I can always remember being sore and having sore legs... ALWAYS! One of my first real memories of something being seriously wrong with me was at the age of 8. I was playing with my brother and my cousins (all boys) and we were walking down to a brook to play. It was on a gravel road and I was tagging along in the back and just trying to keep up with all the boys, who really did not want me there. My knees began to pain and I knew that I was going to have trouble but I wouldn't say anything because I did not want the boys to say, "That is why we wanted you to stay home" so I carried on. The pain got worse and worse and then my knee let go and I fell... hard! Blood was running down both of my legs, stones were in my cuts and I was ever so grateful to have the boys there. They were all so sweet, especially my brother who tried to make me laugh and forget about the pain. They told me to limp, like Terry Fox... and that is exactly what I did, all the way back to Aunt Judy's house.
Fast forward a number of years and many Doctor's appointment later... I finally found a Doctor who seemed to believe what I was saying... and prescribed braces - just what every teen-aged girl wants... leg braces for BOTH legs. Regardless of the look, I wore them when I was doing gym because it would have looked even worse if I would have fell flat on my face in the middle of a soccer game... right?! WRONG! The kids were horrible... they made fun of me and said, Run Forrest, RUN! I will never forget the feeling of embarrassment that I felt at that moment... but I shrugged it off and said that it didn't bother me. I had lots of friends that understood so I did not need to have everyone think that it was ok to wear these ulgy braces. Fortunately, or unfortunately - haven't decided which it is - I was allergic to the material that the braces were made from and couldn't wear them long... so I just went about my business without the additional support and really just didn't get very good grades in Phys Ed.
Fast forward to last night... here I am, 35 years old and I finally know what is wrong with me. I take my meds and do my best to force myself to keep moving so that I can try and manage my weight with all the meds. I have recently taken on the challenge of doing the Couch to 5K program because I want to learn to run... something that has always been out of reach for me and my joints. I arrived home last night from travelling a 10 hour trip and my legs were S-T-I-F-F!! I came home and made supper, ate supper with my family and sat down later to a cup of green tea... legs up and I was resting but my legs were almost jittery. So, I told Mr. Wonderful that I was going out for a run and I convinced my teenager to go with her old Momma. I pushed start on the C25K app on Mr. Wonderful's Iphone and began the week 5, day 1 program. We warmed up and then we began running... 5 minute runs followed by 3 minute walks... NO PROBLEM for this old lady but the teenager had trouble keeping up. I felt so good after the cool-down that I pressed start for week 5, day 2... eight minute runs with a three minute walk in between...that is right, I did both back-to-back and I did GREAT! As I was running home I heard those same kids yelling, Run Forrest, RUN... and I ran! Oh how I wish they could see me now!!
So, on that note, I have ordered my own Iphone... no more Blackberry for me. I am downloading C210K as soon as I get it because July 3rd is coming soon and I am registering for my first 10K... I decided that I would go right into the 10K because it would be worth my trip to do an hour run but a half-hour is just not enough... call me crazy :P
So, it is official ... July 3rd I will be running my first 10K - yeah me!!
So... here are the stats from yesterday's run:
Calories: 763
Average HR: 165
Max HR: 183
Albeit, these stats do NOT include the warm up because I forgot to turn on the HRM :P So, please no freaking out for the average heart rate being so high... I was able to talk with my daughter the whole way.
Make it a great day!
Oh yeah, and I ran 8.65KM last night... :D
Here is the run:
7 comments:
So awesome; you are really doing it! Im sure over time the HR will ease down but some of the meds you are on can affect that too so its more of a perceived effort I would pay attention to; if you could have a conversation still, you are likely where you should be :):):) GO YOU! JULY 3 is coming soon!
That is so incredibly awesome girl!!! I'm a bit jealous of your running skills.
It's like when Forrest is running and his braces come flying off and he tears off down the road... that's you my dear. :)
Awesome!! Keep running! Jeleous of the iphone...
Ok, I've been away a while but where did the 10K come from??!! You left that 5K in the dust. :)
Sorry about the kids when you were in school. Kids can be horrid for sure. Glad you can now take the satisfaction of probably kicking most of their butts in a road race. LOL
Anyway, the kids and I are running a 5K tmorrow and I'll be thinking of you preparing for your 10K which is something I don't think I could do. Congrats and be proud - you deserve it.
yaaay...you're going to LOVE doing races. They're very addictive :)
What a great story...it brought tears to my eyes. I am so happy for you, you are doing so amazing! You can totally do a 10K in July, my first race was also a 10K and it went great! You will totally get addicted to racing :)
So amazing! Thank you for sharing your story, even the painful parts. It's encouraging to hear how you are embracing life and pushing yourself. Thank you!
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