I’m not feeling good about this anymore. After running for 20 minutes, I don’t feel like I can do any more than that. I’ve lost my excitement for this program. I’m going to keep doing it, but I no longer see a 5k in my future.
I start Week 6 today and Day 1 is 5 and 8 minute intervals, so at least I know I can do that. But I don’t see how I can run 25 minutes at the end of the week. I know I said that about 20 minutes and still managed it, but I didn’t feel triumphant like I thought I would. I felt like, “Oh shit! I’ve got to do that again and longer?!”
Someone needs to talk me down. When I told my husband how I was feeling, he told me that I was starting to motivate him and I can’t quit. I said, “I don’t want to quit, I just don’t want to do it anymore.”
Can I feel triumphant for you then? I think each step we take on this journey is a huge accomplishment. I just started week 5, and I’m looking up to y’all. Way to go and hang in there!
Thanks for the encouragement. I need it right now. I dont plan on quitting because I need to see this through, if only for the fact that I tend to quit almost everything I’ve done as soon as it seems difficult or boring or whatever the reason. So this is very important to me. I’m just disappointed that I’ve lost the drive. I don’t look forward to running anymore, but I hope that will change.
Nutty Bunny, You might need a mental break. Working hard for a goal when you feel you’re not quite up to it can be draining. Repeat the week you’re on(even twice) while on autopilot, don’t worry about it, give yourself a chance to recharge. I coach high school cross-country/track and I often see a mid season slump with the newer kids. Hang in there.
Oh, and if you haven’t changed your playlist, you may try and get around to doing that. Find songs that inspire you to run, find new upbeat songs, shuffle your playlist a bit. It helps me not get bored while running.
Week 4, Day 3 is in the bag. Not so many stitches this time, and even though this week I topped off my running speed at 5.0 mph, I didn’t have to keep slowing down further than that tonight. 5.0 mph all the way… on the running intervals, that is.
I think I’m okay to move on.
A friend of mine invited me to run a 5k with her in December, as she’s thinking about training for a half-marathon in spring. She invited me to try that with her, as well, but I marked the 5k on my calendar and told her to let me see how I do with that first!
Well, I ran W5D2 yesterday in the pouring rain. I’ve started to assign a kind of fetishistic importance to finishing every week in a week, even though I’ll have almost a month between finishing the program and running my 5K, and I was at a conference for a few days, so if I didn’t run yesterday I wouldn’t be able to run day 3 tomorrow, etc, etc.
You know what? Running in the rain is AWESOME! It’s really fun! I had ordered some sweet water resistant pants from runningwarehouse, and those were perfect - my ordinary rain jacket, though, was a total unbreathable sweatbox, so I took it off halfway through and just got wet. Had a baseball cap to keep the water out of my eyes and real running socks (not cotton!) and the water didn’t bother my toes. It was totally fun - like being a kid. I mean, I don’t think I’d necessarily enjoy it if it started in mile 3 of a marathon, but for running eight minutes twice it was fine.
Wait until you run in snow. I loved, loved, loved running when it was snowing. (oops, forgot you’re the one who doesn’t like cold.) [emily latella] never mind.[/el]
I have good news: I am very proud of myself. I bagged out of running yesterday (and ended up taking a 2 hour nap, so I probably needed the nap). This morning, it would have been so easy for me to just roll over and put off the run, again. I did not.
I decided that I would do a short run of only 1.4 miles. I was still very tired when I woke up and not sure if I was up even that. I started off, saying to myself that IF the folks here can run for 8 minutes and then 20, surely I can as well.
I ran the entire 1.4 miles without stopping once. I did it in 16 minutes which one sloooooow pace, but I did it. So, Monday’s run now looks very doable. I can’t believe I ran the whole thing! I did it!
Congrats to all here who have met their goals–even if that goal was just “I want to be able to post in here that I went running.” Good on you. We rock!
Snow is not going to be a problem, I’d suspect. I mean, maybe as a novelty; haven’t seen it on the ground here for five years or so. Snow is awesome when we get it - we all go outside and take pictures of it.
Well, this is pathetic. Here I am, almost done with week 2 and I think I’m out. It’s not stamina or sore muscles or lack of desire – it freakin’ joint pain. Since I started this thing, every time I put down a foot it’s like a ball peen hammer to various funny bones. Knees, ankles, hips and lower back are SCREAMING with every step. It’s not like I started at the couch, either. I’ve been walking about 4 miles every day since April.
I limped through my walk this morning like an 80 year old. I don’t think I could run if the entire SDMB pit was chasing me.
I had a similar experience with my knees and switched to a treadmill until I can get some more weight off. I also iced my knees after running and after week 3 I haven’t had any more serious knee pain. I thought I was going to have to give up too, but one of my runner friends told me that it would go away, and it did. Maybe try running on a softer surface?
Thanks, Hockey Monkey, Mr. K is a serious runner and says the same thing – he claims it passes and says I should just walk for a few days and then go back to the beginning. FWIW, I’m small and thin and old. I have decent running shoes, but my choice for surfaces is either the sidewalk or the street, because otherwise I’d be dodging cactus.
Old guys (and older than me women) pass me when I run. My almost 60 year old supervisor can probably kick me running, even though she swims (1-2 miles every morning) instead of running.
Like one of my professors said, age is not a disease.
A friend of mine was getting massive shin splints, her doctor gave her a specific exercise to do… basically heel-toe taps. So, you stand mostly balanced on one leg and alternate flexing and pointing the other foot so that you’re touching first the toe then the heel to the floor. Use a lot of muscular energy, so you’re not just flopping your foot back and forth. Her doc suggested about 20 heel-toes per foot per day.
I don’t do any extra stretching really, but with the heel-toe taps I haven’t had any issues.
I’ve been doing things like standing (wall) pushups, lunge stretches, toe touches, and the one where you stand with your toes on a stair and slowly allow your heel to fall below the level of the stair. That last one wouldn’t have been something I could do a few weeks ago because of a foot problem I had where the balls of my feet had pinched nerves. Owie.
D’ya think maybe the novelty has worn off? I see it now as a slog (sometimes), but then I think of the first few days of running and how hard it was. I don’t want to go back there. The only way to not go back to that is to keep doing it. So, I do it. Somedays not willingly or eagerly or even pleasantly. I’ve skipped a few days as well (more due to work than sloth). I tell myself that’s ok. I tell myself that even if I end up walking the route, I am out here getting exercise and relieving stress and enjoying being outdoors. Good tunes on the iPod help, too.
So, don’t give up. You may find that excitement again. I did today when I ran the entire way–something not dreamed of when I started.
Thanks, Zsofia. I hope you DO get a nice soft, wet snow. It’s bliss to run in. Back when I ran 8 years ago, it started to snow during one of my evening runs (that’s another thing–now I run in the morning). It was dusk around Xmas time and all the lights and decorations were on display. I ran in that silence that only snow brings to any world and watched the neighborhood turn white. It was wonderful. I never wanted it to end. There was no wind, just silent gentle snowflakes tingling my tongue and coating my hat. Bliss.
Week Four is done. I think I’m running/walking at a 4.5 mph pace. It was hard to get out there today because I was tired and it’s cold and damp outside. I had a slight moment of panic when I saw a loose dog ahead of me but fortunately he was busy dining on the dead deer in the ditch.
Thanks for the shin splint advice, rues. I haven’t had too many problems with that yet but the potential is always there.
Any suggestions for running in cold weather? I know about layering and hats and gloves but what about the cold air in my lungs? Is that something to worry about?
Even though I ran Day 1 of Week 6 on Friday, I was still feeling pessimistic. It was “only” 5 minutes, 8 mins, 5 mins, but it was really difficult. I have to run tomorrow or I’ll have to skip a total of 3 days in a row*, so I think I’ll re-run Day 1/Week 6 tomorrow morning (Sunday). You’re right. A lot of it is a mental block. The only athleticism I’ve shown is as a hockey cheerleader (not much you can do in cords and a sweater) and as a not-so-great member of the golf team in high school.
*I have a colonoscopy on Monday which will put me out of commission that day. And tomorrow, I’m on clear liquids, so I’m only running on the fuel from tonight’s snack.
