I was Runnin'

Well, it's been a big break for me. . .I have been struggling a little cuz of a nasty head cold that moved into my lungs a little. I wanted to make sure my body was up to being pushed again. Today I felt motivated and headed to the gym to hit the treadmill. I ran about 5 minutes and my lungs felt great!! No shortness of breath at all, however my calves HURT like crazy~ Especially my right leg. So I walked at a comfortable pace for about 30 total. It will be a slow process of getting my muscles used to running again. I am also hoping to incorporate some quality lap swimming where I can focus on improving my strokes as well as building stamina. I just have to wait until I can afford a pass at the OU fitness/aquatic center. It's like $70 but for $20 more I can get a family pass and then Bryan can go with me. Eventually I want to pick up a nice road/speed bike, but for now running will be enough.

I REALLY want a new pair of Vibrams though!!! They have a new style out that is similair to the Bakiilla but it laces up & they fit me REALLY nicely. They have them in a super cute lilac purple! I ran in my Nike's today and I think that's one reason my legs hurt so bad. My Treksports are good, but the new ones are specifically designed for comfort while running. My Treksports rub on my heal unless I tape my heal, so that kinda stinks!

Anyways, hopefully I won't have any more set backs and I can really start of 2012 focusing on getting into top shape.

One step at a time

I'm getting there. . .one step at a time :) Today my run was pretty smooth. It was a nice even 4-5 minutes of running and about a 1 minute walk. I finished that at 30 minutes and did a 5 minute cool down. Before I left the gym I thought I would throw a little weight in my workout and did 3 sets of 12 reps on the leg press to give my thighs and and butt a bit more of a workout. My calves are looking great but my thighs and butt need to catch up :)

I need to increase my speed a little I'm just getting a little over 2 miles after 30 minutes! I am short so a comfortable pace is between 4.5 -5..5 mph. . .If I do 5.5 I get tired a lot faster. I get a better more consistent endurance at 4.5 but that makes for a slow mile! I need to get running without resting with walking then I guess push my speed a little. I want to progress faster than I physically can I think. No pushing myself to the point of injury though~

5K is 15 days away. . .praying I get more improvement!!!!

Elliptical & Run!!!

Of course again today the treadmill was TAKEN! Grrrrrr. So I hopped on the elliptical for and did about a half mile then the treadmill opened up. Luckily I was the next in line to use it so I jumped on. My legs were a little weak so I didn't PUSH it. I bruised my right calf really bad a week or so ago, and it's still causing some tenderness along with a small bump under the skin. . .I am suspecting it's just hematoma where the broken blood vessel creates a dry blood under the skin and eventually absorbs back into the body. . .it can take some time to completely heal. :(

Improvement

I have noticed it's hard to post about my running every other day ;) Mainly cuz it's hard to not just want to "copy and paste" haha!

I ran Saturday and did a over 30 minutes on the treadmill. I ran 5 minute intervals with 1 minute in between although when I got to about 20 minutes I did 3-4 minutes intervals with a little more walking. I am still building up leg endurance. Although I was pretty sweaty and my heart rate was 150+ I am not even sure where my target heart rate should be. LOL I guess I should research that :)

Monday is a day to run for me. One good thing is my calves are getting much stronger & they are not very sore for much more than a day. Hence the 'every other day' running schedule. I remember running Mon-Fri when I ran with the track team in High School. . .I can't believe I did that! I did like 4 miles a day although not all at once. Man, I must have had sexy legs back then. hahaha!

30 minutes on treadmill

I worked the treadmill for 30 minutes and probably ran/jogged 1/2 the time. .on and off a little. I am having some calves pain mainly in my right leg which inhibits me from running as much as i would like. I am trying to take it slow and hope the muscle builds a little. I have a NASTY bruise with a bump in the center where I am assuming I hit my leg on something (I can't remember those kinds of things with Prograf Brain) and since I am on blood thinners I bruise really easily. I think that might be contributing a little to the tenderness.  But I did more tonight and I wasnt' short of breath, didn't get a red face and actually had enough energy to return to my apartment and clean and make dinner :) yeah, I'm feeling like superwoman right now!!!

Yesterday I registered for the 5K for Diabetes on the 17th of September. . .I am not going to expect awesome results considering it's relatively close so my training won't do me a TON of good. However, I am not out to win. . I am just out to do it, only competing against myself so it's a win, win situation ;)