Yesterday it occurred to me that it was around May, 2011, I had started running with the Couch to 5K program. Guess what? It was May 11! Exactly one year ago today, I posted the following:
EXERCISE: I went out to meet up with my friend, and I was a little early arriving and Zoe had fallen asleep in her carseat. I decided to go ahead and try Week One: Workout 1 of the Couch to 5K program! 5 minutes of brisk walking warm-up, 60 seconds of jogging, 90 seconds of walking all to total 20 minutes. It was awesome!! I do believe now that the Born to Run book is getting to me a bit...I tried to focus on the awesomeness of the blue sky and the green trees, the slight breeze, and just the peacefulness of my surroundings. Beautiful! In the beginning I realized I kind of don't know how to "jog" (long legs=long stride), but by the final 60 seconds, I am pretty sure I had slowed down plenty to count as jogging. I completed 2 miles, but may have gone over the 20 minutes a little bit. I was pushing the stroller, and kept alternating which hand was holding the phone/stopwatch and which hand was pushing the stroller. I am looking forward to this program, thanks, Ashley!! After that, Zoe was wide awake and wanting to play at the playground we kept going past, so I let her get out and slide and climb a bit. When my friend showed up, Zoe went back in the stroller with some snacks and we headed back out to the track. We only got 1.5 miles in before Zoe had had enough of the heat and the being pushed around in the heat. I felt great, but a little worn out when we got home for her naptime, so I decided to lay around while she was doing the same. In between all the fruit salad I was eating. Ha!Wow. So, in one year I have run several 5K's, one 8K, two 10K's, two Half Marathons, and one Full Marathon. Holy moly, right?
This month I have taken up bicycling. I started with a new personal trainer last week and he was very interested in getting me away from all the running for at least this month. I told him I have a training program I would like to start on June 10 to prepare for the Women's Half in Nashville in September (this is significant to me for 2 reasons, to be discussed later), but I also would like to get into a different routine over the next few weeks in order for cross training to come easier to me when I start back up with all the running miles!
So, I am doing his weight lifting regime 3 days a week and I found a bicycle training program here: http://beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=1671. I used to think riding a bike was too easy to be any good at actually burning calories...turns out I was way wrong. Wow. First of all, will the pain in my "butt" go away? Ouch! I'm sure I am bruised! Sitting on the seat hurts and then, at the end, getting up hurts. I am tempted to sit in the comfy low-riding bike seats, but I really do hope to get a "real" bike one day and I guess I'd better train my butt now for the seat!
Secondly, 85-92 RPM's is kinda fast and hard to maintain. Thirdly, 55-65 RPM's is super slow and easy...until you up the "resistance"...and then, by the end of 4 minutes, my heart rate is all high and I'm just counting down the seconds for my recovery 3 minutes! By the way, on a bike - 3 minutes is super fast. Just sayin'.
I really am enjoying myself, though. I have another meeting with my trainer, LaRue, this morning, and I'm sure he's going to increase the weight training. Eeek. What I am very excited about with him is that he totally understands what I am after. He knows I have no interest in being "strong"...I don't care about being able to lift hundreds of pounds or anything like that. I know, I know - I'm supposed to worry about being "healthy", not "skinny". Sorry, but this is my blog and I'm not afraid to confess I want to be skinny. I do. I never have been, and maybe my idea of skinny isn't the world's idea of skinny, but I want to feel good in my clothes. All the time. I will never wear a bikini or short shirts, but I want to be able to put on a t-shirt and not have to stare at myself in the mirror from every angle to see which way I need to stand all night long. Ha.
So, on that note, I explained to LaRue that I understand cross training is necessary to keep my body safe while running, and I am totally okay with doing the weights and the other exercises. I will begin my training in June with the hopes of breaking the 2 hour mark in September...and I truly believe I need to be about 20 pounds lighter by then in order to really accomplish that. LaRue got me thinking, though, and I have to admit I am likely right now at my pre-all-my-pregnancies weight. Crazy. He explained to me I am now needing to focus on the distribution of that weight. My body will never be the same, I get that. It doesn't mean I can't want it to be better than the way it is now, right?
Okay, lots of rambling. I am truly having a rough time with the twins this morning and I guess I am using my "work" as an excuse to look busy. :)
Have a great day!
