Started with chronic pain, asthma, braces, and a broken foot. 12 years later, I’m still going, managing anemia, vertigo, and perimenopause among other things!
Well I got my phone/earbuds sorted and ran with the app this morning.
Now, you might say, "Aren't you only supposed to train every second day, and work other parts of your body on the off-days?"
And, you would be right.
Yesterday was comparatively easy, and I woke up feeling fine today - not sore the way you usually do if you've really worked your muscles - so I thought, "Why not?" Especially since I wanted to "catch up" as I hadn't used the app for day one, so I wanted to "re-do" it. And yesterday I did more jogging than was actually necessary - it's meant to be 8 x 60-second runs on the first day, and I think I did that plus 4 x 90-second runs - so I thought it would be a piece of cake.
The last time I ran a 5k was in 2010, a fundraiser for the Brain Tumour Foundation after my mother died of cancer. This time, it’s a fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Foundation, because a friend had “triple negative” (a very aggressive type) but thankfully survived! Here’s her story:
So, I bought some new running shoes, and this morning started the “Couch to 5k” regime. Or, actually, a version thereof, because I don’t know where the earbuds for my phone are, so I just alternated running 60 seconds/walking 90 seconds eight times, then running 120 seconds/walking 90 seconds 4 times. Good enough for day one. Need to get my phone sorted though so I can do it properly!
The best part for me was that I did not cough once on my run! My lungs have been terrible this year - my darling son brought home all kinds of germs in the winter, and I couldn’t take sick days when I needed to because there was too much work to do and I was the only one able to do it. Two rounds of antibiotics when they thought I had pneumonia; then the diagnosis changed to pleurisy (what is that you ask? If you remember The Glass Menagerie, it’s the illness that Laura had in high school which caused her to miss months of classes—then called “pleurosis” which led to the nickname “blue roses”).
Ha, I coughed just now because I am writing about not coughing I guess!
I was fine for a while after I eventually recovered, but the first week of summer vacation, my darling son again brought home a nasty bug, and I can’t seem to shake the cough that came with it. Partly, I think, due to the terrible humidity that has cloaked the city in a veil of smog and pollen.
So I am thrilled that I was able to run and breathe this morning! The sun was just starting to beat down upon the city in my final stretch home; next time I will try to get an earlier start.
