Stupid Foot!

I actually haven't been slacking on C25K posts, I just haven't been running. My foot has been acting up again and was way too painful to even consider running. I tried the 30 day shred and my foot was not a fan of Jillian. So off to the doctor I went!

Bad news: It is plantar fasciitis and another pulled muscle (don't remember the name). Good news: I'm not in physical therapy and have an at-home plan that the doctor thinks will work. Basically I need to stretch all the time and take a TON of advil (really I should buy some stock). I'm really hoping this will work since I'm missing my runs. And I know Rudy is too!

Week 2 Day 1

No you haven't missed some posts. I just haven't been running due to midterms. But since my foot hasn't been acting up and the Week 1 workouts felt pretty easy, I decided I was ready to start at Week 2! My run last night was great! It was challenging at times, but I was able to push through and run all of the segments (even the uphill ones)! I'm hoping I can get running back into my routine because I really missed it last week.

Dreaded Day = Amazing Day, Who Knew?

I had been dreading today for quite some time. For those non-accountants out there, it was the first day of quarter-end closing. The most stressful time in an accountant's life, excluding year-end closing. And to make things worse, this closing had to start on a Friday which totally sucks all of the fun out of a Friday! We have to go into work early, work hard, and to top it off work late. Ugh!

Well today started out as expected. I get into work super early only to find my email isn't working. This is a gigantic problem because I need to process a file by noon that I receive via email. After getting nowhere with IT during my 30 minute call, I try for the 3rd time to restart my computer. I think God felt bad for me and magically fixed whatever was wrong. Disaster adverted! So I get my file and it is wonderfully short, which means that it was completed over an hour early! Woohoo! Not only does this mean I got a "Good Job" from the boss, but I'm able to sneak out for a quick lunch with a friend. We had a lovely lunch which was capped off with the best question ever. "Would you mind if we stopped at Starbucks on the way back?" *Insert the sound of angels singing* So all afternoon I was comforted with my Solo Grande Pumpkin Spice Non-Fat No-Whip Latte with extra Nutmeg. Heaven. Pure heaven. And since I rarely have caffeine, the extra jolt of energy made me abnormally productive for a Friday afternoon.

Finally, my day was capped off with an amazing run for Week 1 Day 2 of C25K. I picked up my pace and was really running quite fast during those intervals. I definitely surprised myself with how fast I could run without being completely out of breath. And as an added bonus, my foot is feeling fine!

Third Time's a Charm

I'm hoping this saying turns out to be true since I started my 3rd attempt at C25K last night. I completed the first workout of week 1 and felt pretty good! My foot is pretty sore this morning, but I'm hoping that will work itself out in time for my next run! I can tell you that Rudy was quite excited that we were running again. While I was getting changed and putting on my running shoes, he was patiently waiting at the top of the driveway!

I was quite excited when I figured out that this was quite perfect timing to be starting this program again. If I can complete C25K in 9 weeks, then it will be just in time for a 5k over Thanksgiving weekend. But if I need to repeat a few weeks, then I'll be able to run in a 5k in December.

Protest and Plunge

Things have been pretty busy as of late! But there have been two major developments.

The first one concerns running. The exciting news is that I got a new running accessory: Nathan Trail Mix hydration belt. Now I don't have to carry my interval timer (clips to the belt), water, cell phone and mace while trying to run! And I have to admit I felt more like a real runner when I wear my fancy hydration belt.

The real development is that my body is officially protesting running. I had a pretty crappy run earlier this week that resulted in plantar fasciitis aka crazy intense arch pain! I saw the doctor and am not allowed to run for at least 2 weeks! If you did the math correctly, that means I'm going to miss my first 5k! I'm so bummed. The doctor did say I could run the 5k, but I'd be in physical therapy afterward. Ugh! My body really needs to get on board with this running stuff!

Development #2 is a bit more exciting. I recently found out that I have enough credits and accounting courses to qualify to sit for the CPA exam in North Carolina. When I decided to pursue my MBA, I thought the CPA wasn't going to be a possibility. I have been doing research about the CPA exam and have been hesitant to commit since I don't want to do it half-way. But I think I'm going to take the plunge and start studying in January, with the help of Becker. My goal is to have all 4 parts passed by summer (if I can pass them all on the first try), or at least by the end of 2011. Good-bye social life in 2011!

My First 5k!

I'm so excited to write this post! It is a good thing yesterday I decided to break my running silence on here because I think it gave me extra motivation in my run last night to avoid the blog curse. Anyway, I ran my first 5k! Now it was completely unofficial since it wasn't an organized race or anything. But I did it! And I felt great!

I feel like there are a few people I should thank! First, my awesome running coach Amanda. She has been very encouraging throughout this running process and has kept everything very positive for me!

Second, the Gym Boss. No this isn't my secret name for Amanda when she makes me keep running. It is this glorious gadget pictured below. I hate timing intervals because I'm constantly checking to see how much longer making my runs painful. But the Gym Boss has allowed me to relax and enjoy those running intervals. Plus the hot pink color gives me a girl-power fist pump when I need that extra bit of motivation!
Finally, I need to thank MapMyRun because without this site I would have no clue how far I run. If you are a newbie runner like me, you definitely should check it out! I already have my next 5k loop in my neighborhood all mapped out!

For those of you interested in the official stats of my unofficial 5k, I covered 3.3 miles in 51 min and 18 seconds. I have been shooting to complete my first 5k in 50 minutes, so I was pleasantly pleased to see that I might even be able to beat my goal!

Running Blog Curse

I have purposely have been avoiding blogging about running. It seems these sorts of posts curse me and I stop running due to injury or illness. But since I've had a small bout with both (runner's knee and an annoying cold), I'm hoping I'll be able to successfully avoid the curse!

First, I started with the all important shoe fitting (#45). Apparently I am a overpronater and these shoes are the solution. I think they have really made a different this go round!


My next step was to figure out a program that would work for me. Luckily my amazing neighbor volunteered to be my personal running coach. We run together about once a week and then I run 2 other times during the week. We are doing interval training (walk/run) that is similar to C25K. I figured it is sorta like my own person C25K, so it can count towards that goal on my 101 list.

So far I have been doing really well. We started with running 1 min, walking 3. Tonight I'm considering trying to run for 3 min and walk for 3. I might chicken out and run 2:30 walk 3. But that is still, I'm very proud of how much I've increased those times in just a month! The best part of all of it is that I actually have been enjoying myself! Wait, did I really just say that?!? It is true, I really have loved not only the actually runs but the feeling of accomplishment when I'm done. I'm definitely addicted to that runner's high!

Things have been going so well that I actually signed up for my first 5k! I know I won't be able to run the whole thing, but my goal is to just complete one and that will definitely be possible!

Another Successful Run (Week 1 Day2)

My first success today was making it to the gym. It is very very nasty outside: freezing, rainy and windy. There is no way in hell I'd ever even think of running outside today. So I'm becoming more and more thankful for my gym membership. Besides the weather, I was also invited to a business dinner at The Angus Barn, which is one of the nicest restaurants in Raleigh. I turned down a free fancy meal to make sure I didn't slack off my first week. If that isn't commitment, I don't know what is!

My workout went really well. I was trying to concentrate on not dying in the middle of the workout and not having leftover energy. Today I decided to pick up my running pace from 4.2 to 5.5 in hopes the stride would be more comfortable and that I would be able to maintain it throughout the workout. This was a pretty big challenge, but I made it! And I even ran a few segments at 5.7! There was no leftover energy at the end and there was definitely less dying. I'm hoping I keep seeing progress from run to run because it definitely is keeping me motivated!

C25K Week 1 Workout 1

I did say that I was going to start C25K last week. I'm not completely a slacker since I have a good excuse for my delayed start. The first part of last week I caught a nasty bug. And then I realized that even running with a dog and pepper spray I would never feel comfortable running in the dark at night. So Kevin and I joined a gym to allow for nightly runs. We got a great deal and now I have a workout buddy!

My first workout went pretty well. I ran 1.75 miles which I think is quite impressive for my first go. However, I find it odd that I feel very tired and close to death in the middle of the run. But towards the end I get this huge spurt of energy and can really pick up my speed. It is great to finish running strong, but I have this leftover energy that I'm not quite sure where it should have been used in the run. Oh well! I guess for now I'll try to work on not dying in the middle.

I'm back and running!

Yes, it has been quite a while since I have posted anything on this blog. Things have been going well, but quite hectic. I have been making quite a bit of progress on my 101 list, but that will get updated soon. There is one item on there that I really want to complete and haven't had the motivation to do so. Since my travelling schedule has finally calmed down and I have run out of good excuses, I'm going to try my best to complete the Couch 2 5k program (C25K for short). I'm hoping I'll be able to complete my first 5k in January. And in order to keep myself motivated and keep this blog alive, I'm going to blog about my runs! Hopefully I'll have some great progress to post soon!