I will be running an 8K race in one month. ONE. Month.
But it’s ok, I can do it.
It took me five days to get back to the gym due to our Snowpocalypse of 2014. I didn’t think I could run for 40 minutes.
I had been craving a run all weekend but when the time came I was afraid. I was afraid I would be set back due to my lack of running.
So I tied my shoes, put in my earphones and hit start. And I ran.
This was the last day of doing 10 min intervals with 1 min run between, repeating 4 times. At the end of the first 10 minutes I did not walk. I knew that I could run 30 minutes with out walking, I did that weeks ago, so I told myself I would go at least 20 minutes.
At the end of 20 minutes, I did not walk. I really wanted to walk at 25 minutes, but I did not stop. I had to make it to 30. As I was pushing myself my mind cleared and I knew that I could do it. I can run the 5 mile race next month.
It won’t be fast, my current pace is an 11 min/mile. But I can do it.
I walked for two minutes after the 30, then ran for 10, walked for 2 and then did my cool down.
This was supposed to be the I completed week 9 post. But I didn’t.
Today we got some bad weather.
The snow isn’t so bad, but the ice is horrible. So I didn’t get to the gym and the super low temps aren’t conducive to me running outside. The wind is blowing like crazy dropping the temps down to single digits. It’s ridiculous.
But I will share that week 9 brought back intervals. And added 14 minutes to the run.
So the plan is to run for 10 min then walk for one. And repeat for a total of four times. With the addition of the warm-up/cool-down, that brings the total work out time to 54 minutes.
Sunday’s Run
Stopping for a minute is hard. Really hard. I found it was easier to continuously than to stop and start again.
I needed lots of coaching from myself.
10 minutes seemed long, telling myself only three more songs. Not as long.
One step at a time. Left foot. pound. Right foot. pound. Left arm forward. Right arm forward. Breathe in. Breathe out.
This time I don’t mean the running part. Yes, that is hard, but what is really hard is the commitment. I skip one day that I was supposed to run and I almost can’t start again.
I was supposed to run on Wed evening, but I didn’t. No good reason, I had a lot to do at home. But I always have a lot to do at home. Stuff always needs to be done.
Thursday night I didn’t want to go. I was tired, I didn’t sleep well the night before. My Little Big Man said “lay wiff me, jis for a minute. If you donna lay wiff me for a minute I will keep coming outa my room” What’s a mom to do?
I slightly fell asleep almost instantly, I was drooling. I was in there for about fifteen minutes. Then he told me I could go.
So go I went. I dragged my feet, watched a little the news, but I went.
I really thought I would have to write about how I failed to run the full 30 minutes.
Half way through I had to start giving myself little goals again. But I really believed I wouldn’t be able to run all 30 minutes.
I just ran. Just two more minutes. Just 3/10 of a mile more. One step. Pound. Two Steps. Pound.
I didn’t want to write a bunch of bragging posts about my running advancement. Then I thought; ummm…do you really think it is bragging to say you are able to run now?
Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but it is hard to maintain. I am not at that place yet, where skipping some days doesn’t affect me.
So here is how week 7 went:
Week six starts out with intervals and the third day you have to run for two miles or 22 minutes. With no walking (except the warm-up and cool-down). Then on week 7 you run for 2.5 miles or 25 minutes. Each day. No more intervals.
I run Sun, Mon, Wed & Thr. I completed the third day of week six on a Thurs. I timed it so I wouldn’t have to add three more running minutes to my time with out a break. So come Sunday I was ready to run for 25 minutes.
Since I don’t run 10 minute miles yet, I knew I wasn’t going to reach the 2.5 mile goal.
I was nervous about running 25 minutes and wasn’t sure I could do it. So I decided that I would run for at least 22 minutes before inserting a walking interval. So come the 22 minute mark and I was so close to the 2 mile mark. I told myself, just reach two miles then you can walk. Well after I went past two miles my app told me I had one minute left! I figured I could run for one more minute. And I did.
I ran the whole 25 minutes. No walking.
I did the same thing on Monday. And Wednesday. I just kept giving myself small goals that I knew I could do.
run log from Sun & Monday
On Thursday I was supposed to start Week 8. Which is 28 minutes or 2.75 miles of running, with out walking intervals. But I had gotten this horrendous headache and knew I couldn’t do any running, and thought I would go on Friday. Turns out the headache stayed with me till Sunday.
I just knew adding those three minutes was going to be torture. I hadn’t run in four days and wasn’t sure if I would be able to do it. I went to the gym making my list of small goals.
Who do I see on the treadmill? An old coworker from my gym-rat days! (we used to work at a gym together) I haven’t seen him in over a dozen years!
While I ran we kept talking, which is a bit difficult for me as my lungs are not that in shape yet. But I was able to maintain fairly good speech. And you know what happened… I ran the whole 28 minutes with out even realizing I had done so.
OK, so that is not really true. I realized it. Boy oh boy was I aware of it. But I didn’t have to keep telling myself, only one more minute, or only 3/10 of a mile to go. I was distracted so I wasn’t focusing on the time or distance.
The second day of week 8 is another 28 min/2.75 mile, but the third day is 30 minutes or 3 miles. I don’t run a 10 min mile, I am more like 12 min miles.
week 8 day 2
But this pace allows me to run the whole time. Technically I should be able to run a 5K by Wednesday, but that is not really going to happen, but I will be running 30 minutes, and that is awesome.
I Tri and Craft 