Me? Running Expert? HA!

I cannot believe it. Someone has asked me for running advice. Shut the front door. Do you have any idea how strange that is for me? If you've known me for a long while, I bet you have some clue.

Well, I responded to my friend's request for advice and I thought some of it might be valid enough to post here for the world (aka my 8 followers) to see. So, brace yourself for the sage advice of an experienced (2 months experience) runner.

***The Request***

How do you like C25K? I've been thinking about giving it a try. I actually tried it last winter and gave up after a week and a half. It was around the holidays and I didn't have enough time to really give it a fair shot. And I'm not a big fan of running on a treadmill. Now that the weather is nice and I can run outside, I'd like to try it again. Any advice?

***My Advice***

First of all, you have no idea how strange it is to me that someone's asking my advice about running. Bizarre-o! =)

Second of all, yay for trying it again! I totally tried Week 1 at some point and quit after my second run. I actually think it's a requirement of the program that you poop out at least once.

Let's see, my advice...

First of all, don't plan on sticking to the timeline of the program. The only people who can pull that off are already runners. Even my BFF Jeff, who is a friggin dancer, had to repeat a week or two. Let your body decide when it's time to move on. If at the end of Week 1, you find that you're still dying at the end of the 60-second run, do it again ... and again, and again. I think I did it 3 or 4 times before I bumped up. I'm on my 3rd or 4th go-round with Week 2 right now

If you have an iPhone or an iPod Touch, get the app. It's AMAZING. You can play your music while the app is running and Mr. C25K (or Ms if you prefer) gently interrupts to say "Walk now" or "Run now." The first time I tried (and I've heard this from other friends too) I used a timer and it was a bitch. It's so nice to be able to jog along and not worry about what the clock says.

Which brings me to my next point: keep your head up. No, not like "Cheer up Charlie," but literally keep your head up. I tell myself "Look at me, I'm just running along, no big deal." That way I'm not staring at the ground. That makes your shoulders slump and cramps your windpipe (I think). Also, you can't feel the breeze or look at your surroundings if you're staring at the ground. Plus, keeping your head up is just good for morale. =)

Next point: run somewhere pretty and flat. If you can trust that the ground under your feet is flat, you don't have to look down. If the surroundings are pretty, you can enjoy them while you're wheezing.

Ignore distance for now. I didn't start paying attention to my distance until I knew I was comfortable running. Paying attention to distance made me get frustrated if I wasn't hitting my mark every run. And that's discouraging. Just run to run. Who cares where you end up or how far you go? That's not the point.

Next, don't stop running until your time is up. Seriously. Don't do it. Who cares if you're tired or if your legs hurt; it's nothing you can't recover from, right? Don't be a wuss. (That's what I tell myself when I want to stop.)

Be careful with your "brisk" opening walk. If your prone to shin splints like I am, you'll shoot yourself in the foot by warming up too vigorously and then being in pain for the rest of the workout. I didn't pick up my warm-up pace for quite a while. Oh, and don't get too excited and start running fast. Take little bitty steps and run slow.

Don't worry about what you look like. I was worried for a while that I didn't LOOK like a runner running. I thought I just looked like I was blobbing along clumsily (and I was). So instead of concentrating on looking like a runner, I concentrated on keeping a strong core and paying attention to which muscles were working. Not only was this distracting, but it helped me figure out how to use a bunch of muscles to do the hard work.

Oh, and I'm always super stressed about how loud I'm breathing. I solved that problem by turning my headphones up so I couldn't hear myself. HUGE HELP!

Finally, try some sort of accountability system. That's what my blog is for. It's really helping to know that there are at least a few people who wait to read what I have to say.

As far as running in the summer, I don't have much advice. I'm kind of worried about it myself. The one run I've done so far in humidity didn't go well so I'm not encouraged. I may try a treadmill, I may try morning runs...who knows.

Okay, I think that's all I've got for now. If I think of anything else, I'll pass it along. Oh, and if you're up for a buddy run for encouragement, let me know. I'm happy to meet you somewhere.

GOOD LUCK!!!!

A Change of Scenery

How exhausting! I mean, watching people carry my heavy furniture really wore me down ...

Right.

Actually, I have to commend the movers I used yesterday, and declare wholeheartedly that I will never as my friends to move furniture again, as long as I have $100 to spare. In case you're interested, check out Move Cheap for your next change of scenery. Cheap, awesome, polite, quick. You just have to rent and drive your own truck.

Okay, sorry for the tangent, but it explains a bit of my post today. Change of Scenery. Yes, I'm finally in my new apartment and thoroughly enjoying the wooded view out my window. The birds are singing and the wind is blowing the brand new leaves on the trees. It makes me glad the stupid cable guy didn't come like he was supposed to yesterday. Otherwise I wouldn't get to hear the nature--and fire trucks and airplanes -- out my window.

The cats are adapting nicely-ish. Well, one is still hiding under the bed, but she's happy there. She lets me reach under and pet her and has come out just a few times. Trixie? Well, she looks stressed, doesn't she?


The good news is she's not picking fights with the other cat. (Background info: Scaredy is the new cat, though she's a few years older than Scaredy. I adopted Scaredy from a co-worker in mid-January. They don't get along ... yet.) In fact, Trixie is currently snoozing under the bed with Scaredy. VICTORY!

I'm adapting nicely to the new place too. I slept well last night, which is a victory for me. I generally don't sleep well in unfamiliar places. It helps that I was in my own bed.

Another change of scenery for today: I ran at a different park this morning. I headed to Veterans Memorial Park in Union Township (disappointing website with very little info). There's no informational signage around the track to let you know exactly how long the path is, but this one website I found said 1+ miles. That is unacceptable to me. 1+ what? Booo! The power is in the details people!

Anyway, I think, if you take the right path and loop around this one little part against your insticts, it's 1 mile and 50 feet or so. There are handy little spray-painted quarter-mile markers on the concrete. At least I think that's what they were. The mark at what appears to be 1 mile is a smiley face.

So, needless to say, I can't exactly track my progress today because I tried a new venue with unclear distance markers. But I can say I didn't have shin splints today, and my breathing was fairly under control. It's still very apparent that I need to repeat Week 2 for the third time; I'm still ending my 90 second runs thinking, "OH GOD I CAN'T DO IT!" Let's just say there's nothing quite as sweet as Mr. C25K interrupting my playlist to say "Walk now." I'm going to marry him.

I'm curious, though. How do you know when to stop running in your run/walk workout? Do you use time, distance, or just feeling? How do you judge when to start running again? Do you let yourself catch your breath entirely or do you keep your heart rate going? If I ever chose to end my dependency problem with Mr. C25K, I'd like to know. I'm not good at pushing myself without outside influence.

Future running plans: Probably Monday or Tuesday. This week is going to be really nice so I'd like to take advantage of it. Although, I still have a lot of moving activities to take care of, so these plans are, sadly, tentative.