Day 8

Frustration is setting in. I took a break from running because my shins couldn't take anymore pounding. This morning I went to the gym, intent on continuing my training. First round was great. I walked for 3 minutes and jogged for 4. I was huffing and puffing, but I managed to jog the entire 4 minutes with minimal pain. Yay! Time for round 2. I walk for 3 minutes and then I start jogging again. This time, I'm huffing and puffing like I'm a smoker and my chest is getting tight. WTH?!? My shins start twinging a little but it's not so bad that I can't press through. I get to the 3 minute mark and hit a wall. BAM! My legs wouldn't let me continue. I slow it down and walk so that I can catch my breath. I'm disappointed as hell. I don't know if it's a mental block but I can't seem to get to that 4 minute mark on a consistent basis.

I continue to walk and then decide to walk 2 minutes and jog 2 minutes. I figured that's better than nothing. I do this for 2 cycles and then I can't take it anymore. I hop off the tread at the 30 minute mark and go to the recumbent bike for 10 minutes. My legs are like jello and they are screaming!

Even though my race training didn't go the way I wanted to, I did have a great cardio workout. I finished off with abs and much needed stretching. I won't be running tomorrow cause I want give my shins a rest. I'll be back on Sunday.

Day 7 - Continued

I went to the gym tonight. It was packed. All of the treadmills were being used so I got on the stair climber for 15 minutes. Luckily a treadmill became free and I hopped right on it. I walked for 3 minutes and then kicked it up to start jogging for 4. And then the burn set in. Like this morning, my calf muscles were on FIRE! I could only take it for two minutes and then I had to slow it back down. The burn continued while I was walking. So after 15 minutes, I hopped off the Tread and got on the bike. I don't know what the heck is going on. I didn't have this problem Saturday. What's the deal? I need to find out because I'm not going to make any progress if this continues. *sigh*

Day 7 - Feel the Burn!!

Today is the beginning of week 3 training. And the training kicks it up a notch. A big notch! Even though the last 2 weeks I haven't been consistent with the training, I decided to go ahead and move on to week 3 training. Today I woke up at 4am to go to the gym. I am determined to get into the habit of going in the morning to 1. Beat the evening crowds and 2. Get it out of the way. Before walking out the door, I look at my training sheet and gasp. It says: "Walk 3 minutes, run 4 minutes. Try repeating this 4 times. Whaaaat! What happened to walking 4 minutes and running 3 minutes? They totally skipped over that! Okay, I can do this I tell myself as I'm walking out the door.

I hop on the treadmill and decide to skip the warm (bad idea) and walk for 3 minutes. I then crank up the treadmill to 4.5 and get my jogging on. So far, so good. I look at the timer and 2 minutes have passed. I'm thinking, this is easy. What was I worried about? Then I hit the 3 minute mark. And the burn set in. My calves were on fire! But I tough it out and after 4 minutes, I slowed the treadmill down and went back to walking. The burn continues and it doesn't seem like it's going to subside. So I pause the treadmill and stretch out my calf muscles. I resume walking and after another 3 minutes, I start jogging again. This time it's not easy and I'm grimacing the entire time. After 2 minutes, I slow it down and walk. After another couple of minutes, I get off the treadmill.

I don't know what was going on today but I could not muster through. The burn was too much for me to bear. Maybe I need to do calf exercises to build them up. I decide to weight train afterwards and I made sure to include calf raises.

I'm going to head back to the gym tonight and give it the old college try. Let's hope I'm successful.