Week #1 of the Go Green, Get Fit challenge is complete! New to my blog? Go read what the Go Green, Get Fit challenge is all about and learn how you can join in on the fun, too! I’m proud to say that week one went surprisingly well. I completely impressed myself with my motivation (although I think blogging about my commitment to this challenge really helped me to stay on track. Something about knowing that others are reading about your journey really keeps you going.)
As a recap, here’s what my plan was for the first week:
WEEK ONE:
Monday (today!): Stretch and Strengthen (complete)
Tuesday: Run 1/2 mile, Walk 1/2 mile, Repeat twice (complete)
Wednesday: Rest (complete…that was easy!)
Thursday: Run 1/2 mile, Walk 1/2 mile, Repeat twice. (complete)
Friday: Stretch and Strengthen (complete)
Saturday: Run 3/4 mile, Walk 1/4 mile, Repeat twice. (complete…but ouch my knee hurts)
Sunday: Rest (complete)
So, how did it go? Well, I actually completed each day’s plan, and faster than I thought I would! I used the Runkeeper application on the iPhone to keep track of distance/time and I improved each day. Here are screenshots from the end of each of the three running/walking workouts.
Also – someone asked what I was doing for strengthening and stretching, so I thought I’d take a couple of minutes to answer that question. Since we are working on getting Monkey used to strangers, I’ve been bringing him to the gym during my strength training days and leaving him in the child watch for 30 minutes while I use the machines. As time goes on, I hope to lengthen the time I leave him, but I don’t want to overwhelm him too fast. I’ve been focusing my efforts on upper body, but also working on legs/abs/hips. I’m also trying to incorporate at least one day of yoga.
Even though I was able to complete this week’s plan, I’ve come to the conclusion that I may be pushing myself too hard too fast. By Saturday my right knee was killing me – to the point that I almost couldn’t complete the run. It’s hard to describe the pain as it’s not a dull aching pain, it’s more of a sharp stabbing pain. It lasted through the day Saturday and Sunday, coming and going in waves. It’s almost like I get these big sharp pains through my knee and my knee almost gives out at times.
I talked to my sister yesterday (she’s been running for much longer than me) and she really stressed that I should be doing shorter runs. I should be running/walking on and off in shorter bursts. She explained that this way, your heart rate stays up, but it’s easier on your legs. I mean think about it…I went from not running and hardly even exercising really, to running HARD. My legs/knees/muscles/bones/everything are probably all going “What the hell are you doing to me lady? You’re expecting me just to do whatever you say, no problem? You’re not 15 anymore lady…”
So yeah, I should probably listen to my body as my knee is definitely telling me to slow down. For the next two weeks, I’m going to focus on time rather than length. It seems to be the best way to get back into running safely and hopefully it will help my knee. I am also going to go out today and buy a little brace for my knee; maybe adding some support will help? Here’s my revised schedule for the next two weeks:
WEEK TWO:
Monday: Stretch and Strengthen
Tuesday: Run/Walk 30 minutes
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Run/Walk 30 minutes
Friday: Stretch and Strengthen
Saturday: Run/Walk 45 minutes
Sunday: Rest
WEEK THREE:
Monday: Stretch and Strengthen
Tuesday: Run/Walk 30 minutes
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Run/Walk 45 minutes
Friday: Stretch and Strengthen
Saturday: Run/Walk 45 minutes
Sunday: Rest
I’m not going to set any strict standards like “Run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes” – but I’m going to listen to my body and then keep track of what I do each day. It will be interesting to see how far I go in 30 minutes and how it turns out.
Have you had a similar experience? Any seasoned runners out there have advice for minimizing/eliminating my knee pain? I’d really love to continue running and it would be so upsetting if my knee held me back!
And because he’s so freakin’ cute, here’s a picture of Monkey doing his current favorite activity…talking.
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Hi and welcome! I'm Jenny - a green living new momma, adoring wife, and MSU fan.
Listening to your body is the best idea. Too many of us start out going great guns, then break down because we’re over reaching. Takes time to build everything up just like it took time to get to where we need to :) Great job this week though, inspiring to see everything checked off!
Thanks Lynn!!
That describes _my_ right knee issue. After about a mile, it usually starts hurting. I managed to make it through a 5K without too much trouble recently though. Ortho said my hips are a little weak and I need to work on strengthening them and it will probably help a lot. Otherwise, MRI showed nothing but a little extra wear in the cartilage in one area behind my knee cap.
That’s interesting about your hips – I never thought of that. I’ve been doing some strengthening exercises at the gym for my legs, so hopefully that will help. Hopefully it’s just a matter of weak muscles for me, but we’ll see! Thanks for the comment.