Sunday, June 29, 2008

Two down

This morning I was committed to volunteer at the New Charles River Run and I had 2 miles scheduled on my c25k plan. This meant getting up hella early on a Sunday to get my run in.

But I did it. I ran two miles in 24:49 - which is a 12:24 mile. So even though I was saying things to myself like, "Whoa girl, take it down a notch...." and forcing myself to slow down, I ran 2 miles at my regular pace. There's something truly gratifying about that. I'm scheduled to do a 2.5 long run next Sunday, but I may move it up to Thursday and run the US Blues 2.6 miler... we'll see.

Either way, I'm feeling like I've got 2 down and a whole life more ahead.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Lies We Tell Ourselves

I made myself a pair of sarong pants last night, but grappled with wearing them today because I was worried about looking fat in them. Then came the inevitable, "I only I were 70 pounds lighter...."

That's when it hit me, even if I were 70 pounds lighter, I would still be stressing over my weight. I would be worried about putting on or increasing a size. Size 8? Maybe if I skip lunch a couple of days I could squeeze into that 6....

I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable with my body, that's the reality. In the meantime I'm happy to be running again and maybe the rest will come.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Spirt of a Great Heart

Let me just start with RIP George Carlin. The world will be a sadder place without you in far too many ways.

Today is day 1 of a c25k program. I am using the Runner's World 5 weeks to a 5k and today was a 20 minute walk/xt day.

With my iPod on shuffle, I went out for my walk and the first song up in the playlist was "Spirit of a Great Heart" by Jimmy Buffett. I must admit that song really set the tone for today's workout. After 5 minutes in I thought "what the hell" and started to slowly jog for 5 to prove to myself I could. It felt so good to just be outside moving like that. I did throw in a couple of more minutes when the Nike+ warned me I had 5 minutes remaining.

In all, I covered 1.5 miles. Not a lot and yet what a great distance.

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Sunday morning

I can now use the glider, I'm walking and growing more flexible day to day. Yesterday our reel mower came back from the shop all sharpened and lubed and ready to go - so what's a Pika to do on her Sunday morning if she can't run? She spends 45 mowing down the hay field that our front lawn has sprouted.

I felt compelled to do this on this particular Sunday morning because about 300 runners will be passing my house for an inaugural 10k that I had worked into my training plan a few months back. I was going to run the Harpoon 5 miler on Saturday and the local 10k on Sunday to see how I felt. At this point in my training, it seemed to make sense... alas, the best laid plans of mice and men as they say.

So upon waking and looking out the window at my lawn this morning, the thought of waiting for any of the teenage boys in this house to "get around to it" didn't work for me knowing neighbors, friends and people whom I would never meet would run past all these well manicured lawns and then see mine.

Sorry Charlie, doesn't work for me.

So for 45 minutes or so, I happily listened to my baseball soundtrack on my iPod while mowed away. The boys can rake and trim later.

Beyond that, this week I work up to 30 minutes of walking and start working on the elliptical and bikes at physical therapy. If all goes well, I start on my c25k in a couple of weeks - a month earlier than expected. It's a nice way to start the week: feeling like you've accomplished something with the optimism of moving forward.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Another Day Another 20 Minutes

Today I just took a quick walk from work to the near by woods and walked along the trail for 20 minutes. It really was a pretty walk - the leaves were green, the sky was blue and the weather was warm. I'm down to a 16:09 pace for my walking, which is particularly excellent given I was walking on a trail rather than paved surface. I also did a couple of quick sets of jogging 15-20 steps along the way.

The orthopedist said my right foot is still about 5* less in motion than my left, but to keep gently stretching.

So right now I'm feeling good.