As you have probably guessed by now, I have given up on re-starting the Couch to 5K program to become faster. It was frustrating me and actually make me NOT want to run because I felt like I had stepped so far back from where I was. Having been given a new perspective on pretty much everything over the past week, I really don't care if I can't beat my PR of 30:05. But I do always want to be able to run a 5K at the drop of a hat. Hopefully if I just keep the endurance up, speed will eventually come or I'll somehow learn to get faster, or I'll stumble upon a training program that doesn't make me feel like I'm going nowhere, lol. So for now, I'm just going to run. The goal will always be 3.1 miles but as long as I'm moving, I'm OK with whatever my body will grant me :)
This past weekend we went to visit some friends up in Kingston, NY. Thanks to Wifey's silver membership with Hilton we got a pretty good deal on a Hampton Inn, so I got to check out yet another hotel gym. I have to admit, I kind of love hotel gyms! There's TV's, super cool treadmills and I can people watch, which is one of my favorite activities. Plus I feel all fancy-schmancy when I'm at a hotel gym. I don't really know why, but just let me have my moments, lol.
This particular fitness center was the smallest of the 3 I have been in so far, but it was nice because it eliminated being surrounded by hoards of people which can make me uncomfortable. But what I found to be the most interesting about this gym was the mirrors on the wall. They had the treadmills lined up on an angle in front of a wall of mirrors. At first I was not happy about it because I didn't really want to watch myself run. I was sure that I looked like an idiot and I didn't want to blow the whole fancy-schmancy vibe I had going on in my head. And for whatever reason, if I am in front of a mirror I feel a need to look at myself in it so looking away was not an option. I don't think it's a vain thing...believe me, I don't usually like what I see, lol.
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| Not quite THIS good, but getting there! |
So here I was, staring at myself in the mirror on a treadmill. I started out with my usual quarter mile speed-walk to get warmed-up and I did NOT like what I saw! I had no idea that my thighs moved so much when I walked! That was saddening. All of my life I have had these stick-figure legs that I've been self-conscious about because they were too twiggy, and now my skin is flapping about on them like deflated sails on a windless day. Wonderful. Ugh! But then I started running and I was shocked; there was actual muscle definition on my legs! I had no idea!! When I ran my legs looked almost "normal", like a real runner's legs. There were lines and firmness and actual leg matter there (remember the aforementioned twigs from my past)!! I couldn't believe it!! Calves where you could see the muscle flexing, quads that looked like muscle instead of twigs. Even my arms were showing some muscle tone as they went back & forth. I seriously couldn't believe it. I knew my body was changing - that I could see just from looking at it on a daily basis. But I have never seen myself in the process of actually running other than my finish-line pictures from the
Spotswood 5K, and by the time you can see my legs I'm already slowing down & they look like windless sails.
So noticing my legs in the mirrors was the high point of this run. I only did 2 miles but I'm OK with that. We ended up going on a walk in the woods up a steep hill later on in the day so I did get some additional exercise and I feel pretty good about where I am right now :)
On another note...the birthday fairy has endowed me with some extra cash, so today I FINALLY signed up for the Dec. 1st 5K I
previously mentioned that I had to back out of. This one is for the Burlington Twp. Food Pantry and is the
Race for the Hungry Holiday 5K. It's $20 to register by November 30th, and $25 on race day. Anyone looking to help support local food banks or just get in a nice cold run, come join me!
You are a REAL RUNNER with those muscles, yay! I would also try googling "5k training plan" and see what else is out there! You prob did not stick with C25k because you are now BEYOND it! You don't need that level anymore, you are more advanced now. Congrats!!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm thinking of looking at other programs but I might just be OK with running how I run for now. Does that make any sense? It felt like a step back to run in spurts and not for longer distances even though it was much faster than I normally run. But at the same time I think I picked too fast of a speed, and I don't think I need to be that fast. I don't know. I think I'm just going to keep with what I'm doing and the distance that I'm at, at least for now. I have a feeling that the more I do, the faster I'll get naturally. And thank you for calling me a real runner :)
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