My Best Friend and I knew we had plans tonight, so we moved our Weekly Wednesday Walk to Tuesday. I was still a little sore from Monday, but she didn’t really give me a choice. And, I knew it was now or never. It’s so good to have someone push you in the right direction. Once we got started on our stroll through the park, my body didn’t even realize that I was working out until after the first mile or so. Being lazy, I asked my friend if we had to the do the whole 3 miles since I had done 3 miles yesterday. She told me that “she” didn’t do 3 miles yesterday and to keep walking. I don’t know where all this laziness is coming from. It’s a little bit of staying up too late (like now it’s already after 1 AM) mixed with just plain old slacking off. However, we did finish the whole 3 miles….. Today, we went to a free summer concert at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. It was so nice! I met some former co-workers who saved us a great spot near the stage. I think there had to be thousands of people there. There were families and couples and friends, sharing picnic food and wine. I brought some sparkling Moscato wine and cheese and crackers. We passed around other sharables. My bubbly wine was a big hit. The ambiance was so nice, these pics don’t even do it justice. It was a perfect night, a cool breeze, smooth jazz surrounded by beautiful flowers and trees. Even amongst so many people, it felt private. It made me wonder how FREE events like this can go on and I didn’t even know about it. Some people sat with their eyes closed and inhaled the tunes, while other wildly danced around the stage. The singer Dawn Weber had several different horns and great jazzy funky band called the Electro Funk Assembly that appealed to all music tastes. It was a wonderful way to unwind from the stresses of the day. There are a few more concerts before the summer is over, and I hope that I will get to go again.
Today when I got off work I was feeling so tired and lazy, and it just so happened that my Little sister text me and said “Hey let’s go work out.” I was excited to have my old workout buddy back. She was so busy with school and afterschool activities, I felt like we hadn’t worked out together in forever. We decided to jog in the park. It was hot, but it wasn’t devil’s kitchen hot like it was the other day. I put on Week 2 (again) and asked her to run the intervals with me. It was hard! I’ve been doing the program indoors because of the extreme weather, and going back to “real” training outdoors was pretty tough. By the time I got the 4th running interval I couldn’t even finish the whole 90 second run. I walked through the 5th one and ran the 6th one. I felt like a loser, so I re-wind my podcast and repeated 2 of the intervals to make up for it. Overall, we finished 3 miles and I did all of the intervals. My legs were burning and I was breathing heavy; I felt anything but in shape. My sister said “what is wrong with you? why are you not in shape like you’re supposed to be?” I told her, I know I’m not where I should be. It’s so frustrating when I know that I’ve run a 5K, and now I can’t even run 90 second intervals. But, I know that it takes hard work and regular training to stay where I want to be. I know if I work hard, I’ll be back where I want to be.
Well in my mind I’m famous…. I got to cross off something on my goals list. “Be in the Newspaper”… I thought I might be featured the local St. Louis newspaper one day, but I never imagined that I would touch people in other countries. One of my readers who is also a Couch to 5k runner wrote a Canadian newspaper article about my blog and my podcasts. I was so shocked and honored. I don’t know where the link is to the article, so I just put the text here for you guys to read. Enjoy.
Running into Shape
By Amy Woolvett
THE COAST GUARD
NovaNewsNow.com
Psst! I have a secret to share…exercising on a regular bases really, truly works!
I can’t believe it. What is with the huge diet industries’ shakes, pills, nips and tucks, up then down then back up again craziness that is pushed on a daily bases through advertisements to everyone within reach of a magazine, remote control or mouse pad?
They make you believe that weight loss is a magic formula that you cannot possibly achieve on your own.
I am down 15 pounds (insert cheers here) and feel fantastic. In exchange for these pounds of fat I just have to get moving for 30 minutes three times a week.
Lately I have been doing what I never ever thought I would do before and that is jogging.
Actually it is more wogging at this point, as it is not completely jogging.
I am on week four of a nine-week program that is called couch to 5k.
In nine weeks it turns you from a couch potato (me) into a runner who can easily run 5k in 25 minutes without absolutely dying or causing injury to yourself.
There are a few reasons why I really like this program.
One, I’ve already lost weight four weeks in and can see a bit of shape emerging from the jelly (I don’t think your ready for this jelly-Bootylicious song in week three podcast).
Two, there are a huge assortment of podcasts for the couch to 5k program that has killer music to keep you upbeat and going.
I like to download podcasts from runningintoshape.com because the music fits perfectly my mood while running and changes every week, just to stir it up a bit.
O.K. so basically the program will start the first week with a five-minute warm-up of brisk (no strolling) walking. Suddenly a voice will break through the beats of the podcast to let you know it’s time for a 90 second run. Then again for a two-minute walk. It will progress this way until 20 minutes have passed and then a five-minute cool down period.
The next week will up your pace a bit so that its three minutes walking, three minutes jogging, 90 seconds walking, 90 seconds jogging.
Intervals are the name of the game for this until you’ve worked yourself up to 5k without missing a beat.
I mostly do this alone but lately have been wogging (walk-jogging) with a friend. We synchronize our podcasts right before we leave (I know…such nerds) and away we go.
I thought I’d go easy on her and go back to week one but she turned out kicking my but because her long legs made my pace twice as quick as it was. She ran with the grace of a gazelle while I felt like the chubby three year old trying to keep up with daddy. I was sweaty and sore and felt I couldn’t possibly continue to the end, but I did and felt fantastic.
There really is something to the endorphins and exercising connection. It’s a very annoying thing to run into when you are not exercising (you know the peppy hand clapping girl you just want to shove into the mud). But I do feel great the rest of the day and even (gasp) look forward to the next run. (Feel free to push me into the mud if I get too peppy and annoying).
The thing is anyone can do this. It doesn’t take a fancy gym or any special equipment. We all have the ability to run, a good pair of shoes and for the girls a good bra is all you need to get going.
Lets hope the scales keep dropping their numbers as I feel great and get running into shape.
I’m feeling better, but still not all the way right, just about 88%. (I don’t know how I came up with that random number, it just sounded right, LOL)… I have so much to say, I don’t know where to start. I guess I’ll start with Monday. I forced myself to go to my Weight Watcher Meeting even though I wasn’t feeling well. I gained less than half a pound, which is relatively minor considering I cruised and boozed for a whole weekend and haven’t been able to work out. But, I was very strict with my points when I got back from vacation…. Later, when I got home from the WW meeting, I saw my neighbor walking across the street carrying a giant trash bag over his shoulder Santa Claus style. He had this crazy look in his eye. And me being the nosy person I am, asked “Neighbor is everything okay?” He said something, but with an ear infection in both ears it was hard to hear anything. I asked again and he said “I’m about to start some Beef” (which is ghetto terminology for a grudge or a fight with somebody.) Then I asked “Beef with who?” He explained to me that he caught his Baby Mama cheating, while he works hard every day to keep food on the table, and he proceeded to tell me that it was her stuff in the bag, that he was putting her out, and that he was going to pour soda on everything!” I told him I was sorry about his situation and then he tried to hit on me. Not literally y’all…. You know what I mean, he started flirting with me. I politely declined, and he said “that’s okay, I’ll give you time to think about it.” ….I went in my house and peeped though the mini blinds and by that time her clothes were scattered from the street to the porch. Assumingly, drenched in soda. I hadn’t seen anything this exciting on my block since that day, that girl demolished that cheating man’s car. By the time I looked again, her cousin was helping clean up everything. This morning, I saw the neighbor guy carrying a mattress. I just smiled and waved and decided to mind my own business, like everything was normal. Anyway enough ghetto drama, today it was soooo HOT outside. Like, you know how the heat hits your face when you open the oven when you’re cooking? That’s how it felt every time you stepped outside today. So of course Me and my friend took our weekly walk indoors to the gym. I knew I had to do Week 2 of my running plan. After the first 90 second interval run, I was like Ha! I’m Carli to the Fierce, this is easy. But after the 3rd interval run, I was struggling,…wondering where all my fierceness disappeared to. My calves were burning and my ankle was hurting. I tried to focus on the music, and write my blog post in my head to help me think about something else. I finally finished all 6 intervals, and completed a mile and a half. My friend was still walking, and I sat sweating in a chair and just watched. I didn’t feel like doing anything extra. But it did feel good to finally be back on my running plan. I’m ready for the next day!
Happy Father’s Day! I know there aren’t too many guys who read my blog, but if you do, and you’re a Dad, Happy Father’s Day to you! …..I’m sick y’all. That’s why I’ve been MIA. I tried to go run Week 2 when I got back home, but I was too sick and had to turn around after just a few minutes. I struggled through the week feeling a little bad, but by Friday, I felt so terrible that I called off work. Once I could get up out of bed, My Big Little Sister took me to Urgent Care. I found out that I have a serious ear infection in both ears, and a sinus infection. When the first doctor looked in my ear, she frowned and said “ugh” and when the 2nd doctor came in he said “wow” and jumped back. You know doctors usually try to control their emotions, but it was obvious that I had a very nasty ear infection. The doctor said that flying on the plane and swimming in the ocean, and being enclosed on a ship with sick people made things worse. They gave me antibiotics and ear drops for the pain…. Yesterday, our church had a Health Fair. We had a chiropractor, nurses, computer techs, a lawyer and more. My Mom was on the committee, and she asked for “Running Into Shape” to be a part of it. I was still not feeling well, but if I make a commitment, I try to stick to it. I had a vendor table with business cards promoting my website and Couch to 5K Podcasts, before Pics of me 50 pounds heavier, and a copy of my ACE Group Fitness Instructor certification. I also gave away a free 7 -Day meal plan. It never ceases to amaze me that people take health advice and don’t laugh at fat girl talking about exercise and weight loss. Everyone who came to the table said, oh I could never run. AndI told them all, look at me, if I can run, so can you! What really amazed me was that 3 different people said they remembered seeing me on TV. That was over a year ago, TV is such a powerful medium. The fair turned out to be a huge success and the computer tech guy said that he would help make my website a little more fancy with flashing pics and stuff….. Well, my Dad just brought me some fruit, and told me to rest. So, I’m going to respond to a few emails and comments and try to rest up for work tomorrow.
My Best Friend and I knew we had plans tonight, so we moved our Weekly Wednesday Walk to Tuesday. I was still a little sore from Monday, but she didn’t really give me a choice. And, I knew it was now or never. It’s so good to have someone push you in the right direction. Once we got started on our stroll through the park, my body didn’t even realize that I was working out until after the first mile or so. Being lazy, I asked my friend if we had to the do the whole 3 miles since I had done 3 miles yesterday. She told me that “she” didn’t do 3 miles yesterday and to keep walking. I don’t know where all this laziness is coming from. It’s a little bit of staying up too late (like now it’s already after 1 AM) mixed with just plain old slacking off. However, we did finish the whole 3 miles….. Today, we went to a free summer concert at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. It was so nice! I met some former co-workers who saved us a great spot near the stage. I think there had to be thousands of people there. There were families and couples and friends, sharing picnic food and wine. I brought some sparkling Moscato wine and cheese and crackers. We passed around other sharables. My bubbly wine was a big hit. The ambiance was so nice, these pics don’t even do it justice. It was a perfect night, a cool breeze, smooth jazz surrounded by beautiful flowers and trees. Even amongst so many people, it felt private. It made me wonder how FREE events like this can go on and I didn’t even know about it. Some people sat with their eyes closed and inhaled the tunes, while other wildly danced around the stage. The singer Dawn Weber had several different horns and great jazzy funky band called the Electro Funk Assembly that appealed to all music tastes. It was a wonderful way to unwind from the stresses of the day. There are a few more concerts before the summer is over, and I hope that I will get to go again.
