Saturday wasn't truly an "off day" since I clocked 3 miles walking (with Gatsby, to the Farmer's market and then home) and 3 more miles biking (downtown to meet R. & D. at Tucson Meet Yourself).
Sunday was hot (almost 90 F), sunny, and I really was not feeling it but R. bullied/charmed/convinced me to get my butt out of the house. I suggested bringing Lola Lulu with us since I had run with her in the past and that seemed to really help her fearful reactivity in public. The run started off with my shins aching and I felt pretty rusty. Lola was also not on her best walking behavior and I was getting tired a lot more quickly by trying to keep her focused and not underfoot. It wasn't the best workout we've had but I was finally starting to find my groove when a guy standing behind a car startled Lola, who bolted and ran across my path tripping me. I went down hard and landed on my right knee (which I had scraped open the night before after laying my bike down by taking the turn into my driveway too sharply). Ouch. Big time. We only had 30 more seconds of jogging to do, so after walking a block or so (and having rolled my capris up over my knees so they didn't rub on my wounds)... we finished our run, damnit! In fact, we ran an extra 30 seconds just to do it. Then we walked back to my house so I could clean and dress my knees.
We agreed to take Monday off so my knee could heal a little, but R. did Day Two/Week Two by herself. Today I was horrifically hung over after an unplanned extended cocktail hour (with excellent live jazz) at Elliott's, so I chose not to run after work (even though the constant threat of vomiting had been replaced by a splitting headache). So again, R. did it without me and furthermore accused me of giving up. Which isn't remotely true. The real slap in the face was the bragging on Facebook that she'd completed Week Two (even though she didn't follow the C25K program and did it in all in three days with no rests).
I no longer feel like I have a partner on this journey and that really sucks.
There is a reason the program is designed to run one day then rest a day (even though on "off" days I still bike, walk the dogs, do yoga, etc. but the point is that I do different forms of exercise). Running everyday for three days straight then not running for 3 or 4 days doesn't work for me. Firstly, I inherited some less-than-ideal knees from my grandmother and am trying to strengthen them gradually so that I don't have the painful knee problems she has experienced later in life. I also had shin splints about 3 months ago and am not eager to repeat that any time soon. Thirdly, I think I may have had two post-run asthma attacks since we started. Day One I didn't think anything of it... I'm pretty out of shape, so a tight chest and shortness of breath was to be expected. However, it lasted for several hours and I was raspy & unable to take a full breath for the duration. I've never had asthma in the past, so I'm not sure what an asthma attack feels like, but the second time it happened after what felt like a fairly easy workout and again lasted for a few hours until I could breathe normally again. So yes, I am a "wuss" who would like to alternate running days with more low-impact, less strenuous exercise until I get a bit more fit (for the sake of my knees and shins) and get in to see a doctor about the painful chest tightening & inability to breath normally post-workout.
The real reason I feel angry is that I feel hurt that R. is doing it without me and completing the work outs faster than I am. I know it's not a competition, but I still feel left behind in the dust like a loser. She started a day before me to begin with and re-did Day One so that we could start C25K together.
My new sports watch (with stopwatch feature) will arrive on Thursday, but for tonight I have a downloaded stopwatch app on my not-so-smart-phone.
Now that my hangover has mostly worn off, I'm going to try taking Gatsby out with me to complete Day Two of Week Two. Wish us luck!
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