Challenge Update

I was so proud of myself for my run on Friday, but my knees were really sore on Saturday morning. I had been planning on running again in the morning, but I knew when I got up that if I did I'd end up feeling worse and hating the run, so Saturday ended up being a rest day. Sunday DH wanted us to go for a family hike in the morning which ruled out another run, but we ended up being out for over 2hrs and it ended up being a serious walk, so was happy with that.
Monday was Bodytone and then Advanced Step class for me and although these classes kick my butt I love them, it feels like a great way to start the week. Well I must have worked harder than I realised at the time because, come yesterday morning, my butt, inner and back thighs were SO sore! I went to the gym but even once I got on the cross trainer I still felt tired and achy. I did 10mins on the cross trainer then had decided to try to increase my distance running on the treadmill. My longest run up to now has been 6.5k so I decided to go for 7k. I usually listen to upbeat and dance music on my ipod while running, but yesterday I decided to try listening to a running podcast for a change. That was a mistake... About 2k in I got a stitch which got worse and worse until at about 3.5k I had to stop to walk for a few minutes til it subsided. I started running again and really had to push myself to keep going. The stitch returned but not as bad so I just kept pushing on. When the podcast finished about 5mins from the end of my run I changed back to my music and those last 5mins or so were the best part of the run, I got my bounce back and suddenly felt like I could have run longer! So although part of it was walking, yesterday I did my longest distance so far, 7k! I'm still really scared of trying to increase my distance too quickly in case I make my calf/shin worse. I don't have the pain I was having, but it's still tight on a morning some days when I first get up and I have a little discomfort sometimes. I keep thinking of my physio's advice to take it really slowly and so I guess that's what I'm going to do. Rather than increasing by .5k a week which I originally did, right now I'm planning on increasing by .5k a month, and if that gets me to where I want to be without anymore injuries then that's all I want. It may be another 6 months before I am up to 10k, but I'll get there, and then I'll think about signing up for my first 10k race!
Today I went to Step class at lunchtime and did a 10min treadmill walk beforehand just to warm up a little as I'm still sore then had a great class. I saw my personal trainer in the corridor and he asked me if I was looking forward to our first session on Friday lol. Looking forward to it isn't really the phrase that comes to mind, more like "cr***ing my pants"!
So 15 days in and I've exercised 13 of those days. Yeah, it should have been 15, but before the challenge it would have been 11 at the most so I'm happy with how it's going so far. I'm adding in more activity during the day in general and have taken a giant leap into toning up more by doing some 30DS and hiring my personal trainer.
I'm down another 3lbs in the last 2 weeks which leaves me with 12lbs to go to my original goal weight! The last couple of days have found me pondering what the rest of the year holds for me, and I've decided to really try to get those last 12lbs off by the time I finish my 10 personal training sessions, so in about 10 weeks. To be able to get to goal, complete those sessions and hopefully tone up some more along the way would be the best Christmas present I could ever ask for....