This was the one I was dreading. I figured if I could make it through this, I would be fine for the rest of the week. Wednesday was the first day of Jogging for 3 minutes, Walking for 1:30, Jogging for 5 minutes and Walking for 2:30. Repeat this followed by a 5:00 cool down. Since before Wednesday, the longest I had run for was 4:00, and I really struggled with that. So I was a bit nervous about the 5:00. But I did it.
It was odd that the 3:00 was the easy one to get through since the past few workouts were tough and that was the "long" run. And from here on out, it picks up intensity at a much more rapid pace, which I am both thankful for & scared of at the same time. Adding on a minute at a time would take forever so I'm glad to speed things up a bit & I'll finally feel like I'm getting somewhere. But at the same time, I struggled with 3:00. I'm struggling with 5:00 now. I find it hard to believe that I will eventually have to run for 30:00 and longer. But I'm learning that I can't think about that. I can't get too far ahead of myself. I have to stay focused on where I am and what I'm doing right now, or else the task seems too daunting. I know that might seem ridiculous to any runners reading this. 5:00 is such a small amount of time - for perspective, it doesn't equate to a mile for most people. But it's a lot for me, and it was a happy moment for me when I achieved it. I actually cheered myself on a little bit.
Since we were preparing to go out of state for my cousin's wedding, I knew there would be some days that I just couldn't get a workout in, so I had to run on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday. Since this was a holiday (4th of July), Wifey was home & was able to watch both kids while I got my workout in. And I was definitely thankful that I got to do this one alone - I don't think I would have been able to keep track of the kids for this one!
I went through the first 3:00 with ease. I was initially worried that I would be tired after this because the 3's have been rough, but I guess since I knew I had a 5 coming up, it was a piece of cake. When the app told me to start running the 5, I thought, "Well, here we go!" and I just focused on getting through as much of the 5:00 as I could. I put one foot in front of the other and just did it, without thinking too much about how much longer I had left, and I got through it! At the very end, I found myself saying, "You got this! You got this! Just a little bit longer!" and I was so proud of myself for doing it. It's so silly, really. I'm 32 years old and I am overjoyed that I am able to run for 5 minutes.
After the second round of 3:00, I started to lose steam, and by the time I got to the second 5:00, I started to seriously doubt that I'd be able to do it again. But to my amazement, I did. I tried to focus on anything else but the clock in front of me. Watching the seconds tick away was almost painful - one second seemed like 3 minutes at times. So I thought about the run I signed up for. I thought about how much fun that day is going to be and how amazing it's going to feel to be able to say that I did a 5K. And I got through the second round of 5:00. Luckily this just goes right into the 5:00 cool-down walk and not an additional set of 2:50 walking, so I'm glad to see that the program is becoming more running.
Never in a million years did I ever think I'd be prepping for something like this - I just never thought it was possible. I still have a lot of work ahead of me, and the only way to reach my goal is by doing the work. I can't think about how hard it's going to be and I have to stop doubting myself. I can do this. I'm going to continue putting one foot in front of the other and see how far I can make it.
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