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amandac777I decided to join folks in starting the Couch-to-5K running plan today. It promises that Week 1 is good for lazy bums like me, then you work your way up to a 30 min (or 3 mi) jog in two months. So I went out today all full of motivation and self-efficacy and other vital stuff I learned about in ed psych ... all of which were gradually lost over the course of the workout.
My plan was to get up early and get going, which never happens. I thought about waiting until evening, but it's supposed to rain tonight, so I went with mid-day instead. I loaded up my mp3 player with relatively fast songs (though I don't have enough *really* high-energy songs; I need to get some. Preferably in a way that doesn't involve spending money), stretched, and was ready to go. Sort of. I stupidly stretched before I was *actually* ready to go, though I don't know what effect that had, if any. Also, I realized that after I had sorted through all my shorts and loose pants to find a decent pair of running shorts that fit (very few, right there), the only decent pair I'd come up with had no pockets, as most running shorts don't. Which would probably be okay. Except that I was planning on driving to a gorgeous local park to work out, and while I'd already decided to leave most stuff in the car, I really did need somewhere to put my car key. So I switched to lesser shorts, pulled my hair up, put my shoes on, and was on my way. At 11:30 or so.
In week 1, you warm up with a 5-min walk, then alternate 60 sec jogging with 90 sec walking for 20 min total (8 reps). I had picked the prettiest, least busy part of the park to start in, so my start was very pleasant. It stayed that way through about 30 seconds of the first jog. And then it went downhill rapidly. Worse, while I was feeling ready to start running again by the time the 90 sec was up, my "okay" times were getting shorter and my recovery times were getting much longer with each rep. By halfway through, I was seriously concerned about my ability to stay upright on the jogs.
After the fifth one, I decided to switch to 40 sec of running rather than 60, still walking to the 2:30 mark (I was resetting the stopwatch function right before jogging each time), then I added an extra rep to make up for it, plus a final 30 sec rep after that. At least, I *think* that's what I did -- I definitely lost count somewhere around 6 or 7, and since my timing wasn't exact on the walking stages, I couldn't just check the total time. However, including the 5 min warm up and similar cool down, my plan was to be moving from 11:43 to at least 12:13, and it was 12:18 when I got back to my car, so overall I'm going to count this a success.
Then, of course, the thought of what I was planning to have for lunch was making me nauseous, so I swung by Subway on the way home, being careful not to touch anything due to sweatiness. Which meant that I seriously had a hard time staying upright in the long line.
Future plans/considerations:
-- It's possible I don't know *how* to jog -- is there a difference between jogging and running slowly??
-- Possibly more energetic music.
-- Better workout clothes. In the sense of *actual* workout clothes, albeit cheap ones.
-- Early mornings. Or at least mid-mornings. But not mid-days. If nothing else, the smell of barbecuing was driving me crazy.
-- Start on the other side of the park. That should put the middle of my workout in the nicer side, when I may need the motivation (and isolation!) more.
-- Finally, I'm seriously going to add a week 0 in. I'll work out the exact details later, but roughly, start with rotations of 30-45 sec of running with 1:15-1:30 of walking, going for the same total workout time, for the rest of this week, at least. I'll jump up to Week 1 next week. After all, they really do say that work-out plans are supposed to be flexible.
My plan was to get up early and get going, which never happens. I thought about waiting until evening, but it's supposed to rain tonight, so I went with mid-day instead. I loaded up my mp3 player with relatively fast songs (though I don't have enough *really* high-energy songs; I need to get some. Preferably in a way that doesn't involve spending money), stretched, and was ready to go. Sort of. I stupidly stretched before I was *actually* ready to go, though I don't know what effect that had, if any. Also, I realized that after I had sorted through all my shorts and loose pants to find a decent pair of running shorts that fit (very few, right there), the only decent pair I'd come up with had no pockets, as most running shorts don't. Which would probably be okay. Except that I was planning on driving to a gorgeous local park to work out, and while I'd already decided to leave most stuff in the car, I really did need somewhere to put my car key. So I switched to lesser shorts, pulled my hair up, put my shoes on, and was on my way. At 11:30 or so.
In week 1, you warm up with a 5-min walk, then alternate 60 sec jogging with 90 sec walking for 20 min total (8 reps). I had picked the prettiest, least busy part of the park to start in, so my start was very pleasant. It stayed that way through about 30 seconds of the first jog. And then it went downhill rapidly. Worse, while I was feeling ready to start running again by the time the 90 sec was up, my "okay" times were getting shorter and my recovery times were getting much longer with each rep. By halfway through, I was seriously concerned about my ability to stay upright on the jogs.
After the fifth one, I decided to switch to 40 sec of running rather than 60, still walking to the 2:30 mark (I was resetting the stopwatch function right before jogging each time), then I added an extra rep to make up for it, plus a final 30 sec rep after that. At least, I *think* that's what I did -- I definitely lost count somewhere around 6 or 7, and since my timing wasn't exact on the walking stages, I couldn't just check the total time. However, including the 5 min warm up and similar cool down, my plan was to be moving from 11:43 to at least 12:13, and it was 12:18 when I got back to my car, so overall I'm going to count this a success.
Then, of course, the thought of what I was planning to have for lunch was making me nauseous, so I swung by Subway on the way home, being careful not to touch anything due to sweatiness. Which meant that I seriously had a hard time staying upright in the long line.
Future plans/considerations:
-- It's possible I don't know *how* to jog -- is there a difference between jogging and running slowly??
-- Possibly more energetic music.
-- Better workout clothes. In the sense of *actual* workout clothes, albeit cheap ones.
-- Early mornings. Or at least mid-mornings. But not mid-days. If nothing else, the smell of barbecuing was driving me crazy.
-- Start on the other side of the park. That should put the middle of my workout in the nicer side, when I may need the motivation (and isolation!) more.
-- Finally, I'm seriously going to add a week 0 in. I'll work out the exact details later, but roughly, start with rotations of 30-45 sec of running with 1:15-1:30 of walking, going for the same total workout time, for the rest of this week, at least. I'll jump up to Week 1 next week. After all, they really do say that work-out plans are supposed to be flexible.
