On Friday I went to the gym in the morning like always. I've become a treadmill convert because I can control my pace and watch the time. For the first time ever I ran more than I walked in my 30 minutes. Unfortunately it was actually a slower pace than I usually run but the endurance is important. This isn't a sprint but a long run. Unfortunately this still means I have to improve by 6 minutes by February. I'm still very concerned about that. I have no doubt if given an unlimited amount of time I could walk the 13.1 miles (in one day). Because I know this, it is always in the back of my head that I have to meet a time requirement and I think that forces me to focus on the wrong thing. I need to focus on improving endurance and the actual running and the time will come. I'm just not that patient. Also with Open Enrollment coming at my job, my whole exercise schedule is going to get screwed up completely so there's that to look forward to.
So back to my first 5k. My sister came out to run it with me. I was glad to see her. I don't think I run well when I'm with her, though. I think because her pace is so much faster than mine I try to go faster than I can/should and get winded too soon and then can't recover from it. Which is what happened on Monday. I think on my next one I'll go on my own and may not do a lot better but maybe walk a little less. As I said on FB, I walked probably 99% of the damn thing because any time I tried to start running I just couldn't breathe. It didn't help that it had been raining much of the night and was raining much of the morning. I think it stopped while we were on the course but now the air was hot and wet which is a breathing nightmare. I was not the very last person to come in on the 5k course. So there's that. Although we were one of the very last people to cross the starting line because I knew I would be slow and in the back of the pack. I did cross the finish line. I did run/walk a 5k.
In order to try to facilitate my improved lungs, I'm going to be adding more exercise to my days. Currently I do water aerobics Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Wednesday and Friday mornings. I then do my 30 minute runs on Wednesday and Friday mornings too and my long runs on Sunday. I am going to try (emphasis on TRY) to get up early Tuesday and Thursday mornings and adding either lap swimming (crawl only no more breast stroke which I find easy) or this machine at the gym called the ARC trainer. My water aerobics instructor says this is a hard machine and will improve my lungs. It seems like a hybrid between an elliptical trainer and a stair climber maybe? I don't know but she says it is an ass kicking machine and is easier on my joints than true running (which I'm looking for).
In December I'm going to try a 10k. I feel like in October/November I need to do one more 5k. I have to get used to doing this outside and under the running specific conditions. Plus I kind of want to do one of those color runs where you get doused with flung colored powder. :)
3 comments:
Congrats on finishing! Cross-training is never a bad idea. I used to do a lot of ARC trainer at my IL gym but for some reason here they bore me. Same exact machines, I just prefer elliptical here. They are a good workout and with varying intensity you can either work on endurance or strength until you're at a point where you can push both!
My gym has some that have moveable arms, as in your picture, and some without. I greatly prefer the moveable arms, just FYI.
Hey, finishing is the first step and you accomplished that. My first one running (I had done a bunch walking before) was in the middle of the night in 25 degree weather and the main reason I ran most of it was because it was freezing out...LOL. After that, I just tried to beat my personal time, rather than worry about what anyone else was doing...that way I knew I was improving regardless of who my competition was. Nice job!!
Congrats on completing your first 5k!! I am still too chicken to sign up for one. ;) I don't know what that ARC trainer is but from the way that girl in the photo is standing all I can think is how it would hurt my back. It looks painful at that angle.
Didn't realize you did water aerobics that often! I would love to do that most days. We get staff fitness through work (about 10 different fitness courses offered each semester over lunch that you can sign up for) and I tried the Aqua Fit last year because my pain issues were so bad I knew I couldn't do the cross training one. I fell in LOVE with the class. It's two days a week for 45 minutes. I have a lovely boss who lets me go a little early and I try and get in about 10 minutes of laps before the class starts. There's a session in Fall, Winter and then a short Spring semester one. I noticed how my always bad pain points flamed up July/Aug without the aqua fit, but everything else stayed under control AND because of the leg muscles I managed to strengthen, the running training was easier than it's ever been (which isn't saying much, just that I am dropping from pain within the first 60 seconds ;))
Do another 5k for sure! You'll improve the time as you build endurance. I say this while completely understanding your impatience because I feel the same way most of the time. Easier to write in a comment though. haha!
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