Week 1, Day 2 - I haven't quit yet! Do I get a cookie?

Getting ready for the second day of this wasn't a really fun thing to do.  I was still a little sore from two days ago, and I kept thinking that maybe playing games on my phone would be a much better activity while I "recovered" from the first day of working out. 

Then the angry, impatient part of myself slapped me around a little bit.  She asked me if taking thirty minutes out of my day was worth it to not have a heart attack and die before I am 50.  I agreed that it sounded like a very reasonable trade-off and headed out. 

I definitely went much looser with my laces to give my feet some room to expand and that seems to have made all the difference in the world, no top-of-foot pain today.  I got it into my head that I want to do "barefoot" running, or as close as one can get.  I'm using Vibram Five-Fingers and they have been surprisingly fun (oh my gosh, they are comfortable, and kids everywhere seem to love them).  There are times I think I might need better arch support, so I am considering picking up a pair of "regular" shoes to use some of the time. 

The best part of week-one-day-two was that my husband came out running with me.  We both have some work to do on getting in shape, and it meant so much to me that he'd come out and join me.  I'm not even within a light-year of "marathon" shape, but I am starting to enjoy this and I'm already looking forward to day three of training either Friday or Saturday.  So far, so good!

As far as stats go (using MyTracks):
Time: 29:11
Distance: 1.69 miles
Max speed: 6.8 mph
Avg speed: 3.60 mph

An Experiment in Commitment

After months years too long spending my time making excuses for my health and fitness rather than actually doing something about it, my desperation to no longer be in the same weight class as hippos and small airplanes has finally overtaken my lack of inertia to get my butt moving.  I started the Couch-to-5k running program this week.  I am going to get into some kind of manageable physical condition if it kills me, although I sincerely hope it doesn't.

After week-one-day-one, my first time running for any extended length of time since being on the track team in middle school, I was surprised at how quickly my lungs were able to rebound after each little burst of running.  I used to have a lot of respiration problems, and I would tire out my lungs (burning) a long time before my muscles would ever feel it. 

That is definitely not the case anymore.

I woke up Tuesday morning incredibly sore along my lower calves, with a little bit of a shin splint, and with some pain and tenderness along the top of my foot and ankle.  I definitely don't mind the calves or the shins, although they make me hobble a little bit, because I used to be a very fit person.  It's not super comfortable, but there is a part of me that loves the bite of lactic acid.  I know I worked, I know I moved, and I know I pushed my muscles to their limit.

The foot and ankle pain did bother me because I wasn't able to stretch it out over the course of the day and it felt like it was in the bones.  After a bit of google searching, I found out that any long-term or serious damage to that area is usually called extensor tendonitis, and can be caused by a number of different things.  Step one is going to be much looser lacing when I go on day two, and step two is being mindful of my feet to make sure I'm not keeping my toes pointed too high.

Right now I'm still excited for this to keep going.  Let's see how long I can stay committed. 

As far as stats go (using MyTracks):
Time: 28:50
Distance: 1.82 miles
Max speed: 8.52 mph
Avg speed: 3.85 mph