Week Five on a technicality

My mom let me know that my blog was getting rusty from being left out in the rain, and she was right.  It's been an incredibly busy two weeks, and while I've been huffing and puffing as usual, my fingers have not been up to the typing task.  It's Saturday, though, and I've got a whole day ahead of me!

Last week I did something I was not planning on doing - I took a week off.  I started week 5 off with a bang.  I had an excellent day 1 and was getting nervous about day 2's multiple 8 minute runs when I got completely thrown off.  I was in my usual half-awake-half-asleep state, acting out my dream, in which I was required to reset my alarm.  This, in turn, caused me to miss my morning run, so I decided to go after work.  As the day went on, though, my body took over and decided that running was not going to happen.  I won't go into detail, but once a month, for a day or so, I am barely able to walk around without doubling over in pain, let alone go for a jog. I felt miserable, so I decided to skip the Dowd and head home for some meds, thinking I would just go in the morning before heading out of town to see a friend in Atlanta.  I thought I could run on Friday and then on Sunday to finish out the week, but as you can guess, this definitely didn't happen.  On Friday morning I realized I had to get my rear in gear if I was going to beat the ice/snow on I-85, so I just threw my stuff together and ran out the door.

All that's to say that even though it's week six since I began my Couch to 5k program, I am just about to finish week five of the actual work.  When I got back in town to a very icy Charlotte, I just restarted my week with Day 1, and it was actually a really good thing.  Taking the week off gave me new energy and excitement for the upcoming difficult runs!!

Day 1 was 5 minute runs with 3 minute recovery periods, and I did it like a champ.  Mind you, I'm STILL on the treadmill (thanks, El Nino!), which I don't think is as hard as running on the real ground, but I still rocked those 5 minute runs like it was nothing.  Well, nothing if nothing means a sweat output similar to that of Niagara Falls and a heart rate akin to a hummingbird...

Day 2 broke new ground, with 2 8 minute runs with a 5 minute recovery in between.  This is getting to the serious stuff - almost like real running!  I had to go in the big, jam-packed cardio theater with approximately 5,000 treadmills, ellipticals, and stair-steppers all shoved into a room that smells like gym class.  Once I discovered the extra fancy treadmills in a different room that face a wall (and, as we learned earlier, lead to unintended bum-watching), I never wanted to go back to StinkTownUSA, or as it's known in other circles, ShowOffLand.  It's hard to think that with that many people working out in one little space, there aren't people who are showing off their stuff, right?  I didn't want to do my walking-and-running combos in there, because if you didn't know I was doing a specific program, you'd just think I was playing with the treadmill.  Speed up, slow down.  Listen to ipod but watch Saved by the Bell.  I know this is my own personal problem (Pride!!  cometh before a fall!!), but in general, this room is to be avoided.

For the first time, though, with my longer runs, I felt like I was not just the girl who walks for 30 minutes or the girl who gets completely winded after running for 90 seconds.  I felt like a real runner!  Instead of looking longingly at the former Duke women's basketball player (also known as boob girl, if you've heard me tell stories about her in the locker room - but that's a different story for a different day) who runs at 9 miles an hour and barely breaks a sweat, I was just jogging along like la-ti-da, hello, just running here, yup, I'm a runner, see?  I'm running!

So if you can't tell, week 5 part deux is going GREAT!  I say that now, though, but my biggest challenge yet comes tomorrow...20 minutes of running.  Now, I feel a little ridiculous even saying that, because running for 20 minutes just doesn't sound like that big of a deal.  Lots and lots and lots of people run for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour ALL THE TIME.  Heck, I know people who would consider that their warm-up.  For me, though, this is SO GREAT!!  2 months ago, I said, "I can't run because of my back."  8 weeks ago I said, "I wish I could run...hmm, maybe I can."  6 weeks ago I said, "I am going to run a 5k race."  Tomorrow I will run 2 miles! in just over 3 weeks I will run 3.1 miles!  On March 13th, I will run a 5k race in Columbia!  YESSSS!!!!  I just had to believe in myself, just like the end of all movies (thanks Liz Lemon)!

Let's GO!