c25k - day 12, 13

So I think running on Sunday, then straining working at the tree made my knees worse. Yesterday my knees were pretty painful; I'd say the worst they have been so far. Since yesterday was a skip day, I rested all day, no long walking except around the building at work, but I was still feeling pretty bad.

Today the knees were pretty sore still. Not as bad as yesterday, but I'm leery about running on them tonight. I did take a nice slow walk today at work, about 1.3 miles according to gmaps pedometer, and it wasnt torture, but it wasnt fun either.

Since technically, the c25k only calls to run 3 times a week, and I have been doing it every other day, I could skip again tonight. I almost feel like its an excuse though, so I'm going to see how I feel later tonight.

c25k day 9 and 11

Day 9
2.5 miles in 33 mins following the week2 podrunner. I tried something different on Friday, and ran early in the morning before work. I didn't like it. I felt like I needed way more stretching, and while my site stitches were a little better (I didn't eat or drink before i ran), my legs suffered more. I also felt much worse on Saturday. My knees were pretty gnarly all day Saturday.

Day 11
2.5 miles in 32 mins week2 podrunner. I ran tonight right before a thunderstorm. Beautiful skies and thunder booming in the distance. As always, on the first running segment in the podrunner series I felt like an idiot because my knees hurt right when I started running, so I ran like a goofball, hunched over and limping for the first 30 seconds. I guess my body adapts, cause I don't feel the pain after about 45 seconds of running. The side stitches weren't bad tonight! It actually made it easier. I thought I picked up the pace a bit, but my time seems about the same as usual.

I got home just as the storm was starting, and after braving a shower during the lightning, I came out to find that the storm blew down our largest tree in the front yard. I spent the last hour or so sawing at branches and the trunk to get it off the fence. I cant believe how large the root system is. Unfortunately the roots went out from side to side, and there was nothing in front or back, so the tree went right over despite roots that were a foot around on the sides. I feel like there is a spiritual example lurking just beneath the surface here, but I'm too tired to pull it out.

c25k day 7

On a non running note, I went to see Transformers Revenge of the Fallen today. It was pretty ok. The first scene that Megan Fox starred in made me almost snort my popcorn. I was already pretty distracted trying to get a glimpse of the infamous club thumb (thanks internet!) then I noticed that Michael Bay tried to crank the sexy dial to eleven, and ended up breaking the knob on accident. I actually snickered. Thank God my wife got an extra dose of hawt sauce.

Back to running! I followed the c25k week 2 podrunner podcast today. The running sections were longer, but so was the walking, so It was hard, but I was able to complete. I (yet again) forgot to record the time, but I followed the same course as the previous days and that's 2.5 miles according to gmaps pedometer.

I definitely need the day off between runs. My knees are still sore. Running hurts! Am I too old for this to get easier, or will my body eventually adapt to the pain? I guess time will tell!

Ow! - c25k day 5

I have these vivid memories of my mom telling me not to swim after eating, and I had flashbacks tonight while running.

I really have no room to complain. Just before I ran out the door, the supermodel that I live with said "You're running now? You just ate!"

I scoffed, and said "Ha! You worry about the runway walk, I'll worry about the Couch to 5k!" and power walked out the door.

Ok, so maybe it didn't happen quite like that, but I should have listened... I had side stitches in both sides for the first half. It went away towards the end, and I finished with relatively minor side pain. The knees really hurt during the first run section of the podcast, but that faded again after the second walking section.

I forgot to record the time, but I followed the same 2.5mi track. I felt slower that than previous two sessions, but I made up for it at the end with an extra run after the podrunner session ended.

old

I feel old today. I wonder when it wont hurt to run short distances?

I walked over to Starbucks with the boys to get a coffee for me and some drinks for them.

c25k day 3

The couch to 5k guide says to skip a day between workouts. The evening of the first workout I was feeling cocky. With a half grin (full of bugs) I was saying "Ha! That wasn't so bad. I'm not going to bother skipping a day!"

Then I woke up yesterday morning and discovered that someone had injected some broken glass under my kneecaps while I was sleeping! I was thankful that I had an excuse to skip the day. I did end up walking to the grocery store to use the REDBOX.

This morning the pain was mostly gone, and as soon as my beautiful wife came home, I stretched and walked out the door with the iPod and started up the podrunner week 1 session again.

The first 5 minutes is a warmup walk, and as soon as the first running interval hit, that stabbing pain right behind my kneecaps was back! Luckily it only lasted for 15 seconds or so, and faded away. It didn't bother me after the second running interval.

About halfway through the workout, my flailing arms smacked the ipod off of my shorts, and the podrunner recording started over =P.

I guessed on the intervals for the next 5 minutes, and then started back up with the running/walking with the music. I just ran the same course as yesterday, so the distance was the same.

Started at 3:45pm, ended at 4:17pm for a total of 2.5 miles in approx 32 mins.

The side stitches seemed worse today than the day before, but before it became unbearable, the walking section would kick in, and I'd have a chance to get it under control for a minute.

BUGS! C25k - day1

I ran/walked 2.5 miles following the week 1 for the Couch to 5k program. I borrowed my son's iPod and put the first podrunner MP3 on it, and just followed the audio queues.

It was awesome! If you think mosquito frenzy, side stitches, and miller moths are awesome, then it was awesome! The good thing is that there is a lot of protein in insects, so I can skip my late night snack tonight.

broke 'em in

Took a walk/run tonight to test out the new shoes. Mostly walking. Gmap pedometer says it was approx 1.5 miles. Took the boys and my sweetheart along. The boys pooped out after about a mile. I forgot to record that start and stop time, so bleh.

During the walk, I ran for about 1 minute, and towards the end of that minute, my heart skipped a couple beats. I felt that before when exercising, and I just slowed to a walk, and it went away. I ran for a few more 30 second intervals and it didn't come back.
My feet feel fine, though since we mostly walked, that's hardly surprising. My right heel felt a little sore, but that's gone already.

I've had some kidney pain the last few days, and it went up slightly during the walk, but not enough to write home about. Is this too much for a public blog? Maybe I should make a TV commercial about the meds you can take to cool that uncomfortable burning sensation. On that note, I noticed how cool my feet felt the whole time. The shoes seem very light. I might have to reconsider those Darth Vader shoes for possible work attire. ;)

Shoes!

So I went for professional help. I stopped at Boulder Running Company after work today, and they had me try on a pair of shoes, then walk on a treadmill. They recorded my feet as I awkwardly walked/ran in place. Then they played the video back and showed me how bad it was. Apparently I wasn't paying attention in walking class, cause I failed!

Apparently, my left foot pronates when I walk (don't ask what that means) and because of that, the only shoes I should be wearing belong in a movie starring Tom Hanks. If left with no attention, this pronation can lead to foot pain as well as knee pain, shin splints, achilles tendinitis, posterior tibial tendinitis, Piriformis syndrome, plantar fasciitis, and fatal halitosis.

After we were done watching the horror flicks, I tried on a series of shoes (a different one on each foot) until I found one that felt the best. Once I narrowed it down to two shoes, I tried on the same of each, and ran outside the store a bit on each.

Ultimately I ended up liking the feel of Saucony shoes the best. The salesman that did the analysis and subsequent shoe parade said "Well great! I buy nothing but Saucony shoes myself!" and headed to the counter while telling me about the origins of the company. (founded in 1898, made the boots worn by the first American astronaut to walk in space)

Before he made it to the counter I asked the question. "So, whats the price on these?"
He paused, and almost looked like I had hurt his feelings.
I think to myself, yikes! This is gonna hurt...
He launches into an explanation about how all the shoes are all in the same price range,
oh no, he's building up for something really bad
and how they have a great 30 day return policy
mommeeeeeeee
and then drops it. "They are $110 dollars."

Ouch! I told him I wanted to look around the store a bit, which is kind of funny cause you can see everything in the store within 30 seconds of walking in, but I needed time to stall. I looked at the pricetags on all the other shoes, and sure enough, they were all around $100. There were a pair of $80 shoes lurking in the corner, but they were all black and looked like something that Darth Vader might jog in.

I started reasoning with myself that maybe if I shell out the bucks now, I'll be more motivated to actually follow through with running, and my friend paid the registration fee for the 5k, and good shoes are important if I dont want to injure myself, and my dog ate my homework.

I bought them. I think he felt bad for me when he saw the pained look on my face. He told me about a running club in town that gets together every Tuesday night and runs 3 miles. Afterward they serve free spaghetti and cheap beer. He probably thought I needed a drink.

So now I'm at home with a pretty ugly pair of shoes that cost me more than the wardrobe that I normally wear in a week. That sounds pretty pitiful, but I normally pride myself on finding amazing deals on clothes. The shoes I wore to work today cost $5.00. That's right, I could have bought 20 pair of shoes at that ratio.

In any case, now I have no excuse! Maybe after the boys go to bed, I'll take a nice brisk walk around my neighborhood and see if I can still feel the pain where my money used to be.

Its on!

I've been signed up for a race!

In the spirit of encouragement (evil glee?) someone signed me up for a 5k. If I weren't under the effect of narcotics for a kidney stone, I'd probably have that nervous feeling in the pit of my whatever.

Here is some info on the race:
http://tr.im/oJiC
http://tr.im/oJjJ

Now I need to get shoes quick! I'm going to need the 3 months to prepare to walk farther than the distance from my couch to the fridge!

I'll probably stop at the Boulder Running Company this week to have my gait analyzed. Maybe that will help with my shoe intimidation issues.

too many choices!

My wife and I had the opportunity to go see Star Trek the other day. Absolutely fantastic movie! After the show, we didn't want to waste precious babysitter hours (thanks sis!), so we walked over to the nearby Dick's Sporting Goods to look around.

After entering the store we waded through a sea of sports related clothing, and approached the WALL OF SHOES!

There were running shoe choices ranging from borderline expensive to stupidly expensive in such quantity that I couldn't have tried them all on if I had a whole day in the store. I suppose I shouldnt have been surprised, but this was just the running shoe section!

In any case, my first reaction was to run away from the scary shoe wall. I managed to keep it under control and leave the shoe section without making a scene. We walked through the rest of the store, and I continued to be amazed at the amount of gear one could purchase for running!

We left the store without spending any money, and enjoyed the rest of our evening.

I think I'll seek out some more advice and try again!

1st post!

A friend of mine decided to do something ridiculous. He set himself a goal of running at least a mile a day every day for one year solid. He met his goal, and is now working on year two with no days missed! He's lost a lot of weight, has great stories to tell, and inspired me to follow his example!

I'm not an active guy. I don't like sports, or exercising. The thought of running every day tends to make me want to weep and gnash my teeth. Unfortunately my age is beyond the point where I can maintain a sedentary lifestyle and still give the appearance of being healthy, so I need to do something! I like the idea of setting out a goal and tracking my progress toward that goal.

So here we go! I plan to use this blog to record my experiences as I start down the road of a one year streak run!

Since I'm so out of shape I don't think it would be smart to just head out the door and start running, so I'm going to start with the couch to 5k plan. Before I can do that, I really need some proper shoes! As sad as it is, if I were to try walking any length on the shoes I own today, I'd probably get blisters after 5 or 10 minutes.

Next step: budget for, and acquire shoes!