Clumsiness

This past Sunday I hit the gym to work on my C25k program. My goal was to run the eight 30 second intervals at a 10 minute mile pace. I was pretty excited when I was able to do that. I finished off my workout with some lower body weights and planks.

I went back to my car for my camera as I wanted to take some pictures for a friend for his birthday. I grabbed the camera and started walking towards the river. As I did, I saw a post-it note on the new parking meters saying it was broken because a quarter was stuck. It made me laugh as they have only been in place a few weeks.

And then it happened. I turned to continue walking down the street when I went down. I walked to close to an unenclosed tree area.

This wasn't the one I tripped in, but this is what it looks like.

I went down hard, hearing some sort of odd noise from my left ankle. I also scraped by right knee, but it wasn't too bad - no blood. I got up and did my photos because I have a deadline and wasn't sure when I would get back.

Now it is two days later and my ankle still hurts. It's better than it was yesterday, but still painful. Not happy with this situation because for the first time in basically a year I'm excited to run. I'm excited I found a way {I think} to help me get faster. And while I missed one run last week {because the two treadmills I tried to use either turned off in the middle of my run or wouldn't turn on at all}, I got two of three done. I was all set this week to get those three runs in for week two of the program.

On the plus side, I was only going into week two. If I have to start over, then only one week to go back over isn't too bad. On the plus side, I was able to run eight intervals at a ten minute mile. I have never done this. Especially as my running times have been exceedingly slow this year. So, even with this {fingers crossed} minor set-back, I hope shortly to be running the C25k again and maybe even running 10 minute mile intervals for 45 seconds!

How have you handled an injury?
Follow @NeverTrade2013

A need for speed

A few weeks ago I joined the 21st century and got my first smart phone. I have been having lots of fun with it - there are more cat pictures been taken than any person has a right to have taken!

I have picked up a few free apps as well - solitaire, Facebook, Twitter, Yachty, the DD app. I also picked up Run Double - the Couch to 5k program.

RunDouble talks you through your workout, helping you to achieve your fitness goals, track, and share your results with friends. Start with C25K or Couch to 5K, and get running 5K in just 9 weeks, then progress to 10K and even a half marathon.

I know I've run 5ks, 8ks, 5 mile, 10ks, and half marathons, but I also know I want speed. My last two half marathons were slow. The last one I actually had a blast at (minus out the last mile where my fingers hurt.so.much.), but the one before that was miserable. I have had one really good half marathon (2012) and I want that to be the rule rather than the exception.

So, last night I started the C25k program through RunDouble. It starts with 5 minute warm up, 30 sec run/180 sec walk x 8, then a 5 minute cool down. I have to admit, that 30 second run felt sooooo short! But, I ran all 8 of them at 5.3 on the treadmill, which is faster than I've run on the treadmill all year. That's gotta be a good sign, right?

Over the next 9 weeks, I'm going to go back to basics and complete the C25k program. I'll admit, when I started running, I couldn't even think about doing the C25k program because I was so out of shape. This time around I know I can do the program, it's just how fast can I get myself to do it!

What do you do to build speed? Have you ever gone back to basics to improve your running?

Follow @NeverTrade2013