Week 5 Day 3

Completed week 5. It was the first run with no walking breaks, two miles/ 20 minutes. The run felt long about half way through, but after that it went well. Its like after I got over the hump I was all set. I considered running farther, because I ended three quarters of a mile from home. I had done my three mile loop, so it was about right for the two miles I was supposed to run.

I didn't have a chance to make a podcast for week 5 day 3 yet, so I ran to Ullreys podcast. I'm liking my podcasts more and more as I hear his techno mixes.

I am thinking about running everyday once I get through next week. I would just do short runs on the days I don't do the program. I'm not hurting anymore on the day after runs, so I think I would be just fine doing that. In-fact, I may do it next week. I'll see how I feel in the morning.

Week 5 Day 2

It rained again today. I really couldn't stand to miss another day, so I headed to the gym for the treadmill. I have to say, I am not a fan of treadmills. after that run more so. I think I would have been a lot better running my usual route. I ran a little to fast at first, and didn't feel like a recuperated between the two well. I was able to get through the second run, but it took me a good ten minutes after that run to catch my breath fully.

I still felt like working out afterwords, and the gym was mostly deserted. I got into the pool and swam some laps, I suck at that too. I feel like I have chlorine breath from all the water I drank. I just can't get a full breath in while I am swimming. I ended up swimming breast stroke one way, then a backwards stroke thingy the other. I could feel my arm muscles working, so it had to be doing something for me.

Week 5 Day....... crap its raining.....crap the gym is closed

I was going to run in the afternoon, it was supposed to be a nice day out. It rained all afternoon. So I decided to go to the gym and just use the treadmill. Nope, its Halloween the gym closed early. I'll go tomorrow I guess.

Week 5 Day 1

Today was the beginning of week 5. I started the run out with no doubt that I could make it through the 5 minute sections, and that's just how it went down. I paced myself nicely at the beginning of the first run. Sped the second one up a little bit, and by the third one I was moving pretty fast. Perhaps to fast. I was feeling in by the end of the last five minutes.

I ended pretty close to home while running the two mile loop. Week 6 I think I will have to do the three mile loop.

Week 4 Day 3

Finished with week 4. I was flying on the first and second run. I knew I was going too fast, but it felt good. It was the pace I would like to run at after I get more into running. I'm not ready for it though. I was huffing and puffing by the third run. I kept up at it though. I was slow, but I was still going. I didn't stop my jogs.

It rained all day, I though I was going to have to go to the treadmill for this one. It cleared up enough that it was just dark and dreary when I got home. The pavement was dry so I decided head outside.

I need to get my next pod casts set up. Now that I have gotten it down, I think I will make some of them better, and maybe go back and redo the first weeks.

I was a little nervous about going into next week, but I looked at the next days run and it doesn't look bad at all. I just have to pace myself starting out. If I have extra oomf in me, I'll burn it on the last run, not the first.

Week 4 Day 2

Half way! I finished by half way point today. I'm still struggling with the 5 minute portions, but I get through them. The first one is usually fairly easy.

I didn't really feel like getting up this morning and thought about waiting til later in the day, luckily I pulled myself out of bed and get dressed. It was warm enough to go in shorts and a tee shirt, and cool enough to not get too hot.

I am staying at my brothers house out on the eastern shore of Virginia, so I had to find a new route. The one I picked I figured would have the least traffic, but I had to go through a stoplight. Luckily it was Sunday early morning, and there was no traffic. I hit it in a walking phase both directions, and walked right across the main road.

I ended up going about 2.6 miles, but it seemed like I walked a long way after the five minute cool down walk. I think I could run farther then the five minutes, but I'm not sure how far. One more day, and I'll be into week five.

Week 4 Day 1

This run sucked. I felt like I was really pushing myself at times to keep running. I made it through without stopping any of the run early though. Then when I would go into my walk and think back, I couldn't even figure out why the running portion was difficult. I think it may have been more of a mental thing then anything. The 5 minute portions seemed like forever.

I think I will do a lot better on day 2, I don't hurt at all from the run, and now I know I can do it. I went farther then any other week, I did the two mile loop plus passed my house, and kept going for a while, I think on day three I will do my three mile loop. It will be nice to have a change of scenery.

I finished up my week four podcast and used that to run. The music was good, and it was easy to follow. I think I will do three separate podcasts for weeks that have different runs.

Week 3 Day 3

Today's run went awesome. My body was feeling great, by shins hurt a little bit, I think because I was going a little faster then usual. I'll get into my thoughts on that in a few minutes.

I passed another guy, running the opposite way, as I was on my way out of the neighborhood. I've never even seen anyone running around here, maybe I started something. They figure if this fat guy can run, I probably should too.

Yesterday I decided to retry my hand at making my own podcast. I searched the internet, and found creative commons music that is free for non-commercial use. I grabbed a bunch of music that sounded pretty decent, and found the beats per minute. I took all the songs with 100-150 beats per minute and put them in a folder. I am randomly pulling songs from that folder and putting them in my podcasts. I've finished up weeks 1 through 3, and will have to finish 4 tomorrow so that I can use it on Friday.

I'll be posting my podcasts at http://c25kpodcast.podbean.com/ and will find a good way to display them on my page here. At first the files were huge, and I would have hit my storage limit within the first few weeks, but I decreased the bitrate, and they still sound fine, but are four times as small.

They sound great, and I feel they are better then Ullreys. The good beats per minute seemed to speed me up, and that felt good.

Week 3 Day 2

I did OK on the run, but am sore right now. When I would run I would be short of breath, but other then that good. When I would walk my legs were cramping up. I think the camping up had to due with it being a little hilly here at my in-laws. My legs just aren't use to them at home when I run.

I was looking around for other podcasts today, and didn't find any I like. I read alot of people talking about Robert Urlley's podcasts, and complaining about a few things. One of them is the main problem I have with the podcasts, sometimes he uses the word go, and sometimes he doesn't. The other thing people complain about are that they are techno. I think he went with techno music for a few reasons. Techno is easy to find for free commercial use, so there is no worry about royalties or the dickhead RIAA lawsuits. The other reason he went techno is because its easy to find higher beats per minute (BPM). It tends to affect speed if you have a faster or slower BPM. A BPM of 120-150 is ideal for C25K I think. I'm not sure what Urlley's BPM is.

I've been having trouble falling asleep on the day of my runs. Even when I stay up, I don't feel tired in the morning. If I can't sleep tonight, I think I will look into it more.

Week 3 Day 1

The rain cleared up long enough for me to go run. It was cold though. I wore thermals under my workout cloths, looking back that was way to much I think. I was a little over heated, and the thermals are skin tight. Which looks great on my lower legs, cause they are all muscly now. The rest of my body just needs to catch up with them.

It was defiantly an off day for me. I was able to do all the running and walking on time, but didn't go as far as I normally do on the past weeks. Maybe that's just how this week will be. I struggled with the second 3 minute run, but made it through. Hopefully the next run goes better, but I'll be at my mother-in-laws and its a bit more hilly there.

I decided to try out some new podcasts, and found one with no music. Lestyn's C25K Podcasts uses a computer voice to tell you when to run and walk. When I was adding music to the podcast I noticed a problem with the week 3 podcast. During one of the three minute walk intervals it goes for 5 minutes instead of 3. This may or may not make a big difference to some people, but I want it to be as accurate as possible for myself. I think I will go back to Robert Ullery's podcast. The beat on it is a good pace to run to. The only minor problem I have with it is sometimes he says "go!" and sometimes he doesn't. That can be confusing when you are waiting for the go to start running.

Week 2 Day 3

The area around where I live and run are a lot of forest. The other day when I was running, I saw two deer running through a meadow next to the road. It was neat, even though I see deer all the time, its neat to see them. Today however was different. I read a news article about a kid playing football and getting tackled by a deer. This wasn't The Onion or anything like that either, this was real news. So I watched in the woods a great deal as I ran so as not to get tackled. What can I say I am a little paranoid, that's why I don't watch scary movies before bed. Somehow in my head it increases the risk of getting axe murdered while I sleep.

The run went well besides my paranoia. Wasn't too hard, and I didn't have any unusual aches and pains.  The road was a little damp and I was worried about getting rained on but it held out till I got home. I would have gone to the gym and run on the treadmill instead if it had rained.

Week 2 Day 2

Wow, almost didn't make this one. Had to go on the road for work at the end of the day, and didn't get home till about six. It was starting to get a little dark out, but it wasn't really really dark yet. I was worried it would get really dark like half way through my run.

Luckily it went well. Traffic on the main road near the house sucked. One lady drove by honked and pointed toward the side of the road. I think she wanted me to run in the ditch by the side of the road. That's always a bad spot to run on because its a huge blind corner. I just stick to the outside of the corner so people can see me better.

My legs didn't hurt to much this time, we'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Week 2 Day 1

Run went well, I felt like I could have kept going. The bottoms of my feet did hurt some afterwords, but that went away after a while. I think this week will be fairly easy, and next week will be harder.

Day after Week 1 Day 3

I feel fine today, it seems like I have better recovery time after each day of running.

Week 1 Day 3

Just finished up Week 1 Day 3!!! I'm not sure why, but my feet are killing me after this time. I am attributing it to being an off day, I'm sure it was nothing. There were times my legs would hurt, I just kept going, and eventually the pain would go away. I was glad to be done with the first week.

After I was done, I stretched out, and did some yoga on the wii fit for a while, I find it helpful to stretch, but I am more shaky after running. After work and before my run I went to the gym on base and lifted weights for a while, I was the only one in the gym, not sure where everyone else was.

I think I will start Week 2 Day 1 on Sunday, and keep doing every other day. I'm not sure that's how its supposed to be done, but I'll do it anyways.

Week 1 Day 2

Worked out in the gym on base today after work for 45 minutes of strength training. Knowing I was going to run I went very light on the legs, and concentrated on upper body and abs.

Then a quick shirt change while driving, and I headed over to Onelife fitness and jumped on the Eliptical. I didn't want to burn my legs out, so I went very light, raising my heart rate enough to matter, but keeping the resistance down enough not to wear myself out.

After diner and a bit of relaxing, I changed cloths, and stretched out. It was not dark yet, but wasn't really bright out, and there was a fair amount of traffic on the road, but for the most part it was a good time. I did knock my Zune out of my packet once, I'll have to remember to grab my armband out of the car for next time.

My right ankle began hurting right before the half way point, but seemed to loosen up a little after a few minutes of running/ walking. I did well, and think I am ready for week 2, but I won't skip ahead. Staying with the program, and keeping motivated are going to be needed in the weeks ahead.

Day after Week 1 Day 1

I'm a little sore this morning, but not bad at all. Its more a muscle tightness then anything. I'm really excited about going running again, so I have decided to run tomorrow.  I won't go till later in the evening, I'll do a little strength training right after work on base in the gym. Then go to the gym off base and either swim, or do the exercise machine just enough to hit a good heart rate, and hold it steady. When I am able to run three miles a day, I may cut out the second gym on run days.

I think I will keep a food Journal too, I'll search around and try and find one I can post widgets here.

Week 1 Day 1

I was searching around for C25K stuff this morning, and found www.c25k.com. On there are a few Podcasts for the program that include music and audio cues for changing from running to walking. I debated whether to go with one with more christian music, or to one with more techno music with tends to have a better beat. I decided to go with this one, because I like the music, and the DJ/Author is pretty good.

I plotted my path on Google earth and chose a 1 mile loop. While I was at it, I plotted a 2 mile and a 3 mile as well. I am at my mother-in-laws right now, so I plotted out charts for back home too. Luckily I was able to get almost right on for distance for both places.

I was debating about whether to start today or tomorrow, and finally just got up and changed into my workout gear. The run/walk went well. My legs got sore after the first few sets of running and walking, but not too bad at all. I had originally planned on my one mile loop, but as I got to the turnoff for the two mile loop, I decided to go for it. I'd never walked or even driven this way, so I had no idea how many hills there were on these roads. It slowed me down a little on the runs, but I was able to keep running especially because I knew it was fairly short spurts.

The two mile loop worked fairly well, and I finished the cool down walk less then a hundred feet from the house. It wasn't that bad at all, I enjoyed myself a lot. I'm debating whether to do the next run on wednesday, or waiting till the run with work on Thursday. I'm thinking Wednesday, because I can't wear an MP3 player on base, so I would have no cues as to when I should change from running to walking.

Introduction

So I have decided to start the Couch to 5K Program. I suck at running, and have pretty much always sucked at running.

Five years ago I was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer. I was treated with four rounds of chemo theropy, and then went through a Lymph node dissection. Then went through three more rounds of chemo. I have remained cancer free since ever since.

Ever since my treatment I have had issues with my weight, and since I am in the military that has been a major problem. Recently the Coast Guard has implemented stricter weight standards. In response my work has began running two days a week as a shop. But as I said before I suck at running, and was completely against the runs at first.

After the first week, everything changed. I began enjoying the runs, but I still suck at them. I am not last lucky, but am still second to last. So my overall goal is to loose weight, and to be able to fly past everyone else at work.