Zee Write Stuff

Can you say ... SURPRISE!?! 
(Surprise! Surprise!)

Week 5, Day 2 was on Thursday and BOY HOWDY! was I surprised, but that was topped by Week 5, Day 3.  Talk about SHIFTS in consciousness! Wow.  Really wow.  Let's go back to 5.2, shall we?


I've been lulled into certain expectations on this "Couch to 5K" program.  Each week the program changes -- upping the ante, so to speak.  The new set of walk/run times would change on the first day of the week and remain the same for the 3 workouts of that week.  The "run" times would increase, the walk times would change, too.  Sometimes it was the spacing -- short breaks of walking between runs, or fewer breaks.  But the pattern for 4 weeks has been that whatever changed on Day 1 of the week, continued for that week.


Then I turned on the Week 5 Day 2 program, all set to do that crazy 5 mintues of running that I did on Day 1 of week 5 ... and.... OMG!  The program changed.  EIGHT (8) minutes of running with a five minute break for walking, then another 8 minutes of running.  My eyes bugged out when I saw.  Could I actually run for 8 minutes without a break?  Seriously, I didn't think so.  But I didn't waiver.  I am following this program to the letter.  In 5 weeks, I have not missed a day of workout.  And that means, I follow the number of minutes and I do what that lovely voices tells me to do.  


I'm glad nobody was home when I did this Day 2 workout.  By the last 8 minutes of running, I was coercing myself to continue  like a cheerleader at a football game.  I can do this! I can do this!  I was chanting (albeit breathlessly) aloud and exhorting myself to finish the program.  AND I DID!!!!  Whew!


Today was Day 3 of the week and I figured we'd be repeating that 8 minute set repetition, so I girded my loins (as much as I could gird).  In fact, I put off doing the workout for as long as I could and then I thought "this is nuts, it's just running for 8 minutes and you've already done that."  So, I strapped on the iPhone and my headphones and turned on the book I'm reading (okay, I'm still trying to finish The Winter Garden by Kirsten Hannah -- you know, the book with the whiniest main character in the history of main characters (I hate her).  Spoiler alert:  her husband (FINALLY) left her... but she's still being a jerk).  And then, I switched on my good ol' reliable "Couch to 5K" app.


OMG!  I thought I was surprised on Day 2 of this week, but .... the program was completely different AGAIN!  In fact, I slowed the treadmill (I had started the warm up portion of the program) and stepped off for a few seconds to grab my glasses and read the fine print. YEP..... those little words actually spelled out....


20 MINUTES OF RUNNING  and NO WALKING BREAKS.  


None. Nada. Nyet.  Oh my! Straight 20 minutes of running.  The warm up is 5 minutes and the cool down is 5 minutes.  But in between, I'm running for 20 f-ing minutes.

For some odd reason, I didn't stress out.  I just figured if worse came to worse, I'd slow down on my own and walk.  Would that be weak? Would that be giving in to resistance (book note... everyone should read:  The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, who also wrote The Legend of Bagger Vance... and then you'll "get" the whole resistance thing).


I started.  I continued.  I RAN FOR 20 MINUTES!!!!  


I must say, I feel pretty much pumped by my little teeny tiny accomplishment today.  All the little people raise their hands...  

Product placement note.  Yesterday, I bought some new shoes -- My. First. Running Shoes.  Ever.  They are Nike Xccelerators.  Great shape. Light. And they absorb the shock of my (large) body pounding on my feet.  So, thumbs up, Nike (in my wildest dreams NEVER would I have thought I'd write those words).


In addition, I googled information about How To Run and got some pointers.  I had been worried about how I placed my foot down with each stride.  I'm pretty sure that I'm a heel first kinda girl.  But then, was I also going to my toes?  Hmmm.  Now I know it's the middle.  I think the shoes helped me get the 20 minutes.  I'll just believe.


So, what's next?  Who knows!  I am on the "Couch to 5K" ride now.  Nothing is certain.  I don't know what to expect.  Except -- I think I'm getting better at this.  No, I do not "love" running.  But somehow, doing those piddly first 90 seconds that I thought I couldn't bear makes me laugh -- at myself.  And laughing at myself is a good thing.