Last night we met at Ocee Park at 8pm to run again. We didn't run on Wednesday, so we had to run last night.
When we got to Ocee Park, the lights that are usually on (they're on the baseball diamonds) were not on. Only the back two diamonds were lit, and the front two were not (which made it quite dark). I'm not sure what will happen when we get into winter and there aren't outdoor sports on a nightly basis.
It was cooling off when we arrived at 8 and there was a nice breeze. It actually felt good and I'm glad I've discovered running at night.
It was just me, Lesley, and Jo last night and I was on W4D2 of C25K, while Lesley was on W3D3. We all started the five minute warm-up walk together and then after the five minutes were up, we started our run. I ran for three minutes while Lesley and Jo ran for 1.5. It was after 1.5 minutes of running together that we split.
As I was running last night, I could tell that I was doing better than before. I had more energy and I felt more determined. I did feel sick as I was running (felt like I could throw up), but I kept it together. I also needed to use the bathroom, but kept it together as well.
I figured out that one lap around the fields is 1/2 a mile.
As I was running, my legs did feel like cement and I felt really tired, but I focused on my breathing and I made an effort to push myself to run faster. I think it paid off.
When I finished, I saw that I had set a new personal best. Here's my progress so far:
I am very proud of myself and while my run wasn't the greatest, I feel really good about it. I am not as sore this morning as I was on Tuesday, and I don't know if it's because my body is adjusting or if it's because I had an extra day off. Either way, I'm happy. I feel good. I am proud of myself.
I think I've got a solution to my problem of not being able to run next week. Lesley and I are going to run on Sunday (instead of Monday) and then we'll run on Thursday. Then I'll treat next Saturday like another training day when I run the 5k with Steve's work. I should be able to get back on track the following week with running MWF and then the week after is when Steve's gone again. But I think he's home Monday (the 14th), so I can run Monday night and then my dad will be here, so maybe I can go run one night while he's here. Then I wouldn't need to run again because Saturday is my first real 5k.
The more I think about running my first real 5k on the 19th of October, the more emotional I get. It's probably stupid, but I'll probably cry when I finish my race. Being able to actually run a 5k is something that I have wanted to do, but just didn't think I'd be able to do it. To have my dad, my husband, and my children there to watch me cross the finish line is just amazing. I'm teary-eyed just thinking about it.
So I think I can do W5D1 (5 minute warm-up, jog for 5, walk for 3, jog for 5, walk for 3, jog for 5, cool down), but not W5D2 (5 minute warm-up, jog for 8, walk for 5, job for 8, 5 minute cool-down), or W5D3 (5 minute warm-up, run for 20, 5 minute cool-down).
It seems so extreme to me. I mean, run for 20 after just running for 8? It seems like it should be gradual, and lead to run for 10 then maybe run for 12 and then run for 15 and then maybe run for 18. But to just go from running for 8 to running for 20? Craziness.
Weird to think that they want me to run for 20 straight minutes on week 5. I don't think that's going to happen. We'll see. I may be repeating week 4 again.
