Wednesday, February 8, 2012

I Think I Can! I Think I Can! (Couch to 5K: Day 2)

Well, after getting sidelined with an illness (damn cold!) following last week's run, I hopped back on the running bandwagon on Monday and repeated day 1 of the C25K program. I have to admit, it was a lot more pleasant running without the blizzard-like conditions we had last week. I drove to the same location I had run the previous week and definitely found it much more enjoyable with the sun still up and no big, fat, fluffy snowflakes flying around. I was impressed that my left knee didn't make its' presence known until about 16 minutes into the run, instead of 45 seconds in like it did last week. All in all, I felt pretty good on Monday evening with no residual knee pain or soreness! YAY!

I had scheduled run # 2 for this afternoon and I decided to walk to nearby "Osprey Pond" for more of a scenic running route. A friend of mine runs there quite often, so I thought I'd give it a shot. The pond is about a 7 minute walk north from my place, so I got a slightly longer warm up, which I am sure is not a bad thing. The trail is a 2 km loop around Osprey Pond (aka Osprey Storm Water Drainage Reservoir), but is quite pretty compared to running around the track at the local high school. (It was also pretty deserted, which is a bonus. I still feel somewhat self-conscious running with people around). Much to my surprise, the trail had some HILLS which seemed to appear only during the running intervals. To experienced runners, these hills are probably more like speed bumps. To me, they felt kinda like Mount Everest.

I was worried about the effect the hills would have on my tricky left knee, but today I barely noticed my knee at all. I felt the odd twinge here and there, but nothing compared to the pain I felt during the very first run last week. This makes me very hopeful that as I build muscle and strength in my legs, the knee will not be a factor. Maybe I can turn myself into a runner after all!!!!

"I Think I Can!"

Looking at the calendar, it seems I will be able to complete the 9 week C25K program by April 6th. This leaves me 4 extra weeks to prepare (or to repeat weeks from the program if I am not quite ready to advance) for the Mississauga Marathon 5K run, so I've decided to set that race as my "goal race". I can honestly say I am excited and really looking forward to it! (GASP!)

Run #3 is scheduled for Friday. Checking the Weather Network, it seems we may have some snow in the forecast, but the temperatures are still supposed to be above zero. I'm not sure what will happen to my training schedule if we suddenly find ourselves with some REAL February weather on our hands, complete with windchill factors! I'm definitely more of a "fair weather" gal, so hopefully it won't throw me off track!

"Ready to Run"

J :)

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