Tag: C25K

Favorite season not action

On September 23, 2011

Tonight I can officially add the sidewalk to my list of dangerous objects.

Joel and I are running again. Hush, I heard that eye roll. I haven’t really mentioned it here or on Twitter because this is the third time I’ve started the C25K program. ::hangs head:: I know. I’m horrible at follow through. But whatever, this time I’ve gone much further than ever before and it feels awesome.

This is not a post about running though. This is a post about falling. Excited?

Joel and I have a habit of running in the evening. This started out of necessity because 6 weeks ago when we started it was 85 degrees, humid and sunny during the day and the one time we tried running in the afternoon I about collapsed halfway through. Humidity is the devil. Take note.

Well Fall is upon us here in Chicagoland and the temperatures have been extremely pleasant. Instead of changing our habits though we’ve continued to run after dark. It just works for us. Or it has so far.

Tonight I was feeling great on our run. The previous run was a full 20 minutes straight. I know! Head explosion over here. I’m still in shock that I actually did it. Anyway, after that long run going back to intervals (per the program) felt like a piece of cake. The weather was nice, I had my headphones in and was rocking out. I only had about 2 minutes left of my last running interval before the cool down and I let my mind wander.

I’ll never remember where it wandered because I realized the sidewalk had suddenly become slightly uneven and gravity was about to make me it’s bitch.

In my head it all happened in slow motion. The sidewalk dipped and my feet didn’t get the message fast enough. I tripped slightly and must have over corrected because instead of righting myself I kept going downward.

Bam! My right knee hit and I somehow still stumbled a bit more before my left knee followed with only slightly less force.

Bam! I reached my right palm out to catch myself but my momentum was too great and I continued down even further. The momentum was so great I scraped my knuckles on that same hand.

Bam! My left shoulder hit next and my mind immediately went to my iPhone which was in a case strapped to my bicep. Oh please don’t let it break. Yes, even with the threat of bones breaking my biggest concern was for my iPhone. I realize how pathetic that is.

Finally Bam! My face met the concrete and I could not fall any further.

I lay there for a moment completely in shock. My brain did a quick mental check of my bones and nothing felt broken. I lay face down on the pavement and the shock of it all, plus the sting of the scrapes caused me to burst into tears.

Joel was almost immediately by my side and I was soon sitting up on the sidewalk, testing my limbs to make sure none were seriously injured. Thank goodness none were. I was bleeding but not broken.

A minute passed, I’m still sitting there bawling when I realize a car is pulling up next to us. And then I saw the pretty red and blue lights flick on.

Oh yay, the police!

I scrabbled to my feet, tears and pain suddenly gone with the adrenaline of the embarrassment. The officer was incredibly nice and offered me an ambulance (which I obviously told him I didn’t need) and a ride home (which I was too embarrassed to accept). Because he stopped he had to take my name and information and write a quick report of the incident. Fan-freaking-tastic. I am officially on record as a klutz. His exact words were “So you just tripped over the curb or something stupid like that?” Yep, exactly stupid like that.

Needless to say I didn’t finish the run but walking home wasn’t a problem. Want to see the damage?

Sexy knees.

Shoulder and face. Please excuse the sweaty hair and face. Running isn’t something I get dressed up for.

Closeup!

So all in all nothing is too horrible. They definitely sting and I’m not looking forward to the probable black eye in a couple of days. I’m just super grateful it’s nothing more than a few superficial scrapes. As weird as it sounds I’m glad I caught myself with my face rather than catching the whole fall on my hands and snapping my wrist. Can’t fix that with a band-aid!

Despite my luck this time I think it’s about time we change our running habits. Uneven sidewalks are much easier to spot in daylight. I’d like to try and keep all my skin attached from now on thank you very much.

Six Months

By Abigail

On July 1, 2010

In thoughts

I don’t know how many of you were reading my blog six months ago. If you were you might remember my 30 by 30 post. The list by itself is also a page in the upper right hand corner if you ever just want to look over it. So far I think I’m doing pretty well. I’m working on several of my goals. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I have 6 years and I don’t have to do everything at once. Here’s an update on my progress so far. I won’t go through every number, just the ones I’ve been thinking about or have made progress on.

1. Travel to India. This is so close to becoming a reality I can taste it. Really it deserves it’s own post and I will work on one in the near future. Basically it’s been my dream to go on a mission trip to India since I was 12 (half my life) and we have one set up to go in October.

We are working on fundraising right now. We’ve had some very generous donations from some amazing people. We’re still a ways off from the total needed though. If you have any ideas for fundraisers please send them my way. You can get more info at HelpSend.Us

2. Become a mother: Still not ready for this one. I have time ::grin::

4. Read all books on Time 100 best novels list: I have a few books marked off but honestly they’re ones I read prior to making the list. I need to step up on this one.

5. Run a marathon: I’ve taken the first step. Or steps. Check out Running Between Tweets for updates on mine and all my fellow tweeps progress.

9. Visit every US state: I have 12 more to go. I still have my flight benefits so getting to the states isn’t a problem. The main thing is having a place to stay once I get there. I don’t have tons of cash but I have so many wonderful blog/Twitter friends spread all over the country.

Would any of you from the states that I’m missing be willing to host me? Even just over night so I could meet you and buy a spoon (yes I collect spoons. What?) I don’t need anything fancy. A floor and a blanket would be more than enough. Who’s first? ::wink::

10. See all movies on Time 100 best movies list: I’ve gotten about a quarter of the way through the list thanks to our Blockbuster online membership. I’ve loved some and been bored to tears on others.

14. Earn an award with Phoebe: I’m entering us in our first rally obedience trial the middle of this month. I’ll let you know how it goes!

16. Join a book club: I get to mark one off! Woot! I’ve written about my book club a few times so you already know I have met some really neat girls there including the one who invited me to be on the soccer team.

I don’t know that I expected to have so much fun. I love reading but the book club is so much more than just discussing books. In fact, as we’ve gone on I could almost care less about the books that I’ve read. None of them are probably ones I’d pick out myself. The great part is, it doesn’t matter because the group of friends we’ve built is priceless. It’s just what I didn’t know I needed.

26. Keep a blog or journal daily for one year: That is where the title of this blog comes in. As of today I have successfully completed six months of that year on SkyWaitress.com. I’m actually really impressed that I’ve come this far.

Before this I was always a sporadic blogger. I would post several times a week for awhile and then go for months with nothing. I felt like if I didn’t have anything big to blog about I couldn’t post.

Now I’ve realized that isn’t the case. Granted, all of my posts haven’t been stellar but I feel like I’ve learned so much and improved as a writer and blogger by making this commitment. There are days when I have no idea what to blog about but I sit down and start writing anyway. And sometimes? Those are some of my best posts. Apparently my brain has a lot rolling around in it.

I don’t pretend to be a professional blogger or to have everything figured out. I am having fun though. I’ve also gotten more involved with Twitter and have made some wonderful friends out of it. I seriously wonder what I did without all you guys. I look forward to the next six months of blogging and beyond.

I am so excited about how far I’ve come. I have a long ways to go and a lot to accomplish in the next 5 1/2 years but I’m confident I can pull it off. I’m doing really well. Working through this list has already improved who I am as a person. I am much more focused and excited about life. I have goals and I am working towards them. I highly recommend everyone make a list similar to this. It can fit where ever you are in life and drive you to where you want to be. You’ll be surprised how inspiring it is.

Letting myself dream and get excited is the best thing I’ve ever done. It’s already taken me places and I can’t wait to see where I’ll be in six months, a year and on my 30th birthday. I have a feeling, it’s going to be somewhere amazing.

Running Between Tweets

By Abigail

On June 27, 2010

In blog news, thoughts

You all know I’ve talked about doing C25K several times. I started right before I got my wisdom teeth out which was duuumb because I had to stop a week into it. I’ve meant to start several times since then but since I’m the queen of procrastination I haven’t gotten around to it.

The procrastination is officially over. Why? Because I have a group of fabulous Twitter friends to kick my butt into gear. For real this time. In order to keep each other accountable we’ve started Running Between Tweets. It’s a compilation blog so we can all chart our journeys together.

The site is very much a work in progress. As are most things I do, it was done on an impulse. I will constantly be updating and changing it. The point right now is we’re motivated and ready to go. No putting it off any longer.

I’ll be blogging along side some really amazing bloggers (which, I’m not going to lie, intimidates me a little) so this journey should be interesting. I hope you’re excited as I am. Running starts tomorrow

Random Confessions

By Abigail

On June 25, 2010

In thoughts

1. I borrowed a two shirts from my little sister the other day. I gave one of them back. I’m really hoping she forgets/doesn’t ask about the other one. It looks really great on me. Aaand I ripped a hole in the sleeve.

2. When I do laundry I rarely wear shoes. That wouldn’t be so bad if the laundry room wasn’t a community one down the hall from our apartment.

3. The last of my “real” bras broke two weeks ago. I’ve been wearing sports bras ever since. Flat chested FTW!

4. Lately I have been sleeping in till noon or later. I generally wake up when Joel tells me he’s coming home for lunch. I hate sleeping in this late because half my day is gone by the time I get up. However, I do not hate it enough to set an alarm clock. Fail.

5. I always buy and read my book club books no more than a couple days before the discussion. I say it’s because I’m a fast reader and I’ll forget what I want to say if I get it sooner. Really? It’s because I just put it off until the last minute. Thank goodness the fast reader part is true.

6. Speaking of book club, our discussion is at the beach tomorrow. For the first time in my life I really don’t want to be seen in a bikini. My body is not bikini ready. There’s a slight chance of thunderstorms and I’m praying that they come through so I don’t have to stress about it. ::sigh::

7. In related news, I’m actually starting C25K over on Monday. I have a lovely group of ladies who are doing it with me and that should be the motivation I need to actually finish it this time. Clearly I have an issue with self motivation.

8. You can probably buy my love in the form of Starbucks caramel Frappuccinos. Just Sayin’.

9. I always have to look up how to spell Frappuccino.

10. Actually there are a lot of words I look up. Most of the time I spelled the words right. However, if I look up the word after I sent a text or tweet? I inevitably spelled it wrong. Why doesn’t the iPhone have built in spell check already? Hmph.

So those are my confessions.* They say confession is good for the soul and I’m inclined to agree with them. Whoever the heck they are. Anything you’d like to confess? I’m a great listener 😉

*Totally have that one Usher song stuck in my head now.

Voetbal!

By Abigail

On May 25, 2010

In pictures, thoughts

I joined an adult indoor soccer league today. Don’t laugh! I played indoor soccer when I was a kid. I was even on a really good team once. We made it all the way to the championship game with zero losses. The final game two of our best players decided not to show up and we ended up in second place for the year. I’m not still bitter. Really.

That was when I was 12 and I haven’t played since. In high school I was much more into music and the dramatic arts. I danced but that was about as sporty as I got. Soccer is still one of my favorite sports though and when a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to join a co-ed soccer league she was getting together I decided, what the heck. I did warn her that my soccer skills are probably not star quality.

I’m guessing there will be a lot less

and a lot more

Me of course being represented by the man lying on the ground hoping not to lose any teeth.

I’m mostly concerned about the amount of running that I’ll have to do. Stupid wisdom teeth making me stop C25K two weeks in. ::grumble grumble:: I’m planning on starting the C25K program over again tomorrow though since I’m finally all healed up. I don’t know if it will do anything in preparing me for playing soccer again but it’s better than nothing, right?

Either way I expect it to be a good time. Even if I end up being a bench warmer I’m cool with that. I wasn’t the star player even in my “prime”. Not that I primed at 12 years old… you know what I mean. Anyway, my hope is to meet some cool people and to get in better shape while having fun. If I don’t break my nose or collapse from all the running that will be a major bonus.

Rainy day running

By Abigail

On April 7, 2010

In thoughts

Some brilliant twitter friends of mine suggested that my running headaches might be due to allergies and not my body rebelling against the exercise. I have both positive and negative feeling about this idea. On the one hand it would be great to know what my problem was so I could treat it. On the other hand I never had allergies before so the idea that I may have developed them sucks big time. Today was the perfect day to test the theory since it was raining all day and I assume that means pollen can’t be flying all around. I was kind of stalling to go for the run because, let’s face it, I have motivation issues. However knowing that my internet friends were still at it and if I didn’t run today I would fall behind was enough to get my butt out the door. For once my procrastination paid off and it had stopped raining by the time I finally decided to go, score!

I took Phoebe along again but she was less than pleased this time. Phoebe hates the rain. Usually this is good for me because she gets her business done as fast as possible and races back to the house. I thought it would be ok because it wasn’t actually raining but apparently wet ground is equally awful for the princess. There were literally times that I was dragging her. I didn’t get any pictures but imagine if this were a five pound papillon.

That’s pretty much how it looked. I probably looked like the worst pet owner ever dragging my dog down the street. It wasn’t like that the entire time or I definitely would’ve swung back to the house and dropped her off. She would run right along with me for awhile and then we’d come to a puddle or something and she’d go all stubborn mule on me. Guess it made my workout better since I was dragging a five pound weight around half the time?

She might also have been upset with me because I made her go out in a rain coat.

She looks so darn cute in it though!

She was probably all “My doggie friends are going to seee me like this. Ugh!”

It was for her own good though and not just because of the cute factor that I made her wear it. I just applied her flea medicine yesterday and she’s not supposed to get wet for at least 48 hours. I was not about to let an unexpected downpour wash off her (very expensive) flea medicine and risk getting fleas which would end up costing me more money. So she wore the darn coat and she hated every second of running.

Other than puppy troubles the run actually went really well. I can already tell it’s getting a little easier. It was past halfway before I started to get very tired. I’m pretty excited that this program is actually working! I might actually turn out to be a runner after all. I didn’t get a headache at all this time which means the allergy theory is probably correct. I had no idea allergies could cause no symptoms other than headaches. I’m going to keep and eye on the pollen count and when it’s high I’m going to try taking something and see if it helps. I’ll keep everyone updated.

I hope all my other C25Kers are doing well. It’s such motivation knowing I’m not alone in this. Together we can do this. Woot!

I’m not a runner… yet.

By Abigail

On April 2, 2010

In thoughts

**I wrote almost all of this post yesterday but got hit with an unbelievable migraine. I’m not sure if it was from the running but it did start right after I was finished. I figure I was either dehydrated, wasn’t breathing right or my body was trying to kill me in protest of me making it work so hard. Either way I survived. Carry on.**

The idea of being a runner has always been appealing to me. Number 5 on my 30 by 30 list is running a marathon. My older brother, aunt and grandma all run marathons. My grandma is actually the most enthusiastic of them all. When I told her I wanted to run a marathon she about died of happiness. Then she immediately encouraged me to sign up for the Chicago marathon this year. This year, as in, in October. As in, in six months. At first I went along with it because I didn’t want to disappoint her. However, several stressful weeks and a couple nightmares later I questioned why I was going to kill myself by having my first race ever be the Chicago marathon.

Even when I was in the best shape I’ve ever been in I wasn’t able to run for more than a couple minutes without dying. Now? It’s bad guys. I am lucky if I can go a minute or two without sounding like an asthmatic 80 year old. Because of that I didn’t really know how to start being a runner. Thanks to inspiration from the fabulous JewliaGoulia I’ve officially started my journey from Couch to 5K or C25K. I’m really excited and I’m even more excited that there are twenty other people doing it with me. Seriously, so inspiring. I know myself and I need outside motivation to get things done. If it’s just me, I find a million and one excuses not to do things. When I have others keeping me accountable I am much more likely to get things done.

Today was day one and it starts off with an easy regiment of 60 second running, 90 second walking intervals for 30 minutes. Running for a minute should be a piece of cake, right? Yeah well, I’m seriously embarrassed to admit that it was hard. Way harder than I feel like it should have been. I did it though and I didn’t even die despite thinking I might several times. Joel was nice enough to agree to train with me and since my little brother was over he went along with us on our first run. We also drug Phoebe along.

She kept up pretty well.

By the end the she was really worn out though.

That’s about how we felt too.

We are so out of shape.

I think the lack of oxygen made us giddy.

I’m so glad I’m finally doing this. My goal is to sign up for a race later this year and to run Chicago in 2040, er, I mean 2011. It’s not too late to join in the fun either. If you’ve been meaning to start running but needed a little extra motivation scroll to the end of this po st and add yourself to the list of other awesome wannabe runners. Either way wish me luck. Hopefully it will get easier and I won’t be gasping for air after only a minute of running. *hangs head* I’ll keep you updated on my progress.