Week 6 Rewind

We ran! It wasn't the best run of my life, but then I didn't have very high expectations so I was quite surprised that we got as far as we did.

Knowing that I have been stressed and feeling guilty about my small laps in running (Almost four weeks!!) Big_Shoes suggested we start today off with a run. The weather was beautiful, but we were both feeling a bit nervous, so we stuck with a familiar trail and decided to just see how far we could go. We ran for about 14 minutes (less than a mile and a half) before I threw in the towel. All in all, I was impressed with how far we did get, but of course it would have been nice to live in the land of no-consequences and be able to run a solid 30 minutes like before.

Even though we ran a reasonable distance (in our eyes) I was surprised at how much different the running felt! My lungs felt sore, my feet started dragging, and I couldn't seem to keep an even pace. Other than lamenting the sun beating down on my brow I did not even look up to notice the beautiful day or any of the interesting people out and about. In other words, it wasn't all that RELAXING. Which is kind of the goal. I will have to work back up to that point, where running is fun and legitimately enjoyable. But for now, I am just happy to have gotten my ass out there.

Since 14 minutes was a struggle (although in hindsight I wonder if it was more a mental struggle than anything) I think it will be best to take a few steps back and restart the C25k program at week 6. This seems like a long way back for me, but it's more important to me that I build a steady appreciation for running than to achieve any particular distance right of the bat. I hope to get my Week 6 Day 1 run in either tomorrow or Sunday, in between reading for classes and writing my Master's thesis.

This is the final stretch for me, in more ways than one, and I want to do it right!