Week 4, Day 3 complete. It was my second 4 mile run, and even though I was a full minute slower than last Saturday it felt like a better run. At no point did I worry whether I would make it. My legs were awfully tired by the end but I wasn't breathing nearly as hard as I was last week. I had really consistent pacing. It was cloudy, breezy & 62 degrees (I was on the road just after 6:00 am) which was perfect. Distance: 4 miles 1:00 - 12:50 2:00 - 12:51 (25:41) 3:00 - 12:51 (38:33) 4:00 - 12:47 (51:20) 4:00 - 16:50 (51:23 - the 3 seconds it took me to shut off the app) Nice run! I've got two more weeks on what I'm doing, then I've got to figure out what I'm going to do next. My pace is so slow that I'm really only running 3.5 to 3.8 miles excluding warmup and cool down right now. My guess is that I will be doing 4 miles at the most on my last week. I need to do a program with short run--short run--long run if I'm going to keep going with this and I want to keep going.
Week 4, Day 3 complete. It was my second 4 mile run, and even though I was a full minute slower than last Saturday it felt like a better run. At no point did I worry whether I would make it. My legs were awfully tired by the end but I wasn't breathing nearly as hard as I was last week. I had really consistent pacing. It was cloudy, breezy & 62 degrees (I was on the road just after 6:00 am) which was perfect. Distance: 4 miles 1:00 - 12:50 2:00 - 12:51 (25:41) 3:00 - 12:51 (38:33) 4:00 - 12:47 (51:20) 4:00 - 16:50 (51:23 - the 3 seconds it took me to shut off the app)
I did W4D1 yesterday, and it kicked my butt. I started off really feeling great and surprised myself with a couple of fast splits -- I was at 3 miles at the half-way point in the app! A few minutes into the third interval, I just started to fall apart. I kept slowing down and it kept getting hotter. (I was an idiot and didn't start until way too late in the morning.) At one point, I was desperately hoping that a car would "force" me to wait at an intersection -- instead, a truck stopped for me even though he didn't have a stop sign! I teach my early class tomorrow, so I'll try to do an evening run. Here's hoping that I do better on day 2! Total distance: 5.62 miles Feeling about life: Wanted to be hit by car
Week 4 Day 3 done this morning! It was funny in that I had only run a couple of yards this morning when my mind said, "What are you doing?! You can't possibly run for almost an hour. You're fat and not athletic. This is ridiculous." I reminded myself that I had just completed this run on Wednesday and then on Friday and that this was a stupid thing to think. Strange the way the mind works. This wasn't even a scary new run; same place, same run I had just done -- twice. Weird. Despite the start the run was completed easily. Note that "easily" when I say this does not mean I didn't get tired or that I wasn't looking forward to the end when I got close. Throughout the whole last mile I had to keep reminding myself to not slouch, but straighten my back, and work on keeping good form. It just means I wasn't gasping at the end, or feeling like I was going to die or had to quit early.
Days 2 and 3 done! On Day 2, I felt incredible! I felt so strong the entire time that I even did some fartlek running in the last interval and altered my route to run up the hill next to my house instead of saving it for my cool down. I was even cheered on by some random people in the neighborhood. Yeah! Total distance: 5.68 mi. On Day 3, I really didn't feel like going out. I forced myself to run anyway, and it was awesome again! I had negative splits (did mile 5 in 10:32) and felt really strong at the end again. I had fewer strangers cheering me on, but I did accidentally get my ponytail stuck in a tree when I misjudged a branch and didn't duck quite far enough. Oops! Total distance: 5.88 mi. I can't tell you how psyched I'm feeling right now. These last two runs, I feel like I finally hit my happy place stride and could have just kept on going. :happy:
Days 2 and 3 done! On Day 2, I felt incredible! I felt so strong the entire time that I even did some fartlek running in the last interval and altered my route to run up the hill next to my house instead of saving it for my cool down. I was even cheered on by some random people in the neighborhood. Yeah! Total distance: 5.68 mi. On Day 3, I really didn't feel like going out. I forced myself to run anyway, and it was awesome again! I had negative splits (did mile 5 in 10:32) and felt really strong at the end again. I had fewer strangers cheering me on, but I did accidentally get my ponytail stuck in a tree when I misjudged a branch and didn't duck quite far enough. Oops! Total distance: 5.88 mi. I can't tell you how psyched I'm feeling right now. These last two runs, I feel like I finally hit my happy place stride and could have just kept on going. :happy: I can't decide what's the best part of this post - the fact you felt great, your negative splits, the strangers cheering you on, or your ponytail stuck in a tree. This might be my favorite update ever.
