We did it!

Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce that we have now completed Week 1!! :)  I'm so proud of us!  Today I went to the gym and forgot to take my normal picture of the treadmill, but I'll try to remember next time.  So even though I haven't really done any formal exercise on my off days, this week I've been moving which includes going up and down a flight of stairs about a million times.  Needless to say my legs were already in the sore zone when I went to the gym today.  But it was good.  I'm finding that it's getting better, so that's positive.  So here's the picture of the day - while moving yesterday, my sock kept falling down which made the back of my heel get a little sore.  So when I went running today it got all blistery.  So here's my badass "injury":

There's also a little bit of blood on my sock - it's hardcore.

So anyway, I'm at Honey Creek for the weekend and I'm pretty stoked about it. :)  And ya know what?  WE FINISHED WEEK 1!!  And now we get to start Week 2!  Say what!?

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

I went for an "unregulated" run today. Gasp, I know. I wish I could say that it was out of a positive desire for better preparing myself for the 5k but honestly it was becuase I felt like I wasn't getting the physical results I wanted. But Liz B. told me something that helped. She said that I should start viewing the increase in the ease of running as the result of running and the physical stuff, losing weight, looking hotter, as side effects. And that really helped.

I ended up running for about 15ish minutes, I think. I didn't keep track at all other than glancing at my watch (which I guess would be keeping track.....). But I wasn't running with a time goal in mind, how about that. I just ran around my neighborhood till I ended up back at my house.

On a side note, I was at Books A Million (or BAM as the hipsters call it) and I went to the running section and found this cool book. (see above picture, if you haven't already guessed) It seemed interesting but what sold me on it was the author is/was in seminary at Southwest in Austin to become a priest. I naturally I picked it up. I don't want to be the one to get all serious but I hope to incorperate some of this guy's ideas into my running, along with more badass running music, cause Rock N Roll ain't noise pollution!

Matt

Week 1, Day 3

So. Matt talked yesterday about his kick ass monsoon run. And this morning, it POURED for like an hour. Like where you couldn't see anything 10 feet in front of you. Well, I was waiting for breakfast to digest before I headed out. By the time I left it was only sprinkling. Which was still moderately refreshing. Unfortunately, by oh... 7 minutes into the run it had stopped. This meant the last 13 minutes, the sun came out a bit and turned the weather to tropical rain forest-esque. And by that I mean, suffocatingly muggy. I got through it, but my times got all off when I had to pass this kid and didn't want to stop like right after that and have us like awkwardly walking sort of together, so I ran for 2.5 minutes instead of 1 min, then my intervals weren't on the right times. Oh well! Next week will be better (90 seconds jogging, 2 min walking).

On a different note, I am excited about my orientation at Hillandale next week. Also I'm going to see Harry Potter with Tiffany tonight, which will be awesome.

Now I have a question: What do yall eat for snacks?? I am having a hard time coming up with good and moderately healthy snacks.

The old man is snoring....

So this is what I ran in today.....




Not exactly this, it did let up some but not a whole lot. I have to say though.....It was freaking awesome!!! I loved running in the rain. I felt so hardcore and badass. Plus today was my first day running with music. So after doing my warm up walk to some Daft Punk this song kicks in

I know its going to be a running nerd moment (my first I think.....) but i got chills when that guitar kicked in. Today was a great day!

Also does anyone else notice that their runs seem to go faster with music? Mine seemed to fly by today.

I really owe you guys a lot with this blog and doing our training together. I really feel like this is the start of something awesome and I'm really glad to be doing it with you.

Till Sunday! (but probably at least once before then ;)

Matt

precore? procore? whatever it was, it sucked

So, today I went to orientation, which was SO draining. In a mental not physical way. On a positive note, I was definitely looking forward to my off day workout today. I was so tired of sitting in chairs!! I just wanted to run around all morning. Instead, I sat around and ate the free biscuit that we got this morning. And coconut milk yogurt :). When I did go to the gym, I figured I should try a different cardio workout, to decrease the stress on my joints. So I walked over to what I thought was your average elliptical machine. Well it wasn't. It was some sort like a cross between an elliptical machine and stair climber. Not the thing that looks like a treadmill elliptical cross, fyi. This focuses on resistance and incline. Essentially I felt like I was running uphill, even on the lower settings. Blech!! I felt like I couldn't extend my legs to a full stride so it was like making running baby steps on an incline. BUT it was a learning experience, I got a good workout, and I know that if I need to step up my game that might be a good way to do it. I was certainly tired by the end of it!! I don't have any pictures that actually relate to my day today, so here is a picture of a puppy I would like to take home with me and name Sherlock.

I am so proud of us for this week 1! We've stuck with it and haven't let any obstacles trip us up. I like the program we're doing- I'm not even worried about increasing the intensity a little next week.

Tomorrow at work I have a "New Graduate Residency Brunch," where my manager should be in attendance! I'm a little nervous actually. I'm also excited. Hopefully I'll also be able to hang out with my little nurse friends (I now have two: Claire and Allison). Allison will be on my shift and unit! So that's exciting. It was nice to get to wear scrubs the past couple days; tomorrow I'll be in business attire. I'm hoping to get a lot of stuff done tomorrow and not have to come in Friday. Then I think Monday I'll be at my own hospital... still not totally sure. I'm so tired. I am glad it's almost bedtime.

The Long Awaited Arrival

The shoes have ARRIVED!!!!  First off, here's a couple of pictures. :)

When I first opened the box....*so pretty !*

There they are!!! :)

So yeah, I'm pretty excited about them.  Maybe more than I really should be, but I am haha.  But let's start at the beginning, shall we?

Okay, so today I was planning on getting to the gym and doing the Week 1 Day 2 workout, (even though I worked out last Friday, I wanted my real week to start on Monday), but I realized I didn't have enough time b/c I was coming from Carrollton to Atlanta.  So my thinking is that I have enough time to do a full walk/jog if I just go around the neighborhood.  This whole time I'm hoping that my new shoes will be at the house before I get there so I can use them, but I did bring my other ones just in case.  Alas, I get to the house and no shoes.  Off I go with the other shoes.  I decided to go into a nearby neighborhood (we live on a pretty busy road), and quickly realize that it's quite pretty.  Here's a picture of Lake Avondale that I went by:

There were ducks!

As I'm going about my way, I start to feel a bit more winded earlier than when I'm on the treadmill and my calves are starting to burn a tad earlier.  This does not make me happy.  So by the end of my 60 secs that are rounding out 25 minutes, I just decide to walk the rest of it out haha.  Needless to say, I have come to the conclusion that it's harder to run outside than on the treadmill.  Which logically makes sense.  Except that I didn't make that connection until today.  Although I do think that one reason it was harder is because it's a bit harder for me to regulate my pace, both walking and jogging, when I can't see the speed on the treadmill.  I hope that makes sense.....so yeah, I think that could be a big reason why I got so winded - harder to slow myself down! 

Here comes the discovery of the shoes.  I've been checking all day the tracking information on my shoes and was disappointed each time when they hadn't arrived.  So I decide to check on my phone while I'm doing my last walk to the house - and they had been delivered!  So that gave me a nice little boost of energy to pick up the walking pace a bit.  

I get home, bolt up the stairs, and there's the box.  I tear open the box and see those beautiful shoes that I waited so long for.  Of course I wear them to the meeting I had to go to, and they're pretty awesome. :)  Makes me happy.  They're equipped with the space for the Nike+ thingy, so any thoughts on getting one?  Go check it out on their website and get back to me. :)

I've been trying to stretch out my calves and quads at least twice a day in order to not be so sore.  Plus I think I'm going to see when the yoga classes are at the gym and see if they fit on my off days every now and then.  But we'll see. :)

I'm so excited!  Our first week is almost FINISHED!!  So proud, so proud. :)

Who came up with the idea of 8 hour days?

Because they are such a life suck! Today I had work from 7:45-4. Then I tried to buy new scrubs, then I ran! Week 1, Day 2. Since I took two phone calls during the workout, it wasn't as easy or as like, mind clearing as it could have been, but still it was totally doable. Plus since I hadn't eaten in a while I wasn't as sluggish, and the knee is still doing pretty well. I noticed it was sort of... complaining towards the end of the workout, but in sort of a different way than it used to so I'm going to consider it still on the mend. I need to stretch once more before bedtime regardless. One thing I noticed today was that while I was bored during orientation I just wanted to get up and move around. I feel like usually I just want to lounge around when I'm bored like that. I am going to blame the extra energy on the running. :) Ok here's a picture of me in my super awesome Grey's Anatomy scrubs holding my journals for my first year of nursing. I am sorry the picture quality is so terrible. And that it's like... well I didn't have anything to take a picture of, so I just put one up of me. haha. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day I'll have a more... exercise themed picture. You see, some people have iPhones that take pretty decent pictures, that are easily uploaded to blogs. And some people are lucky their phones still dial numbers. Mmhmm.

My shoes and my reward!

Cookies!


Shoes!

I think I would have eaten the cookies even if I hadn't ran today but let's keep that a secret :) I bought my shoes a couple years ago when I joined a gym and I'm now actually putting them to good use. i think they are pretty sweet. They're Asics and they feel great. Anayway, like I said in the previous post today, I'm doing the training program correctly now and I feel a lot better. Amanda said I should keep doing it the other way but I think the right way will give me more confidence. Anyway, until Thursday!

Matt

I feel a lot better

I just finished my run, cool down and all and I feel a lot better. I'm at the Valdosta middle track. Which is really a community track. Todays run was a lot better because I was actually doing the training correctly. Last thurs and Sunday I was running for 90 secs and walking 60 secs as opposed to the other way around which is the correct way. Needless to say that is why I felt close to unconsciousness thurs and Sunday. Today I even had enough energy to actually run the last 60 secs instead of jog.

Here's the track





I'll be doing another post when I get home of my sweet sweet shoes and my reward to myself for running.

Matt

-- Post From My iPhone

Moving + Running = Sore Liz

Right now I am eating some lovely Cascadian Farms Organic Raisin Bran and drinking some much needed coffee while watching The Ellen DeGeneres Show.  I usually have a glass of juice with breakfast but I ran out. :(  But it's okay. :)

So it's been an eventful past few days, to say the least.  Sunday I caved and bought my shoes online......and they should be here TOMORROW.  Yay!  No worries, pictures will be put up. :)  But before I ordered them on Sunday, I thought I'd try searching for them a little more.  I should've known that wasn't a good idea.  Ends up that I find some after calling the store at Discovery Mills (not in the color I want, btw, but I was a bit desperate), and I cut a corner too sharp and busted a tire on a curb.  No worries, no damage done to me other than a bit of unhappiness.  So I just ended up waiting until Monday to come back to Carrollton, thinking that my tire wouldn't be hard to find....yeah....no.  I needed to be back by 12:45 for when the POD would get to my apt so I could start loading up, but everyone said they could get the tire in the afternoon.  So long story short, I found that if you drive 55 mph all the way from Decatur to Carrollton it takes 15 minutes longer than normal.  And I'm getting my new tire this afternoon here.....

Okay, so on to the real point - going up and down stairs for a couple of hours and then running isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be today.  But don't worry - still sore, both from my workout and from carrying furniture down the stairs.  My brother was helping me and we were running a bit later than I thought we would, (we were going to the Jason Mraz concert :) ), so I didn't get to work out as long as I wanted to.  But I did pick up my pace just a tad, not too much, but just enough to get a good burn going.  And I totally brought my big ole cup o'water. :)  So here's the pics. :)

1.32 miles, 176.3 calories, and 22:01 minutes

There's still some water in it but I totally downed in right after. :)

So yeah, that was kinda long and around the point, but ya know. ;)  I think my workout days will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  That's plan as of now, at least.  I'm happy that I'm not nearly as sore as I was the first time I worked out, so I feel as if I'm making progress, even though it hasn't been a long period of training at this point.  But I'm still totally geeky excited about our whole training program.  And it feels natural, too.  So YAY!!! :)

And as a side note, my brother said he'd come cheer us on for the 5k here in Carrollton, but only if he could sit with a cooler and drink hahahaha.  So we have one on the sidelines at least! :)

Yeah, I'm coming to find that I make these kinda long......but it's still fun!!!

I am a nurse, I am a runner.

I'm going to have to practice saying both of those things... they just both seem weird and unnatural. I'm excited for that to change though. Today I started my new job! I got to Dekalb Medical at 7:45 am and left at 5 pm. Long day of not a ton of stuff. Tomorrow I get to wear my scrubs! Grey's Anatomy brand. They are super soft and comfortable.

Anyway, on to training news. I went to the gym after work, which was an accomplishment in and of itself. I wasn't going to do like two days in a row; my "training days" are going to typically be Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I thought maybe I could do just some sort of workout on my off day today. I think my body might not be quiiiite ready for that. I didn't hurt too much, but I did feel like my joints were complaining a little, so if I'm going to work out on consecutive days, I think I'll try to not make running my exercise of choice on both days, just one. Either way! My workout totals were as follows: 120 calories burned, 1.67 miles, 25 minutes. Exercising is already starting to feel like a natural thing to work into my life, which is really really encouraging.

In other news, I like the new Paramore single, Ignorance.

This was my "gift" for starting work at DMC. It is a little change purse. Not super... exciting. I'll do what I can to utilize it nonetheless.

I got through it, I got through it!

Well. The knee is on its way back to better! This was the first time I've been able to work out since May without pain. I did a variety of stretches before I went out, and most of them again when I got back. I did my Week 1 Day 1 workout. So we are on our way, folks! Although the run was not painful, I was SO slow. I moved a bit like molasses. I am blaming that on the Steak N Shake I had for lunch. Not good training food haha. I'm thinkin dinner will be heavy on the fruits and veggies, light on the junk food.

In other news, tomorrow starts my job!! I got all my forms filled out for orientation for the most part. So that will probably be boring tomorrow. But it must be done. And in 5 days or so, I'll have health insurance again!! And soon after that, a paycheck!! I'm going to try to bring my gym clothes with me tomorrow and stop at the gym on the way home. Since I didn't take a picture of anything exciting today, here's one of my hospital!! So shiny!

I'm alive.....I think

I did a stupid thing. Normally we go to my inlaws Sunday afternoon, so I thought it would be a good idea to run in their neighborhood. Bad idea. Several portions of my run were uphill at least one pretty steep too. My shins are on fire and I think I could easily win any wet tshirt contest on the planet because I'm so sweaty.

But again, I'm not dead so all in all a success.

Here is the pic from my cool down




And here is one from my current view in my inlaws living room



Till next time

Matt


-- Post From My iPhone

Oh the pain!

Alright so here's my first post - woo!

Today has been quite the tiring day....oy vey.  So this morning I wake up and am determined to go hop on the treadmill first thing.  I get up, take the dogs out, get in my workout clothes......and can't find my shoes.  Now, granted it's summer and it's very rare that I wear tennis shoes during the summer.  You would usually find me in a pair of flip flops or Chacos, with the occasional Sperry wear.  So I look under the bed, the desk, look at the dogs and ask them if they put them anywhere, and then I decide to check my trunk.  Which is where they were.  And during all this I feel a good sweat coming on.  I should have realized that the missing shoes were going to be a theme that has lasted ALL DAY LONG.....foreshadowing, I would say.

So I've got my shoes on, big cup of water (my Nalgens were dirty), and head to the little gym at my apartments.  I started doing the walk/jog system that Cool Runnings suggested, which I think worked pretty well for me considering that I haven't been in any type of good shape since the beginning of college.  So I started with a bit of a stretch of the ole unused muscles, followed by a 5 min warmup walk.  Then came the alternating of walking and jogging.  Here's a picture of my end time, calories burnt, and miles walked:

2.05 miles, 270.4 calories, and 35:07 minutes. :)  I was proud haha.

So once I get the dogs packed up, as well as all my stuff, I head to Atlanta for the weekend.  Now, I'm slightly a bit of a nerd and did some research on what type of shoes I wanted to get for this grand adventure.  I have running shoes, but they're more for trail running, which isn't really the best shoe to have when just running on a treadmill or the street.  So yeah, I found a couple of shoes that I wanted to get a gander at and potentially purchase.  One was a Nike and the other a New Balance.  

I decide that I'll go to the Nike store at Lenox Square (logical choice, right?) to get some shoes.  Now I'm all geekily excited about it and I get there, see the ones I want, decide to try on a couple other ones too, and ya know what?  THEY DON'T HAVE MY SIZE.  So the only pair they have my size in I decide that I don't like once I have them on.  My next option?  Go to the other shoe stores in the mall and look there for my Holy Grail of Running Shoes.  Do I find them?  Uh, no.

Now at this point, the soreness has started to kick in from the morning.  Add in the ton of traversing of the mall, and it's been kicked up a notch.  I end up leaving the mall shoeless and decide to search elsewhere.  Long story short, the shoe is no where to be found.  Why don't you order them online? you ask.  Because I want them RIGHT NOW.  Duh.  But sad to say I guess that's what I'll probably be doing. :(

At this moment I am waiting for my cake I'm baking for tomorrow's VSC meeting to be done and enjoying a margarita or two for medicinal purposes.  AKA, until I forget the pain in my hips.

So yeah....this was long, but I know you'll enjoy it anyway. :)  Let's hope some awesome shoes come into play soon. :)  And of course I'll let you know. :)  Mmmmmm tasty mar-ga-ri-ta......

The green light flashes, the flags go up

So, I'd rate today as pretty good!! I didn't get up until 11:30, that part was an accident. I just couldn't seem to find any urgency to get up earlier. And I was really tired. Look at all I did:

-ran the dishwasher and put the dishes away

-laundry- 4 loads:

whites, lights, darks, and a rug

-cleaned out the laundry room and mopped the floor

-went through a few piles of paper on the floor

Then Carmen came home!! We went to target, where I got some pens, a pack of notebooks so I can journal about my first year as a nurse, a pair of scissors, and some running gear (new watch- see picture, headbands with grippy stuff, and an ipod armband).

Then I set out to use all my new gear! Unfortunately, the knee is still not up to par. So I really only ran like half of what I was going to. So now I am doing my best to majorly overhaul my stretching (or lack thereof). I highly suggest you join me in this page of stretches: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_1/126.shtml I am adding a couple a day til they are all just a part of the routine. Plus one awkward side stretch thing for the left tendon.

Food for today... in case you care, and even if you don't: lunch was chicken salad/crackers, cheddar bunnies, a peach, and a piece of chocolate. My couple of snacks were an ice cream sandwich, walnuts, and a cup of juice. Dinner was a veggie spring roll, edamame, and pad thai w/ tofu! Doc Chey's was a good choice by Liz W. Plus my roommate came along! I suppose that's all for the time being. Tomorrow is Six Flags with DAYA, which I'm not really excited about because I don't like rollercoasters... maybe I'll be a super nerd and bring a book. I win.

pre-season, if you will

Today I did my stretches twice so far, once before my jog on the treadmill and once after. I also did some lunges, toe raises, and leg lifts... I meant to do crunches too.... maybe later. Anyway, my time on ye olde treadmill wasn't too bad. I went for a total of 1.65 miles, burning 118 calories. Doesn't sound all that impressive. The side of my left knee is still bothering me a bit. Tomorrow I'm going to try out the elliptical and see if that helps at all, in conjunction with stretching 3-4 times a day (if I can remember) and doing leg exercises to try to strengthen the muscles to put less strain on the tendon that is driving me crazy. I'm going to try to eat better during this whole training thing if I can. Today started with a vegan waffle, half with blueberry preserves, half with nutella, and a bit of juice. Had a snack of graham cracker bite things. Lunch was chicken salad, pita and hummus, cheddar bunnies and a little piece of chocolate. Dinner is going to be chicken and broccoli stir fry with brown rice. I'd say it's a pretty good day one.

My first training session

Well I'm currenly walking for my cool down, my legs and feet are on fire and my back kinda hurts. But all in all I feel good. When I told my wife I was going running today she laughed. Now I know she didn't mean it in a bad way just in a "yeah right" sorta way. So I'm using that and the fact that I have a hard time sticking with things as motivation to complete this 5k challenge. Until next time.

Matt


-- Post From My iPhone

First Post!!

Hooray! I am very excited about this endeavor. I am going to have my Week 1 from the cool runnings training schedule I sent yall the link for start this upcoming Sunday. I like this group blog because we can post cool links, good workout song suggestions, and have people to get excited for us when we get new running gear. And who doesn't love gear? I mean, seriously. Tomorrow I think I'll do some like... pre-training working out. To stay motivated. A little elliptical, some weights, maybe some crunches, and a ton of stretching... my poor tendons. Ok, that's it for now!