I am back to regular running, for about the last week, after being more or less "off" since the Bix (with a few exceptions). My husband Gary wants to run with me, so this was the perfect time for me to help him get in the swing. I downloaded a C25K app to my Iphone - C25K stands for "couch to 5K" and is a program by which one can move to running 30 continuous minutes within something like 9 weeks. In theory, that 30 minutes is a 5K. That has NEVER been true for me - I am such a slow runner - but still, it's a great help for learning how to run without stopping.
Gary is a faster runner than me. I can run for 2 hours without stopping, but it's all at a speed that isn't really different from walking. Right now, the C25K app has us do 5 minutes of walking warmup, then 20 minutes of 1 minute running, 1 minute walking, then 5 minutes of walking cool down. We walk together. Then when the voice tells us to run, he shoots off ahead of me (though he keeps trying to slow down to stay back with me, which is noble of him but usually doesn't sit well with Grumpy Morning Karen - I tell him he doesn't need to do that in my friendliest possible voice, and then he does it anyway. LOL)
Last week, I didn't even try to catch up with him on the run parts. I'd just regain the ground during walking and that was fine. But it occurred to me that once we get to running 30 continuous minutes, we will not be running together AT ALL. And I need to pick up speed, so that next year's Bix won't be another experience in the frustration of walkers sauntering by me, discussing their favorite pinterest recipes, while I die a thousand deaths inside.
So this morning, I was determined to keep up with him. I need to get faster. This is my chance! And I should get a better workout, going faster. The problem was: it was a very muggy 72 degrees out at 4:30 this morning. Perhaps you've been around long enough to know how badly I handle that much heat for a run. I need it to be 52, not 72. I LOVE 32. 72 is torture. So for the first half of our running, I sort of kind of almost kept up with G, though I was sweating like a madwoman and blowing hard. The second half....fuggedaboutit! My butt and legs weighed 20 million pounds, and no amount of the mental push could make the body move a bit faster. So he was back to slowing down to wait for me and I was back to trying not to glare at him or hold it against him that he's so much nicer a guy than I deserve! :-)
I'm going to keep trying. Maybe Wednesday will bring us a cooler morning.
I also hadn't ridden much for the last 5 weeks or so - something like 2 bike rides total, one of them being the little 1 mile ride to work. I have had a case of the crankies about that which kind of ebbed and flowed and yesterday BABY IT WAS FLOWING. I was one grumpola after church, when I figured out that we might not have time for a ride. Thankfully, we worked that out - we rode to and from the evening church service. It's only 3 miles from here, and sometimes I wouldn't count that as a "real" bike ride, but when you've done NUTHIN' for so long, 6 miles of road time is a sweet, delicious treat. I am so grateful that I have a husband who likes to ride!
So hopefully we are getting back into a swing of more exercise. This body needs it badly.
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