Breakthrough Run!

(Written yesterday)

I've been feeling pretty down the last few days, for a multitude of reasons: not pushing myself hard enough, not being able to run for long enough, still not seeing much (if any) change in the way I look and certainly no change on the scale. It's been rough and has led me to start questioning the possibility of my long term goal: the half marathon.

I totally just felt like I was having so much trouble even running for 1/4 mile, that there was NO WAY I'd be able to eventually run or even just run/walk 13.1 miles! BUT, baby steps! (This MUST be my mantra from now on, to prevent me from getting discouraged!) BABY STEPS!! Just put one foot in front of the other and GO! Don't over think! Don't analyze! Just. Freaking. GO!

Today is Wednesday, Week 4, Day 18, of my running training. I've accumulated 3 outfits, a shoddy water belt and a pretty sweet watch as 'rewards'. (Truthfully, the first outfit was the only one meant as my reward, but my mom bought me the other stuff as a supportive 'we're proud of you' type of reward, so I'll take it!) Plus, the watch is SUPER helpful for me to track my times.

The running skinny: My routine has been previously M/W/Sat: Run for 30 mins+, with Saturday being the "long" run. I also walk 30 mins on Tues/Thurs and Fri/Sun are my "rest" days.

This past Sunday, I actually ended up playing a punishing tennis game with Paula and Karl. Wasn't a full game, as we had to start dinner, but a good 1st set. (In terms of exercise, we got our asses handed to us and only won 1 game.) Monday, I still ran though, but I did take it easy on myself. I found I could only run for about 45s - 1 min at a time, which left me feeling quite lame. I'm thinking this may be because my pacing was too fast as I was around lots of other people and wanted to appear better than I actually am? Ego? Yeah, I've got one. Not very good! Tuesday, I walked for about 25 mins around the neighborhood. Not a particularly swift walk, but still, at least something!

Today's run was great! I ran straight through our other neighborhood, (encountering an absolutely adorable dog waiting for me in the middle of the sidewalk) up the road and into the back looped, densely forested (which I love), subdivision and back through to our house. I really pushed myself today so that I could prove to myself that I'm doing better than I give myself credit for. Prior to the run, I decided that I wanted to change my training routine. I don't like the Galloway method I'd been using, it seemed too elementary. It was good to start with, helped me get going, but now I feel like I need something more challenging to push myself. Otherwise, I started to feel like I was stagnating and, actually, starting to move backward. So, I found a new training regimen through Active.com a Cool Runnings Couch to 5K plan. It seems to help get you running farther for longer. (I'm already behind schedule, according to that training schedule, but I'm fine with that since I'm still moving and getting out there!)

So, today I was able to run for about 2 mins at a time (which is actually a tremendous improvement, for me! and then I walked for about 90s, as determined by the new plan. I did this for a duration of about 42 mins, total. Afterward, I felt awesome! For being as down as I have been, this run was able to push me past all of that stuff and help to work through the frustration I felt toward the end of the day at work, as well as those silly 'down' feelings. I feel absolutely amazing! Reassured and happy that I pushed so far! I'm going to need this confidence for my upcoming Saturday 4-mile run! That's going to be a killer for me, but I will do it, no matter what! (It'll be the farthest I've run so far, during this training.)  Then, I'll have Sunday off to just relax.

Ending now, but feeling really great and it helped A LOT that I have a great community of runners built up on Facebook that helps me with motivation when I need it. Just remember: BABY STEPS! Way to go, girl!!