Voila! ...and some C25K questions.
As the housewares order leaks slowly into our possession, I am now the proud owner of an actual immersion blender. Sadly, tonight we are roasting a chicken. (I'm rather keen to find out how this works out, though, 'cause I've never roasted a chicken of my very own before.) I've been trying to figure out exactly how these two things ought to get together, but nothing anywhere near good has come to mind.
I had a brilliant plan when I woke up this morning: I would exercise and then I would reorganize the kitchen. Then came the part where I prepared the chicken for roasting (seasoning and stuffing herbs under the skin hours in advance), and ended up sticking my whole hand underneath the skin of the breast and thighs. The chicken, much to my dismay, ended up looking like it was wearing an odd little shirt. The problem with cooking whole chickens is that it brings me face to face with how bodies are put together, which makes me think about how my body is put together, and thus drives me into pondering my own mortality. It made me feel very odd when I took a jog slightly afterward, because parts of my tummy and rear still move around out of sync with the body parts underneath them.
I kind of got thrown off my day at that point, and I'm not sure what the hell happened. That said, we ended up having zucchini hash, beet slaw, and lovely roasted chicken for dinner, so hopefully I can get used to the whole-chicken manipulation and do this again at some point.
Confession: I have really fallen down on the job where my running is concerned, dating back to September when the depression really started going berzerk. Since that point, I've been less prone to push myself, and thus there's been more walking and less jogging on the treadmill. When I was home for Christmas, my sister the marathon runner went on a nice little jog with me and I had to stop, several times, in order to walk. It would have been terribly embarrassing if it wasn't for the fact that my sis isn't the type to expect things of me; to her, I'm just her beloved sister, and she's willing to do things with me that she's not as good at as I am, and vice versa. (Ah, I do love her.)
I've been putzing around on this for months now, but now I have to set a good example for my Hub, and so rather than toss myself head-first back into trying to jog the whole half-hour, today I started Couch to 5K. You know, that was nice. I got a good workout without murdering myself. It was just the right amount of pushing. I did put the treadmill at an incline, so that it would be more like I was running outside and less like I was on a treadmill, but that was the only way I changed up the plan. Very, very nice.
My Hub found my print-out of the C25K plan and is considering it. He insists that since I'm "the expert", he'll trust me on this. This makes me nervous. He's starting from the ground up, and is at that stage where he's going to dread doing it no matter what, so I'm not sure what the hell to do. I didn't get around to trying to run for quite some time, but I suspect that a) since he is determined to do something that feels like progress as soon as possible and b) switching out the jogging/walking does make the time go faster, it's better to get him started.
Any advice? Seriously, this is the first time I've done C25K, and since I'm not coming at it as a beginner, I really don't know what I'm getting him into. He has no experience in running, and is at real beginner status both in running and in fitness in general. He can walk up to seven miles (as evidenced in our repeated treks all the way downtown), so he's got a pretty good base for a fitness program, but... I just don't to lead him into killing himself with exercise or getting so frustrated that he drops the whole thing, you know?
There seems to be a lot of C25K folks out there. Did you repeat some weeks? Was it awful? Is it okay for a beginner? Please tell!
I had a brilliant plan when I woke up this morning: I would exercise and then I would reorganize the kitchen. Then came the part where I prepared the chicken for roasting (seasoning and stuffing herbs under the skin hours in advance), and ended up sticking my whole hand underneath the skin of the breast and thighs. The chicken, much to my dismay, ended up looking like it was wearing an odd little shirt. The problem with cooking whole chickens is that it brings me face to face with how bodies are put together, which makes me think about how my body is put together, and thus drives me into pondering my own mortality. It made me feel very odd when I took a jog slightly afterward, because parts of my tummy and rear still move around out of sync with the body parts underneath them.
I kind of got thrown off my day at that point, and I'm not sure what the hell happened. That said, we ended up having zucchini hash, beet slaw, and lovely roasted chicken for dinner, so hopefully I can get used to the whole-chicken manipulation and do this again at some point.
Confession: I have really fallen down on the job where my running is concerned, dating back to September when the depression really started going berzerk. Since that point, I've been less prone to push myself, and thus there's been more walking and less jogging on the treadmill. When I was home for Christmas, my sister the marathon runner went on a nice little jog with me and I had to stop, several times, in order to walk. It would have been terribly embarrassing if it wasn't for the fact that my sis isn't the type to expect things of me; to her, I'm just her beloved sister, and she's willing to do things with me that she's not as good at as I am, and vice versa. (Ah, I do love her.)
I've been putzing around on this for months now, but now I have to set a good example for my Hub, and so rather than toss myself head-first back into trying to jog the whole half-hour, today I started Couch to 5K. You know, that was nice. I got a good workout without murdering myself. It was just the right amount of pushing. I did put the treadmill at an incline, so that it would be more like I was running outside and less like I was on a treadmill, but that was the only way I changed up the plan. Very, very nice.
My Hub found my print-out of the C25K plan and is considering it. He insists that since I'm "the expert", he'll trust me on this. This makes me nervous. He's starting from the ground up, and is at that stage where he's going to dread doing it no matter what, so I'm not sure what the hell to do. I didn't get around to trying to run for quite some time, but I suspect that a) since he is determined to do something that feels like progress as soon as possible and b) switching out the jogging/walking does make the time go faster, it's better to get him started.
Any advice? Seriously, this is the first time I've done C25K, and since I'm not coming at it as a beginner, I really don't know what I'm getting him into. He has no experience in running, and is at real beginner status both in running and in fitness in general. He can walk up to seven miles (as evidenced in our repeated treks all the way downtown), so he's got a pretty good base for a fitness program, but... I just don't to lead him into killing himself with exercise or getting so frustrated that he drops the whole thing, you know?
There seems to be a lot of C25K folks out there. Did you repeat some weeks? Was it awful? Is it okay for a beginner? Please tell!
posted by Meg at
6:32 PM
4 Comments:
When I did C25K I found that I repeated the weeks closer to the end of the program, when it was more jogging and less walking. I just needed to ease myself into the full-on running committment and also my body was protesting a bit, so I do think it's great to go into the c25k with the specific idea that you'll go at your own pace, and note feel like a failure if you don't exactly follow the plan and finish in X-amount of weeks. The thing that was hardest about the program was actually sticking to it, getting into the mindset of committing to a regular exercise routine. It was a great introduction to running for a beginner because it really eases you into the super-scary concept of running for freaking 30 minutes or more, but also a good way to wrap the mind around the concept of regular exercise. That last concept was hard for me (still is!) which is why I did take quite a long time to get through the C25K.
One thing I remember is just freaking out about the mechanics of running, which I thought was a really specialized activity with secret rules that only the experts knew about. Am I breathing right? Why are my toes sometimes numb? What should I do when I get a side stitch? What and when should I eat before a workout? If you can help your husband through some of those things, which are mostly caused by anxiety over an unknown, new endeavor, then that might also help him ease into the program.
By
Megan, at 8:24 AM
Hello,
De-lurking to say I tried C25K twice but each time my left knee would start hurting so badly, even when not running that I had to quit and try more low impact things even though it saddened me. And now some actual useful information: I thought I was not going to be able to do it the first time out but each time I would run it got so much better that after only the second time I knew I could definitely handle it. If he has a hard time perhaps suggest just sticking it out through the first week and evaluating how he feels then.
By
Anonymous, at 9:50 AM
I'm about to start Week 6 tomorrow, and although I haven't had to repeat a week yet, I started running every day instead of only three times a week. I found the jump from one week to the next was too much, I needed to work into it more. So you can either repeat a week, or run more often within the week. Another idea I considered but haven't done yet is coming up with an in-between week. Say Week X is 10 minutes of running, and Week Y is 15 minutes; he might insert Week X.2 with 12 minutes of running.
It's so easy to get discouraged if you feel like you're not measuring up; I think it would be important to let him know that the schedule on the website is a guideline, and he can modify it as he deems appropriate. The idea is to get there, not to get there in a certain number of weeks.
By
M@rla, at 5:50 PM
C25K was how I learned to run. I LOVED it. I think I did repeat one week toward the end.
One tip - run for either distance, or time, but go at your own pace. If you run an 11:00 mile or even higher, go for time. Your goal at the end of the C25K would be to run a straight 30 minutes. Then, the next week, start adding a few minuutes. Eventually you will get to 3 mile distances.
By
Anonymous, at 2:48 PM
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