Better Living Through...Running?

I can't believe I am about to say this, but...I love running.  This is a complete turnaround for me.  Running does not come naturally to me at all, despite what I am about to write.  My goal is to go to the gym to run on the treadmill twice a week, and I feel fantastic after I run.  I blogged about week one of the coolrunning.com Couch to 5k training plan a few weeks ago, so you may already know how well that went.  I decided to skip to week two after that workout, and that seemed too easy, so the next time I ran, I did week 3.  In the interest of full disclosure, I must share that I have started this plan about half a dozen times over the past two years, only to end up quitting.  I have never made it all the way through to week nine.

I only managed to run one time that week, which I find really frustrating.  At this stage of the plan, you are supposed to run each routine three times, then move on to the next one.  (I usually hit the wall at week one.)Week three didn't feel like enough of a challenge either, so I moved on to week 4 yesterday.  This workout has what I consider to be longer runs - three minutes and five minutes.

I know that these aren't really longer runs, but for me, they are.  I have been relatively sedentary for the last two years...well, other than carrying and chasing around a small whirling dervish.  I am astounded that after I finished, I felt fantastic.  I understand why running is addictive.  That feeling is amazing.  And instead of dragging myself home exhausted, I went home energized.  I got more chores done at home in one evening than I have in weeks!    

I am wondering why this time is so different.  I am attributing it to a number of factors.  I am healthier than I have been in a long time.  I have been on my new allergy treatments for over a year and recently started taking Singulair.  I also honestly believe that it took me a full two years to recover from being pregnant and giving birth.  That seems like a long time, but I stressed myself out when I returned to work full time.  I didn't think to ask for a part-time schedule so that I could ease back in  I was dealing with daycare for the first time and had a baby who would not take a bottle.  I was trying to do too much, and it took a physical toll.  I gave up and waited until I felt that drive to get myself moving.  Then about a month after that, I finally got myself moving. 

Now I feel like I have to be careful not to push myself too hard too soon.  I don't want to crash and burn, I want to build slowly.  And I will admit that I am afraid of the later workouts in Couch to 5k.  I peeked ahead yesterday, and saw that I am approaching longer and longer running intervals.  My mind is likely to hold me back more than my body would, but I am willing to acknowledge that I need to get both my mind and body in shape. 

A note on some new stuff I have road (okay, treadmill) tested since my last post about running:  I really liked the Moving Comfort Vixen C/D bra, though it was a little tough to pull it off over my head when I was all sweaty.  I was really surprised to find that I loved the Moving Comfort Grace C/D bra.  It zips in the front.  I highly recommend it, and also wish that I had owned this sports bra when I was nursing.  I also bought myself a pair of running capris from Athleta.  I love them!  They have breathable material on the backs of the knees that kept me so much cooler than I am used to.  They also come in petite sizes, which is what I wear.  I am always a little wary of trying new petites because I never know if they will fit me right or not.  These are perfect, they hit all the right spots.

All in all, I am really enjoying my runs.  I know they are having a beneficial effect on my home life, my body and my mind.  I just have to make sure I keep going.  I will hit a wall at some point, but I will have the mental strength to push through it and keep going.  I am determined. 

Running on, and on, and...

I have been remiss in my blogging in 2012 thus far.  I need to work on that.  There are plenty of excuses...work has been really busy, we've been traveling or out of the house more than usual, I've started spending more time searching for my next job opportunity, I started running again, I'm so tired at the end of the day that the last thing I want to do is look at the computer some more...or think!  But these are all excuses, and in reality all of these things provide me with more to write about, I just need to focus and get it done. So here goes. 

I did start running again.  I was nervous, because I haven't really run in over two years...before my daughter was born.  Which is not to say that I haven't been getting exercise, because picking her up, carrying her, putting her back down, making her "fly" - all of these things are strength training.  And I do them so many times a day that I sometimes go to bed with arms that feel like jello.  I remember reading a few years ago that chasing around a toddler is not really exercise.  I don't remember exactly where I saw it, but it was all over the media.  I could very easily get sidetracked here by why a study like this constitutes news, or why someone felt that this was worth the money to study when there are real issues in the world that need research, but I'm going to stay on track. 

I think this study is hogwash.  I will happily volunteer to be a study participant for someone who wants to take another look at this.  I will grant you that all children and parents are different, but I am 5'1", not in the best shape but never completely sedentary either, and my kid is REALLY active.  She exhausts me.  I'm not complaining.  I'm just saying that she is a workout all by her little self.  I ran this past my personal trainer, and she agrees that my little one is giving me a thorough strength training session. 

Alright, despite my best efforts, I always seem to get sidetracked.  This post is supposed to be about running.  Let's try this again.  I started running again, I've covered maybe five miles a week the past two weeks.  I'm always afraid I'm going to overdo it and end up quitting, and now if I overdo it I will pay the price whilst chasing my daughter around.  So I am taking it slow.  Possibly too slow.  I was very surprised by how good I felt that first day back.  I did week one of the coolrunning.com Couch to 5k plan, and didn't want to stop when I came to the end of it, so I did it again.  I wanted to do it a third time, but being cautious, didn't want to push my luck, since I was still feeling pretty good, though very sweaty.  I was very concerned that I would be in pain the next day, but I wasn't.  I still felt good!  That never happens to me!  Usually I am aching like crazy and wondering what possessed me to go to the gym.

I was hoping that feeling would continue for a while, but alas, on my third run several days later, I was dragging.  I skipped to week three of the plan, which was the right choice because weeks one and two weren't challenging me.  My knees were aching, so I finally went and bought new sneakers (love my Asics), which I had been meaning to do for ages because my old ones were over two years old and I have been wearing them all over creation.  I know, I know, I'm not supposed to do that! 

Since I've stuck with it for more than two weeks, I also rewarded myself with a new sports bra, which I am way too excited about.  I've been reading Run Like a Mother, which I highly recommend, and decided to splurge on a Moving Comfort bra.  Instead of guessing at my size (like I usually do), I found the directions online for measuring oneself for a sports bra and acquired a tape measure.  I plugged my measurements into a sports bra size calculator and almost fell off my chair.  34DD??? I also planned on having a woman at my local running store measure me and help me to find the right bra for me, but my luck isn't that good.  There were no women working the evening shift on Friday night, so I was on my own.  I took a bunch of them into the dressing room and tackled the task at hand.  Fortunately my daughter found it very entertaining to be in a tiny room with me while I jumped up and down and ran in place to test drive each bra.  I ended up discovering that the 34DD is not the right size, but surprisingly the 34D was.  Since sports bras are expensive, I had researched them ahead of time.  I didn't want to buy a dud at $30 a pop.  I'm glad I went and tried them on in person, because the one I was drawn to online, I hated in the dressing room.  The store I went to was having a sale on Moving Comfort, so happily it was like 20% off.  I chose the Vixen C/D and the Juno, but they only had the Juno in black in my size and I wanted it in white or a color.  So I hit my old stand-by, Amazon.com.  They have these bras!  And they are on sale there too.  I'm so happy.  So I found my Juno 34D in "surf" (blue), and it'll be here in two days! 

I'm going to put my new sneakers and bra to the test this afternoon in the gym at work.  I like to run outside, but this time of year it's a lot more practical for me to run inside on the treadmill while at work.  I'm not hardcore enough to run in the cold or in the rain, and because of my allergies, the cold air can be really painful for me.  Not an excuse, just an explanation.  My short term goal is to get myself going enough to run a 5k or 10k this spring.  Wish me luck!