Running Woes

First of all....I lost a reader! :( I hope I'm not boring everyone. I get excited that ya'll are reading (are you actually? haha) and I love getting new readers, so I was sad to log in this morning and see that I went down by one.  Oh well, their loss! :)

So on Wednesday, I went to the gym, and tried to do my run again.  For whatever reason, I absolutely cannot get through the 5 minute run.  I was able to get through fairly easily last time I began the c25k program, but I think the difference with that time is that I was on the track, and this time I'm on the treadmill. It's harder to stop, or slow down when you're on a treadmill!  I got through as much as I could, until I had to stop, and walk the rest of the way.  I think part of my issue is my ankles.  They are killing me each time I run! It's the weirdest pain, it's like my muscles hurt, from the top of my feet, to right below my knee.  There are spots on my leg where it hurts, almost like a bruise.  It hurts pretty bad for an hour or two, and then they're just stiff the rest of the night. I don't know what the deal is, but I hate it! 

So, because of my troubles, I decided to go back one week on the program, and run 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds, run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes, and repeat.  I decided I'd get comfortable with that, before moving on to the next week.  I'm hoping just two more times of running those splits and I'll be able to move on! 

I've been struggling with the idea of possibly not doing the Princess Half in February.  Not because I don't want to do it, but because I really don't know if I'll be ready.  I have a feeling my new job is going to be taking up a lot of my energy, especially at first. I got my schedule for the first 3 weeks.  The restaurant I'm training at is about an hour away.  And the first 3 weeks of training are all in the kitchen, so I'll be doing prep, which means I'll have to be there early.  My in times are either at 7am, or 9:30am.  Which means I'll have to leave my house at 6am or 8:30am, and I have to get up an hour before that.  All my shifts are 10-11 hours, and then an hour drive home.  I'm just not sure how much energy I'll have to go to the gym after that.  I'm going to try, for sure, but I'm just worried that I will end up falling back, again.  I have made it at least 3 times a week for the last 2 weeks, which is way more than I was doing (I'm planning on 5 times this week!), and I don't want to fall behind again.  Another reason I'm thinking of not doing it is because of my family vacation.  We are sort of planning this whole vacation around me running the race, and it's turning out to look like we aren't going to have time to do everything we want, because I have to run the race.  Its everyones vacation, not just mine, and I worry that me running the race will make everyones vacation not as great as it could be.  Am I
crazy for thinking of not doing it?  I still WANT to do it.....so maybe ya'll can re-convince me to do it! :)

So, my Garmin! I told ya'll I'd post a picture, so here she is!

Isn't she pretty?

 

I love the pink accents, and the little swirlies around the outside!  The same swirlies are on the band, which I also love.  But what I love most is that I can finally tell how many calories I'm actually burning, instead of going by what the treadmill says, or what MFP tells me. 

Do any of you have a HRM with a chest strap? Or a garmin like mine?  Do you know how accurate they are?  Mine seems like it tells me I've burned more calories than it should.  I did my run the other day (where I ended up walking the end of it), for 35 minutes, and it said I burned over 400 calories.  Does that seem high?  The run I did yesterday, for 28 minutes, and then doing 12 minutes on the elliptical (total of 40 minutes) said I burned 519.  I am not planning on eating back all of my exercise calories, but I don't want to overeat, because my garmin says that I burned more than I did, know what I mean?  I made sure that I'm wearing it right, and that my settings are all good. I did realize that my resting heart rate is kind of high.  After I got dressed and ready to go to the gym, when I put my HRM on, it said my HR was about a 85-90.  I know that overweight people have a higher resting HR, but should I be worried? Could that be why it says I'm burning so many calories? I'm new to all this technology, so forgive me haha.  

Have a great day!