Twenty-five minutes! (a Couch 2 5K milestone) – micah
There are a lot of things I can do for 25 minutes without stopping. Read a great book. Write an article or blog post. Watch “Glee” (ok, they’d never allow 25 minutes without a commercial). Refresh facebook or twitter.
I can now add jogging to that list. I hesitate to say running because I’m definitely not what you would call speedy. But, still…
TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES WITHOUT STOPPING!
Remember the girl who was afraid of three-minute intervals? I do. But just barely. Running for three minutes straight now barely has me out of breath. Running five minutes straight feels like a warm-up. It starts getting challenging around the 10-minute mark, but I push past it mentally and keep going. When the lady on my podcast told me I only had five minutes to go, I couldn’t believe it. Sure, I was feeling it, but I didn’t feel like I was going to die, which was what I always envisioned I would feel if I ran for an extended period of time. And, yes, 25 minutes is an extended period of time in my book.
I admit, I’ve had some very definite moments of doubt in this Couch 2 5K process, even as recent as Monday. I didn’t get home from work as soon as I thought I would and thus couldn’t get in myrun before dark. I knew it would have to wait until tonight. Race for the Cure (the run I’m preparing for) is just a few weeks away. And I’m just starting Week 7 of the nine-week program.
Will I be done in time?
I’ve finally accepted that I may not be completely ready when it gets here. I’ve decided to just do the best I can when the day arrives. If that means walking for a few minutes, is someone going to make fun of me? A friend suggested I may be more ready than I think. Another suggested that during the run, I may get a burst of energy or motivation from the runners around me. This is not out of the realm of possibilities.
At this point, I feel like anything is possible and that I can do anything. Afterall, I just reached a huge milestone in my fitness life — I jogged for 25 minutes straight. And I’m smiling about it.
naturally [not very] thin 