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ladyspriteDecember 3, 2011 - I did my first day of Couch to 5K training. It involved jogging in one-minute intervals, with 90-second breaks in between. I managed it, just barely, and had a crazy stitch in my side by the time I got to the last (9th) interval, and had to walk through a few seconds of it. Total running time: 9 minutes. I felt like I had been beaten with sticks by the end of it.
In between, training was thrown off by gym closures, Norovirus, vacation, and my own nigh-compulsive level of both caution and fear of failure, which led me to go through the training program excruciatingly slowly, ramping up every two weeks instead of every week. I never actually believed at any point that I could make it through, and each time the intensity increased I faced the new challenge with at least some degree of certainty that I would fail, but I was stubborn enough to at least try.
Today? Week 7, Day 1 - I jogged for 25 minutes, no breaks. I know it's been more than seven weeks since December, but still. I can't believe I did this. I can still remember when increasing from 3 minute to 5 minute intervals felt like an insurmountable block. And today? I jogged for almost 25 minutes straight, my only obstacle being the boredom I felt from going around and around and around the same track over and over again. I admit my pace isn't going to set any records, but I did it.
The Run For Your Life is next weekend; I won't be done with the program (and its ultimate goal of 30 minutes running), but I can at least feel like I should be able to make it through - while the course is a full 5K, there are breaks to confront obstacles. And I've made it this far; I'll keep on until I've made it all the way through the 9-week course and can run for a half hour.
Me. Running. I think I spent more time and energy in high school coming up with excuses to not run in gym class than I did on any other one subject.
Huh. Who knew?
In between, training was thrown off by gym closures, Norovirus, vacation, and my own nigh-compulsive level of both caution and fear of failure, which led me to go through the training program excruciatingly slowly, ramping up every two weeks instead of every week. I never actually believed at any point that I could make it through, and each time the intensity increased I faced the new challenge with at least some degree of certainty that I would fail, but I was stubborn enough to at least try.
Today? Week 7, Day 1 - I jogged for 25 minutes, no breaks. I know it's been more than seven weeks since December, but still. I can't believe I did this. I can still remember when increasing from 3 minute to 5 minute intervals felt like an insurmountable block. And today? I jogged for almost 25 minutes straight, my only obstacle being the boredom I felt from going around and around and around the same track over and over again. I admit my pace isn't going to set any records, but I did it.
The Run For Your Life is next weekend; I won't be done with the program (and its ultimate goal of 30 minutes running), but I can at least feel like I should be able to make it through - while the course is a full 5K, there are breaks to confront obstacles. And I've made it this far; I'll keep on until I've made it all the way through the 9-week course and can run for a half hour.
Me. Running. I think I spent more time and energy in high school coming up with excuses to not run in gym class than I did on any other one subject.
Huh. Who knew?
