Part of my quest to improve sleep has been exercise. To keep things interesting, I mix up what type of exercise I do during the week. We own a treadmill. Last year, I could barely run on it. It completely tired me out. My lungs could hardly take the exertion. I'd poop out and just walk for awhile. Running has always made me aware of how mentally and physically weak I am. Not a great feeling.
Within the last few months, I've been slowly building up my stamina. At first I really had no idea what I was doing (still don't). I'd just play around with speeds and challenge myself to go a minute at 5 mph (I know that sound pathetic but that was where I was at). Then I tried to see if I could go 2 minutes at 5 mph and so on. Then I'd peak at 7 mph (which is still pretty crazy and intense for my short fat legs). I've been amazed at how well my lungs are adjusting to longer intervals of running. I've gone 5 minutes at 6 mph. :)
Lately, I've been going 5 minutes walking at 4 mph to warm up. Then I would alternate 5 minutes going 5 mph and then 5 minutes walking at 4 mph. Then I'd throw in 6 mph for 5 minutes. Or I'd go an extra 30 seconds running here and there. My initial goal was to go just 20 minutes. Now I go until I hit 3 miles (which takes more than 30 minutes for me right now).
Yesterday, as I showed on my list of accomplishments, I ran 25 minutes going 5 mph (a little over 2 miles). I felt so empowered. Then I walked for 15 minutes to get that final mile. I was somewhat disappointed that I stopped running so quickly because my shins started to tighten and my legs felt very heavy. For those of you that run, why did my legs feel so heavy?
I stretched for awhile afterwards. It actually felt good. My lungs weren't about to burst which is INCREDIBLE!!!!! Today, I just ran a mile (took a little less than 12 minutes) and then cooled down for a couple minutes. I hear you are suppose to have days where you run less. Is that correct? Let me point out that I said I "just" ran a mile. What is happening to me? It wasn't that long ago (like last week) that running a mile straight seemed daunting.
I know there are tons of websites with suggested training programs. I'm not sure which is right for me. I've just been listening to my body and trying to challenge myself here and there. My goal is to run in a 5K on St. Patrick's Day. I'm pretty excited about that.
My big goal which I'm nervous to share on here because that means I'm committing myself is to run a 10K at the Fargo Marathon. EEK! I figure if I'm able to go 3 miles now even if it's not all running, I should be able to do a 10K by spring. Right?
Any tips on building endurance and speed is welcome. What are you doing to keep your body moving? Another question, I have no complaints about my running shoes now but I think I may need to buy a new pair sometime soon. How much time do you need to break a pair of shoes in before a race? The back of my ankles are prone to blistering and bleeding in a new pair of shoes. Eww.
I would get your shoes now and start breaking them in. I only use my running shoes for running. I don't wear them to do errands or when we are going somewhere where I want to wear tennis shoes. I'm going to go to a running store and have them choose the right shoe for my foot (and then once I know the best kind for me I can start watching for deals on what I need.) I'm not very good about increasing my speed...I need to work on this, and I also stink at building up ability to do any sort of incline...but interval training is said to help in both. Also, for training to do a longer run, they typically suggest doing 3 miles Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and then Saturday adding 1 mile to your distance each week. So the M,W,F, would be good days to work on bumping up your speed and incline and then Saturday do a nice easy pace and add that mile. (or half mile since you are only looking to do a 10k). What is the date of your 10k? Maybe I'll "run" it with you.
ReplyDeleteWhen I trained for the Relay in the Fargo Marathon I also started with the treadmill three days a week. After the weather warmed up I switched to running outside. I found running on the road to be much harder than running on a treadmill. There is more resistance on the road. Maybe putting the treadmill on an incline would help create this feel though. I also never trained for the full 7 miles. I had only trained for up to 5 miles. Those last few miles were killer for me. Maybe you can learn from my mistakes:)
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