I HATE Walking

So on Friday I fell down stairs not once, but twice. Oh yes! I'm so clumsy that I can manage such a feat. The first time was pretty legitimate, I thought. Wobbly, high shoes combined with rainy weather and porch steps. Down I went, injuring my right pinky toe, twisting both ankles, mangling my very cute shoes, and injuring my ego immensely. It was traumatic, but not traumatic enough to keep me from my goal of going out with my friend. More wobbling around on the shoes all night long left my ankles very sore and tired. I made it home in once piece and while walking downstairs (in bare feet, no less!) I completely ate it and sprained my right ankle, AGAIN.

All that to say that instead of a run today, I walked. Walking is slow and boring, and I hate it. Moxie and I both need the exercise desperately, but the running is going to have to wait a while. My ankle seems to be quite the pro by now, this being it's 3rd sprain and all. It's not nearly as swollen as it was on Friday and walking on it feels totally fine. Any weird flexing or contorting is met with loud protests, so stairs and running are both no fun.

I'm very disappointed. Tomorrow is my one year anniversary of beginning my couch-to-5K plan. When I started last year, I had big visions of celebrating my accomplishments with a quick 5 mile run on my anniversary. Instead tomorrow I'm getting my hair done while nursing an injured ankle, unable to run even 3 miles. It's not what I expected at all. I thought I would be in great shape, and a whole lot skinnier. I'm about 8 pounds less than when I started, but it's creeping back on, and besides, no one can really tell anyway. My runs are still slow and laborious. I haven't run anything longer than a 5K. It's hard to stay positive sometimes, but I am looking forward to the cooler weather and starting over again, essentially, in November. October is full of traveling for us, so I'm going to use that opportunity to rest my ankle and get ready to tackle running again. Maybe my 2nd anniversary will see me running 5 miles.

Seriously?

All that I've done in the last few weeks is a few mediocre runs and a few downright horrible runs. Like last Friday, for example. The husband and I decided to do a quick run before we left on a short vacation. Well short it was: only 3/4 of a mile. Yep, you read that right.

Today was no better. I did a mile. Yes, my pace is improving and I did it in 10 minutes. I've knocked over a minute (maybe more) off of my pace since I started running. But a mile? In exactly 2 weeks it will be the first anniversary of when I started running. I really expected to be at a much better place than plodding along, dying while running a mile.

And furthermore, what's up with my shins absolutely killing me when I run? It's downright painful and has been a huge obstacle on my runs lately. My dream of running 3 or 4 miles as a regular run isn't going to come true anytime soon, methinks.

She's Alive!!

So apparently what's been keeping me from halfway decent runs is the hot weather. Our temps dropped rather suddenly yesterday due to a huge storm, and this morning was almost cool. The humidity was low and it was breezy. What a difference it made! Don't get me wrong, it was still kind of hot, and that breeze turned into an unfortunate headwind, but I finally got in 2 miles! Finally!! It had been so frustrating to me that I just couldn't increase my distance back to what I consider my minimum, so I'm thrilled to finally have done it again.

Even better is that my pace has definitely dropped a bit. Today I was at 9:56 overall, a definite improvement. I hope that as the weather cools down (probably not until next month), I'll see continued improvement and I can get back to more serious training. I have high hopes for the Jingle Bell Jog this year!