Thursday, August 21, 2008

Do they still make iron lungs?


I am dripping sweat on my keyboard as I type this. I just got back from the gym, where I ran FIVE MILES. In a row. Without walking. Without stopping. Without drinking water. Without having to tie my shoe. You get the idea.

This is kind of a big deal for me. When I decided to give running a try, I started with the goal of doing a 5k. I used the Couch to 5k program and realized that the goal of "run a 5k" was kind of lofty and I should take it back a notch to "run 90 seconds without dying." I did the Day 1 Week 1 C25k workout on March 9, 2008 and stuck with the program pretty faithfully for about 12 weeks and ran in a 5k on May 31. Ran in it, and completed it, and didn't completely humiliate myself by taking, like, an hour to finish, either. I finished in 40 minutes and 23 seconds. It was pretty exciting.

Last weekend I ran in my second 5k and finished in 35 minutes 50 seconds, smack dab in the middle of all women and just a smidge above middle for the 40-44 women's category. Progress!

So my new goal is to run a 10k. And, once again, after a day of "training" I realized that my goal was, again, too lofty, and the interim goal became "run five miles, without dying, and don't take all day to do it."

And I've been trying, and trying, and trying, but couldn't do it. I've run 4 miles, 4.5 miles, 4.75 miles, but never had it in me to push through to the five mile mark. Until today! Today I did it. I ran 5 miles. It took me 63 minutes 30 seconds. Not exactly the speed of light, but I did it.

I ran for so long that my running playlist ran out, and the last seven minutes I ran without my headphones on, which, OMG, gave me an opportunity to hear what my breathing sounded like and can I just say NOW I know why the guy on the next treadmill kept stealing glances at me. He was not admiring my running form or mad jogging skills. He was probably contemplating whether or not he needed to call 911.

So my new goal is: Run 5 miles, without dying, in about an hour, while maintaining the ability to breathe. 10K? Someday.

7 comments:

Rogue Scholar said...

GOOD FOR YOU!! YAY!!

Unknown said...

Here I was going to ask you if you wanted to do the race for the cure. No way I'm doing a 10k with you!

justme said...

you go girl !!!! DON'T WORRY BOUT TIME, it is about finishing and that is all.

Keetha said...

Oh my goodness, CONGRATS! You rock.

Unknown said...

WooHoo! You are doing so great! And I love reading your stuff, you almost always make me LOL and boy/girl can I identify with scaling it back a notch! lolololol

Lisa Wheeler Milton said...

I'm inspired.

Fer said...

I stumbled onto your blog from SymaSays. Great job on your running. I just wanted to say that it does get better. I promise. I started running 7 years ago when I was 40 pounds over weight and completely out of shape. I have now completed 3 full marathons and many races of other distances. So, keep it up and you'll keep reaping the rewards. :)