Couch to 5K Reboot

I took this week to assess my overall fitness level. My injury put me out of training for 3 weeks followed by a month and a half of steady overtime. This basically puts me back at the beginning in terms of fitness, which is both demoralizing and encouraging.

While it's depressing to realize I will need to spend a good 3 weeks essentially re-leveling it does show me how far I had come from my starting fitness level. My cardiovascular endurance took the biggest hit, and today I rolled back to the Week 1 plan and pushed myself much harder than usual (too hard in fact, as I gave myself some pretty brutal cramps early on). 

This was absolutely the right thing to do. Instead of sluggishly jogging through a tougher program, I pushed through the easiest intervals at a pretty significant pace for me. I was finally enjoying myself again and it felt incredible to find the right pace. My ankle does hurt a bit so I probably overdid it by doing a double session, but I have learned from my previous mistakes and I am icing it while I write this entry.

I have also discovered quite a few things that I think will help me build and keep a good healthy routine. In no particular order:

Good running shoes are worth every stinking penny.

Run in two sports bras. Really. I did this tonight and it was the most amazing difference. It's a lot easier to enjoy yourself without pain!

Don't overdo it. You know, like I just did (again).

Don't be afraid to progress slowly. It's better than no progress at all.

Learn where you break and ice it before it hurts. Ice it when it hurts. Ice it after it hurts.

Stretch well and don't forget that running uses your upper body and core muscles as well as legs.

Plans and Goals:

Instead of running 3 times per week I am going to run 4 times a week. One of these runs will be a Week 1 or Week 2 session. This will allow me to track my improvement with a consistent baseline. I think this will be a nice break each week and also good encouragement.

I found a pretty good basic circuit routine, too: the sidewalk on the East side of Aurora is much flatter and safer, so I can walk up to Galer Street and climb the overpass during my warm-up (stairs, bonus!). Then I can run uninterrupted by lights and intersections all the way across the bridge to Freemont. The pedestrian underpass takes me right back to the Western side, and I wind up back home. 

Running with my iPod on shuffle was amazing. I discovered unexpected inspirational music had been hiding in here all along! I am going to give this a try once a week just to see what I can find that works well. I am also going to build out a good playlist from these discoveries so I don't have to skip so many songs.

Listening to the right song at the right point in time is amazing. Shameful, shameful pop music with just the right beat is great. I admit that I mostly danced my way back across the bridge and it was probably a terrible sight. But I had an awesome time doing it, Oliver smiles when I am happy, and it was pretty dark so I don't think the passing cars noticed. Now that I am starting to figure out the right BPM for my different segments I am going to investigate some options for playlists there as well. Nothing keeps me on track as well as the right song!

Figure out what the hell I need to eat to have enough energy and protein to be healthy while I am active. I am having an extremely hard time getting a substantial amount of protein and vitamins without going crazy overboard on calories (protein) or sugars (damn you fruit for being so delicious!).