5k a day -- Wrap Up of a Semi-Failure

Guys, I failed.  I have been MIA but not out of avoidance -- but because I failed and had nothing to share.

I didn't do 30 days of 5k.  I did try, and try valiantly.  But I failed to account for what would be required during this "active" 30 day challenge:  a hour of time commitment daily, that has to work with the weather, and I have to have a safe place to walk/run alone at a safe time of day.

Admittedly, the biggest part of this problem has been the shifts I've been on for this hospital rotation.  The ER I'm working at right now switches our schedules around from night shift to early AM and back and forth -- meaning I've literally been spending all of my time either at work or catching up on sleep, because my body is so messed up.

"But Doc Doc Goose," you might say, "isn't that exactly the time you should be even more diligent about self care and personal time?"  Well, yes, probably. But I certainly didn't take into account how hard it would be to fit in that time within all those restrictions.

So I failed.  Lack of planning, lack of . . . I don't know, willpower?  Maybe.  But more like my priorities changed from improvement to survival.

At one point I was so tired this week I put the bag of popcorn away in the freezer.

So what did I get from this?

Well, one of the biggest things is recognizing the difference between active and passive challenges.    There's always time to *not* do something.  It's the doing something that can become cumbersome.  And that's okay, but if I'm going to do an Active challenge in the future, I need to be very purposeful and aware of how much time I'll be able to squeeze into my schedule.  And 5k a day while rotating, prepping for and taking boards, and planning a wedding just wasn't feasible, and I should have seen that.

I'd like to do this challenge in the future.  It was good for me, and I enjoyed it, but it will have to wait for a rotation when I know my schedule far ahead of time and that schedule is more unchanging.

Maybe it's good to fail.  Keeps me humble.  Makes me focus on the journey, not the destination.

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Been talking to Paul about what my next challenge should be.  I still want to keep doing the 30 day effort, and I have just enough time to fit one in before the wedding.  If it's gonna be active, it'll be something that doesn't take much time.  Maybe passive would be better.  

Do you guys have any suggestions for a 30 day challenge to improve my wellness?

5k a day -- Day 23

I had a crazy schedule the past few days and a stressful day with work, so I was looking forward to my walk tonight -- after running for two days, I had planned on a nice, relaxing walk.

Super humid out, but I just walked with no music.  So I'm not quite sure why Pokémon Go! is such a huge addiction for people.  But I will say I had no music or audiobook or partner for my walk tonight, and it was nice to have running in my hand and just forget about it.  And then, every so often, a pokémon would appear, which added a little variety to keep me awake.  So I guess it was a nice tool to have?  But I'm still not getting it . . . maybe because I never played/watched it as a kid.

The 5k:

5k in 1:13:02

23:34 min/mile average pace

Splits: 22:13/23:23/24:37/29:39

I mean, I may have been pausing frequently for pokémon.

The Workout:

84 squats

90 seconds plank

32 modified push ups (these are feeling much better)

5k a day -- Day 22

I *think* I ran my fast mile in quite a while today, but I can't tell, because MapMyRun doesn't seem to keep track of that as an option, which is a bummer.  I'd love an option that tracks how my mile and 5k times change over time.

It was hot, and we're out of sunscreen, but I went out anyhow.  My first mile was 11:02, which included a 42 second phone call with Paul, during which I walked (yes, I answered . . . we were waiting on important news) and I ran the rest of it best I could.

So even though it says 11:01, I think it was more like a 10:45 pace!  Yay me!

The rest of the workout I did intervals for -- God, running in this heat sucks.

The 5k:

5k in 42:09

13:37 min/mile average pace

Splits: 11:01/17:22/11:58/18:07

The Workout:

82 squats

90 seconds plank

31 modified push ups

5k a day -- Day 21

Yes, yes, I know.  I purposefully switched my schedule to start running in the morning.  My ER shifts have been crazy -- they end anywhere from 4pm to 5am.  So the only way to do this is to run before work.

But on days like today when I got home from work super late last night and actually wanted a full night's sleep, it means I don't get to start running till it's way too hot for my taste.  And that's what I did today.

I ran 1.6 miles, then hit pause for a quick water break at a park drinking fountain I pass (our city water actually tastes decent!) and somehow actually "ended" my run on MapMyRun . . . which is hard to do, since you have to slide to end it.  Anyhow, I restarted my run, obviously.  But I can't really post averages or splits since it's all broken up.  I did intervals for the last 1.5 miles.  I hate hot weather.

I was complaining about it to Paul when I got back (because what else are fiancés for?) and he wondered if I'd acclimate to hot weather running if I did more of it, instead of avoiding it like the plague.  I wonder about this.  Would I?  Would my body adapt more?  Or would the fact I live in a very air conditioned world undo any acclimation?

Anyone have any thoughts?

But anyhoo, all I can tell you is my overall time for today and the pace for my first mile and my last mile.

The 5k:

5k in 43:00 . . . ish.

?:? min/mile average pace

Splits: 11:57/?/?/15:09

The Workout:

80 squats

90 seconds plank 

30 modified push ups

Apparently my butt is looking a lot different.  Too bad it's kinda hard for me to tell, what with it being behind me and all.

5k a day -- Day 20

I didn't run yesterday.  This wasn't an oops or a "this doesn't matter to me" or anything like that.  This was I had gotten home late from a shift in the ER and had two options -- spend an hour doing my 5k (even with running, there's changing, showering, etc., so more than 40 minutes) or go to sleep so I could be up for my next shift.  And at the end of the day, I looked at my options, and I *had* to sleep.
I was talking to Paul about this whole challenge and the difficulty I was having with it, and he basically said, "Well, you decided to do an 'active' challenge where you have to find/make time to do something every day during one of the busiest times of your life."  And it's true.  Boards, wedding planning, crazy shifts in the ER . . . probably poor planning on my part.

And that's not to be an excuse -- in the future, I just need to look ahead better at the 30 days the challenge will cover before I decide what it'll be.  For example, I'd probably have less problem doing Whole30 again this month, but that's cause it's more passive.

Anyhow.  Gotta make choices that are best for long term.  And when it came down to 5k vs. sleep so I can make it through the shift that might be helping me earn a residency, I picked option B.

So today, we went on a walk together to catch up, cause we actually haven't seen much of each other lately.  Unfortunately we had pizza for dinner, and my stomach wasn't having it, requiring our route to swing back by the house half-way through.  Also, the tummy upset pretty much prevented the workout part of the 5k.

The 5k:

3.16 miles in 1:08:32

21:39 min/mile average pace

Splits: 20:35/21:08/22:58/22:56

So, I'm not sure if I have any readers, and really, this is more for me, but I was thinking about whether the people reading this would be disappointed I took another day "off" from the challenge.  I mean, that's #3, right?

But for me, I have to balance intent, life priorities, and long-term consequences.  So maybe I can learn from it better -- plan out my days better, etc., but I've gotta be gentle with myself in the meantime.

5k a day -- Day 19

Sorry for the boring posts, but it's late, and my new rotation at the hospital has killer hours.  I just walked tonight.  Although I think my MapMyRun was acting up, cause I'm pretty sure my times were way faster than it showed.

The 5k:

5k in 1:10:38

22:47 min/mile average pace

Splits: 22:44/23:39/21:48/20:57

Although, the times may be off cause I got bored on last night's walk and downloaded Pokemon Go out of desperation.  And stopped to catch a few tonight.

The Workout:

76 squats

90 seconds plank

28 modified push ups

5k a day -- Day 18

The 5k:

5k in 1:06:07

21:21 min/mile average pace

Splits:  23:10/19:06/21:48/20:55

The Workout:

74 squats

90 seconds plank (I'm reverting to 90 because my form is starting to suffer in an attempt to go longer.)

27 modified push ups