Recovering into Week 4

Because last Sunday was the last day of the Great Lakes Medieval Faire, Jay and I decided to brave the heat and enjoy Avaloch. I packed three bottles of water and fresh fruit to snack on. If I learned anything from last year, it was the importance of Faire hydration.

Maybe it was my meds, maybe it was the humidity, maybe it was my (lack of) stamina, but I ended up getting heat exhaustion. At one point, my eyes "got all unfocusy." Luckily, Jay forced me into the 1st aid tent where some jerks in kilts supplemented my water with Gatorade (they were drinking Hawaiian punch mimosas).

Two days later, I'm feeling much better, but I'm still supposed to take it easy. I didn't run last week (crazy work schedule), so even though I wasn't feeling 100%, I started Week 4 of C25K. I didn't run the last half mile, but kept up a brisk walk to finish the thirty minutes/two miles.

The Hocking Hills Indian Run is fast approaching, so I really need to pick up and keep up the (metaphorical) pace. Despite not taking it easy, I'm feeling pretty damn good post-run, so it seems that as long as I keep running a priority, I can be confident about finishing my first 5K.

Double Fail Run

For the first time since I started C25K, my asthma kicked in. Needless to say, that ended things pretty quickly. I had thought that building up my endurance had prevented my asthma from coming on in attack formation (I always have a little tightness when I exercise, but nothing major in a while). Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Still, I was glad to have real excuse to end early because Abby was just not up for a run today. She did really well on Wednesday--staying close, not jumping on me. This morning though, if she was going to run attentively, we needed to be on a trail with no cars, no people, no animals, and (most important) no goose poop. Obviously that wasn't going to happen.

She's also obsessed with biting her leash. Every time I walk her, I'm reminded of one of my favorite books from high school:

"I used to drag him around on a lead, but as I explained to Mrs. Next Door, he ate it."

C24k: Week 3 Do-Over

The stress of the past two weeks finally caught up to me in my Monday run. When last I wrote, I'd made it though the hell of standardized tests and was ready to enjoy my pre-vacation week. Unfortunately, Jay's passport was a no-show, so I decided to stay in Ohio with him and my family's dog. During all the up-in-the-air-edness of the passport "situation" I stopped running. Or, rather, continued to just not run.

So on Monday, after I'd said good-bye to my parents and sibs, I decided to restart with Week 3 of C25K and this time, take the dog.

Abby is no so great at the running with humans thing. Still, she is only about five months old. When I had her in the park, she wove back and forth in front of me the entire time I ran. During my walking breaks, she would run up behind me, jumped on my butt, and tried to push me faster. It was pretty darn adorable.

Still it had been two weeks since I'd run and about a month since I'd run outside. It was bad. I couldn't finish my last three-minute interval. Oh well. As soon as I'm feeling human again, I'll be taking Abby out for another run on the Week 3 program.

C25K: Week Three and Food "Bargains"

After about of week of half-hearted jogging, I got back into the swing of my 5k training. I wanted to take my nephew for a jog in the park on Tuesday, but the rain kept us inside playing "BIG baby!" instead.

Yesterday, I made it out to Planet Fitness and ran through week three. I was getting really sick of the running podcast, so I made my own playlist for this week. Considering my mood of late, I went with Ani DiFranco, Ani DiFranco, and more Ani DiFranco:

1. "Little Plastic Castle"

2. "Out of Range"

3. "Knuckle Down"

4. "Hypnotize"

5. "Loom"

6. "Ain't That The Way"

7. "Garden of Simple"

8. "Falling is Like This"

Also, while deciding on what to eat at Panera tonight, I found a new way to choose healthy food that makes perfect sense to me. I'm a bargain hunter; I will spend an entire day trying to get the best deals and the most for my money. A "quick errand" for me is never less than an hour because I will hit Target, Wal Mart, and the grocery store before I decide where to get whatever it was I wanted.

So when it comes to food, substitute amount of food for amount of stuff. And replace dollars with calories (or WW points). I want to get the most food for my cost. So, for example, tonight I got French Onion Soup instead of a Four-Cheese Soufflé or Mac & Cheese because it was a better deal. I got way more food for far fewer calories--and it gave me plenty of energy to get through my run!

C25K: W1D2&3 and The Scary Scale

Well, I'm done with Week 1! My primary goal for this week was to run the recommended three days, keeping moving for the full thirty minutes. And I did it! Judging by how great I felt after today's run, I'm going to move onto Week 2 starting Tuesday.

Thursday (W1D2) was really gross out (humid with thunderstorms), so I ended up running at my new gym, Planet Fitness. I find its "no lunks!" and "judgement free zone" slogans to be extremely gimmicky (and contradictory, as it's clear that "lunks" are being judged), but it's affordable, the equipment is in great condition, and it's open 24 hours. Running on the treadmill was a lot easier than running in the park and I got to watch 30 Rock with no sound.

Today (W1D3) I went running on the "secret path" at Mill Creek Park. It's not really a secret, but it's unpaved. Because I want to run the Indian Run 5k in September, I thought it might be a good idea to run on an actual trail. It was so gorgeous outside that I decided to run out as far as I could and walk back.

After my run, I was feeling great.

This part of the park is really gorgeous.

This was the only area I was nervous about running on; it's so narrow and the water is really high this year!

Also, FYI: when your scale instructs you to not use it on a carpeted surface, do not use it on a carpeted surface! I bought a little scale with the intention of keeping it in my bedroom. When I stepped on it, it read 180 lbs. I just about died. Once I could breathe again, though, my first thought was, "Well, Nicky, your hard work has made you smaller than me!"

I moved the scale to the bathroom and the reading dropped back to my expected 150. Phew!

Recovery Day and The Internship

So, today was my recovery day for C25K. I woke up a little sore, but only in places where I expected it. Honestly, I've felt worse after my first days of ballet class. I'm calling this a win in that so far, I haven't pushed too hard or injured myself.

Getting ready for my internship was a little tricky (no time for a long, hot shower) and I made a point of wearing flats today. This was my fourth day working at my dad's law firm. He's put me and one other intern in charge of drafting letters to people and companies that owe the state money. Thus far the pros of this internship are:

• great resume-building experience
• significant wages
• decent hours
• proof that I don't want to be a lawyer

I've only found two cons to the experience. The first is that it is so quiet at the office--nearly silent! At the HTC office, we always had NPR on and chatted. At MBPU, people are much, much quieter. I'm slowly getting used to it--mostly by humming Lady Gaga songs while I file.

The other problem I have is the fact that I only have this job because my dad is in charge of the project. I'm all for networking and getting your foot in the door, but this feels a bit like nepotism. I feel that I can't make any mistakes because I'm trying to prove that I could've gotten this position on my own merits. It's also difficult to talk about Dad to the other employees:

"Where did you put those files?"

"Oh, I gave them to...wait, what do I call him? Joe? Mr. Young? Dad?...my dad..."

No matter what I say, it feels awkward.

Then again, if that's my biggest problem with this internship, I think that this summer will work out well for me. And train me to deal with awkwardness.

C25K: An Intro and W1D1

I've always had a weird relationship with my weight. I've never really thought that I was the "right size." Until I turned 17 and got some curves, I felt too small (5'2" and 100ish lbs). Since then, I've felt too big (same height, weights shifting from 125-155). I've been lucky that these issues have always remained at the "minor discomfort" level. I have struggled with a form of anorexia, but that stemmed from my bipolar lows, rather than body image issues (I was horrified by how skinny I was becoming, but it didn't matter--in my sick mind, I believed that only "worthy" people were allowed to eat).

As a kid, I was one of those "eat an entire cow and maybe gain an ounce" body types. So I ate pretty much anything that wasn't nailed down. When I was 16 and 17, though, I worked in a Dairy Queen and quickly put on 25 pounds. At the time, I felt huge, but looking back, I think of that as my "happy weight." College brought me another thirty pounds, largely because my eating habits never changed.

Now, I'm pretty okay with my current weight (150). At 140, I decided that I could stay that weight forever, and I'd be satisfied. There's just one problem. Well, two.

I'm getting married. And I'm vain.

My gut response is "crash diet until you're 100 lbs!!!" My feminist retort is "Don't do a damn thing, and own those 150 lbs!"

After listening to both sides (and gaining a lot of inspiration from my best friend, Nicky) I've decided to do neither. My eating habits need to change. I need to be more active. I need to be healthy. So my plan is:

1. Train to run a 5K by September, then progress to longer distances.
2. Start a healthier eating plan.
3. Focus on Non Scale Victories (NSV)

Along the way, I'll monitor my weight, but those are the three goals I want to emphasize. I probably will lose, but above all, I want to be comfortable in my own skin--regardless of how much fat it's carrying.

So anyway, after that rambling introduction, I went for my first Couch to 5K run through Mill Creek Park. To keep me on track (I'm terrible at timing things, especially intervals), I downloaded Richard Ullrey's C25K podcasts. My asthma attempted to be an issue for me during the run, but I tried my best to keep my breathing deep and regulated. Granted, my brisk walks were a long way from brisk, but I didn't stop. I ignored distance for this run and focused on staying in motion for the full 30 minutes. When I got home and tracked my run, though, I was pleasantly surprised:

2.44 miles? I'll take that!