Do the Couch-to-5k running plan at half speed

I’ve done maybe six week five second week runs – that’s two intervals of eight minutes, with a five-minute walk in between them. I seem to be a bit stuck. If I was doing the programme straight through I should have moved on to a long 20-minute run ages ago, but my last two runs I’ve had to abort early – one when I got a stitch after just eight minutes, and today when I started to feel sick and tearful five minutes into interval two and had to sit down on a bench by the lake for a bit of a cry.

Meh. I suppose I am doing this at my own pace, but I’m a bit miffed that my own pace turns out to be about one millionth of the pace the original Couch to 5k sets for the lardiest, most unfit newbie runners.

I went out with best intentions but after my first five-minute interval I just wanted a lie down under a shady tree and a big glass of Robinson’s barley water. How on earth people do marathons in weather like this is beyond me.

But nil desperandum, it was a great opportunity to do some other kind of exercise. I went home (slowly, via a ten-minute stroke for a lovely little grey and white cat I met in the street) and dug out the Wii for a game of tennis. I’ve always found Wii tennis a bit low on the heart-pumping impact, but today I had the radio on and accidentally discovered that dancing around to disco and Motown while playing ups both the fun and the impact level. 15 minuts of that, and ten minutes of boxing later, sweat was dripping off my chin and I cooled it down with ten minutes of Pilates.

I can’t get over how much I’m enjoying moving my body at the moment. It makes me feel really happy.

That’s three chunks of five minutes each, interspersed with three-minute walks. Though I’m suffering the old sore knee problem all over again, it’s otherwise only getting easier and more enjoyable. Today’s runs were slow and steady, but uphill and down dale, which shows how much my aerobic capacity has increased. I’ve realised how essentially important exercise is to my mental health. There are other factors too, obviously, but I feel so much happier and more balanced when I’m moving regularly. My legs are starting to feel strong and firmer – now I’m thinking of that line, “Lord, her legs are sturdy” from “Living for the city” by Stevie Wonder.

I’ve added in a 20-minute Pilates routine every couple of days too. It’s bloody hard and I hurt the next day, but it’s strangely enjoyable.

..particularly when it’s in what I shall refer to as a waxing phase. Yeah, I mean big and growing bigger. Still.

Most of the time I ignore it. I try not to look at it. I don’t like it being looked at. I don’t like to touch it except when I have to. I’ve only recently started to understand the importance of being aware of feelings and sensations in different parts of it. I accept that it does its job – it keeps my organs in and functioning, and stops my head from falling onto the floor – but mostly I consider it a let-down, a disappointment, an ugly travesty that’s not really part of me.

But sometimes when I run, something weird happens. I feel myself connect to my body. There’s a flow to it, the way the rhythm of my arms and legs pumps blood around my body, the way the movement creates floods of serotonin in my brain. I feel like a well-oiled machine, functioning perfectly, and self-conciousness ebbs away. Yesterday as I was running, my T-shirt rode up my tummy, exposing quite a lot of flesh (and lord knows there’s plenty to expose). Ordinarily I would rather stab myself in the leg than have anyone glimpse my belly, let alone see it shaking and undulating with each heavy step. And I did once stab myself in the leg, so I know what I’m talking about. But for some reason yesterday I didn’t really care. I ran along, a-flapping in the wind, grateful for the cool breeze, for the ability to move, and not really caring about much else. Weird. If only I could cultivate that attitude towards my body the rest of the time.

I know I will start this again, soon… So here is a route I want to try (there and back again = 3km)

Woke up this morning feeling like going for an unscheduled run, so I did. Discovered that if I lengthen my stride a bit, it takes some of the pressure off my calves and works my thighs and butt more, which is excellent.

I did go out after all, and it didn’t rain on me, and the new runners are a dream, and even my calves aren’t as sore as usual. Happy me!

I haven’t run for a week now and I’m missing it. I hoped to go today, but the weather is crap and forecast to get worse. Maybe I’ll brave the rain if it’s not too bad. I bought myself a really good pair of runners the other day, and I’m dying to try them out – I walked around in them all day yesterday and they’re wonderfully light and comfortable, so should be brilliant to run in.

Not too bad, apart from the by-now-predictable calf trouble. I read up about runners’ calf muscles (I’m a runner, wheee :o) ) online and it seems the only remedy is stretching and patience. Also, I discovered today that if I leave the running track and hit the path home during the last interval, I get to spend the last few seconds of my run bounding exhilaratingly down a hill, which made me happy. :o)

Bit of a struggle today. I went out all eager, but had tight calves by the end of the warm-up and a twinge-y back after the first interval, and halfway through I flopped down on the grass and lay still until my calves stopped screaming. I did get up and finish the set, although I spent the last interval muttering “I hate you” to dear Robert’s little voice in my ear. :-p Think I’ll do at least one more week 1 before tackling week 2.