Couch to 5k Progress Over Time

I started running in June 2010, working the c25k program. I am still working it (never quit!). Below is the visual representation of my progress, with the program week on the vertical axis and the date on the horizontal axis.

The first drop in fitness represents the injunction of my program following a new job (hired at CSC) and the stress that comes with such a major life change.

The stagnation over early 2011 represents the grief period dealing with my father’s death.

The sudden drop at the end of the summer in 2011 represents the tendonitis injury I suffered by running the Chicago half marathon without adequate condition.

The November 2011 stagnation represents the grief period dealing with my sister’s unexpected death.

The minor blip in progress this spring represents a bout of bronchitis.

I WILL ACCOMPLISH THIS PROGRAM. I WILL NEVER GIVE UP.

I post this to show that the road to fitness for some can be very bumpy. You are not alone. Don’t give up! I encourage you to keep trying and I hope by sharing my tattered running history it will motivate you to persist in your striving toward your fitness goals.

Comments

mlindquis said…

How reassuring to see that you have continued to work towards your goal despite such big setbacks. We can conquer whatever we set our minds to, it just takes time. That's why "The Middle" is my power running song. You keep rocking that plan!

April 27, 2012 at 12:10 AM

Anonymous said…

That's quite interesting. What did you use to make your chart? Did you use the measurements taken from the Nike foot thing you use when you run?

April 29, 2012 at 7:42 PM

Jenni Stephens said…

LEM: I exported my run stats to a csv file and then opened with EXCEL to format and create the chart. It was a bit of a hassle this first time b/c some of my results were from the garmin website (where I used to auto-upload stats from my garmin watch and shoe pod) and the rest were from dailymile.com or runkeeper.com where i now upload stats from my phone after runs using runstar (i no longer have the garmin shoepod or watch and don't need them since i have runstar on my phone to track gps and distance stats).

April 30, 2012 at 10:25 AM

Board Game Review: Hues and Cues

Last week we received Hues and Cues from The Op Games. We recently finished playing through Scooby-Doo Escape from the Haunted Mansion (a fantastic game in The Op Games catalogue designed by Jay Cormier, Sen-Foong Lim, and Kami Mandell that you should absolutely pick up to play with your family) and wanted to give another game from the same publisher a go. I picked Hues and Cues because I’ve been pleasantly surprised by other “test whether our minds think the same way” games such as The Mind and Wavelength. In Hues and Cues , players gather around a large central board comprised of 480 graduating colors of the rainbow surrounded by an x-y axis and scoring table. White and black (which are technically not colors) are conspicuously absent as are shades (mixtures of color + black; e.g., grey) and tints (mixtures of color + white; e.g., cream). On each player’s turn, they draw a card with four colors and the x-y axis codes of those colors depicted and they select one. They are in the

Board Game Review: Anno 1800

Whenever Martin Wallace designs a new game, I am all over it. This is because I absolutely love Brass Birmingham (another MW designed game); in fact Brass Birmingham is my #1 board game of all time. Over the years, his other games I've tried have been pretty good, but not necessarily amazing must-buys. Still, I keep trying each new release of his, searching for that next star performer. That's why I'm excited to report that Anno 1800 is, in fact, a star performer, and an amazing must-buy board game. Anno 1800 was adapted by the publisher (Kosmos) from a Ubisoft video game of the same name. In the board game, players take on the role of industrialists, charged with developing their island economies and exploring other islands. Each player begins the game with a personal industry board with trade & exploration ships, a shipyard, and industrial goods tiles printed on the board. A starting collection of workers (wooden cubes) of various types to produce the goods is a

Board Game Review: Obsessed with Obsession

I'm completely obsessed with Obsession! I received a review copy of the updated second edition along with all the expansions (Wessex, Useful Man, Upstairs Downstairs) and from the moment I took everything out of the boxes, my excitement was over the top. Actually, that's not even the half of it - I remember I was already quite excited before the game even arrived. I'd wanted to get my hands on a copy as soon as I learned there was a game that brought the lifestyle that we all fell in love with watching Downton Abbey to the gaming table. Back in 2021, I was having a great time at the Dice Tower Summer Retreat and a new friend Bonnie sang the praises of Obsession. She had seen me eyeing the box on the shelf and gave me a summary of the game mechanics as she owned the first edition. She explained that the theme is centered on running an estate in Derbyshire and competing against others to have the best home, reputation, gentry guests, etc. Based on her enthusiasm and descripti