Couch to 5K...Again

Week One:

Day One: 5 minute warm up, alternate 1 minute run with 90 seconds of walking for twenty minutes

Day Two: Supposed to be same as above, but I did more of 1 minute run with 1 minute walk for twenty minutes

Day Three: Same as Day Two.

Starting the Couch to 5K is definitely like starting all over. I'm out of breath quickly, my legs feel tired and heavy, and it's just hard. But I know this time around I can do it. So far I haven't had issues with being incredibly sore afterwards, maybe a little, but I'm fine the next day which is important. If I experience soreness for days, then I know I've gone too far and need to pull back.

I've been incorporating the bike on the trainer. I haven't ridden outside yet, just because my arms get tired easy and I don't want to have to deal with hills. I've also been trying to add in light hand weights and ab work on the stability ball.

My weight hasn't budged, in fact it keeps going up little by little. But I'm still pushing with keeping track of food during the week. I meant to start tracking this weekend, but friends coming in out of town just kind of threw me off. I've also been extremely munchy lately. I guess it's the meds, I don't know, but I feel out of control sometimes. But I'll keep forging on. I know I have to keep at it, even if my weight doesn't change, because if I were to just let go, I may gain fifty pounds instead of 15.

Week 2:

90 seconds run 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes. It ended up being more than twenty by the time I got home, more like 25 plus my warm up walk of five minutes.

I ended up running home after a charity game of kick ball.  There were some hills and oh my it was rough. I was really sore the next day. So Monday I didn't run but decided to do an arm workout. I did do some squats which caused some soreness the next day. I took Wednesday off just to make sure I wasn't pushing too far, but Thursday I felt just fine!

I'm thinking about following more of the Spark People 5K plan which is the plan I did the first time around. But we will see.

Week 3:

Walk 2 minutes and run for 3 for 25 minutes.

 This is more of the Sparkpeople plan.  Shew, it was tough. Three minutes seems like a long time when running. My knees are feeling the weight gain and my shin splints acted like they may come back. But once I got warmed up, I didn't have issues. I used this week to concentrate on form. Landing well on my feet and making sure I keep my back straight, with my should pulled back not hunched over which I can tend to do.

Week 4:

Walk 2 minutes and run for 3 for 30 minutes.

On Saturday I went on a hike and I definitely felt it on today's run! I was tired. I ran with Mattie, my dog, and a friend. Thank goodness for my friend. He pulled me through and made sure I didn't go extremely slow. We ended up with 2.36 miles in 30 minutes. This is a far cry from what I used to do. But I'm trying to remind myself distance doesn't matter right now. Going out for time and getting my body back is shape is what matters.

Overall, I feel like my legs are heavy all the time. It's easier on the treadmill, but I like going outside too much to keep to the treadmill. I'll get there though. On a good note, the running hasn't affected my muscles as far as my Polymyositis. All my blood work is normal. I've started reducing my prednisone, I'm down from 60 mg. to 40 this week. In two weeks, I'll get to reduce to 30. After that will probably depend on more blood work.

And to make this post a little more interesting, here is some pictures of my hike on Saturday. It was another gorgeous hike! 

Love it.

Mattie Loving Life.

Courtesy of my friend Brian

New River Gorge Bridge