Do the Couch to 5k running plan

in a week and it went really well. 2.8 miles in about 33.5 minutes. I’ll start adding on some distance now. I’m hoping to run 5k on Friday. My tendon seems to have healed well, though crazy dancing for two hours on Saturday night had it aching and it doesn’t like long plane rides with too little movement.

I’ll graduate myself from this goal when I’ve run 3.1 miles at least three times.

I ran 2.8 miles in 35 minutes today. That’s a 12.5min mile. It was pouring rain and I was soaked to the skin through several layers of clothing by the time I got home. By the end of the run, I was running comfortably and could’ve gone a little farther, if there hadn’t been a big hill in front of me. My longest run so far and it felt great.

The 30 minutes today wasn’t hard. It wasn’t easy, but I found a good pace fairly early on in the run and had no significant pain or huffpuffiness. I ran really slowly, according to the best guess of my mileage, but that’s okay. I’ll see on Wednesday if I can get myself to 2.8 miles. Then I’ll have a break until Monday morning.

I ran 2.4 miles in 29 minutes this morning. Man, even a tiny uphill is so tough! I don’t know what I’d do if there was a real hill. I had to remind my brain once that this was body-only time, but it was a great run overall. I’m traveling next week, so I don’t know if I’ll make all three runs or if I’ll do just two. My tendon is feeling great. I iced it for quite awhile last night.

I did the full 28 minutes and ran 2.2 miles. My Achilles tendon felt great afterwards and is only a little sore now, seven hours later. I’ll ice it tonight.

I told my mind at the start of the run that its only job was to keep me from falling in holes or getting hit by cars. Other than that, the next 28 minutes were for my body and it was to not tell any stories about speed, distance, etc. I had to remind it once that this was only 28 minutes and then it could get back in the driver’s seat, but overall, it worked well.

I walked more than I ran today, but I mostly enjoyed the running and I definitely got my heartrate up. The tendon is still stiff and painful. The last time I went off-program, I was able to come back and run 25 minutes, so I’m going to attempt 28 minutes on Wednesday. There just isn’t much to do for an injured tendon beside rest and stretch it gently. It definitely affects my gait when I first start running. As long as I’m out there getting out of breath, sweating, moving, and feeling my heart pound, it’s got to be doing some good.

I was running so slowly that a teeny tiny dog passed me, but I ran for 25 minutes. Only got through 1.9 miles in that time, but my tendon is doing okay. I was kind of embarrassed, remembering how snarky I had been about runners in the past and imagining how I must appear, but it came down to trusting my body and my body wanted to run sloooooooowly. It’s hard to run that slowly. Definitely not my natural pace, but it made it possible to finally put Week 7 behind me and move on.

It’s going to take me longer than 9 weeks to get to 5k, but that’s fine. I’m still amazed that I can run, er, jog, er, toddle for 25 minutes.

I was limping during the brisk warm-up walk. I got about a minute into the limp/run before I stopped. OW!! Walked for about a minute and tried again. Still really painful. After another five or so minute walk, I tried for the third time. This time I was able to get a rhythm and it wasn’t too painful, just tight. I ran for about ten minutes and had to stop again.

The interesting part was the head game. I had a crystal clear moment of seeing that I could choose how to respond. I could worry that I was getting bored or being lazy or I could trust my body. As soon as I realized that, my chin went up and I felt better in body and mind. I trusted my body when it rejected the gym. I trusted my body when it wanted to start running. I can trust that my body did what was best for it. There’s a difference between not wanting to run and pain. My brain tells me to stay in bed. My body tells me what I can and can’t do and when. I’m going to go back out there on Friday and listen to my body. If it tells me to walk the whole thing, so be it.

I’m trying to keep my ankle/foot/leg moving, to keep the tendon loose, and I’ll ice it tonight. I’m limping only a little. We’ll see.

I gave my Achilles tendon a week of rest and lots of ice and got back out there this morning. Getting out of bed was the hardest part. I ended up running, VERY slowly, for 24 minutes instead of 25 because when I heard the podcast guy’s voice, I stopped and he was letting us know we had one more minute. The tendon is a little sore now, but not bad. I’m getting a massage after work today and I’ll ice the tendon after that. Fingers crossed that I can keep on with the program without any more time off.

I can walk nearly normally, but the damn thing still hurts and is swollen by the end of the day. I didn’t run today and I miss it. I’m all out of sorts. Three more days of ice and rest and it should be, better be, f’ing fine.

I’m going to repeat Week 7 and then go on from there.