Week 8, Day 1 completed.

The first mile is just a struggle to find my pace and forget all the pains (calves, hips, thighs) but by the second half of the 2.75 miles I had found the pocket. I was a machine just pumping along. I can't believe I ran 2.75 miles without stopping. 15m30s mile. Maybe not as fast as some, but if you had told me 3 months ago that by June I would be running almost 3 miles 3 times a week, I would have laughed in your face. I am simply amazed at what my mind and body can accomplish. If I can do this, anybody can do this. It just takes deciding that you are going to do it no matter what.

Keep up the great accomplishments everyone!!

I have to do Week 7 this week and I am dreading it. I like the smaller runs with the bigger run on day 3. It is raining here for the next 2 days and then will probably turn out hot. I have heard that when you run in the rain you should imagine you are running through the sprinkler as you did as a child. LOL I hope that works if I brave the elements. :-(

So far, 3 of my runs were in the rain. One of them during a torrential rainstorm with flash flooding. They were my best runs to date. Me, thunder, dark clouds, massive puddles, the sound of my breathing and the pavement...I pray for the rain, lol. You will rock it.

I used to feel sorry for people running in the rain. Now I use any excuse. Wear a ball cap.

Week 6, Day 1 complete!

I live in Northeastern Minnesota and it's been a very cold, wet spring/summer. I typically run in the mornings (6am during the week) so it's been in the 30's and 40's. Last week our high temps were in the 50's. We finally had a warm-up (81 degrees today) and I just went out for my run. For a lot of the country I realize that's cool right now, but that's double the temperature I'm used to. I'm definitely going back to mornings, but it was a very different run than most!

I've read that week 4 may seem difficult if you are not at a slow enough pace. Several people said that you can go slower than you think. I thought I was going slow enough but decided to give it a try and slow down for W4D1. I actually jogged slower than I walked and sure enough, I was able to get through both 3 min jogs and 5 min jogs without any problems. (AMAZING FOR ME!!!) My lungs are grateful for this pace but my legs are feeling the burn. Now the question is, "Did I go too slow?" At least I can say W4D1 DONE!

For the rain runners, don't you ruin your shoes? That's the only thing that keeps me indoors during rain showers. I've gotten caught in downpours at the theme parks a few times and have ended up with ruined shoes. Not cheapies, either, but Skechers Shape-Ups. They ended up musty and nasty after the soaking, so I don't want my running shoes to suffer the same fate. Also, the wet socks blistered me when I did a lot more walking after getting wet. I did run in a steady drizzle once, and it felt sooooo good, but I'm not willing to sacrifice my new shoes.

For the rain runners, don't you ruin your shoes? That's the only thing that keeps me indoors during rain showers. I've gotten caught in downpours at the theme parks a few times and have ended up with ruined shoes. Not cheapies, either, but Skechers Shape-Ups. They ended up musty and nasty after the soaking, so I don't want my running shoes to suffer the same fate. Also, the wet socks blistered me when I did a lot more walking after getting wet. I did run in a steady drizzle once, and it felt sooooo good, but I'm not willing to sacrifice my new shoes.