Beginning C25k (again)

[faesdeynia]

I've started c25k twice this year, and failed out around week 6 and week 4, respectively. Something would happen, or I'd get really behind on schoolwork and stay up too late, or the weather would be miserable, and then I would be sunk.

But, these last two weekends I've done two 5k's with my work mates - we walked both of them. We participated in the ROC race and the Color Run. I would like to work up to running them instead.

I'm going to try the 5k101 podcast program, since the music is exactly what I want to listen to and I think I would benefit from the coaching he gives during the program. I've used a couple of different apps in the past, and have been pretty happy with them; I want to try something different. The apps I've used start out with a 30s run period; the podcast begins at 2 minutes, and increases each run interval by 2 minutes/week for the first few weeks.

I have a few obstacles against me - I work full time as a nurse, and I know from past experience that I have to exercise prior to work or it won't happen. That means I wake up around 0400 if I want to exercise. I'm also in school for my BSN and have an ungodly commute. I love my team, my work, my clinic, and my patients, which is why I tolerate the 45-60 minute commute each way. One of my problems is that if anything throws off my schedule, it's very difficult for me to get back on track. It's difficult to do anything after work short of make dinner, pack lunches, and fall into bed; even my weekly yoga class at the hospital puts a cramp in my day, since I don't get home until an hour before bedtime.

I am very lucky that I live in TX, if only for the fact that it will stay warm here well into December. Even in January, it's very unlikely I'd be running in below freezing temperatures. I've been giving some thought to joining a YMCA program, though. I haven't decided yet. I despise treadmill running, but some of them have indoor tracks. Typically I don't mind running at night, and I live in an incredibly safe area. But it would be nice to have options for truly inclement weather.

At least I didn't get shot...

[angrboda]

Not a very good run today.

There's a new walking trail around the town where I live. It's 11 kilometers in total and you can get on it close to where I live, so I thought I would incorporate some of it into a new running route. Evil Laura said that if you get bored it's a good idea to try a new route. I made a route that I liked the look and length of and today was the first time I was going to try it. I had printed out a map to keep in my pocket so that I wouldn't get lost and wouldn't mess up when I got off the trail to go through town and home.

Some of the route, the bit where you get on it close to my house, actually, is on the edge of fields so not super-smooth terrain. Grassy, though. Muddy when wet. As I discovered. Before my warm-up walk was over, both shoes were right squelchy. The map of the trail did say that this bit was a 'primitive trail' so I ought to have known it would not be suitable for days after a rainy night, really. Oh well, I pressed on.

Only 500 meters further up there was a sign that there was a hunt going on today so the next part of the trail was closed. Turning back and following a slightly different route back so as to avoid the grassy muddy bits again, I had to improvise for the rest of the run and I'd got my feet all wet for no use at all. Come to think of it, I will probably adjust my new route to just avoid that bit anyway, since that seems easy to do and won't make much difference for me. I don't know why they didn't make the trail like that in the first place. Perhaps it wasn't sufficiently around the town to do so. But anyway, as time passes and trail gets used, the footpath should become better.

It wasn't easy drawing the route on a map afterwards. It involved a lot of doubling back in order to make it long enough.