Well. I did it. I restarted the Couch To 5K program. Holy. Moly.
I have been going back and forth about starting. Was I ready? Could my leg and ankle handle it? Was I rushing things? Ultimately, I just had to suck it up and tell myself to try. So much of returning from injury is in the brain and the mind, and overcoming that can be just as difficult as rehabbing from the injury itself.
It was time for me to rip off the bandaid and go.
Sunday – 3.7 mile walk + PT Exercises
One of the benchmarks we talked about in PT was that I need to be able to balance on my injured leg, and hinge forward with the good leg extended behind me. Since my strength and balance is improving every day, I went for it, after my morning walk. Bam!
We enjoyed some biscuits and gravy from my favorite biscuit place, and little man made an obstacle course for Hufflepuff. She was not on board, but we thought it was awesome.
Monday – 2 mile walk + 30 Day Shred Level 1
My Monday plan was to start Couch 50 5K, but I woke up to crazy thunder and lightning. Of course, this made me incredibly anxious, because I wasn’t going to be able to get out for any kind of exercise, so I ended up finding an old video of 30 Day Shred.
The weather finally cleared, so I did manage a short walk in the evening, which made me feel better.
Tuesday – Couch to 5K W1D1 (3.5 miles total)
So now it was time. I got up on Tuesday and I went for it. Day 1 called for a five minute warm up and five minute cool down, with eight repeats of 1:00 running/1:30 walking. The first interval was awful. Nothing hurt, but nor did it feel right. I teared up as I went, without meaning to. Ugh. However, as each interval passed, it got easier and easier. Not ever totally easy, but doable. And once I saw that my ankle wasn’t going to shatter on impact, I was able to find a bit of a groove. Victory!
Wednesday – 3.83 mile walk + karate family fitness class
The day started with a great morning walk. I had a little knotting in my right calf, but nothing too notable. I just walked it out.
Since it was Earth Day, I also followed Judy’s Rainbow Scavenger Hunt idea, and found all seven colors.
Little man’s karate instructor has started hosting a family fitness class twice a week. We are all for supporting the dojo, so I hopped in with little man for the session. Lots of pushups and abs and all kinds of kicks and punches, but it was good sweat sesh and I hope we can do more.
By that point, I was pretty fitnessed out, and decided to take a moment for some “self-care.” Obviously, there are no salon manicures right now, so I bought some Color Street strips from my friend and attempted a home mani. It went surprisingly well, and I am happy to report that the strips are still in place about five days later. Much better and easier than polish.
Thursday – Couch to 5K W1D2 3.5 mile walk + 3 x 10 (shoulder press, bicep curl, chest fly, anterior raise)
The second day of Couch to 5K was not as terrifying. Am I saying it was easy? Nope. Not at all, but now that all my initial fears didn’t come to pass, it was just easier to get moving. I’m still a bit awkward as my body figures out what’s going on, but that’s ok. It was probably like this when I started the first time, too.
When I got home, I realized that I’ve been neglecting my upper arms, and put together a free weight circuit. Cross training needs to stay a priority.
That afternoon, little man entered a virtual teen/tween cooking challenge through our public library system. The challenge was to create a savory and sweet toasted sandwich. He created a grilled cheese made of colby jack, bacon (his favorite sandwich topping), and Brussels sprouts and spinach (two veggies he has never before put on a sandwich). The sweet sandwich was Nutella, strawberries and pears. He created the recipes, set up his filming area, did the cooking and prep work, and we acted as judges.
Truth? I want sautéed Brussels on my grilled cheese sammies from here on out.
In other news, it was National Picnic Day. I put together a light meal of antipasto kabobs and blueberry lemonade, but it ended up being too windy to eat outside. Boo.
Friday – 3.26 mile walk + 3 x 10 (shoulder press, bicep curl, chest fly, anterior raise)
Mr Pug Runner joined me for my walk in the morning, which was a nice treat.
Saturday – Couch to 5K W1D3 (4.16 miles total) + 3 x 10 (shoulder press, bicep curl, chest fly, anterior raise)
Saturday morning came and I headed out for my third session of Couch to 5K. It went well, and I went farther and faster than my prior two outings. It was a really good feeling to have gotten this far.
Week 1 of Couch to 5K is now complete! Time to take a few days of just straight walking to recover before I get back to it on Tuesday!
We got our vegetables and the farm. The ice cream truck paid a visit to our street, which was a nice way to break things up.
And we got some take out and drinks for dinner and sat outside to enjoy it. It was nice way to end the Saturday.
Goal-getting
Goal achieved!!!! I am so excited! To be honest, I feel good. I was worried about soreness and pain afterwards, but I really haven’t had much of either. There is definitely some weakness in my right hip and glute, but I can take care of that and work more on my strength. Easy peasy.
On to Week 2.
This week we have a big 12th birthday to celebrate, and I can’t wait to share that all with you. I hope we can make it extra special, regardless of everything going on.
Oh, and as an aside, we joke a lot about kids when parents are working from home, but we had to take some drastic measures with the pugs, too.
I am linking up with the Weekly Rundown, with Confessions of A Mother Runner and Running on the Fly! Check them out!
How was your week in training?
Have you used to Couch to 5K program?
Well done on week one!
I think little man is on the way to become a gourmet cook
I would not be at all surprised.
Well done on week one and the balance benchmark! You have come so far. I love Hufflepuff’s training too.
The wind last week seemed to be b onkers up and down the coast
Cari recently posted…Is this over yet?
We lost power due to wind a few times and had a few tornado watches. Super fun.
Great job on a successful week 1 of C25K!! Hat has to feel so awesome, physically and emotionally 😉 I’m trying to get back to my daily walk routine. I’m not sure how (or when?) it fizzled out…but I really have missed those early morning sunrise adventures (on my non-running days). Keep up the great progress!
I told my husband that I’ve walked about the same amount of miles this month as I used to run, if not more. Crazy how it adds up.
It is so hard coming back to running. I remember being so nervous about it after my hip thing. Really excited for you! Keep up the good work you will be back before you know it
Thank you. It’s been a very interesting experience, one I hope to never have to repeat.
I am glad I never had to balance on one leg lol
I did not do couch 2 5k.
I ran on PT treadmill. I guess it was pretty ugly and I had no idea.
Then I just planned to walk the Freihofers 5k but I ran it and sobbed.
That was a turning point. The screws would not break.
It was my slowest 5k but I didn’t care. It took the rest of the summer to get some speed back.
You are doing GREAT! I admire your patience.
I think I would weep in you put me on a treadmill right now. Treadmills never felt right on good days. I can’t imagine how much it would hurt now.
Right now, I think jumping jacks or any kind of lateral leap would be hard for me. I will get there but not for a bit.
This is clearly where all my patience is centered. I have zero left for anything else LOL.
That obstacle course looked so cool! I was secretly hoping that Hufflepuff would conquer it.
Can you little guy teach me some of his cooking tricks? Seriously – I feel like I need to take lessons from him. He’s so talented!
Hufflepuff is intersted in the following: huffing, snoozing, and huffing some more. She’s not even treat-motivated. What a weirdo.
He’s a really good cook. He’s very interested and he’s fairly creative in the kitchen. He just sold four orders of blueberry muffins to neighbors and friends, too. I’m really proud of him. He wants a YouTube channel in the worst way and I finally told him that maybe we could do something where he makes a recipe and films it. It’s not quite what he had in mind (dressing up the pugs and getting them to perform to Queen songs), but I think it might be a little more manageable.
Yay for a successful first week back with your running. I think doing Couch to 5K is a great way to go and it sounds like you’ve already built your confidence back up. Here’s hoping this week is equally as good!
I loved seeing Little Man’s sandwich creations on IG. He did a great job! And your sign for your pugs – I cracked up!
Well, we will see about that confidence. This week requires some longer runs, so…. Eek.
The pugs are out of control. They cannot handle having us here all the time. And they are already freaking out when we are gone.
YAY!! I’m so excited for you! Coming back from injuries is so tough but you’ve totally got this!!
Also, that Nutella sandwich sounds amazingly good!! I need to try that stat!
It was supposed to be peach and strawberry, but there were no peaches to be had, so he had to pull an audible. It still worked out. 🙂
It’s crazy. My emotions are all over the place from this.
Starting is the hardest and you are on your way! So happy for you. That is one helluva good looking grilled cheese. How awesome little man is so creative. Love you fun mani as well. I could go for one of those kabobs right now! Yum!
I don’t know. This week was pretty tough LOL! But it’s all part of the process.
The kabobs were so good. I love fun meals like this.
runswithpugs recently posted…hope + the cupcake run
It’s so great that you made it through week 1, and even better that you didn’t have any pain! Your hip strength will come back as long as you keep up with the strength work. Great job!
Happy 12th to Little Man! Congrats on finishing your first week of C25K, so exciting! You got this!
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie recently posted…Weekly Eats: Nailed it?
Nice work on week 1! I remember the first few times I ran after my broken leg, it felt SO awkward, like my body wasn’t my own. It gets better!
Congrats on completing week 1!! And can I just say how much I love that your son participated in the cooking challenge – that sandwiched looked so yummy 🙂
That’s great that the runs got better through the week! And the sandwiches your son made sound amazing :). Now I really want to try out Brussels sprouts on a sandwich.
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You will love it! We have some more so I want to see if he’ll consider making them into a pizza!
runswithpugs recently posted…week 15 (20): happy easter!
I started running with C25K. Of course I couldn’t actually run a 5k when I finished, as I’m a slower runner — that’s the one problem with the program, which is a really good program. It can be a bit demoralizing if you can’t run a 5k in 30 min. I still can’t!
You’re doing great. Eating out side is the best!
I can’t run a 5K in 30 minutes either. Well, maybe I will be able to after this LOL! I guess we will find out in a few weeks!
Great job getting back out there!!! I’ve been doing a modified couch to 5K to get started too. Excellent news that your ankle is okay with the running!
Happy birthday to Little Man! It’s a weird year for birthdays, but I’m sure he won’t forget this one!
Whoo hoo!
So weird for birthdays ( and happy birthday to you today!), but we are figuring it out and getting through.
runswithpugs recently posted…week 15 (20): happy easter!
Congrats on a good first week of your program! Getting back to running is hard for sure. That’s cool that your son was cooking. I have been asking for my son to help me with dinner and it’s been nice time spent together. I’m surprised how many basic skills there are to teach new chefs! Life skills 😉
Lisa @ TechChick Adventures recently posted…Weekly workouts – Virtual Race week!!
I think having kids in the kitchen is such a great thing. It’s quality time, teaches them to cook, shows them how to be creative with food, and definitely lets them see what goes into putting together a meal for a family or person. I’m so glad he loves it. He just got a pizza cookbook, stone and peel for his birthday and I can’t wait to see what he creates.
runswithpugs recently posted…week 15 (20): happy easter!
Well done for Week ! I know it is hard but with time it will get easier. Those sandwiches look amazing!! Those are cute mason jar/glasses I see in your photo from the picnic.
Thank you! I hope it does get easier- right now it feels like it won’t, but I know that might change. At least, it should.
runswithpugs recently posted…week 15 (20): happy easter!