The Sixth Week Hump (couch to 5K)
It’s like Wednesday… only in Couch to 5K terms.
So many people I know have started the couch to 5k with great intentions then got caught at either week 5 or 6. Like me. The flu kicked my face in last weekend and I laid on my back, frustrated over the fact that I was missing my work out and thus all of my forward momentum. Because that is how it is- if you stop working out it’s like the wind in your sails is GONE and the next time you work out it’s like it’s the first time you’ve run in your life. OK, it’s not quite like that, but it feels so hard to get back into the groove of things. And I know I’m not alone. Once the runs get longer, the determination wanes and the excuses get easier.
I drug myself out of bed the first morning I didn’t want to hurl and decided that “today would be the day that I started back.” I felt if I waited even one more day that I’d be so discouraged when I started back that I would have quit. I still felt sick but decided to do the last work out I had completed successfully instead of going forward. It was excruciating and if I wasn’t so stubborn I wouldn’t have been able to do it. But when it was over I felt like I had climbed Mt. Everest. With an ice pic… and frozen legs. OK, it wasn’t that bad, but I fought every minute and my “run” was more of a limping jog that wasn’t pretty.
I had ran 15 minutes.
Then I got a sinus infection later that day… and it started over.
I think that a lot of people get stuck in this week 6 slump like I did. Maybe not great runners but ummm mediocre runners like me and you. Except we aren’t mediocre because we are winners just because we are running. We are AWESOME. and committed to being healthy and if we are on week six for 10 weeks it’s OK. Because the day we move on to the next week is a HUGE WIN regardless of how long it took us to get there. At least that is what I tell myself. 
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My C25K Adventures
I decided to start to write more about my Couch to 5K training… simply to encourage (amuse?) you! OK, aaand also for the accountability that comes with talking about it. Because, you know, thousands, hundreds, dozens 5 of you who read this blog may ask me how my training is going and I don’t want to have to say, “ahhhhhhhh” and have to come up with a great excuse. This is part of my New Year, New You resolutions.
I’m going to start with saying that I hate running.
I know, I know, now you are thinking that I am this person who says, “Ohhh yeah, I just hate running. I just completed a marathon in record time but ohhmmmgeee I just hated it sooooo much” and you want to slap me because I’m in great shape (I’m not) and you aren’t and you want to say, “well, yeah, I hate running too. That’s why I don’t do it. See. I’m sitting here on my butt hating running so your hatred either isn’t legit or you are just TRYING (and failing) to be super modest. Either way, shut up.”
and I get you.
The fact is that having someone to do it with and doing the couch to 5k method helps because you are only running 60 seconds in a row at first and if you have had a child you can hobble/jog/run for 60 seconds. I am the classic person saying here now, If I can do it, anyone can.
So here I am, on week 6, panicking over running 9 whole minutes tomorrow but I’ll quickly give you a re-cap of the previous 5 weeks. (and this isn’t a REAL 5 weeks, I can’t remember everything that happened on which week so I’m kind of guessing here.)
Week 1: I decided to run when my 61-year-old dad told me he had decided to train for a 5K. REALLY. I was feeling fat and out of shape… because I was… and some deep competitive thing was triggered when he said that and I was like NO WAY IS HE GOING TO BE IN BETTER SHAPE THAN ME (even though he consistently has been for years…) I ran (walked more) around a 7 mile loop at Lake Fayetteville. Before you are impressed, I really did walk more than I jogged. Probably I ran like 1/2 mile total or something. After that I had a photographer jump out of his car and take like 50 pictures of me while I stretched. Really. Read about that HERE.
Week 2: I joined a gym. It was too cold outside and I knew I’d quickly make excuses NOT to run. and, to be honest here, I didn’t really run this week. I took several classes that were waaaay more intense than running (I told myself) and figured that just exercising was a win. Which it is really. Just getting out there doing somethings is better than nothing. I told one of the aerobics instructors about my on and off again Couch to 5k training. She said that when she was in training it hurt her knees to train AND do the intense classes. I realized that my knees had been really hurting and used it as an excuse not to be the Overweight girl in the back of the aerobics class anymore.
Week3: I saw some friends, worked out on an elliptical, took some classes and kind of took it easy. Then, I met with a personal trainer who added lifting weights 3 days a week and working out the other two days doing a light cardio- so suddenly I was working out 5 days a week.
Week 4: Christmas, etc. I ate a ton of delicious, amazing, savory food but DID work out. Either running on a treadmill or doing intense cardio on another machine. Then I got a bonus… I found someone who went to the same gym, could go at about the same time as me AND was also doing the Couch to 5k! What are the odds?? This was so AWESOMESAUSE not only to just have someone to keep me accountable but also company. and guess what else? she blogs… beautifully. Check her out over at the Pilot’s Wife.
Week 5: I ran and lifted weights 3 days a week then on the other two I either did a yoga class or some light cardio. I’m getting there! SLOWLY… slowly.
and here I am today. Trying to decide if I should share my desire to go sugar free with you for the month because guess what? I’ve already failed at that today AND despite my constant working out I’ve somehow PUT ON WEIGHT so I have to try something else…
Here’s to goals, being real, failing and getting back up on your feet again.
