Day 67 of Training

Saturday. I love Saturdays!! I get to sleep in a little. Zach doesn't have to rush off to work so I get to take my time trying to do good things for my body. I woke up around 8am which is about 2 hours later than normal. I'm not sure why, maybe it was all that extra sleep, but I felt like trying to run for 15 minutes today.

I danced out of my bed and slipped on my running clothes. I'm excited that it's sunny outside and I can wear my shorts & t-shirt instead of my long pants, jacket and hat that I've had to wear lately to keep warm. I get warmed up, turn on my music and do a quick walk for 5 minutes. I don't get far when it's time for my 15 minutes of jogging to start. I'm taking it slow and I'm still amazed at how easy it is for me to do this now. I remember the first couple of times that I ran and how I felt like I was gonna die and I had only ran for like... 30 seconds. It's amazing how when you get it right it's so much easier.

I'm on the rail trail and the sun is streaming through the trees making a picturesque seen in front of me. There's also all these tiny little bugs floating in the air. I keep trying to breathe without actually inhaling the bugs. It makes me wonder if they're always there and I just don't see them because there's no light at 6am or if they show up when the sun comes out. I don't want to think too much about it. The idea that I continuously swallow bugs without realizing it is kind of making my stomach turn.

About 8 minutes have passed. I get to the part of the trail where I would normally turn around and head back. I realize that I'm going to need more mileage if I'm going to run the 15 minutes twice. I decide to cross the street and go an extra mile. There aren't any trees on this part of the trail and the sun is getting hotter. I can see the end of the trail ahead and it felt like forever but I finally made it. I turn around and start walking for 5 minutes. Wow! Not so bad!! I did it!! I ran for 15 minutes. I was a little tired but by the time my 5 minutes of walking was up I felt good enough to do it over again.

I made it about 10 minutes and then I started to feel really tired. My legs started to feel a little more like jello than muscles and my breathing wasn't as easy as it was before. I thought about stopping, calling it good. I did try to do the 15 minutes 1 day ahead of schedule. Technically, I shouldn't have started until Monday. Maybe I should just give myself a break and call it good. Then I decided... I probably wasn't going to hurt more or feel more tired in 5 minutes than I do right now. BUT... I knew that emotionally, I would feel totally different if I went through and finished or if I stopped and called it good. It became the difference of winning or losing. The difference was knowing I did it or quiting. I decided to do it. As the timer ticked down to zero I was practically on my front porch. I did it!! Then I thought... I ran for 30 minutes today. With a 5 minutes walking break but still... I ran almost all of 3.7 miles!! That's pretty awesome for me!!

It's good to feel like I'm progressing and it's fun to look back at where I've been. It makes it mean so much more to see how hard I've worked to get here. Oh!! PS. I signed up for the 2010 Disneyland Half Marathon this week. I heard it's awesome and I'm pretty excited!! I also signed up for the 1st 5K that I will be RUNNING... or actually jogging. : ) It's the firehouse run at HAFB. I'm more nervous than excited about it. I really want to be able to run the whole 3 miles without a walking break in the middle. It's 20 days away... wish me luck, cross your fingers and pray for me! I need all the help I can get!!