Week 3 Day 1

Date: 11/3/09
Time of Day: 10:00 PM
Location: Neighborhood
Conditions: 43-44 degrees F, chilly
Music: New Yorker Fiction Podcast
Clothing: Long sleeve wicking shirt, Compression Shorts, Adidas Shorts
Shoes: Puma Sierra Trail II

I'm not going to lie. This one was hard.

For starters, I switched back to my first shoes. When I looked at the bottoms of the Puma H Streets, I noticed that there was some very significant wear in the forefoot area...and that was just from two runs. Considering they're always watering the sidewalks, I felt it would be safer to run in something more grippy. While the Five Fingers are definitely more grippy, the wind chill was in the 30s when I took off running. Considering that my feet got a little cold in the 40s, I figured I needed something warmer, so I went back to the Sierra Trail. This time, however, I stuck a Band-Aid on the place on each foot where the band tends to rub. Problem solved.

I was moving slow last night. It wasn't intentionally, it's just that dinner didn't quite sit with me right and I had fallen asleep on the couch while watching TV (probably due to my late night gym session the night before). When my cooldown ended, I wasn't as far along the path as I usually am (but only by about 20 feet). The first 90 seconds went by fairly easily...but I guess I didn't look at the plan enough because I was not expecting the break between the first and second runs to only be 90 seconds.

My app chimed telling me that it was time to run. And here I was...a 3-minute interval...twice as long as any I've done so far...and it was hard. The devil on my shoulder kept asking me, "Why are you doing this? Just walk...it's not that different." I didn't listen to him. I backed my pace down...but I finished the first one. Then I got a three-minute break. I needed it. Even the next 90 second run was hard...plus, I had to run through more sprinklers. Seriously...why is it so hard to point them at grass?

Finally, I hit my last three minute interval. It was easier than the first...admittedly, my pace was a crawl, but I didn't have trouble doing it. In fact, once it was through, I probably ran another 20 feet just to prove it to myself. Then, my iPod app gave me a huge surprise. Instead of saying, "Cool down," as it usually does when I have finished my intervals, it said, "Walk." When it tells you to walk, it means there's another run coming. So I prepared myself...and walked for the next 3 minutes...and when the chimes started, I picked up my feet and started running again...only to hear, "Cool down." That's right. Due to the way the C25K program is set up, the intervals all end with walking intervals this week.

So...despite my initial difficulty, I finished. I was actually ready to kick in another 90 second interval at the end, which I think bodes well for my progress.

Aaaaaand...with the completion of W3D1, that means that I have completed 7 of the 27 workouts, which means I am one-quarter of the way home. Hooray to me.

On to Day 2!