Week 2, Done!

Saturday, January 30, 2021 ~ Week 2 is done! Woo Hoo! Thankful for the Lord allowing us to finish two weeks worth. Once a month, for a weekend, we head to Wheelersburg to visit. We started going down once a month to help with Justin's grandfather who was ill. He has since passed away. We wanted to keep coming once a month, so we are! We will be helping Justin's grandma with various things at her home. And just to visit :) While we were down there this weekend, we knew our Week 2, Day 3 would fall on Saturday. We called the local Planet Fitness and asked if we could just come and use the treadmills and be there for maybe 30-40 minutes. They said sure! We got there Saturday morning, signed a waiver, and got our workout in. It was too cold to do it outside. There was some snow and lingering ice on the ground, so we didn't want to risk falling. It was very handy to use Planet Fitness and we really liked it. Hopefully it's a little warmer when we go down next month so we can do it outside at the high school track. Week 2, done! Now on to week 3....

Week 2, Day 2

Wednesday, January 27, 2021 ~ Today's routine was the same as Monday's. Oliver and I got to the YMCA around 9:45, and again, he was excited to go play in the Child Watch room. You need to sign up ahead of time to reserve his spot (to control numbers) so there were only a few other kids in there with him. I started the same: 5 minute brisk warm up walk, followed by 1 1/2 minutes of jogging, then 2 minutes of walking, for a total of 6 runs. I then ended with a 5 minute cool down walk. I was feeling pretty good, so I continued walking after the program said I was done. I finished today's program in 30 minutes for a total of 1.66 miles, but continued walking until I hit 3 miles. It was a total of 53 minutes. I was sweating real good, which I always love! Feels good to get a good sweat on! My knee wasn't too bad this time. I started icing it more regularly which I'm sure is what's helping. I've also read that once I loose the weight I want, and as my legs get stronger, it will help my knee out. Let's hope! The 90 second runs were hard, but not horrible. I was able to up my speed towards the end; the last couple runs. Have one more day of this second week. Til' next time!

Week 2, Let's Go!

Monday, January 25, 2021 ~ Today was the first day of week 2 on the Couch 2 5K program. Ollie and I got to the YMCA around 9:15. He was thrilled to be able to go play in the Child Watch! They had a big hot wheels car track toy, so he was in heaven. The program changed some this week. It started with a brisk 5 minute warm up walk, as it usually does, followed by 1 1/2 minutes of jogging, then 2 minutes of walking. Repeat. There was a total of 6 runs, and then ended with the usual 5 minute cool down walk. My knee was bothering me againt today. It's the left one; the one that had the ACL repair. It hurt right in the middle, underneath my knee cap. I took some Advil before we left, hoping that would help. Some days it doesn't bother me at all. So odd. Today's workout was 30 minutes long for a total of 1.66 miles. Week 2, Day 1, check!

Week 1 Done!

Friday, January 22, 2021 ~ Today was week 1, day 3 of the program. The first week is done! Always a big accomplishment, right? They say it takes a week to create a routine, so here's to hoping this is my new routine. Today I got to run inside at our local YMCA on the treadmill. Last night, we applied for their financial aid program. If approved, it would reduce our monthly payment quite a bit. It takes several weeks to hear back, so while you wait, you get to use the facility at a discounted price. We had a credit on our account for some reason, so it only cost us a whopping $2.15 for a month and a half. Score! Because of Covid and the craziness that surrounds it, I had to wear a mask when I was in the building, but could take it off while on the treadmill. So, virus' can't get ya when you're on machines apparently. Oh, don't get me started on all the things that don't make sense! Anyway. Week 1 day 3 was 30 minutes long and I walked/jogged for 1.62 miles. I felt good! Much better than day 2. No burning lungs! Makes it easier when you can run in perfect, flat, no wind, warm 72 degree conditions. I walked at 3 mph for the most part, and jogged at 4.5 mph. Slow and steady wins the race, right?! My knee didn't bother me much at all this time, which was great. The worst part was walking outside to the 30 degree weather. I was sweaty, so the harsh wind hitting me and my sweat covered self was awesome...{insert eye roll}. All in all, I'm thankful to finish week 1 and looking forward to starting week 2 on Monday! Week 1, DONE!

Couch 2 5K Week 1, Day 2

January 20, 2021 ~ Yesterday, Ollie and I drove down to southern Ohio to surprise Justin's grandma for her birthday. The following day, Wednesday, was my training day, so I knew I needed to pack clothes to walk/jog outside the next morning. I knew it was goig to be hard. It would be around 30 degrees, windy, and several hills to tackle. Difficult is the right word. It was a lot harder doing it outside than it was my first day inside on Beth's treadmill. The 5 minute warm up walk was fine, but once I strated jogging, my lungs were burning. I also had pain in my back between my shoulder blades. I can probably blame that on my horrible running form. Beth has tips for me to help with that! I tend to hunch over too much. My legs were also more tired than day 1 because of the several uphill jogs I had to do. But, despite it being really hard, I finished! I was a little discouraged after because I was so dead. I was remembering when running used to be so easy. You know, back when I was 20 and in really good shape and many pounds lighter. I'll get there. It may not ever be like it was when I was 20, but one day, it won't hurt as much. I have to remember I'm not 18 anymore. I'll be 40 in March. {gasp!} Despite the hard days, we press on! 92 days til' the 5K...

Couch 2 5K ~ Week 1, Day 1

I woke up this morning and one of the first things on my mind was this: "today I start the Couch 2 5K program. Why did I sign up for this?! Why did I sign up for a 5K this April?" My mind was flooded with negative thoughts. Negative thinking. No! No more! I quickly changed my attitude to: "Today starts a new journey! Today I'm going to change my life!" Because it's January and I live in Ohio, that means it's cold outside. Every day. And the sun rarely comes out. It's just a bunch of crappy with a side of awful most days! I've tried to embrace winter and the "beauty of the season", but honestly, it's just hard. Because of the snow outside and the very cold temps, my sister Beth graciously is allowing me to use her treadmill at their house while it's yucky outside. So, my son and I arrive at her farmhouse today to begin day 1 of my new training program. She takes me upstairs to show me how to get it started, sets up her ipad so I can watch something on Netflix while I exercise. I hit "start" on my running app and on the treadmill, and off I go. I notice right away that the treadmill belt is skipping some. I almost biff it a few times! Ha! I tell Beth about it and she looks a little puzzled; like it hasn't happened to her before. Well, let me just remind you that Beth and my niece Emma are maybe 100 pounds soaking wet. I am...not. I'm sure when they both run on this treadmill, it's not sqeaking and making these noises. It's like the treadmill was saying..."Whoa, who in the world is this?? Ouch!!" You have to find the humor in it, right? This poor treadmill is used to two small ladies running on it with perfect form, gazelle like speed, etc. And then here I come... I wanted a program that started me out slowly. I didn't want to set the bar too high, too quickly. This app is perfect for this. It started with a 5 minute brisk warm up walk, followed by 1 minute of jogging, and then 90 seconds of walking. Repeat for 30 minutes, ending with a 5 minute cool down walk. I survived!! My knee hurt, due to an old ACL injury and surgery that I had, but otherwise felt ok. Beth is also having me do a couple differnt hip exercises that will help my knee too. Strong hips = stronger knees. I'm sure I'll be sore as heck tomorrow. This program starts out with you walking/running 3 times a week, and then you slowly build up your time and distance over the course of 10 weeks or so. Justin and I signed up for a 5K that is on April 24 in downtown Columbus. It's the Cap City Half Marathon and 10K and Commit to Be Fit 5K. Now that we are signed up, I have a goal to achieve. To finish. Does that mean I have to run super fast and have a record setting time? No. I just want to run it and finish. That's my goal. And once we finish, we start working towards the next goal. And dang it, I want to put one of those 5K stickers on my car!! Usually I would gravitate towards the one that says "0.0 I don't run." I always joke that if someone saw me running, they better run too because something is probably chasing me. Day 1, check!

How Did I Get Here?

How did I get here? That's a good question. It happened overnight, yet in reality, it was over the course of many years. What's the "it" I'm referring to? Being overweight. It's hard to even type that word. Well, let me explain... I started playing soccer when I was 5 years old. My two older sisters did, and I wanted to be like them, so naturally I started as soon as I could. By age 9, I was playing competitive, travel soccer. I made my first traveling/club team. For the next 11 years, this was my life. I played travel soccer, olympic development soccer, varsity soccer all 4 years of high school, and two years in college. Because I played at a high level for so many years, I had to train. Constantly. I didn't have a choice. If I even took a few days off, I felt it. I'd fall behind. So, running was never done out of leisure. Never for "fun". It was always something I HAD TO DO. If we had a horrible game, we would run more at practice. If we played bad, we were told the dreaded words that any soccer player hates to hear....just bring your running shoes to practice. Great. I kind of envived people who could go to the gym and just do whatever they wanted. I had to run. It was something you did more of when you were in trouble with your coach. Never for fun. When I would hear about or see people running "just for fun", I would wonder what was wrong with them! "So, you like, CHOOSE to go out and do this to yourself?" Weirdo. It was a mystery to me. In my world, running was never done for fun. So how did I gain the weight? Let me explain... After my soccer career ended, I was so burnt out. I had been playing the sport for 17 years and I was just DONE. My last and final year playing was in my hometown in California at the local community college. It was an awful experience. For many reasons. I didn't even finish the season. It was such a toxic environment that I quit 3/4 of the way through the season. That's when I started gaining weight. I had played soccer for so long and trained so much, that I could eat however I wanted, whatever I wanted. I can't remember ever caring about nutrition, healthy eating, etc. My diet consisted of fast food, pizza, mac n cheese....the basic food staples of most kids in their late teen years. When soccer stopped, the eating stayed the same. I didn't change a thing. I was so relieved when soccer was over that I didn't work out at all. Not a thing. I very quickly fell out of shape and the pounds stared to pile on. I would do tae bo classes here and there, go for walks sometimes, cardio kickboxing maybe, but not nearly enough to fight off the weight. Before I knew it, I had gained a lot. I was shocked at how quickly it happened. I would get so discouraged by it, I'd just deal with those emotions by eating more. That would help right? Uh, no. Lame response. When my soccer career ended, I weighed about 160 pounds. I was muscular, toned, healthy. Mercy sakes, I HAD ABS!! Now, all these years later, I am well over that. One day I will share my weight as I begin this new running program, but not yet! Yes, I'm too chicken to. I will say there is a "2" in the front. So what now? Why take back your life now? I'll explain... I will be 40 in March. My joints are always hurting. I have low energy. I want to keep up with my 3 year old son. I want to be healthy. My mom died of cancer, and one of the things that fights off cancer is a healthy diet; low sugar. For my husband. I know he loves me no matter what, but I want him to have the best of me. And by golly, I'm just sick of feeling crappy. But, most importantly, I need to be a good steward of the body God has given me. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says " Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." My prayer is that the Lord would help me to focus on why I do this. When it gets hard, remember. When I don't want to run or walk or move my body, remember. When I'd rather have mac n cheese for lunch instead of a healty smoothie, remember it was mac n cheese that got you into this mess. I will be as transparents as possible along the way. It's hard for me to, but I will. It's embarrassing, shameful, and I hate it, but if it helps someone else who is overweight to start tackling this and taking it by the horns, then awesome. Here we go!! Thanks for following!!