Back on track!

Much better run this morning - Jet and I went 2.5 miles without stopping. And I didn't even feel like I was going to die afterward! Runs like this give me the confidence that I'll be able to push just a little further to make that first goal (5k) and keep improving even after that. The idea of going 13.1 miles still scares the crap out of me, but I know it's do-able, and I'm going to do it!

I should have stayed in bed this morning...

Have you ever had one of those days where you knew, just knew, that you didn't have "it"? That was me today. I woke up early as always, dressed in my customary jog clothes, and headed out before the sun was even hinting. But as soon as I started, I could feel that it was off. My legs were heavy and the road felt like sand. I went for a mile (no stops, thank you very much) and then passed one of those digital signs that shows the time and the temperature. It was 87 degrees at 5:45 am. That sucked the wind right out of my sails.

I started walking, rationalizing that if I just got myself home today, I'd have more energy to "start over" tomorrow when Jet and I start the 5k program. Then my Internal Athlete (I didn't even know I had one of those!) reminded me that my first race is 2 weeks away, and it's entirely possible that it will be 87 degrees and that my legs will be heavy. So I started running again. That lasted for another few minutes, then my External Wimp took over and I walked the rest of the way.

Grrr - no french toast for me today!

I earned my French Toast!

This morning, I ran two miles without stopping. It took me a really long time, and I let myself do a 5-minute cool-down walk afterward, but hey, that's 2/3 of a 5k! 1/3 of a 10k!

So I celebrated with yummy French Toast for lunch. :)

Almost not a "beginner" anymore!

Great run this morning - the 30-second breaks are already starting to feel unnecessary, and I had no problem extending a couple of the jogs to 7 and 8 minutes. Jet says that this is the last week we time ourselves, and starting next week, we measure by distance. Then she said that it's almost time to phase in 10-mile runs. Ex-squeeze me?! Aside from the sheer intimidation factor, I'm a little worried about finding the time to run that long, even if it's only once a week (especially at my pace). But hey, if I can run 10 miles, then 13.1 will be no biggie!

On the downside, I got a migraine about half an hour after I finished running, but I refuse to believe that the two are related. As soon as my head stops throbbing, I'll be itching to lace up for tomorrow morning!

Watch out, Granny!

Solo today - not so bad, but I'm always more motivated when I run with a partner.

I did manage to convince myself to move forward in the program: 30-second walks between the five-minute jogs. Not so bad, right? Ok, well there was the one time I lost track of the clock and ended up walking for about 1 minute, ten seconds. Oops!

I fully admit that my struggle of the moment is not my stamina, but my speed. This morning, I was in the middle of one of the jogs (I think it was the 4th), and I noticed an older woman walking on the other side of the road, going the same direction as me. At first, it seemed like she was walking faster than I was jogging, but I quickly came to realize that it was just a trick being played by my oxygen-deprived imagination. Before long, I left her in the dust. Still not sure it's something to be proud of, but I'll take it!

Shameless, as usual

In my typical "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" way, I am (of course) starting my blog on a day that I had a GREAT run. I promise I'll include struggles and off-days too, but for now, I'm starting on a high note.

I jogged 3 miles this morning. To be fair, I took 1-minute walking breaks every 5 minutes, but I still finished in 40 minutes. Now I have a "time to beat" when I do my first official 5k in about a month. By then, there won't be any walking breaks and I'm sure "Jet" will keep me in line! I'm a little more sore than normal, but this was my 5th run for the week, and I didn't feel like I was dying when I finished. Big improvement from early June!

I'm on my way!

Ten weeks ago, I would have said, "I'm not a runner. I've never been a runner, I'll never be a runner, and the only way you'll see me run is if someone is chasing me."

Don't get me wrong - I'm not a complete slug. Every now and then I'd take a long walk around my neighborhood, sometimes with my dog, sometimes with my husband, sometimes all by myself. I thought I was cool when I was going for one-mile walks two or three times a week.

Then my friend (let's call her "Jet") asked me if I wanted to do a beginners running program with her. She was already about a month into the program, but she was willing to "start over" with me so we could be on the same pace. I took a look at the program, got completely intimidated by what would be expected of me over the eight weeks of the training and was about to tell "Jet" that I wasn't into it. Then I looked at what would be expected of me during the first week - "Walk for 30 minutes at a comfortable pace," then "Walk for 5 minutes, jog for 30 seconds." Heck, even I can do that! So I told her I'd do it.

We live in Arizona. We had the brilliant idea to start this program in the middle of the summer. Therefore, we start between 5:15 am and 5:30 am. Most days, I get to see the sun come up. I love it!

I try to run five times per week. "Jet" and I usually do three or four days together, and then I run on my own on the other days. We've repeated a couple of the weeks of the program, but we're nearly at the end of the beginners training. Starting next week, we jog for 5 minutes and walk for 30 seconds. That gets us about 2.5 miles in our 30 minutes. After that, we run for 30 minutes with no breaks.

We're planning on doing a half-marathon in January. If I think about it, I still get intimidated, so I'm just focusing on what I'm doing now. I guess I am a runner after all!

Wish me luck!