A redo

Saturday's run was supposed to be my 3 mile long run, but that just didn't happen. I did almost 2.5 miles instead. It just wasn't happening. I know physically I could do it, but I have some kind of mental block. I get intimidated by distances easily and end up convincing myself that I can't do it.




Not only did I cop out on Saturday, I missed yesterday's run. I made excuses and ended up skipping it altogether.

So today I redid the run. I wish I could say it was without walking, but it wasn't. I walked twice for about a minute apiece toward the beginning of the run. After the halfway point I wouldn't let myself walk again. Every time I wanted to stop, I forced myself to go a little faster on the treadmill. I guess it worked, because I made it the last mile and a half without alot of trouble. It's shower time, so here's today's run:

The start of a 9 mile week

This week is raising the bar on my mileage. In the past weeks, I've done at most 8 miles 4 days a week (but usually closer to 6 miles, 3 times a week). Today started the first of a 9 mile week, over 3 days. It culminates on Saturday with a 4 mile long run. 4 miles?! I could barely wheeze through 3 last Saturday! That'll be like a full hour of running, there's no way I can do that non-stop. I did an "easy" 2 miles this afternoon and wanted to stop.

I'm slowly losing my motivation. I could have easily continued sitting on the couch today instead of running, and that worries me some. I'm hoping it was just a fluke, and that Wednesday's 3 miles will go well. Maybe it's because while I was doing C25k, all of the weeks looked possible. They looked totally doable, even the first 20 minute run in week 5. In this new program it feels like it's not a big deal to tack on another mile or two, when to me it is. It's a big deal to go from 3 miles to 5 next Saturday.

On another note, I think it's pretty much impossible for me to calibrate my Nike+. It's consistently unreliable when it comes to distance. I always have to map out my runs first, which kind of defeats the purpose. Also, I found out that a new Garmin Forerunner 405 is coming out later this year for $299. I really want it, maybe I'll get it for Christmas.

Kk, shower's all warmed up, time for me to get unsmelly.

Couch to 5k: W8D3

I guess today is W8D3, but I'm still not really following the program much anymore. I'm continuously stuck in the limbo between going longer on time but not far enough on distance.

Oh well, I'll get to 5k level soon, no need to rush it.

Today was my first run since Ike blew through on Saturday morning, and I got to take a look at some of the damage in the neighborhood. Lots of people were out cleaning up, raking, mowing, fixing roofs, etc. I had to dodge a few downed trees, but nothing totally epic.

I ended up walking at about half way for maybe 1/5th a mile. I was wanting to take it easy and not tax my legs too much, considering my shins started aching at the first quarter mile. It was (is) such a beautiful day outside I didn't feel the need to push myself very hard, and instead relaxed and enjoyed being outside.

Next time I'll be going 2.25 miles nonstop, hopefully. I've got nothing against walking breaks, I know even seasoned runners work them into their long runs to improve their endurance, but I'd like to get to at least 3 miles without. All of the beginner training schedules I've found start at 4 miles as the long run, so 3 miles without walking should prepare me for a new program. Tacking on .25 once a week, it shouldn't take me too long to get there.

Or, maybe I'll just haphazardly put together my own schedule for a few weeks until I "catch up" with one I've found. I'll post here when I come up with something.

I did go about 2.5 miles today not including my walk break, a personal distance record. It turns out that when I calibrated my Nike+ on the treadmill, my natural pace was off and instead of over reporting my mileage by 30%, it UNDER reported it by about 13%. Since I can't go back and edit my previous calibration, I have to try it again. Maybe tomorrow I'll head to the track since the schools are still closed and get a quick .5 in.