4Wto1M - Week 3 Day 2 (injury)

Got up around 5 am and went to the gym for day 2 of week 3: run 2 min 15 sec / walk 45 sec; repeat 4 times. I was tired but managed to run the full 2 min 15 sec.

Drove to Torrance Bally's to try out their Pilates group class. It was great. My first pilates class; was a lot harder than I thought. Those poses and stretches were hard.

May have overdid things. My knees were sore tonight. Not sure if from the running this morning or the pilates. Researched the running forum and think it may be my quadriceps.

Solution: need to build up muscles around my knees. Not an uncommon problem with new runners. Ice.

4Wto1M - Week 3 Day 1

Started week 3 of the program today!
2 min. 15 sec running / 45 sec walking; repeat 4 times

I did the workout on the treadmill since I was too late for the gym. Used the treadmill at my parent's place. The nice thing was I then cooled down with a 20 min walk with my mom around the neighborhood. Mom was happy with the extra mom-daughter time.

Excited that I did the 2 min 15 sec run but will even be more excited when I do the run on a track.

4Wto1M - Week 2 Day 4

Even though the program says to do each level 3 times a week, I'm doing day 4 of week 2 instead of going to week 3.
Still doing 90 sec / 90 sec intervals 4 times.

I was a little late this morning so I skipped a little of the 5 minute warm up and cut the 5 min cool down to 2 minutes and didn't do the stretching.

Ouch. Paid for it this evening. Stiff and sore.

4Wto1M - Week 2 Day 3

Skipped yesterday (Friday) as I got up late at 5:30 am and didn't have enough time to run and make it to work on time.

Did day 3 of week 2 today in the evening on the treadmill. First time I ran the treadmill. Was ok but I think it's a lot easier than running on the track or street. The treadmill did not have an incline so feels too easy. Not sure how I feel about treadmill; it's not as bad as some people make it out to be. It's boring but there's something nice about being able to daydream while I'm running and not have to worry about traffic or cracks on the ground or muggers.

4Wto1M - Week 2 Day 2

Not as early as yesterday; got up at 4:30 am. Did the day 2 of the second week. Nothing exciting; focused on breathing to get through the 90 seconds running.

4Wto1M - Week 2 Day 1

Got up at 4:15 am today and made it to the gym by 5 am. Ran the track for Week 2, Day 1.
Week 2: 90 sec run; 90 sec walk; repeat 4 times

Whew. Those 90 seconds seem long when I'm running and too short when walking!
Feels good. No pain. No soreness.
Actually felt mighty proud of the early start.

4Wto1M - Week 1 Day 3

Did Day 3 around Gillespie Park. It was easier to do the 45 seconds run but still not feeling comfortable running. Feels a bit like I'm pretending to run, you know? Got some sport bra so a little more comfortable running now :)

One of these day, maybe when I feel more like a runner, I'll splurge on a real running bra. Those are expensive. Can you believe some are over $40? For a bra? And to think I want to be a runner because of the low overhead!

4Wto1M - Week 1 Day 2

Decided to do today's workout at Mile Square Park. Thought it was 1 mile around the park. Turns out it was 1 mile each side so was actually 4 miles around the park. I did the first side to the workout (45 sec of running alternated with 2 min of walking; repeat 4 times). I walked the rest of the way back to my car. Took me over an hour before I made it full circle back to the parking lot.

So much for a quick walk around the park! So sore but I feel good. It's nice to be active. I Bengayed my legs and took some Tylenol. Did some stretching. Hopefully not too sore tomorrow.

4 Weeks to 1 Mile

I want to be a runner.

Not sure where the idea came from. I've always admired athletes and artists. I tried to be an athlete but just did not have the competitive streak in me --- tried basketball in junior high, tennis and badminton in high school. Didn't work out. Tried art and music, have the drawing kits, the woodcarving kits, had the flute and guitar --- but couldn't seem to eek out any drop of talent.

So I decide I'll be a runner. Not a competitive runner, 'cause we all know how that would turn out. But a runner for myself. Something just for me. Not for my family. Not for clients. Not for patients. For me. Though I guess all of them will benefit from a healthier, happier me.

So I bought the 4 weeks to 1 Mile podcast from Amazon for $3.96 --- may well turn out to be the best $4 I've ever spent (Edit: this was before I learned of the C25K program but I'm still glad I started with this one because it was an easier start).

I did the first day today:
Week 1: 45 sec. of running alternated with 2 min. of walking; repeat x4
45 seconds did not seem that long but I was out of breath after each interval. I had downloaded the mp3 into an old SanDisk mp3 player; it worked well enough. I finished the workout out of breath but not like I'm about to die.

A good start.

Thank You Tuesday

Happy September!
I am so glad August is over. It started with my accident, continued with my nephew's visit to the ER for a possible broken arm (turned out to be a bad sprain), and ended with Dad's broken knee and another visit to the ER.

Dad is home recovering from his knee surgery. He seems in good spirit. I was worried he'd be depressed --- a month with a walker in a heavy leg splint and then months with a cane --- the prospect can bring an active person's spirit down.

On top of that, Lucky, the family Shepherd, had a tumor by his anus. I removed the mass last week and he is doing fine.

Our family had enough of hospital and ER. September is much welcomed.

Through it all though, I am thankful that we were fortunate and our family is physically and mentally healthy. I am thankful that I can afford health insurance. I am reminded that we don't stop to be thankful for the things we do have --- we are too busy running after things we don't have.

I used to believe that if something is important, I'd remember it and should not need to "schedule" it. Now I believe that if something is important, it should be scheduled.

So to make sure I don't forget to stop and be thankful for something / someone in my life, I am going to make every Tuesday "Thank You Tuesday".

I am thankful for a loving supportive family. And special thanks to the healthcare workers at Long Beach Memorial and Fountain Valley Hospital. I hope you all know that the current healthcare criticism has more to do with the system than with you. You all do what you can within the confines of a broken system. Thank you.