have finally stopped sweating and cooled down completely now, so off for the shower!

oh one questions (if anyone has actually read this far, if at all!!) is it better to eat before or after exercising? if so how long before or after?
or if eating before is there a certain type of food that is best? or after?

I don't drink gatorade or any of those artifically filled items, so if there is a natural alternative i would love to know....
is smart water a better alternative?

thanks if anyone has any answers for me!

first week completed and such...

i went out tonight and did a nice warm up walk for about 9 mins, 60 sec jog/90 sec walk in just over 21 mins, then cool down walk of 8 mins for a half mile, so cleared 2 miles easily in about 40 mins!

i was going to take today off, but i was really feeling good today and that inspiration is really carrying me...

tomorrow i may take the day off and just walk a few miles, but who knows...as good as i am feeling now, not perfect, just pushing it enough, but not too much to hurt myself....i can maintain reality and not get ahead of myself!

i said that of today, that i would just take a long walk, but when i walked outside at 9pm, i knew i was not going to just walk!

so, by doing this, i technically have completed week one of the training from couch to 5k!

i spent the first part of the week easing into the idea of this program, a long walk on the 2nd (monday), then a .4 mile brisk walk and 1/10 mile jog 3x on tuesday, then a day off and thursday, i kicked in the program

this is good since it will allow me to begin pacing the couch to 5k nicely for the next 6 weeks and not try to force it or overdue it just to make the goal on the date!

i have to say that last 1/2 of that last jog, i was tired, legs felt heavy, but much better than tuesday, or even yesterday!

i am going to compose an email to my family about what i am doing and one to rex foundation as well...they have been very sweet since i have raised/donated $161 to them so far this year and would love to let them know i am going to work to get them more while getting myself healthy!

off to shower and eat some locally grown cantaloupe!!!

week one, almost done and such...

i went to breakfast with dad and juju and came across another local 5k sign up sheet for october 3rd, the skylander!

this is great because my goal is to do the sept 18th one, but this will give me a chance to see how i can improve for the second one just a hair over two weeks later...

i am very excited by this!

i went to barnes and noble today to buy juju a few books for reading while we are in vt and came across a lovely mthly desk calendar for $2 and bought it to keep handwritten notes on exercise and to have my days counted out for each 5k from first day of training.

now being able to have that tangible book in front of me and not a computer that is shut off will help to keep me going!

my couch to 5k will be 7 weeks total and i cannot wait

i am considering getting some of my family to get behind me and maybe see if they would be willing to donate a small sum to a charity i love (rex foundation) to keep me going!

maybe if they gave a few dollars if i complete I will be that much more inspired, but my drive to get healthy and in shape is really fueling my fire!

yesterday i almost wanted to keep going, but i know i need to be careful and not over do it and run the risk of hurting too much then giving myself an excuse....

no excuses, sept 18th and i have a date and my slightly smaller behind will cross that finish line with the intent of jogging the entire way!!

going to try and run a 5k and get healthy and such...

so i am fat and way out of shape, but recently saw someone on twitter say how they ran a 5k....

my daughter has been going a camp where they have a huge sign saying a 5k is coming sept 18th

i googled around a bit and found a training program to get my lazy and fat behind to do a 5k in 9 weeks...only the 5k is seven

i can do this

instead of doing the 3 times a week for nine weeks, i am going to step it up and only give myself a day off between each part of the program

i started monday, i walked about a mile
tuesday i walked 1/3 mile and jogged 1/10 mile
took wed off
thursday i began the program, i did 9 min brisk walk warmup, then 22 mins at 60 secs jogging/90 secs walking
today (friday) i felt a bit sore, but totally inspired (I was once an actual athlete, i rode horses and skied both at very high levels with olympic aspirations, but due to inujries, had to give both up and became very depressed) so i repeated yesterdays work out


i spent many years hiking and still being healthy (i am 36 now and injuries took me out of the running at 17) i skied, biked, snowboarded and so on...

just over ten years ago i became pregnant and had my daughter, but my body went through the insane change and i actually felt lazy, like working out or whatever exhausted me so fast and even though i ate pretty healthy, once i stopped breast feeding, i could eat a grape ad gain weight

i am putting a stop to it now
i lost about 25 pounds over the past year from eating healthier, but slowly they have been creeping back on, so now I am determined to get healthy...

i quit smoking about 5 months back, stopped drinking alocohol (ok i had two at the pool the other day, but that is two drinks in the past 2 months) and just making healthier choices and portion control

i don't deny myself anything at this point, just am very careful when i do indulge to keep it small and WORTH it (a small piece of a good chocolate does so much more for me than a hershey bar ever could!)

so either tomorrow or sunday i will complete the 3rd part of this weeks workout and then it is on to next weeks (but as i said I am going to accelerate it a bit, not a ton but enough to help me get through it safe and on time for the sept 18th 5k)

phase 2 will be 90 secs jogging/120 secs walking x3

i am actually enjoying this so far and look forward to it and this logyourrun program on my iphone is so much better than the one i used to start this with...it is helping to inspire me too because it is much more accurate which made me realize what i did today is much better than the exact same workout yesterday on a much more sloppy and less accurate app!!!