Running

I know I said I'd be updating on our progress but there wasn't really anything to report last week!! It was cold and snowy outside and I was reduced to running on the dreaded treadmill. I used to enjoy it when I could watch T.V. Or even when it just faced the picture on the window well. I could at least pretend I was outside running! I thought I'd try running with a DVD in, we no long have satellite, but sometime in the recent past, our DVD player in the basement, where the treadmill is, broke. So, I thought I'd put in a tape. Yep, we still have OODLES and OODLES of VHS tapes! Gasp! Most are old Disney. I thought Treasury of Mickey would be entertaining, it stunk. It's no fun at all! So, I trudged through that days schedule, partially. I lost all motivation and stopped after just one mile. Uggh! Now, in my own defense, I did have a cold, that's a legitimate excuse, right? Well, that was Wed. and I am running 3 days a week right now, in the next week or two I've got to up it to 3-4 days a week, yikes! Friday I still wasn't feeling too good so I skipped it hoping I'd get a run in on Sat. Sat., as it turns out, was COLD! I believe it was 27 outside! I bundled up, too much, and whined and complained my way through tying my shoes. John wasn't running because he had a fever and was reading on the couch under a warm cozy blanket! I reiterated that I DID NOT want to do this! John assured me that it was all in my head and that I could. I set out for my run wondering why on earth I thought I could run a 1/2 marathon. Now, up until this time, my training schedule only had me run 8 min consecutively. Mixed in with walking and then running again for less minutes. I was pondering all this during the 5 min warm up walk. I had John's voice ringing in my ear assuring me that I COULD do it! So, I set out running and kept going, and kept going, and kept going! I did our loop around the 470 trail and ran all the way until I got back home! 3.63 miles! Whoo hoo! Talk about a boost of self confidence! Maybe I could do this thing after all! Mon. I thought I'd try again but run the loop backwards. What I didn't realize was how much more was up hill running it that way. Yikes, that was rough! I stopped to walk a few times but still did 3.78 miles in not a whole lot more time. But OY, my legs were sore! John went for a run that night and we had a nice soak in the hot tub to ease our muscles. John was still not feeling back to normal and is struggling with shin splints. Ow! Poor guy! I measured the distance from our house to Lincoln, one of the main roads, the other day and it's just over 2 miles. I thought maybe, just maybe it was time to step it up and try for 4 miles!! I've never done that far in my life! I set out this morning and did my usual warm up walk, I stopped a little short of 5 min this morning just to warm up. I layered less which in the end was nice but in the beginning was a little cooler than I expected! Now again, I didn't realize how hilly this route was and I got discouraged a couple times and walked. Only for about 30 sec each time though. I made it to Lincoln and thought, it's more downhill on the way back, I can do this! And, I did! My total distance was 4.58 miles in just 6.5 minutes more than I had done the 3.78 the other day! Whoo hoo! Looks like maybe I'll be able to do this after all!