Mid-Week 4, Couch to 5K Training

I think my weather miracle is over, but my Underarmor is keeping me very comfortable.

5K Training, Week 4

1) I’m starting week 4 even though I had 3 sessions already this week…and even though I said I wasn’t going to do that anymore. Here’s my justification: I didn’t run YESTERDAY (and therefore had a rest day) and today is Sunday, which some calendars use as the first day of the week. This week, I'm using that calendar! :)
2) I’m deviating from the Couch to 5K schedule I found online to accommodate the fact that I’m using my blackberry as a timer and it’s a PITA to keep setting different timer amounts. So I just kept the 90 second timer on and made everything match up with that increment, in varying multiples.
3) I think I found my cadence. I hit a stride so comfortable (and so slow!) that I felt like I could have kept it up for quite some time. I’ll probably have to throw some sprints in later to make sure I’m challenging my body, but for now, this feels nice!

Total session time today: = 36 minutes (18 walked, 18 run)
6 minute warmup
3 minute run
90 second walk
6 minute run
3 minute walk
3 minute run
90 second walk
6 minute run
6 minute cooldown

I'm a Runner!

Today was my last scheduled run of week 3 of th Couch to 5K program which I printed off this webpage.

Kimspiration (my weight management coach) keeps calling me "runner girl" and I'm starting to believe it.

I got up at 7 (even though I didn't get to sleep til 3 last night) and geared up (got new cold-weather gear at the Underarmor outlet!) I went down and had a great run on the beach. It felt right and natural to do so (it was a sunny morning with zero wind so my weather miracle continues) and I enjoyed it greatly.

I guess it's true...I'm a runner!

Starting Week 3 of 5K Training

1) I'm still doing it!
2) I haven't gotten rained on yet. Have I mentioned I live in Oregon?!? I think it must be some kind of weather miracle.
3) I LOVE dogs. But not when I'm running. Its just in their nature to be keenly interested in rapidly moving creatures...or in my case, slowly-moving creatures exhibiting spastic signs of distress. Even the smallest, mildest dog yapping madly and lunging at me makes me wet my pants.

How It Feels To Have Lost over 150 Pounds

It's weird to be me inside this body
I was over 300 lbs.
and now I'm a size 12.

I was born over 10 lbs. and was NEVER a normal size.
MY WHOLE LIFE WAS SPENT OVERWEIGHT.

I never expected to get here...to "normal."
I did it the hard way, the way I thought I couldn't
because it was too hard, I'd be too hungry
I could never stick to it
and for 43 years that was true - I couldn't
Was I not ready? Was it not my time?
What factors were present (or removed) in my 43rd year
that were different that those preceding it?

My body has changed but my mind hasn't completely caught up.
I'm on the jetway boarding a plane and I'm still rehearsing my request for a seatbelt extender
I'm getting on the ferris wheel and I'm worried about exceeding weight limits
I still feel like the biggest person in the room
I browse racks of mens sweats with sizes in the X's and think they will fit me
I begin to worry in a crowded aisle that I won't be able to pass
I'm approaching the amphitheater and still fret when I see narrow turnstiles
I imagine the thin girls are judging me
but now I imagine the heavy ones are too

The changes are most noticable from the outside

inside I still feel mostly like me
except when I'm going up stairs
or moving through this world whose gravity seems to have lessened
when I feel my collarbones standing out sharply at attention
when I cross my arms around me and can pat myself on the back
When I catch a glance of the stranger in the mirror
or when I put on clothes that look impossibly small, and they fit
or are already too big

I used to scoff at people who wanted to lose 5 or 10 pounds
"I could do that in one day," I'd think
but 5 pounds means a lot to me now - at this size it's half a dress size!

On the downside, I'm so cold now
Icily, bitterly cold and missing my layers of protection
Some days not just physically but mentally as well

I miss having someone to commisserate with
without sounding like I'm bragging.
I miss being able to complain about saddle bags without someone reminding me how small they are compared to what they were.


I miss the physical space I took up. I feel somewhat diminished.
People I know well have trouble getting used to the more diminutive me
and are more likely to pat me on the head than the back now...
weird but true!

I miss being able to make fat jokes.
My self-deprecating humor comes across strangely now.
I miss being able to eat anything I wanted
and not constantly counting-journalling-worrying-banking-burning-repaying calories.

I don't miss these things enough to go back to being 300 pounds - ever!
But it's important enough to mention...

Life doesn't get perfect when you lose the weight.
It just gets easier to climb over the hills and up out of the valleys :)

Mid-week 2, Couch to 5K

I got new shoes!!!

They're Asics, I don't know the specs but I went down to Gallaghers and they fitted me, watched me run (no pronation), and had me out the door in half an hour. A hundred bucks lighter, but I'm sure my feet and knees will thank me.

Snuck in an Extra Run

I got all full of myself and added an extra run with both extra time and extra mileage. Trying to make up for the fact that I'd been baking for days for a charity bake sale and eating lots of junk.

Now I'm sore and achey and wishing I hadn't. Then I saw Yolanda at the bake sale (running guru) and she spoke sternly to me on the following topics:

1) Never go off the reservation. Stick to the training schedule like your life depended on it. Overdoing it is the #1 reason new runners get hurt and/or quit.
2) Gets some running shoes (this in response to my mention of the 5-year-old-tennies I'd been wearing thus far.)
3) Don't worry about how slow you go. In fact, slow down summore! Now there's some advice I can dig into!

5K Training Day 3

End of week one, yay me!
My reflections:
1) I'm done with the session before it seems like it should be time.
2) Mostly during the running parts, I'm constantly counting down the seconds til I can stop. Today, just for a few moments, I FORGOT I WAS RUNNING!
3) The slightest incline seems steep when you're trying to run it. Who knew there was a giant hill in front of Whiteaker school? It's invisible from a car!

5K Training Day 2

1) It's cold outside in April in Oregon at 6:30 AM.
2) The many layers I wore to battle the cold are uncomfortably warm at the end of the "run."
3) I'm having a hard time calling this "running" but I hate the term jogging.

Reflections on Week 1 of Couch to 5K Training

Sixty seconds is a short time on the couch but stretches out pretty long the first time you try to run it.

Better Than Sex!

How cool is it to leave the house stiff and tired and bloaty and slightly hungover and return warm and loose and sweaty and blissful? End of week one...learning to run.