djplong

It's like the old adage: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. When I started the program, some sessions were so difficult that I didn't 'succeed' until the FOURTH try. Believe you me, when I'd finally get over that hump, the feeling of accomplishment was GREAT!

Don't worry about the time. You get the endurance first - speed will come later.

I had 'quitting thoughts' from time to time as well. What worked for me is thinking about having thrown away everything I've done since last year, culminating in my meeting goals that would have been unthinkable last January. The idea of going back to that person was definitely a disincentive. So I put some more POSITIVE incentives out there. I'm kinda into the bling, to be honest. So I signed up for a challenge on the MakeYesHappen website. When I run 31 miles in training (linked to and tracked by Runkeeper), I'll get this cool-looking New Year's medal. They have other challenges ranging from 26 miles to over 90 miles (if memory serves) and the cost isn't that much. I signed up for the remaining "Freeze Your Buns 5K" series that the Gate City Striders put on in Nashua NH. I'm also scouring the web looking for half marathons to run. I set a goal in Runkeeper of doing 13.1 miles in one session by the July 4th weekend.

Everyone starting out on the couch starts that way. Your body is rebelling at the idea of having supply oxygen to a body in motion. It *does* get easier - that's why the increases are comparatively small early in the C25K program. Your body has to get the idea of what your "new normal" is going to be - and you're going to be stretching that out while it adjusts. It's not a cakewalk, but it's far from impossible. I'm sure there are dozens of people on these forums that will repeat the line I tell everyone around here - "If I could do it, you probably can as well" - because, believe me, I was pretty firmly on the couch last year.

For what it's worth... I was finding myself at about 7 minutes per km - doing a 5K would have been about 35:00. My goal was 30:00. When I finally ran my first race (3 weeks ago), I came in at around 37 minutes. Last Sunday I ran another 5K and came in at 32:46. (For reference, the 10K I ran 3 weeks ago came in at 1:15:38 - the day after running the 5K and walking an additional 9 miles all over Walt Disney World). Now that I'm training for a half-marathon, I switched my profiles over to imperial units and I'm somewhere over 10 minutes/mile when I do 4/1 (4 minute jog, 1 minute walk) intervals.

I found myself constantly checking my phone - certainly more than I would like. I was especially guilty when I was upping the amount of running time. What worked for me might seem counter-intuitive. I bought an Apple Watch last November. I wanted to be able to start and stop sessions more easily, especially since I was going to be in races starting in January. Well, now that I've run the long runs, I find myself checking the watch less. Of course, I have Runkeeper (and, before that I had MapMyRun+) giving me updates in my ear every half-mile. Those updates seem to satisfy most of my "need to know" when I've been doing my 4/1 intervals these past couple of weeks (4:00 jogging, 1:00 walking). When I was on the longer sessions or in a race, I didn't much care about checking the watch at all because of the half-mile updates. But I *will* say that, if it wasn't for the music, I don't know that I could do this. Even now, when a song comes on, I might mentally think (if it's a long one) "Ok, this one is long enough that I'll get the break AND the whole next jog interval in it" or something like that. Just the way my brain works, I guess.

Linita&I - no one single thing I did was extraordinary. I was lazy - still am, to a degree. Each little thing built upon the previous one and that's how this started to become 'a thing'. I mean, the list is a bunch of baby steps... - the picture from my stepdaughter (July 2014) putting something in my head. - buying new phones that tracked my steps (November 2014). - seeing that data and start to subconsciously want to 'up my numbers' - nothing serious (December 2014). - mapping out a 5K neighborhood walk to see if I could do it. - doing it. - wondering if I could run 5K someday. - seeing finisher medals for 5K races while surfing the net on running programs. - discovering the C25K system. - doing that first session (January 2015) - resuming C25K after being snowed out for 3 months (March 2015) - Setting a goal of running the Walt Disney World 5K and 10K races (in Jan 2016) and signing up for them (April 2015). - Struggling through various sessions but still making progress. - Failing sessions but, because I was tracking myself with an app (MapMyRun+), I could still see improvement from previous sessions. - Repeating sessions until I succeeded. - Getting a hip/leg injury (July 2015) that restricted my movements. - Getting a bike to ride around since I could still do that (August 2015) - Getting cleared to start running again (October 2015) and almost completely restarting the program from the beginning. - Not failing a single session and skipping a few as I felt almost too strong at times. - Doing the 30-minute run and continuing on to the C10K program. - Doing my first 60-minute run (more like a jog, as are ALL my 'running' intervals) a week before my plane left for Florida. - Running the races (Jan 2016). - Running three times a week to keep my legs going. There's no single "big step" in all of that. They were all baby steps. Tentatively, if my body will let me, I want to do half marathons this year. If I can, maybe stretch that out to a marathon next year. And then, in January 2018, maybe "do the Dopey" - the Dopey Challenge where you run the WDW 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and Marathon races on consecutive days. I'm not trying to be competitive - not with anyone but myself. The goal is to finish. I'm only proving things to myself. And with the support I get form my wife, well, that makes it all the more easy. I know I sound like so many other people.. But if *I* can do it, well, most people can do it.

Aaaaaand I'm now signed up for the B.A.A. 5K that happens a couple days before their Boston Marathon. I was surprised to see actual results from the 5K I ran on Sunday posted online. I was right about the freezing weather being a motivator. And I was fairly accurate with my time estimate - I knocked about 4 1/2 minutes off my WDW 5K time - down to 32:46. So now I'm "treading water" running a 4.1 mile course around my neighborhood pacing myself with 4:00 run, 1:00 walk intervals. Definitely have to work up the training plan to get stretched out to a half marathon. I think I'm going to give Paris a pass and start signing up for the Rock N Roll Half Marathons in Philadelphia and Montreal on consecutive weeks. In Philly, I get to visit my kids. Montreal? Well, I just plain love Montreal - and then there's the bling. Bonus medal for finishing half marathons in two different countries. I should have a tshirt made up that says "Will Run For Bling".

There are certainly a lot of stories out here.. A year ago, I was 'on the couch'. I didn't think much about it as I was told years ago that I'd never walk again and I proved that false very quickly. I was happy with that accomplishment and the fact that I could pretty much walk wherever I wanted for as long as I wanted. A picture my stepdaughter took of me while I was sleeping on a plane woke me up - I looked pregnant. When I bought a new iPhone a little over a year ago, I saw it recording my steps and mileage and I occasionally started trying to 'up the numbers'. I looked around to see what I could do and, truth be told, it was pictures of participation medals that really got me started in this direction. Being crippled got me off to a late start so I was NEVER very good athletically and, hence, always picked last for teams in school. Getting a medal for doing something like this had a LOT of appeal to me ("Will Run For Bling"). Then I found this and I started the C25K program. Right afterwards, 9 feet of snow in 3 weeks made it impossible to continue (unsafe running conditions). Fortunately, I picked the baton back up when things thawed out a bit in March and re-started it. An injury in July taught me a lot about what I was doing wrong and I wasn't able to re-start running until October - though I took up bike-riding in the meantime. Long story short (there's a thread here with all the details) I was still able to make my goals. Earlier this month I ran the Walt Disney World 5K and 10K races on consecutive days. Now I'm setting new goals - a half marathon. I have my eye on the Rock 'N Roll Half Marathons in Philadelphia (where my kids live) and Montreal (a favorite city of mine just 4 hours away by car). I just ran in the Freeze Your Buns 5K series here in New Hampshire and will be running the remaining 3 races in that series. I'm just looking to fill in the calendar with a good half marathon in late spring or early summer so I can try one of the many training schedules out there. Until then, I'm just keeping one foot going in front of the other..

Yesterday I discovered a 5K race practically next door to me that was happening TODAY. It was the Freeze your Buns 5K series in Nashua. This was apparently the 2nd of 5 races with a paltry $5 signup fee. I showed up early this morning (16F when I got there), handed them a $20 and, when they went to give me my $15 change, I told them to keep it and register me for the remaining 3 races of the series. So I got bib #153 and ran, predictably, at the back of the pack until even the pack was a distant memory. The good news is that I sliced between 4 and 5 minutes of my time at Walt Disney World. Maybe the cold weather (it'd gotten up to 20F) was an incentive In two weeks, I'll do it again. What insanity has possessed me? I also signed up at MakeYESHappen.com for a virtual challenge ($25). Something to keep my feet to the fire. They hook up with Runkeeper (among other trackers) so they automatically track your progress in the challenge. (You can also add sessions manually)

Got back to running today and felt really great afterwards. I won't say it was an 'effortless' 5K+, but it was a lot easier than I feared after having been off for over a week and how frigid it was outside. I was inspired to get back on the road by something I saw online.. Fares from Boston to Paris for under $500 r/t at the time of the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon... That almost makes it seem possible. I mentioned it to my wife by saying "Honey, how would you like to visit your son for my birthday?" (Her oldest son lives in London) It'd be a extended weekender. I'd originally thought about doing the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in Montreal on my birthday but Paris beats Montreal.

I dropped 20 pounds in a few months by cutting out or cutting down a few things and starting the C25K program. I seem to have plateaued at that level and everything I read tells me that my body has gotten used to 'the new normal' so I have to mix things up - probably cross-training on my off days.

Back home from the cruise following the week at Disney that had the races. I put on 4 pounds. There's snow all over the roads and I need to get out there but it's not safe! New goal: Half marathon. Looking at schedules to set a timeframe and i got hit with two discoveries. Montreal (about a 4 hour drive from here) is having their Rock N Roll 5/10/Half/Marathon day ON MY BIRTHDAY (September) - so I thought that might be a good target. I could sign up for the half and, if I went "ahead of schedule" could upgrade to the full marathon (though I doubt I'd have that in me). So I thought that might be a plan - with another half marathon in July in Portland ME on the shore as a test. Then I was reading the running magazines on my Kindle while at sea and spotted an ad. Disneyland Paris is holding their inaugural half-marathon ON MY BIRTHDAY! ...and I spent way too much money on THIS trip!

Well.. I did it! I made some mistakes along the way but I'm back in the hotel room after a nap after the 10K the day after the 5K. My thoughts - in no particular order... - The 5K was done before I knew it despite me having a bit of a hard time transitioning from 'not running' to "running". Had some aches and pains show up real fast - to the point I was wondering if my achilles was going to blow out - but it all went away and, before I knew it, the race was over! - Important Training Tip: Do NOT walk around Epcot and put another 8-9 miles on your feet after the 3.1 miles of the race after standing around for over an hour in the corrals after a couple of days of doing the parks at Disney when you have a 10K the following day! Which brings me to: - A 10K in the rain is less fun than a 10K practiced on home turf. THANK GOD I BOUGHT A HAT! For a while, the rain started to let up but it came back plenty in the last third of the race. My feet were soaked, sometimes my glasses fogged up BUT AT LEAST I COULD SEE BECAUSE I BOUGHT A HAT AT THE EXPO! - I had to take a lot more walk breaks than I wanted to in the 10K (I wanted to take NONE). I got it down to a routine - uphills were walked and I'd set a target sometimes at which point I'd fast-walk for 60 strides. That being said, even though the 10K was less fun than I'd hoped because of the weather, I am SO glad I did this.. The proof? Take a look!

Finished the 10K schedule yesterday. Now it's on to the races that I signed up for all those months ago. Had to go through the 5K schedule almost two full times (injury a couple days short of finishing it the first time) but raced through the 10K schedule without a hiccup! I *never* would have thought this possible!

Yesterday was over an hour of jogging. I feel like I've really completed the 10K schedule - and just in time. Our flight to Florida is tomorrow morning. Wednesday is the expo, Thursday the 5K and Friday the 10K. I've been thinking a lot of "What's next" and it seems to be staring me in the face. If I can do 10K, I should see if I can stretch my body out to do 21.1K, 13.1 miles - the half-marathon. Over these past 9 months there's been a lot of encouragement, frustration (injury related) and disbelief. I could never have gotten this far without my wife's full support. My ex would have responded to my idea of running a 5K with a "sh-yea, right!" and, given my history, she would have had good reason. But Susie, to whom I've now been married over 5 years, is going to be right beside me at the starting line (ok, the corral) even though she hasn't done the program. Her decades of dance, however, will let her do the 5K without too much difficulty and the 10K will have her taking a lot of walk breaks. So now that the vacation is less than 24 hours away, I have to start checking out the calendars and pick this year's target races. When I started this last year, I was also checking out the finisher medals. Now? I still want them - but I'm not checking them out the way I was when I started. That being said, I can't wait to put these first two up on the wall when we get back!

As of yesterday, I pretty much finished the 10K app. Second straight W14 session (60 minute jog) and it went without a physical hitch. I had trouble with the 5K schedule - injuries had me on the shelf for a couple months and I had to repeat days, up to 4 times, before succeeding at some of the harder challenges. When I got back from my injury and almost completely restarted the 5K schedule, I blew through it like a hot knife through butter. By the tail end, I was finally feeling my limits but my doctor says (and I agree) that it was good to build back up to that. So I went from the 5K to the 10K schedule - Weeks 9 through 14. The shocker was that I didn't have to repeat a SINGLE DAY! I was worried that I wouldn't have enough time to build up to a 10K - but I've run 10K in an extended session twice! I feel ready for the races I signed up for (next week - plane leaves tomorrow). The more I think about it, the more it makes sense that going from nothing to 5K is a LOT more body-changing than going from 5K to 10K...

Well - that's it.. W14D1 is in the books. 60 minutes of continuous jogging. A whole bleeping hour... 9 months ago I could barely do 60 *seconds* at a time... Now? The back pain eases up as soon as I stop jogging. The ankle and Achilles pains don't last as long. The middle sections are still the toughest. At the beginning, I can feel my body transitioning into 'run' mode - my breathing changes and I have a bit of anxiety while that happens. In the middle, things start to slog and it's hard to break bad mental habit. The closer I get to the end, the easier it gets.. When I can say 'less than 15 minutes' or 'less than 10 minutes'... At one point yesterday I got an alert that indicated I'd been jogging for 33 minutes and I said to myself "Ok. 27 minutes to go. I can do that.. I just *did* in the last half hour!". Fortunately, the park was nearly deserted and nobody heard me! I'm doing around 9K in an hour of jogging. Not to far off my goal of doing the 10K in those 60 minutes. Sunday we're leaving for Florida and I think, after the races are done, I might work on a bit of speed - though I'm not quite sure how. I have a lot of reading to do and several plane flights will give me the time I need. The thought of doing a half-marathon seems to be a reasonable goal now. The thought of doing a marathon has gone from the "Impossible" shelf to... ...well... ...maybe my body *can* do this! ...and I still hear that doctor telling my mother that I'd never walk again.

Yesterday was W13D3 and another success, despite my not having dressed properly - it got lots warmer while I was jogging. Next up are the Week 14 60-minute intervals... Was IM'ing with my daughter after the session - telling her what I'd done and she said "Daaaamn, son! Who are you and what have you done with my dad?"

Grrr.. App screwed up again. I think the GPS went wonky and it drove the app nuts, though the timed reminders still happened. It's like what happened a few weeks ago only this time, later in the day, my whole phone seized up or crashed or something.. Again I didn't complete what I'd intended but I got about 5K into W13D3. I haven't decided if I'm going to do the 10K via the 4/1 jog/walk intervals that I did a few weeks ago or just try to do a normal session (or pick up again tomorrow). But it *does* have me looking at other apps just to re-evaluate what's out there. Now we're looking at 60F today.. Christmas.. IN NEW HAMPSHIRE!!! It's now less than 2 weeks before the races in Florida - 9 days before we leave and I am definitely feeling the excitement!

I set up a few playlists in iTunes and they show up in MapMyRun+ with no trouble.

Yesterday - W13D2 - and another success. All the typical aches showing up at all the typical times - but not as bad as the last time. It's really puzzling me how I'm getting through all of these with no failures. The first time through the program (before my hip injury) there were several sessions that I had to do multiple times before successfully completing them - sometimes it took 4 tries! Ever since I re-started, I've been knocking down each and every session - with the worst case being when I 'borrowed' a minute from a jogging interval and tacked it on to the end. I've *never* been good at physical things. My birth defect and the ramifications of correcting it meant I was always picked last for teams at school. Sure, in my 20s I got into roller skating and playing softball - but that was about the extent of it. I certainly wasn't a slugger on the field - I had to depend on my brains to make up for what I lacked in my body (being a good infielder, spraying hits around the field, running down the first base line on a ground ball to back up the first baseman when I was a catcher). I was talking to my wife about "what next?" now that we're leaving for Florida in less than two weeks. Like the suggestions above, I've started thinking 'half marathon'. Seems like a logical progression. From nothing to 5K, 5K to 10K, 10K to 21.1K looks like 'the next step'. I just think it's an even bigger commitment in time and there will definitely be more things to think about - like paying more attention to nutrition, some kind of off-day cross training, even trying in-race refueling (gels?). I have a hard time recognizing myself when I start looking at a calendar and see that there's a half-marathon in Portland ME in July and a combined 5K/10K/Half/Full Marathon in Montreal (a 4 hour drive) on my birthday in September - and realizing that THOSE are starting to get me excited...

I went on to the 10K app - it even starts at "Week 9" so it seems to be designed to be 'the next step'. It's not even another 8-week program. Week 14 is the "Jog 60 minutes or 10K" finale.

W13D1 last Friday and I got through another one! I was dodging raindrops towards the end (first time I've had to deal with weather - fortunately it was just sprinkles). I didn't think it would too difficult to get through the first 22-minute interval - and it wasn't. I was worried about the 2nd - but then I'd just run 54 minutes with 2 1-minute walks previously. Today it's supposed to be a pair of 25 minute intervals, then 30 minutes on Wednesday before tackling the hour-at-a-time afterwards. My thoughts are now starting to turn to "what next?". When I'm done with the 5K and 10K races in 2 weeks, I'll need another goal.

W12D3... ...and another success yesterday. It's following the same pattern when a new 'week' increases the mileage. D1 has me thinking of quitting far too many times. D2 isn't quite as bad and I'm a little more optimistic and in a bit better frame of mind. D3 happens and I still have something left in the tank - knowing form the get-go that I'm going to be able to do it (since I already did it twice when I was in a worse mood). It's a little hard to wrap my brain around the idea that I'm ready for the events that I've signed up for and that they are now so close (20 days before we leave for FL).