This Week in Fitness

Monday 4/25: Self Drop 10 Tabatta Interval Workout (Loved this workout!!) + 20 minute walk

Tuesday 4/26: 45-minute walk -- I was supposed to run today, but I hurt/bruised my knee pretty badly on Monday night by falling out of bed (I know, I know) so I didn't want to push it too hard.

Wednesday 4/27: Self Drop 10 Tabatta Interval Workout

Thursday 4/28: 28-minute jog (about 2.8 miles) -- I'm happy to report that my knee didn't hurt during the run! I just felt some tugging but nothing I can't live with.

Friday 4/29: Rest Day -- I stayed up all night watching the Royal Wedding so I was in no condition to work out!

Saturday 4/30: 5K!!!! + 30 minute walk -- Recap below.

Sunday 5/1: Cleaned the house -- You better believe I'm counting this as exercise! I was breaking a serious sweat by scrubbing toilets, bathtubs, sinks, etc.

FIRST 5K RECAP:

As I mentioned above, I ran in my first 5K race ever on Saturday. I can't even really put into words what this means to me. Just 3 short months ago, I was struggling to run for 5 minutes at a time; now I can run up to 4 miles at a time without much trouble.

I've always hated running and felt an extreme amount of jealousy for the people I knew who could go pound out mile after mile and actually enjoy it. I always wanted to be one of those people, but I don't think I actually ever believed it would happen.

But back in February, after moving to Arizona and adjusting to a stay-at-home wife lifestyle, I started the Couch to 5K program (mostly out of boredom). It was tough, but I stuck to it and completed it.

My friend Kelli and I (both new runners) signed up for our first 5K on April 30th. The morning of the 30th arrived and I actually somehow didn't set my alarm correctly so I awoke in a panic with only 15 minutes to get ready and get out the door. That wasn't exactly the calm pre-race morning I had planned.

I barely made it in time to pick up my race number, get stretched out and take a picture with Kelli before we had to head to the start line.

Pre-Race Photo (me on the left, Kelli on the right)

Kelli and I were both feeling extremely jittery and nervous at this point, as you can clearly tell by the following photo.

Pre-Race Jitters

The start gun went off and we were on our way!

Here we go!

Basically the whole first 2 miles of the race were steadily uphill. That was an unexpected challenge and at one point when I saw a giant hill ahead of me I thought I might die. But I didn't die and I kept on pushing!

At the 2 mile mark there was a water station and my mouth was EXTREMELY dry (darn you, Arizona dry weather!) so I grabbed a cup of water as I passed. Unfortunately, I guess I haven't mastered the art of drinking water while running because most of it ended up running down my face and shirt instead of going in my mouth.

Luckily, the last mile was flat or slightly downhill so that was a nice change from the first 2 miles. The next thing I know, I came around a bend and I saw the finish line! I had grand plans of sprinting through the finish but I think I was kind of out of it because I didn't end up doing that.

Approaching the finish looking haggard!

Crossing the finish line.

I'm actually not completely sure what my finish time was because there was also a 10K going on at the same time and the finish line clock was displaying the 10K time, not the 5K. I was disappointed with this and really kicking myself for not setting the stopwatch on my iPod so I could have seen my time. However, after doing the math and trying to figure out my rough time we figured out that I probably came in at about the 29 minute mark. I couldn't believe it because that was my fastest pace by far to date! Usually I run my miles at around the 10 minute mark, so this was a big improvement for me.

Apparently they are going to be posting the official results in the next couple of days so I'm anxious to see what that says, but until then I'm going with my estimated finish time!

After we both finished, Kelli and I were definitely feeling a bit of a post-race high. We both felt pretty good (except for some tightness in our chests) and we were thrilled that we accomplished such a great goal!

Post-Race. We did it!!

It was so great having a fellow novice runner and friend to achieve this goal by my side. I feel so lucky to have met Kelli since moving here because we really have so much in common! We both commented that our next goal is to complete a 10K and I think we're well on our way to achieving that goal as well. (And special thanks to her husband, Ian, as well for taking all the photos you see!)

Fitness Tip of the Week: Have faith in yourself and your abilities! It may seem impossible to run a 5K now, but you CAN do it! If I can do it, I promise you that YOU can do it! All it takes is proper training and dedication to accomplish your fitness goals. Look for beginner programs that keep you on a structured, steady increase plan to help you reach your goals (like the Couch to 5K program).

Fitness Tune of the Week: Single Ladies by Beyonce

My husband may have put a ring on it, but I still love this song. The beat is perfect for working out (or shaking your ass...what? who said that?). Oh and let's not forget, the video is one of the best music videos ever made (right, Kanye?). :)

Question of the Week: What's your biggest fitness accomplishment to date? It doesn't matter if it's big or small, own it!