Rainy Day Run

I knew the day was coming, but I ended up having to run in the rain today. Okay, so the rain turned out to be pretty light and I've gotten wetter walking to the bus than I got running today, but still. I was also able to find a way to make my way through this 5 minute interval. I still cannot run the entire thing, but I broke it into two 2 minute intervals with a 1 minute walk in the middle. I plan to do this again on Monday then move to a 4 minute run interval on Thursday, adding 30 seconds to the recovery periods at the beginning and end of those runs. My hope is that by next Saturday, I'll be able to complete the 5 minute interval without having to stop before the end. Also, I've decided that for the time being, I'm going to keep on running from the house since I think I have a mental block for Greenlake. Exactly what, I don't know.

AHHH, GRRRR.

I'm feeling a bit discouraged after yesterday's run. I went back to Greenlake since it was a beautiful evening and I felt like I've somewhat outgrown my little 10 blocks of sidewalk out my front door. But again, like Tuesday's run, it was HARD. Not just the amount of hard that the beginning of a new week is, but makes-you-wonder-if-you're-cut-out-for-this-kind-of-things hard. I still wasn't able to make it through the entire 5 minute interval, but unlike Tuesday, I couldn't even make it through the first 3 minute interval. I tried to run for two counts of 60 and walk for a count of 45 but it didn't really line up with the intervals on the podcast and I don't think I even ran as much as I did on Tuesday. I don't know if it really is just harder now, or if there is something about Greenlake that makes it seem so much harder. I'm going to try running in my little 10 block stretch again tomorrow, and hopefully it will seem much more attainable than it did at Greenlake yesterday. If it doesn't, then I can't help but feel that my goal of running the Fremont 5K is unattainable.

Week 4

Day one of week 4 was tough. I was supposed to do two intervals of: run 3 minutes, walk 90 seconds, run 5 minutes, walk 2.5 minutes but I just wasn't able to get that 5 minutes done. I got the first 3 minute interval done, but the 90 second recovery just wasn't enough. So I ended up finishing my workout by running 90 counts and walking 45 counts for the entire period (minus the 2.5 minute recoveries). I feel pretty good that I kept on going, but I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to do the intervals as "written". It's my plan to do intervals of running 135 counts and walking 45 counts on Thursday then, hopefully, the written plan on Saturday. I don't know if I'll be able to do the plan for next week, but I can always repeat this week before moving on.

On another note, I did my run at Greenlake today because I've outgrown my little stretch of sidewalks up here by our house. I was a little self-conscious when I started my run, but besides probably making a few people think I was pacing them, I don't think anyone even noticed I was there let alone doing anything to "laugh" at.

Do the Happy Dance!

Did you go to high school with me? Were you in my PE class? Do you remember doing a "John Gable"? This weekend, I completed my training day at my high school track, surrounded by all those old memories. I remembered, as I was going through my run intervals, being in that exact same place years ago and not being able to run much of the mile we were graded on (an 'A' was 9 minutes, remember that?). This Saturday, I ran an entire lap. Twice! I rock!! This was so amazing, and so empowering for me.

BTW, did you know that 3 minutes is twice as long as 90 seconds? Seemed more like four times as long. LOL!

Stress Build Up

I don't like how I start feeling stressed just before I go for my runs. I'm not entirely sure where this anxiety is coming from, perhaps a feeling that I'm going to fail at it which is ridiculous since the intervals are really so simple. I feel like it is a stretch at times to complete an interval, but I always seem to do so. But still, I find myself creating excuses for why I can't go for the run this night or that. For example, I keep looking out the window and thinking, "If it rains, then I can't go for my run." Why not? It's just a little rain and I'll only be out there for 30 minutes. Sure I'll be cold, but I'll also be sweating up a storm and may not notice the cold. And this weekend I'll be at my mom's house, so of course I can't go for my Saturday run. Why not? Sure I can't go on my usual route, but I can go over to the high school and use their track. It's actually better because there aren't any hills there.

I think I'm just working through the past failures. I saw Jillian Michaels on a talk show once talking about why she's so mean to the people on Biggest Loser. She said that all these people have never found success in their exercise lives. When they get near the point where they previously failed, they start to back out on themselves. This is when she starts yelling. She wants them to be more afraid of her than the previous failure. They need to push past that point where they'd failed before and experience success. Once they do that, and do it over and over, they will start to believe in themselves again. But until they do, she feels like she needs to yell, scream, and push push push.

I still keep getting myself out there doing the runs, even forcing myself to go back after the sore knee issue, and I'm afraid that one day, I'll talk myself out of running, and won't come back to it. So I'm trying hard to not make excuses, and to just get out there and do it. Perhaps if I don't, Jillian Michaels will find me . . . AHHH!