Last week, I started a 5K challenge and I’m excited to report I survived week one! I even had my friend, Jen from Liv, Laugh, Love Media join me one day. I did have some challenges, one huge surprise and a tearjerking revelation.

MY CHALLENGES
Mark asked me to run outside on a track and since I work evenings that meant I needed to train with my three children, ages 8, 5 and 3 during the day. The challenge was keeping them occupied while I ran for 30 minutes. I found a middle school track that is mostly fenced in, brought some balls and let them play. For a good portion of the training, the kids ran with me. Obviously, not the most ideal training situation, but no more excuses!

MY TEARJERKER
Having my kids run with me was very emotional. My youngest, who will be four in September, ran an entire mile outside during my training. For most kids, this is no big deal, but for him it’s a huge deal. He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a young child and did eventually learn to walk at 22 months with lots of Physical Therapy and Early Intervention. At one time in his life, I worried he would never be able to walk and to see him running hard like that just makes my heart so happy. He has overcome alot in his short life and I’m so proud of him.

MY SHOCKER
My trainer asked me to walk/run an entire hour over the weekend, so I took the entire family back to the track for some outdoor fun. Thanks to my extreme stubbornness and military training, I did NOT stop running for the entire hour. I logged an impressive 5.5 miles in that hour or just under an 11 mph pace. I really, really wanted to give up when the sun came out that afternoon about 30 minutes into the run, but I didn’t stop. I just kept running and running. I was shocked and excited that I could maintain a run for that amount of time. The only thing I can think is that I had muscle memory from all those long runs in my Navy days. The next day was my rest day and while I was a little sore, I felt great! I think I’m actually started to enjoy running.

TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL: NUTRITION
Mark, my trainer, recommended I cut out ALL carbs, except fruit. He said I can eat as much fruit, vegetables, protein and dairy as I want, but NO carbs (like rice, potatoes, donuts, oatmeal, bread), alcohol or sugar. Basically, all the foods I really enjoy. The reason is because the body burns carbs first, then proteins and finally fat. By cutting carbs, the body burns fat quicker. He said most people lose about eight pounds in the first week and that I just have to make it through the first few days. He warned me it will be hard. Luckily, my husband agreed to do it with me. Of course, I will still cook meals with carbs for the kids, but my husband and I will eat only the non-carb portion of the meals. Has anyone done a low carb diet? What can I expect?

WEEK 2 TRAINING SCHEDULE (repeat Week 1):
Day 1: 30 minute easy jog
Day 2: Easy jog for 10 minutes
4 laps on track, fast run on straightaways and walk on curves
Walk to cooldown for 5-10 minutes
Day 3: 30 minute hilly walk (the Omaha Zoo would be perfect)
Day 4: Repeat Day 2
Day 5/6: Walk/Run for 1 hour total on one of those days and take the other day off
Day 7: Strength training of choice for 30 minutes

Are you doing the 5K Challenge? How was week 1? Please leave a comment with your challenges and accomplishments.

Note: You can also follow my journey and other winners of the Omaha Marathon contest on the HITS Triathlon Series blog.