Week 7 Day 2

I really felt like I pushed myself a lot harder today. I went about 1/8 of a mile further than Wednesday (and it felt like about 5 miles further!) I improved my pace by 38 seconds a mile, from 12:37 to 11:59.

Honestly, though, Monday may not be this good. I really didn't like how I felt during or immediately after the run--I just pushed too hard. I prefer taking it a little easier than that; even though the running is still hard when I take it easy, I feel great when I get home. It's been about ten minutes since I got home, and my lungs are still not entirely happy with me!

I have one more 25-minute run, on Monday, and then Wednesday it'll be 28 minutes!

Edited to add: I just realized what a big deal this is. I ran 2.09 miles today. That's the first time I've ever run over two miles. Ever. In my 32 years. Wow!! I am giving myself a huge pat on the back, and taking a minute to savor that victory, and to thank God for the strength to hit such a cool milestone! In another few weeks, I hope to be up to three miles.

Week 7 Day 1

I took Monday off--the first time I've missed one of my regular training days. But I was up a good chunk of the night with an ear infection, and so I felt justified taking a "sick day"!

Today was hard. I was barely awake; I got up later than I'd planned and needed to get out ASAP so that I could run before my husband needed to leave for work. And I think I was just tired and a little worn down from being a bit sick. But I did it--it didn't feel good; I just got through it!

I track my mileage and pace at dailymile.com, and I decided to start tracking the jogging only, not including the five-minute warm-up walk. That way I can really know what my actual jogging pace is. Today I jogged 1.98 miles (ugh, SO close to 2!) with a pace of 12:37. I'd like to gradually get my pace down so that eventually it's more like 10 minutes a mile, and so that I can regularly run 3 miles in 30 minutes.

Week 6 Day 3

5 minute walk.
25 minute run.

I did it. The last 6 minutes or so were pretty tough, but overall I'd say it was no harder than last weekend's 20 minute run. Does that mean I'm 25% stronger than I was last week? I choose to believe that's exactly what it means.

I may be 25% sweatier too.

Pace: 13:08. A little slower than the other day, but that's okay.

Week 6 Day 2

Well, today was the last day with any walking breaks. From here on out, every workout will be jogging only (after the standard five-minute warmup walk.)

Today was 5 minute walk, 10 minute jog, 3 minute walk, 10 minute jog. It was very doable. In fact, my pace was 12:28 a mile--way better than it's been recently! I was pretty excited about that. After the first jog I felt like I could definitely have kept running. It was cold today, and I think that helped me run faster, at least in the beginning. The "warm-up" walk did not warm me up--the jogging portion couldn't come soon enough!

Saturday is just a little bit scary--a 25-minute jog. I'm planning to go ultra-slowly, and I really think I can do it. The 20-minute jog last week was tough, but I've had a couple of other good workouts this week to prepare me for this longer jog.

I've never been a natural athlete, so the fact that I'm able to do this is so thrilling to me!

Week 6 Day 1

It's week 6! And I haven't missed a day yet. I'm concerned that if I let myself skip a day I'll start letting myself skip LOTS of days. And it's only a three day a week schedule, so it's doable.

Today, after the standard 5 minute warm-up walk, I did a 5 minute jog, 3 minute walk, 8 minute jog, 3 minute walk, 5 minute jog. After Saturday's challenge, this was fairly easy. Still enough to get my heart rate up and to make me breathe heavily, but definitely not too hard.

My friend John introduced me to the website Daily Mile. It's neat; I can use the map there to track how far I've gone. (I broke 2 miles today, just barely!) My pace is slow--14:16 per mile on Saturday and 14:37 today. That includes the five minute warmup walk. I'm hoping as my unbroken runs get a little longer (25 minutes this Saturday) my pace will come down a bit. But then again, I need to remind myself, I've been saying this isn't about speed, it's about fitness!

Week 5 Day 3

I did it!!!

5 minutes of walking then 20 minutes of jogging. Without stopping. (Except to tie a shoe. Because I figured it's better to stop to tie a shoe than to let the shoelace stop me forcefully.)

20 minutes! I didn't know how big of a deal that would be before I started this program. For me, someone who's always been a non-runner, that's a long time. I was breathing pretty darn hard by the end.

But I did it!

Week 5 Day 2

5 minute walk, 8 minute jog, 3 minute walk, 8 minute jog.

I did it. And I'm actually looking forward to Saturday--5 minute walk, 20 minute run. Looking forward to it with a bit of trepidation, but I'm not as scared as I was before today's workout.