As many of you know, I've been working on losing my post Helena weight. I let it go for a year and finally in March, inspired by my sister Christina, I buckled down and got serious. It hasn't been easy but I'm quite happy with where I'm at. I weigh less than I did before I got pregnant with Helena (baby #4) but not less than before I got pregnant with Cecilia (baby #1) although I am getting close. I am actually not really trying to lose anymore weight. Where I am now is where I am. I know that I am never going to have that pre-baby belly ever again...without the help of a good plastic surgeon. (This is actually something that I think should come with the birth of your 3rd child. I believe you should deliver, hold and cuddle your baby and then when they taken them away to the nursery you should be whisked away for a quick little tummy tuck. I also believe that with each additional child you should get a touch up!) But I digress.
Anyway, I have also been working out a lot to help with this weight loss. I finished the P90X program about 2 weeks ago and I was looking for something else to do to take the place of it. I have been doing the cardio parts of it and throwing in some other cardio DVDs that I have as well. So, I decided that I was going to start running. I really didn't know where to start but someone recommended the Couch to 5K app. I downloaded the app and started last Saturday. I have only gone on 3 run/walks so far. The first 2 times I actually thought I might die while I was running. Literally die. I have always hated running. Loathed actually. But I thought this would be a good challenge for me. Last night I went for my 3rd run/walk. Trust me, I know that I am only running for 8 minutes or so and that it is even broken up by walking in between but last night was different. Last night I actually felt like I could keep going. I wasn't afraid for my life and I was even starting to enjoy it...and then it was over. But that was ok because I felt like I left it at a good place! But the reason for my post today is this...I have some questions about running.
1. Like I said, I have never run before and I never wanted to so I know nothing about it. What do I need to know about running? I'm sure that there must be some science to it or something. I am looking for any and all tips, tricks or pieces of information that may be useful to a beginner.
2. My left knee has been bothering me for sometime now. I went to the Dr and he said the knee feels good and is stable so I should just try to rest it. I did that and nothing changed. I am thinking it might be my hamstrings or IT band. Any recommendations on what to do for that problem? Someone recently suggested a knee band from the pharmacy so I went out and bought one but I don't really think it is doing anything, but I could be wearing it wrong too.
Hey Jess! I just read this. Way to go on the running! I hope you're still at it. I did a training program a few times, while in the DC area, for a 10-mile race and for each of our runs they increased the time. We were never really concerned about distance, just how long we were running. With that, came the endurance, and then distance. I really like that. Some how, mentally, it worked a lot better for me than dwelling on how FAR I've run. In the beginning we'd run for 40 minutes... so we ran for 20 minutes on a trail, then turned around and came back for the last 20 minutes. By the end of the program we were running somewhere around 90 or 120 minutes. Anyway, it's all baby steps. And it will get easier. I've been getting back into running and it sucked at first because I was so out of shape, but now I look forward to it, and I see improvements each time. I'm only running on a treadmill a couple of times a week, along with some other workouts (I do FIRM videos and the gym). But, I'm looking to do some 5k's sometime soon too. Stick with it, Jess!
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