Saturday, August 25, 2012

#28: Do the Couch to 5k to prepare for run with Kurtis

So those that know me really well know that I have absolutely zero interest in working out.  I'm one of the lucky ones that doesn't have to work to fit into my clothes.  I've been the same size since high school with no effort on my part to stay that way. (Yes, I'm knocking on wood so that won't change!)  By no means do I live an inactive lifestyle... I just don't work out in any formal since of the word.  Well on my last 101 in 1001 list, I put down that I wanted to do a charity run/walk to give back to the Ronald McDonald House at Texas Children's Hospital.  When my youngest son was born, he had complications with his breathing, and to put it plainly, it turned out he had two holes on his lungs.  He was transferred two days after his birth from the hospital he was delivered at to the NICU at Texas Children's Hospital.  He was born on Dec. 22 which meant a lot of crazy scheduling and driving over the Christmas holidays.  It was a very stressful time for me and my husband, but the people at the Ronald McDonald House at TCH made it all a bit better.  Their kindness and generosity to us was so unexpected and appreciated.  They had gifts on Christmas day for all our boys, a bed at night for my husband to stay at the hospital with our son, meals for him to eat, and so many other things that made that time easier to focus on our son.  I will forever be grateful to the doctors and nurses at TCH for their care and patience during that time.  The least I could do was give back to them so they can keep doing what they do best.

So why not a charity run?  Sounds like a great idea!  Until it's race day and you haven't prepared for a single inch of the race, let alone a whole 5k's worth of inches.  I did complete the race, which was great and all...but I definitely had enough time during the race to think of a million other things I could do to give back to the RMH at TCH that didn't involve running.  I swore I'd never do another one... Until I got back around to my family who had been at the finish line cheering me on.  There was Kurtis, all smiles and so excited.  "Sarah, Sarah!  I wanna do this race with you next year!" he tells me.  I'm thinking, "Nuh-uh.  Ain't happening."  But Kurtis is a bit persuasive, and maybe my mind forgot a bit of the misery I inflicted on myself that day... I finally agreed to do the race with him this year.

So, now I'm in a pickle.  Kurtis is my "bounce off the wall" kid with tons of energy.  I now have to keep up with him during this race.  I can't just run awhile and then walk a longer while at my own leisure.  No, I'll have to actually keep his pace.  And yes, I am saying he could run faster than me.  There is no doubt in my mind he could run the whole thing and never look back (or hurt the next day either!)  It became very clear to me that I wasn't going to be able to to do this race without some sort of preparation for it.  How can I let an 11-year-old smoke me in a race?  I'd never live it down.

And so begins day one of the Couch to 5k for me.  I downloaded the app on my phone.  Crawled out of bed. Got dressed.  Put on my awesome new running shoes.  And did day 1.

StageDistanceTimePace
WU505 yards
5:00
17:24
1167 yards
1:00
10:31
1R173 yards
1:30
15:15
2182 yards
1:00
9:38
2R160 yards
1:30
16:24
3183 yards
1:00
9:36
3R154 yards
1:30
17:06
4155 yards
1:00
11:20
4R162 yards
1:30
16:15
5165 yards
1:00
10:37
5R155 yards
1:30
16:56
6166 yards
1:00
10:33
6R160 yards
1:30
16:28
7162 yards
1:00
10:50
7R155 yards
1:30
16:55
8166 yards
1:00
10:32
CD497 yards
5:00
17:40
Total1.40 miles18:3013:09
inc WU/CD1.98 miles28:3014:24

To all my fellow friends that are runners...feel free to giggle now. :o)

I hated every minute of it.  I will continue to hate every minute of it.  I've tried being positive, but am finding nothing positive about the situation other than I WILL be able to keep up with my son on race day. Period.  The rest sucks.  That said, I hate reading other people's negative posts on the internet, and I strive not to post complaints myself.  So that's the last you'll hear about my Couch to 5k training until I get to week 9 and run a whole 5k without stopping.  I'll have nothing positive to say about this subject until then, so I just won't say anything about it at all! :o)

1 comment:

  1. You're too cute! Good luck training and I hope its all worth it in the end!

    ReplyDelete

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