Today began week 7 of Couch to 5K. I am in awe of my continued dedication to this program. Normally, I get uber excited and giddy about a new project, ambition, routine, whatever and once I get into it I become so bored and down right lazy. Not this time!! I have made it through 6 weeks of mental and physical struggle and I'm still going strong!
And it is paying off! My waist is reappearing woo hoo! I was standing with my hand on my waist and when I laughed at something I felt my muscles flex; they are so strong! Clothes are fitting better and my posture is improving! Oh my and my ass, my ASS!! My co-worker complimented on how great it looked - "Oh! Your little tushy is like a shelf!" What? My ass has always been flat. This is fantastic! And to put the cherry on top, Simon said to me last night, (while doing a little man handling *wink wink*) that my ass feels tighter. Score!
What's even better? All I have been doing is the program, with maybe a sporadic and infrequent Pilates routine or light free weights here and there. I am amazed at how running has increased my core strength. Keeping those abs tight, head high, and entire body active throughout the entire stretch!
Fuck yeah!
A new obstacle has presented itself - Arizona heat. The era of evening workouts has ceased (since I don't have, and can't afford, a gym membership) so my alarm is now set to 5:15 M, W, F. Ugh. BUT as soon as I can get my lazy ass out of bed (Simon can attest for my tremendous lack of ability to get out of bed in the morning), get dressed, stretched, hydrated, and fueled - I'm out the door with a huge grin on my face! Air is brisk, birds are chirping, and everyone you meet wishes you a good morning. Life is good!
I have been trying something else new: Sprint/Jog Intervals. Not too sure what pace I'm at since I don't use a treadmill. I participate in a forum about the program and everyone seems to be going at 4.5 mph. They say that they're barely at a 10 minute mile and based on how far I go, I estimate that I am, too. (I've been using Map My Run to track this).
So my dear friend Sarah suggested I start doing intervals of sprints to boost my speed and so far it's working great! Rather than, timed intervals I am setting markers such as light posts, turns in the path, trees, etc. It's so great!
This morning I really pushed it on my sprints with long and strong strides. It surprisingly feels more comfortable to take longer strides, but my body isn't ready for non-stop efforts of this magnitude. Just need more practice and to build up my leg strength.
After the program is over, I thought about maybe starting over but instead of doing walk/run do jog/sprint on the same schedule. We'll see. First step is to complete this round and I'm less than 3 weeks away!
No comments:
Post a Comment