Chronic Pain and Working Out

I've always been overweight. A combination of genes, not really liking sports and liking reading / watching TV all contributed to that. I would walk with my parents when I was younger and living at home, but I wasn't too keen on it.

Most of my college years I was forced to exercise because I didn't have a car and had to walk everywhere. I was in pretty good shape then but then I got a car and backslide a little. After I graduated from college, I didn't really exercise at all. I was dealing with my mom's death and working my first full time job.

A year after I graduated my chronic pain started and I became acutely aware of my health. I didn't try to exercise that first year because I was trying to get a hold of the pain. But I did start trying to work out after that in order to try and be healthy in general.

I tried a lot of things. Dance Dance Revolution was one of my favorites, but it is really an intense workout so I could only do it once in a while. Mostly I'd just try to walk when I could.

After Emily was born, I got a jogging stroller and would try to run with Emily but it was hard. When I went back to school, I took yoga every semester I could but I wasn't really losing any weight because of that.

I had heard about the Couch to 5K program when I started trying to jog, but I found it extremely hard to try and time when I was suppose to walk and when I was suppose to run. I got a smart phone and found an help that helped a lot. We also got a treadmill which allowed me to run indoors.

But my chronic pain still makes it hard to exercise. I ran on and off last year and I did lose 20 pounds of the course of the year. I've kept it off but without exercise, I've mostly hit a wall. I tried to start running at the first of the year, but the flu and Todd ending up in the hospital ended that quickly.

Yesterday I managed to get back on the treadmill but I had to start back at Day 1, Week 1 of Couch to 5K. I hope that I will finish the program and keep back up with it, but it's slow going. I woke up today with another migraine (in part because I also woke up with a cold) so it's going to be a rest day.

Even with my chronic pain, I am on a quest to get healthier. Hopefully I will actually be able to finish Couch to 5K this year!

Goals for 2014

Now that Christmas is over with, thoughts turn to the new year that is almost upon us. I’m really hoping that 2014 is better than 2013. This year had a lot of down moments though the bright spot was Disney. Next year, we are hoping to have fewer issues and just save in case anything comes up.

A lot of people make resolutions for the new year, but I prefer to think that these are goals. The theme of my goals for 2014 is to finish all the things. I have a lot of unfinished projects and I’d like to get them done.

The first one is finish the 2nd draft of my novel. I’ve been finding it hard to find time to write. I work in the morning and then after work I often feel drained because of my chronic pain. But I really need to make time to finish this novel if I ever want to be published.

The second is to finish Emily’s cross stitch Christmas stocking. It’s one of the biggest cross stitch projects I’ve done and I’m a bit sad that I didn’t finish it in time for this Christmas. But I now have plenty of time to get it finished. I do hope to have it finished early in the year because I have three costumes I want to make for this year’s convention season.

The third is finish Couch to 5K. This one may prove to be the hardest. I’ll run and get pretty far though but often I’ll have a pain flare and end up too sick to do anything but work and take care of Emily. Our tree is where the treadmill is so I haven’t run in quite a while. As soon as we take the tree down next week, I’m starting from the beginning and really going to try to get through the program all the way this time.

These are my main goals for 2014. There are other things I want to accomplish like making three different costumes and organizing my office. But these three things are a holdover from 2013 (and before) and I’d like to be able to move forward.

How Couch to 5K Got Me Running

Image: play.google.com

I've never been very fond of exercise. When I was a kid, I’d prefer staying inside with a good book over running and playing outside. I did participate in several sports when I was younger like soccer and softball, but I didn't like them. As I grew to be an adult, I found myself moving around less as most of my jobs had me sitting at a desk all day. I've tried all kinds of fitness programs and apps for weight loss, but none really worked for me until I started Couch to 5K.

Couch to 5K is a program for people who lead a sedentary lifestyle. It eases you into running and starts out slow. During the first week, you alternate jogging for 60 seconds and walking for 90 seconds. From there, each week has you running a little longer with less walking in between.

I started Couch to 5K a few years ago when I first heard of it. My daughter was still a baby and I was a stay at home mom. I got a fancy jogging stroller and tried really hard to get started. But what derailed me was trying to juggle a stopwatch to time how long I was supposed to run while driving the stroller. It was very difficult and I didn't even get past the first week.

Last fall, I found a Couch to 5K app so I decided to give it another try. I started in last August by running up and down my hallway because it was far too humid in North Carolina to start running outside. I use the C25K app on my Android phone, which works really well because it tells me when I should start and stop running. I did find that my hallway isn't long enough to really simulate running because I was mostly just running sprints. I started over on the treadmill after feeling like I was going to pass out at my previous week. I'm slowly working my way through the weeks again.

Running has been a challenge because I’m really out of shape, but I feel great once I’m done, and I’m getting more fit as I continue with the program. My first goal is to run a local 5K by the end of the year. My big goal is to run in one of the 5K races at Walt Disney World. I have a friend who runs in a lot of the Disney races and it looks so fun. Lots of people dress up in special costumes designed for running. There are even Disney characters along the race route that runners can stop and get their picture with, so it makes it more fun than a regular 5K. I’m really hoping to be able to do one of the Disney races at some point.

I never thought I’d be a runner, but it’s easier than I thought it would be thanks to Couch to 5K. It can be a challenge because of my chronic pain issues to take on course. But I'll talk about running and chronic pain in a future post.