c25k, oh yeah!

I came on here to post an update on my c25k progress and scrolled down to find out just when I posted on this. One month. To the day. So it is fitting to do a one-month progress report.

So, no: I didn't post on the program and then bail halfway through. Thank you. Thank you.

I am still on the treadmill, three days a week, doing the program, recording my times and distance, giving myself smiley faces when one week is complete. Really, smiley faces. As if I am in the first grade. I thrive on that positive feedback stuff, even if it is from myself.

I had a hiccup last week in the program. Well, more like a sneeze, a cough and a fever. On Wednesday I did my run (5 minute warm-up, 25 minute run, 5 minute cool-down) of 7.2 (translate: week seven, day two), showered and dressed, headed up to the elementary school for a parent volunteer position for an hour, came home, soaked up my mom's company for a few more hours and then took her to the airport. By the time I got to the airport I was feeling very tired but I didn't mention it to my mom because she worries. By the time I got back home I was feeling lousy. By the afternoon my throat hurt.

My first thought when my throat hurt? How am I going to do my run on Friday?

That thought is huge progress, my friends. HUGE. I used to take an illness as an excuse for not exercising. Justified movie watching and lounging in bed with a box of tissues and my special brand of self-pity.

I talked to my husband, who was sick since the weekend, about my dread of the Friday run. By then I already had a low-grade fever and felt very weak. He thought I was silly for even thinking I could do it.

I didn't do it. Last Friday I was in bed. By the time Monday came around I was starting to feel better. No more fever. Just gross mucus. Blech. I wrote mucus. It is almost as bad as writing or saying the word, "crotch", just a step below it really.

So I contemplated a Monday workout but decided to clean my home instead. I am glad I decided that. In less than a week of neglect it looked horrible and now, it is livable.

So today I got back on the treadmill. Because it has been a week and also I am recovering from a mild case of bronchitis, I went back a week and repeated 6.2. My lungs did pretty great, actually. I coughed a little on the second stretch of ten minutes, but my breathing was awesome. In fact, today was the first day I noticed that my breathing has improved since beginning the program. I'm not panting through the whole thing. Though the last five minutes, no make that eight, my breathing was a little more labored.

If I didn't get sick I would be, right now, glorying in week eight (28 minutes run) and knowing that in just one week and a few days, I will "complete" the program (30 minutes run). I put quotations on the word complete because I won't stop the program on 9.3. My plan is to work on improving my times and mileage. As of now, I don't quite make the mileage. I am SO close. I'm talking ten more seconds sometimes and I would be there.

But for now, while I just make the time goals, I am so pleased. I still carry many extra pounds on me, but not only are they easier to carry around, the load is decreasing. Slowly. One to two pounds each week. Though I wish I had a magic wand to make the excess fat disappear all at once, I am grateful my body is getting rid of the storage slowly.

I love to run up my stairs (which I have to do a lot-the laundry room as well as my sewing room and the storage room are downstairs) and feel no difference in my heart rate.

I love to feel and see the differences, each week, in my legs, my waist, my hips. I am stronger. I have more spring in my step. And...I can still have brownies every once in a while. :)

So I have been kicked back to week six. Next week I will begin week seven again. Then I will complete that. Complete Eight. Complete Nine. And at that point I will have accomplished what I never thought my body or mind capable of: running...for longer than a minute!

Aren't our bodies incredible? And our minds, too! Don't forget those.
After all, running is a mental game.