Week 5 Day 3 Attempt 1

Date: 11/23/09
Time of Day: 10:00 PM
Location: Marriott Route

Conditions: 52 degrees F, sprinkling
Music: Running Music 2
Clothing: Under Armour shirt, Compression Shorts, Majestic Braves shorts
Shoes: Nike Air Pegasus 26+

 

Sometimes, things just don't go according to plan.

 

It took me until my 15th run...the first one past the halfway point...to finally fail a run.

 

I was supposed to run 20 minutes, but I only got to 5:36 until my body started screaming at me to stop.

 

I don't know if I started out too fast or if I need another week of week 5 or what, but it didn't happen.

 

I walked out the door last night with a new route mapped out. There is a Marriott hotel next to my apartment complex...if I run from my usual starting point to an entrance in the back, that is exactly one mile, which means I would have an exactly one mile out and back. This route I creatively call "The Marriott Route".

 

The first 3 minutes were easy...but I didn't feel quite right. Part of it was that I had a slice of pizza at the hockey game earlier...not a great pre run food. Perhaps I didn't warm up enough or didn't cool down enough on Saturday, but I hit a point where my mind was telling me to keep pushing but my body was telling me, "Yeah, no, you're going to have to stop."

 

Usually, it's the other way around. In this case, I figured I would trust my body and stop. There's nothing that says it absolutely has to be done in 9 weeks...and I was not going to make 20 minutes. So at 5:36...for the first time in the C25K program...I walked.

 

Needless to say, I was pretty dejected. I thought about turning around and going back home...but I realized...everyone has bad runs. It's okay to have a bad one every once in a while...maybe I'm not ready for the 20 yet...but I'm definitely not going to quit.

 

So...having seen that ~5 minutes of running would be my limit for the day, I set my iPod app to re-do Week 5 Day 1 - the one with three 5 minute running intervals. Granted, I had a slightly longer walk break than I'm supposed to have, but I also ran for slightly longer, so I think it evens out. What was amazing to me was that last week, Week 5 Day 1 kicked my ass. This week, it was hard...but it was never, "OhmigodI'mgonnadie" hard.

 

When I run my 5k on Thursday, I'll be trying the 20 again...but I won't be dejected if I don't make it...I'll just make sure to at least complete Week 5 Day 2 again. Since Week 5 Day 1 was easier on the second go-round, I'm fairly certain Week 5 Day 2 can't possibly be harder when I've already done it once. I just have to remember to not get dejected and not get mad at myself. I have to be patient...I'll get there.

 

I'm disappointed that I didn't finish the 20 minute run, but I'm proud of myself for not quitting.