At the end of the last school year one of my teacher friends suggested we start the couch to 5k program. She had done it before and so we, and another teacher friend *J* started around the end of April. Well, the teacher friend that suggested we start soon got too busy to continue, so *J* and I just kept chugging along. We ran up until my wedding in June. We got to week 5, we had to repeat some of the weeks because the end of school is a CRAZY time and we wanted to be comfortable running the week we were on before we kept going.
Anyway, a couple weeks after the wedding I was doing some weight training with my hubby and I hopped onto the torso twist machine. I think I overdid it a bit and at the time I thought strained a muscle in my lower back side (the latissimus dorsi.) Every time I started to run after this strain it hurt like hell. Not to mention anytime I twisted the wrong way it hurt. So I stopped all activity for about a month.
After a month of sitting on my butt I decided to get back in the exercise game... I couldn't run, because my back still hurt (I'm a tosser at night and every time I turn over it wakes me up) and although it was better than the onset, it was still not healed. I took to swimming, then back to weights, then on the bike for a bit and then I just got too busy for it all with winter concerts and school stuff going on.
6 months later and I'm pretty sure I've got a nerve problem with my back. It's becoming more apparent that it may be something I have to live with until I can afford to get an MRI so the doctors can tell me there's nothing wrong with me and give me a muscle relaxer. It hurts when I tense up or twist the wrong way. OOOOOO tangent, not the point!
So I wasn't sure I could run and last week, when I was thinking about all my New Year's goals, I decided I wanted to attempt running again. I texted *J* to see if she wanted to start c25k with me again and she was game but we were both going out of town for Christmas activities so we couldn't start right away.
I just wanted to see if I could do it so I did week one, day one on my own. Here's how it went....
5 min warm-up
repeat the following 3 times...
run for 30 sec
walk for 45 sec
run for 45 sec
walk for 60 sec
run for 60 sec
walk for 90 sec
5 min cool down
I took my dogs out with me and did ok. I have to remind myself not to tense up and keep breathing when I tweak my back, but it was doable and not at ALL like the last time I attempted running!
I went to my mom's for Christmas and went to the gym with her on the 23rd and did week one day two (same as day one.) I ran this on a treadmill and I tried a different way of running. I have always been a hardcore roll-your-foot kind of person. I was in marching band and it's ingrained in my brain! My brother has recently started dating a marathon runner and has always had trouble with his knees. I couldn't run until she told him he was doing it wrong. She said serious runners don't roll the foot. Coming down on your heal you send a shock straight up your leg into your spine. If your going for distance this kills your joints. Instead you should come down on the ball of your foot. This way your foot takes all the shock and saves your knees and back from pain.
He can now run a little over 3 miles and suggested I give it a try. It might help my back. So I did and it did feel better, more natural, to run this way. It's killer on the leg muscles because you're using them in a way you wouldn't normally use them. It wasn't necessarily any easier on my back but I decided it would probably help me to keep the change in the long run.
We went down to the hubby's parents house on Christmas day and on the 26 I started talking to his sister about my New Year's goals. She wanted to get in on the losing weight goal so I took her on Week one, day 3 with me. We did this outside and I felt pretty good about it.
Now, I was supposed to start all this with *J* so I had just planned on starting over on week one with her when we got back to town.
Hubby wanted to start with us so we were all going to meet up and go tonight. *J* had to go to the doctor and has all sorts of illness going on so she couldn't come with us, but Hubs and I went to the Y and did week one, day one together. I'm definitely ready to move on but I have to remind myself to take it easy and it will be better to keep everyone on the same track.
I'm hoping that I'm able to keep up with the program and eventually run a 5K this year. Right now it's looking like a pretty good possibility! I'm excited to be working toward a goal and it's definitely easier to do it with other people that will keep me honest and motivated! So a little jump start on my goals before 2012 lands on my shoulders!
Tomorrow we've got to sit down and go over our finances and pay bills. Maybe start house hunting?? Who knows!
No comments:
Post a Comment