C25K: Day 2

Today, Robbie went running with me, which meant that I was running even faster than my fast pace. Ugh. He typically runs about an 8 minute mile, which is far faster than I ever even dreamed of running. Of course, we didn't quite run his pace, but I definitely was pushing harder than I usually do when I'm running alone. If I was doing a 10-11 minute pace by myself, I was probably achieving about a 9-10 minute pace today. I'm POOPED.

Day 2: 5 minute warm-up, alternate 60 seconds of jogging/90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes; Total miles - 1.91; Total time - 25:46 minutes

Two pictures today--

This is what I imagine Robbie & I look like running together, except maybe if one pug looked extremely pained that would be me.

Truth. I powered through all 9 intervals of running. And a little future inspiration for the longer runs :)

Let's start again

Well, I was traveling this past week, and even though I packed my running shoes, I never got the chance to run. It was go, go, go every day I was there. Therefore, I'm restarting my restart. I only got one day in last week anyways, and now I can start on a Monday.

Day 1 of C25K: 5 minute warm-up, alternate 60 seconds of jogging/90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes; Total miles - 1.91; Total time - 27:30 minutes

I also decided to start counting calories again. After being in Ohio for the wedding, I ate nothing but crap. I know I've probably put on a few pounds since moving, but I was trying to reset my metabolism in order to bust a plateau. Hopefully I've accomplished this and can start losing weight again. I should probably officially weigh-in, but I'll worry about that later. I'm more concerned with my stomach problems--not that they've gone away completely, but they have definitely gotten better since I moved. Now, whether that's because my stress level went down, I started taking the probiotic, or I changed my food habits, I have no idea. It worries me that if I start eating more raw fruits and veggies again that the issues may come back. I guess we'll see! It's a new week my friends: No excuses!

Getting Workouts for Free (ish)

Since I no longer have access to a gym through school and am currently unemployed, workouts have been consisting of running outside, biking outside, and a YouTube workout series called "BeFit in 90." It's been rough since I'm so used to switching up my workouts. And unfortunately, Netflix has stopped streaming any workout videos online so I'm hard up for new routines to do.

Luckily, Hulu is there for me. Sure, it's a little annoying that every five minutes you have to stop your workout for a commercial, but whatever. If you're interested in finding workouts on Hulu, you should try the Bikini Body Makeover series. Today I did the "Tank Top Arms" as my cross-training for C25K. It was 20 minutes of pure strength training for arms and abs, but they also have ones for cardio, legs, calorie burning, etc... There's also the Self: Bikini Ready, Fast! workout which I loved, but Hulu no longer streams. (I need consistency, people!)

Just some helpful sites for those of us unable to pay for workouts or a gym :)

Running From Colorado to North Carolina

Okay, so maybe I haven't been running across the country since the last time I posted. Really, I just haven't been running. Every once and a while, I would hit the roads around my new neighborhood, but it was never more than 1.5 miles. I need to step up my game again. I don't think I could run a whole 5K at this point even if you dangled a muffin in front of me. (I also need to start back on my diet, but that's a whole 'nother story!)

So what's my plan? Why am I turning back to my running blog? Because I'm restarting C25K, that's why! Yes, I could technically jump into the program more than halfway through it, but I'm also going to try and quicken my pace. I figure if I restart the program and run faster from the get-go, then I will have a faster pace when I get to longer runs. That sounds like good logic, right? Let's hope.

Today's run: 5 minute warm-up, alternate 60 seconds of jogging/90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes

Off to run in the rain!

Epic Trotter

That's what I refer to my running style as: epic trotting. Lo and behold, the photographers did manage to capture me crossing the finish line...or maybe starting the race. I'm not sure. (I'm the one in the light blue long sleeve shirt and the black shorts, behind the two people in white long sleeves.)

Last CO 5K: Cherry Creek Sneak

Well, it has come and gone--my last 5K before I move to North Carolina. I still remember the first one I ran in Erie near Halloween with Kirsten and her friend Chris. It wasn't even a whole 5K, and I was DYING about 10 minutes in. (Of course it was higher elevation and there was a fire nearby so the air quality was poor, but still, I was in no shape to run a mile, let alone 3 miles.)

My time wasn't spectacular at this race, but it was a really great course! I loved running through Cherry Creek and all the people standing around holding signs. I could have done with a few less young children running around me; I'm pretty sure I almost plowed into a few.

Overall my time for the 5K was 42 minutes and 10 seconds. (At one point, I thought I was being passed by people who ran the 10 miler, but I was wrong. That was a depressing few moments...) I placed 2358/3523 overall, 1359/2163 females and 81/101 in my division. [x] On average, my pace was a 13:36 mile, which is slow but I ran the whole thing so that's all I ask! Sadly, out of the 15,000 pictures taken at the event, none captured my epic trot. Oh well. Three complete 5Ks down, many more to go! :)

Stomach Update!

Today I had my follow-up appointment with my GI specialist. Since everything from my EGD from clean, it's kind of ruled out a few things having to do with my stomach. He decided to have me get blood-work done to check for weird enzymes or low counts, as well as an ultrasound of my gallbladder. Hopefully this will all get done before graduation even thought that only gives us a month or so. Luckily, the blood-work can get done at Lab Corp, so I scheduled that for Thursday. The ultrasound can't get scheduled until my insurance approves it.

He also said that if everything comes back normal from the blood count and the ultrasound, he would start treating me for IBS, which is basically a pill before I eat. After we finished talking he said that "if he had to guess," he would guess it was IBS...even though the doctor I saw before him said that my symptoms didn't sound like IBS, or at the most MILD IBS. *sigh* I just hope this gets figured out before I move because I really don't want to have to explain my symptoms to another doctor again--though at least this time there would be lab work to back me up from other doctors.

We also laughed at how my mother keeps sending me different diseases she reads about that "fit my symptoms." Yeah, that can stop, too.

COME ON STOMACH, LET US FIX YOU!