An explanation for absence

The 6 people who actually read this are probably wondering why I haven't updated in a while, and it's because I haven't been running in a while. The ankle injury I talked about in my most recent post is getting worse, probably because of my job. Until it feels completely better, I don't want to aggravate it more than I need to by running 3 miles everyday. When it feels better or when I get more news about it, I'll update the blog, but until then, I don't really see anything to update with. I haven't lost site of my goal, and I certainly haven't lost my drive to keep running, I just really don't want to permanently injure my ankle, assuming I haven't already.

Good News and Bad News

So recently, I got a full time job, which is great! I can finally fund my journey with proper shoes, clothing, bathroom scales, and maybe even a gym membership for when it gets too cold to run outside. Aside from all the practical benefits of, you know, having an income again, it feels really good now that I'm not wasting every day playing video games and surfing reddit.

Also, my pants are loose! I'm losing weight! This is definitely one of the secondary goals of the whole program, but I'm definitely glad that I can already see some amount of progress.

Now, the bad news. Having a full time job is great and all, but I'm really exhausted when I get home from work, to the point where I just don't have any will or energy to go run. I seriously haven't ran in the past 3 days and I feel really bad, since I'm only hurting myself by not running for so long. That being said, it's just a matter of working around my new schedule to fit running in. I could run in the mornings, but that would involve waking up an hour earlier than I do right now, and I'm still trying to adjust to a 1st-shift schedule from being on a 3rd-shift schedule all summer. Tomorrow and Sunday I get out at 3pm, so I'll probably be able to run those days, and I get two days off every week, so I will definitely run on those days. hopefully I can get back up to 6-days-a-week capacity like I was doing while unemployed. I'm not too worried about the long-term effects to my schedule, but short-term, I might not train hard enough to run the 5k I'm signed up for on October 5th.

The other bad news is that I have some kind of pain in my right foot. It doesn't actually hurt when I run, but it only started hurting after I started running, so there's almost definitely some connection there. My massage therapist mother told me that it's probably related to a Tae Kwon Do injury I had sustained last year, but I shouldn't worry about it unless the pain gets noticeably worse, which it hasn't. With any luck, it's just my body freaking out about being so active after such a long period of lethargy and it will just go away with time.

New Record!

I just ran my fastest time so far! 1.6 miles in 28:34 minutes. This beats my old time by 2:26 minutes. Somehow, my running app says I ran slower and for less distance, but that doesn't make sense. I think I need to find a new app.

Lost two days

Wednesday I didn't get to run because I would have broken my "no running after eating" rule. It sounds like a cop-out, but it really isn't a high quality exercise when you're full. You run slower and you feel like you're going to throw up the entire time; it's just not worth it. I'm going to make up for it, though, by not skipping Sunday like I had planned to.

Yesterday, I was actually running really hard. I'm almost positive I broke a speed record... up until I dropped my phone on the ground which popped the battery out, making me lose the record for my run. Oh, and the screen cracked as well. First-world problems, anyone?

Finally, I just looked up how to prevent shin splints, and I'm doing the exact opposite of just about everything on the list.  You're not supposed to increase in intensity as fast as I am, you're supposed to have good running shoes, you're not supposed to run every day unless you're an experienced runner, and running on hard surfaces increases the stress on your joints and muscles. Oh how much fun I'm going to have in the upcoming month.

New Rule

Don't run after eating dinner. Blegh.

Beginning of Week Two!

Beginning of week 2 and I'm feeling really optimistic. Last week, I ran 1 mile monday, wednesday, and 1.5 miles on friday, alternating between walking and running every two minutes. I can already see myself getting faster and my stamina is definitely increasing. There's no way I could have ran this hard or this long just 2 weeks ago.

This week, I'm going to run for 3 minutes, then walk for 2, increasing my time of running from last week. I'm also going to run everyday (taking sunday off so I don't kill myself), when last week I only ran every other day. Why am I making my schedule this much tougher? Because I'm gong to run a 5k about 1 month ahead of schedule and I need to get super prepared for it. My sister signed us both up for this 5k obstacle course on October 6th, but most couch-to-5k plans give you two months to build up your strength, so I've had to modify the routine a bit.

This week, like I said before, I'm going to run for 3 minutes, walk for two. Next week, I'm going to run for 2 minutes and walk for 1, and for an extra half-mile. the week after, I'm going to run for 3 minutes and walk for 1, for a total of 3 miles. The following week, I'm going to run 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers), resting the day before the race. If all goes according to plan, I should be able to run a 5k by the beginning of next month. Wish me luck!

Can't sleep

I just calculated that at my current speed, I would run a marathon in about 7 hours. So far to go...