Week 5 is in the bag!

I can’t believe I successfully finished C25K Week 5 Day 3 today.  All I wanted to do was run at least 10 minutes before stopping for a break, but I made it the entire 20 minutes!  I shuffled along at a snail’s pace and almost literally got passed by a turtle, but I’m still flying high because I finished and didn’t stop!  I think a HUGE part of today’s success was the location – I ran outside.  I’m used to running that depressing hamster wheel of a track at the Y, and today I went to Saluda Shoals Park to run a paved trail.  I didn’t use a podcast but listened to my own music and timed myself on my stopwatch.  It helped to be able to switch the songs if I needed an extra boost.  The weather was nicer today…it was in the 80s and only about 45% humidity when I ran – much better than the usual 97° and 97% humidity that’s typical for this time of year.  I’m proud of myself, but I have one gripe – I’m a crier.  When I saw the numbers on my watch reach 20 minutes, my throat closed up and I got all choked up.  I couldn’t breathe!!!  My lungs were seizing up from running, and on top of that my airway constricted because I’m a big baby.  It took a minute or so to regulate my breathing again, but when I did, I felt like a million bucks.  It’s almost 12 hours later, and my lungs still feel amazing after their workout.  My shins are about to kill me, but my lungs feel fabulous.  I think that’s one of the best benefits I’ve gotten from this program so far…my breaths are much deeper and of a higher quality than they were before I started “running.”

On to the food…I started today with a lite Frappuccino and oatmeal. 

I started with Quaker Weight Control instant oatmeal in the maple and brown sugar flavor, and I added almond butter, ground flax, and blueberries and banana.  This mixture kept me pretty full and satisfied for 3 hours!  I’m a horrible judge of hunger/satiety, but I ate this in the morning, and by my run at around 1pm, I thought to myself, “wow, I’m actually not hungry yet.”  Oatmeal always satisfies me that way…I forget how filling it is until I realize I’m not as hungry as usual.

After my kick-ass run, Mom and I went to Publix to grab a few things and decided to try their made-to-order subs.  I got a 6” veggie on 5-grain bread.  It had a whole bunch more cheese than they use at Subway, so maybe next time I’ll ask them to only use half.  The nice lady who made mine also went a little heavy on the oil and vinegar (I know, I forgot to ask for only vinegar, no oil), so it was pretty tangy.  On the side I had a really awesome orange and pomegranate tea (I didn’t even look at the calorie label – how terrible am I?). 

  (Kinda funny how I slapped the one rogue olive on top all by its lonesome!)

While we were putting groceries away, we snacked on a few of Stacy’s plain pita chips and some hummus.  I’ve never had this tahini blend before…it is AMAZING.

To finish off lunch, we split a piece of key lime pie.  Admittedly, this was a “celebration” food.  Though I’m proud of us for not getting more pie, we maybe should’ve thought of another way to celebrate (but our pieces were tiny!!).

Pretty much all day, aside from running errands, mom and I have been knitting on a couple of different projects.  We should’ve been more active around the house but for varying reasons stayed put all afternoon.  At around 5pm, I wanted a snack so I grabbed a handful of mom’s Chex mix and added some chocolate chips.  I had a small bit of chai concentrate and skim milk on the side.

For dinner, the combination of me being lazy and not too hungry yielded a boring concoction, but a comfort food to me, nonetheless.  It’s a Morningstar “chicken” patty on an Arnold’s sandwich thin with pepperjack cheese and light ranch dressing.  I ran out of the patties so tonight’s sandwich was made of a couple “chicken” tenders instead. 

To round out a fun day, I made us (relatively) healthy sundaes.  On the bottom was half of a sliced banana, some no-sugar-added cherry pie filling, frozen yogurt, fat-free Cool Whip, sugar-free chocolate syrup, and jimmies sprinkles.  It definitely hit the spot!

We’re planning on going to breakfast in the morning…it could spell trouble, but the veggie omelette I usually get (“usually” meaning once every two years when I actually go to this place) doesn’t really seem bad.  I’ve never taken a picture of it though, so maybe I’m just kidding myself when I say it doesn’t seem bad. 

I’m still wicked stoked about my C25K victory, and I’m looking forward to doing the upcoming intervals for Week 6.  Friday’s 25-minute run will probably change my mind, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.  I still haven’t decided which 5K I’m going to do, but it’s my goal to RUN one before Christmas this year.  That’ll give me plenty of time to finish the program and work on my speed.  I don’t really want to run 15-minute miles with hundreds of people watching me.