Hitting a Wall

My lunch hour this afternoon consisted of another couch to 5km run. It was a beautiful sunny day in the low 20's; nicer than most of our summer was this year.

I hit the button for week 4 day 3 which is running intervals of 5 and 3 minutes. I started out not too badly but soon realized what a month away from running outside can do.

I ran great through the 3 minute intervals, no problems and not out of breath. So far so good.
But then the 5 minute intervals start and I found that I seemed to be slowing down quite a bit and kept hitting a wall at the 3 minute mark. The good news is that I notice that I am recovering very rapidly during the downtime in-between.

I decided to run down to Eau Claire market and around Princes Island park. The trees are all changing color and the grass is still green. People were everywhere walking, biking and running along the river pathways. I hope that Wednesday will be just as beautiful so I can get outside again.

Stairs, stairs and more stairs

We spent the past three weeks traveling around western Europe and we walked pretty much the entire vacation. We took the stairs at each hotel. At Sacre Coeur in Paris we walked up over 300 stairs to the top for the view and at the leaning tower of Pisa we did the same. I've gotten very seasoned at stair climbing.

Since getting home from vacation last week it's been raining non-stop. So running outside, although much more enjoyable, is not something I plan to subject myself to. My lunch hour today consisted of jogging on the treadmill in the tiny gym at the office. I took it a bit easy and walked 3.5mph and 4mph in between intervals of 6mph minutes and 7-7.5mph at 30 sec.
So that's a fastest time of 8 minute miles. Maybe someday I'll be able to run actual full miles at that speed. For now I'm just happy to get in some fitness.

Run in the Smoke

Calgary was filled with smoke today which drifted over from the BC forest fires. The weather was beautifully hot and I decided to go for a jog at lunch hour without realizing this. I noticed it was a bit harder to breathe but figured that I was just having a tired day.

I ran week 4 day 1 which involved 3 and 5 minute intervals. I'd never attempted to run 5's before outdoors but was nicely surprised. (A treadmill is much easier to run on.) I jogged week 4 with no problems and it wasn't actually as difficult as I had anticipated. Imagine if there had been clean fresh air to breathe!

My route was the normal downtown circuit that I've been following. From City Hall to Eau Claire Market area along the south side of the Bow river, across the bridge and back along the north river side pathway. All and all I think it's about 4km.

Late in the afternoon I read the local news online and discovered that asthmatics have been warned to stay indoors with the windows closed. Oops. Ah well, I seem to have done just fine. Feels great to jog.

Weekend at the Lake

Spent the weekend out at the lake with my husband and my brother. We spent a good portion of the time doing chores around the house. Mowing the lawns(it's a few acres big), feeding the cats and the fish, watering the houseplants and my moms flower gardens. So we got a bit of exercise in that form. We also got in some beach time riding the seadoo.

Sunday I went for a jog with my dog River. We did the c25k week 3 day 3 again. It's 3 minute intervals of jogging, which I can handle. The next level is 5 minute intervals and I'm not quite sure I'm ready for that yet. Soon..

We ran along the hilly gravel roads and then back to the house. Grabbed some water and then switched the program to a new fitness app I downloaded called lolo. We hit the gravel again and ran from the house down to the beach to meet the family for some more seadooing.
All and all a great weekend.

Friday the 13th!

Happy cloudy, rainy, Friday the 13th!
Todays exercise has consisted of doing household chores. I know nothing fun, but someone's got to do it. And I guess I can count it as exercise. My plans to run today with my doggie were dashed by rainstorms. Hmm, does typing count as exercise..

Tomorrow and Sunday we're seadooing/swimming at the lake with my favorite(only) brother. I love family time. Hoping for some nice sunny weather and clear skies so we can see the meteor showers.

Just over a week until summer vacation in Europe!

Have a great weekend!

Back at it

I've been getting lazy lately. Stopped seeing my trainer every Friday for now. It can get costly! I did the 60km walk en of July and took a break from working out. It feels so icky! Time to get moving again.

Today I brought my running gear to work in the hopes that I can get out at lunch and get moving. Going to be a long run with only one song on my iPhone.. Oops. iTunes has failed me. Maybe I can run to Sirius satellite radio. Hoping for the clouds to part for a bit and I'm all set.

I really need to find a routine that I can stick with other than a 30 minute video. Don't get me wrong videos are probably better than nothing but being outside would be the ideal while the weathers still nice enough to enjoy.

The plan today is to drink lots of water, try to relax, go for a run, and consider joining LA Weight Loss. I hear they're good but require a lot of face time. Three times a week! Really? I'll think about it. A nutritionist would be really nice to have. I wonder what the cost is ...


End of the Day Update: I decided not to call LA. I did run at lunch today and am planning to go with my dog again tomorrow on my day off. The water intake goal has not been met... 700ml all day so far. I'm trying. Off to the cooler to get another jug..

Running Pains?

Monday at lunch hour I went for a run to week 2 day 3 of couch to 5km. It was quite a warm day and I had some struggles with 90 second intervals. A colleague at work Informed me that I may be starting out too quickly and then burning out early. He said I should try to jog and keep it slow for the first few minutes.

Last night at about 8:30 I had the urge so I harnessed up my dog, River, and we went for a long run. I ran 3 minute intervals and did week 3 day 1 twice. It felt really good to be able to accomplish that, an also to give River some well deserved exercise. We got turned around and lost in our own community; it's still developing, so we don't know it all yet. Good thing that I had my iPhone with me and used the map to get home.

I've been noticing chest pains in the past few days. They seem to be uncorrelated to working out as when I've been running they don't bother me. When I try to stretch I can't seem to get it loosened. Are there chest stretches? Can you pull a muscle in your torso by running?