Week Eight, Day One

Week Eight, Day One! I cannot believe it.  Although I am happy about my progress, I find myself obsessing about my speed.  I made the mistake of figuring out my distance.  I ran 28 minutes today and barely ran two miles.  I am nowhere near 3.1 miles!  I’m reading The Courage to Start and there’s a warning against worrying about speed when you first start running.  I just remember walking my first 5K and coming in second to last.  While I was happy about finishing, I did have hopes of doing much better.  I know that the only person I’m competing with is my self.  I guess I need to do a better job of focusing on the fact that eight weeks ago I could barely run for two minutes so completing barely two miles is a pretty big deal!

Week Seven, Day Three -- Repeat

Repeated Week 7, Day 3 again today.  I did so much better.  Yesterday I worked on my hydration, stretched, and went to bed earlier.  I read somewhere that running keeps you honest about your fitness.  It’s so true.  There’s no half-stepping in this running realm.  You have to eat, hydrate, and rest properly or you will pay!  It's all good because the pay-ff is wonderful.  Today I ran 27 minutes!  I'm a runner!

Week Seven, Day Three

Horrible! I knew it was going to be horrible before I opened the door.  I just wasn't feeling it.  I snoozed for a good 30 minutes. Once I forced myself to get dressed, I walked outside and it was hot and muggy from last night's rain.  I thought... No way!  So, I decided to go to the gym to complete the workout on the treadmill. 

I did my five-minute walk, started running, started sweating, and gave up.  I walked for another five-minutes and tried running again.  I lasted three minutes.  I then did 20 minutes of cycling and went home.  I will try again on Monday.

Week Seven, Day Two

Today my workout was to run for 26 minutes.  I'm so happy to say I did it.  I do have to admit that I was a little disappointed that I only ran 1.5 miles.  I guessestimated I would run at least 2 miles.  It's all good.  I didn't really push myself until the last ten minutes.  My goal has been to finish the workout.  Now that I'm nearing the end of the Coach to 5K program, I am going to focus on increasing my pace. 

The app says I should be able to finish a 5K in 30 minutes.  I don't think this is a realistic goal for me.  I'm shooting for 40 minutes.  Truthfully, as long as I finish without walking, I will be happy.  A time of 40 minutes or less will be a bonus. 

Week Seven, Day 1

I don't even know what to say.  It is beyond me how I made it this far.  I give all the credit to my amazing God who has been with me every step of the way.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I am going to finish the Couch to 5K program!  Yay!

Week Six, Day Three – The Repeat

I was really anxious today.  Actually, I've been anxious since Wednesday. What if I can’t complete this again? I did my best to visualize my workout and then stay present.  During my first run I realized that my body is not working as hard as my mind thinks it is.  I was able to relax into a comfortable breathing rhythm and enjoy my run.  The last five minutes of the first run were kind of hard but I reminded myself that I’ve run up that little incline many times before.  Today was no different.  I recovered during my three minute walk and finished strong with the ten minute run.  It wasn’t as bad as it was on Wednesday for a number of reasons.  The two most important:

1.       The weather wasn’t as humid.   There was a nice cool breeze.

2.       I had a good night’s rest.

So, Week Six is behind me now.  I still can’t believe my progress.  I had to laugh at myself today.  While driving I saw this really nice park with a path and thought, hmm… that would be a nice place to run.  The funny part was that I was soooo lost at the time.  I had no idea where I was.  I did the same thing yesterday.  I made a mental note to change my route in a few weeks to incorporate more inclines.  I realized the perfect (for me) spot to start. 

I also had swim lesson today.  It sucked! It's my own fault I didn't go to the pool and practice at all this week.  You better believe I'll be in the pool tomorrow.  Next week is my last lesson.  I want to be able to swim a lap and back.

Week Six, Day Three

Today’s workout was 15-min run, 3-min walk, and 10-min run.  Not sure what happened this morning but I didn’t finish my first run.   I started my walk break early and told myself I would just tack on the remaining five minutes to my second run.  Well, everything went fine.  I added the remaining five minute to my last run only to discover after I’m home that I owe myself an additional five minutes! WTH?  I don’t think I had another five minutes left in me anyhow so I will be repeating this workout on Saturday.

The perfectionist in me is so disappointed in myself.  I ran for 20 minutes on Monday so I don’t know why this workout was so hard.  I’m thinking maybe my pace was too fast or maybe not.  I know I’m notorious for self-sabotage!  I’m trying so hard not to beat myself up.  I have to remind myself that I have come a long way, to be very grateful for the progress I’ve made.  Some workouts will be like this.  I know my opportunity is getting enough rest.  I stayed up late watching the Olympics when I should have been in bed sleeping. 

Oh well, Saturday I will do better.  I will not give up! I have to remember to take this one day at a time, one workout at a time.  I have 65 days before the 5K.  One “bad” workout is not going to break me.  I can do this!