I Might Actually Be Able To Do This Thing

We're now officially done with our second week of running.  This week was fantastic and wonderfully surprising! 

Before  I get into how running this week went, I have to share with you the most exciting surprise of the week.  Bryan and I are now an "aunt" and "uncle"!  Our friends Josh and Kassie had their beautiful daughter this week (she wasn't due for a few more weeks, so it was a surprise!), and we are very excited for their new family!  We're hoping to be able to go visit Josh and Kassie in the upcoming weekends and meet little Aurelia.  We're very excited!!

Running this week went much better than expected!  I started school this week, so by Wednesday night I was feeling very tired and overwhelmed already.  I'm able to workout on my shifts at work, so going into Wednesday, I had already worked out twice in a row, and my body was kind of sore from that.  I honestly wasn't expecting to be able to do much.  We figured out that 8 laps around the track was a mile, and since I had been able to to 1/4 mile on my first run, I decided to set 1/2 mile as my goal.  Once I got going, though, I hit a good  pace and was able to crank out a whole mile!  As embarrassing as this is to admit, from what I can remember, that is the first time I've ever ran a mile in my life.  I was pretty shocked and really excited!

We were also able to get out on Friday to run.  Since I was still slightly sore from my run on Wednesday and another Curves workout on Thursday, I decided to set my goal at 1.25 miles.  I was able to run 1.5!  I'm not quite sure how I've been able to progress so quickly, but I'll take it!  Bryan and I figured out that I'm running about 10 minute miles, which isn't too bad since I'm just starting and have short legs.  I should be able to improve on my time, and hopefully get it a little closer to Bryan's so we have a chance of running together.

As far as my heart goes, I've decided to listen to how my body feels instead of the numbers.  Using my heart monitor has been really helpful in warming up and especially cooling down to make sure I'm not getting it up too fast or bringing it down too fast, but I tried to not look at it too much when I was mid-run.  I'm sure it hit 200 a few times, but I wasn't feeling dizzy or shaky so I let it go.  Theoretically, if I keep up with it, my heart rate should go down.  Here's to hoping!

Run 1: I'm S-O-R-E!!

We finally got to start running last night!  It felt good, but was not easy.  I was excited to find that I'm able to run a lot more than I thought I would.  Since it was our first time, we decided to go for only 20 minutes.  I probably ran about 3/4 of a mile with lots of walking in between.  Thank you Curves for helping me get in shape before I started this!


Bryan did great too!  He would probably argue with me about that, but compared to where I'm at, he's already in shape.  He was able to run the whole 20 minutes without stopping...go boy, go!  Compared to what he was able to do when he was actively running cross-country, I'm sure that's he's out of shape, but he's light years ahead of me.  I'm hoping that either I progress quickly or he progresses very slowly so we can catch up with each others abilities.  Although with his long legs and my little ones, I'm thinking I'm out of luck!

Although the running itself went well, I was disappointed to find that my heart my heart might be more of an issue that I thought or wanted.  According to the calculations based on my resting heart rate, I should be between 134-170 while working out.  Since I have an accelerated heart rate, I have a hard time keeping it in that range.  I thought that it had gotten a lot stronger and slower since I've been at Curves, but I don't think that workout's heart rate is going to translate into my running heart rate.  I had a really hard time keeping it under 180 and hit 200 a few times...all of you medical show watchers know that that's not good!!  However, I'm VERY thankful for my heart monitor that can help me figure out when I need to slow down a little.  I know that long distance running over time can bring a person's heart rate down, so I'm going to stick with it and hope that it slows.  Come on heart!

I'll be taking it easy today because my legs are a little sore.  We won't be able to run again until next Wednesday, so I'm sure I'll get all the rest I need.  Because of the schedule for the indoor track we're using, it looks like we'll be bouncing back and forth between the track and treadmills until is warms up enough for us to get outside.  We're shooting for three days next week...I'll let you know how that goes!

The Setback...of course...

Silly me thinking that everything was going to go smoothly. What was I thinking?

We had planned on doing our first run on Wednesday after Bryan got out of work. We got ready and drove up to my school to jump on the indoor track. When we got there, we found out that it's closed everyday from 4-6 for track practice...just the times we need it! It also closes when there are volleyball and basketball games. It seems that using Cornerstone's track will not be as easy as we thought.

After a necessary 15 minute pouting session, I started looking for other indoor tracks in the area. Turns out there aren't many, and the ones that exist are expensive to use. After emailing the Cornerstone's athletic building director, I was able to get Bryan a pass to use the weight room and the treadmills. Although there is really no comparison between treadmills and running on a track, that might have to do for now. I think the plan will be to try to get there around 6 to use the track, but default to the treadmills if it's closed. Hopefully this Michigan winter won't last too much longer (very wishful thinking) so we can get outside and run anytime we want.

All of this makes me miss the SAC at Central. I definitely took that facility for granted! So to all of you Chippewas reading this...appreciate the SAC!!

Hopefully we'll get Bryan's weight room pass early next week so we can start running next week. I'll update as soon as we get our first run under our belts!!

Hello World!

Although I'm not much for New Years resolutions, I do think that the new year is a good time to start something new.  Since I'm still in school, the change in semester makes for an excellent time to start new habits.  This new year, Bryan and I have decided to take on an exciting adventure in our life.  We're going to start training for a half-marathon in October!

Running is something that is very important and special to Bryan.  He started running cross-country in middle school and it became a very special thing for him.  Unfortunately, I have never been a very active person and have always been terrified of trying to run.  It's something I've always wanted to do with him, but have let my intimidation get the best of me.  I have let myself lean on my issues of a questionably healthy heart let me make excuses.  But since I've been working at Curves, my heart has gotten much stronger and I feel healthy enough to take on running for the first time in my life.  No more excuses!

I know that this adventure is going to take me on some ups and downs, and I'm going to learn a lot about myself and my husband.  I want to document this process as a way to provide continued motivation for myself to keep going.  I'm not sure if anyone will ever read this, but if you find yourself here, let this inspire you to take on and overcome the things that intimidate you!