1/3 way to 5k!

So today I ran for 5 minutes straight (as part of the training regimen)! I am officially 1/3 through with training for the 5k. I found one I want to run in January, so I'm going to sign up for it soon. I think it starts at my sister-in-law's high school and you get beignets when you finish! Plus, it's the same weekend as my FIL birthday, so I'm sure we will be in town anyway.

I know I have a long way to go, but I am impressed that I've made it this far. Thinking about how far I have to go until I can run a marathon is overwhelming, so I try not to think about that. I also try not to think about how slow I am. Right now my main focus is on building endurance and distance. When I look back on how far my endurance has come, I already feel happy, even knowing I have so much more to go. In my mind I have to break it down into mini-goals. Week-by-week. Minute-by-minute. 5k distance first, then speed. 10k distance, then speed. Etc. so far this helps. It means every day I get closer to meeting a goal and every week I do meet a goal. Very motivating :)

Week 1 Update

I was supposed to go running yesterday, but I didn't.

I didn't feel like getting up so early, so I was just going to put it off an hour. An hour rolled around and I still didn't feel like getting up. Then it was too late because I was on call yesterday and I didn't want to be all the way across the neighborhood if my phone rang and I needed to leave quickly.

So, I was going to get up early and go running this morning, but I didn't. I was tired and really enjoying cuddling with my husband. I put it off for a couple of hours, and then I finally got up and went for my run.

It. Was. Amazing.

I barely felt tired. I run further in the same amount of time and felt better during and afterwards than I have the first couple of runs I went on this week. I even took a min/mile off of my running time! It was really exciting. I feel like it was just a fluke because I felt like I could have easily kept running!
This past week was spent doing the following:
5 minute warm-up (brisk walk)
1 minute jogging
1 1/2 minute walking
5 minute cool-down

This is the Couch-to-5K way.

Beginning Monday I will do three days of the following:
5 minute warm-up (brisk walk)
1 1/2 minute jogging
2 minute walking
5 minute cool-down

The last time I did this program I was amazed at how seamlessly I was able to move on to the next phase of training each time. I hope that it is the same this time. Beginning tomorrow I plan to add in some strength training, too. Nothing major, just a few exercises I can do without too much equipment and without leaving my house. It is supposed to be helpful in preventing injuries and in increasing speed.

Until next time,

Katie

The Fear of Failure

I am afraid of failure. I think I always have been, but when I was younger it wasn't that big of a deal. I didn't try that many things that I was just straight up terrible at, but I'm pretty sure that is because I didn't try things if I knew I wouldn't be good. Now that I am older, however, I have come to realize that there are things I want to do that I may not be good at the first time I try it. Maybe I actually have to work at something. Running is one of those things for me.

I really want to be a runner. I love the way I feel after I have gone for a run. I hate it while I'm doing it, though. I'm really not great at running at all. I am slow, I run out of breath easily, I want to give up and quit. The other part of me, though? The other part of me dreams of being in excellent health, of having a runner's physique. I want the accomplishment of running a 5k, then a 10k, a half-marathon, and then the whole entire marathon. I want to know that I can be that dedicated, that disciplined.

I have tried running before a few times. The first time it just didn't appeal to me. I started in the winter and it was cold and wet. It hurt my throat and nose and eyes. That time lasted about a week. The next time I was doing really well. I lived close to work so I wasn't waking up too early to go running. I started the Couch-to-5k plan and was about half way through whenever I got sick with the flu or a cold or something dumb. I couldn't breathe to run (or at least I didn't know how at that point.. I still don't, actually) and I really didn't have the energy to get out of bed with a fever and stuffy head to go running. I lost too much time and would have had to start all over. I was very sad, but also quite unmotivated to do it again. It was such hard work getting to that point and I was too upset to start over. Since then I have run every once in a while, but not enough to keep up any type of progress.

That brings us to now. I'm not going to say that now is any different than any of the times before, but it is a little. Now I know that I will face days that I don't want to get out of bed. Now I know that I can do it, it just takes work. Now I know that there will be days I feel like I am losing progress, but the point is that I am still doing it. Now I have a friend to run with occasionally. Now I have someone to teach me what to do. Now I have so much more information than I have before, and knowledge is power.

I truly hope that this time will be different. I hope that at this point next year I will be able to say that I have made serious progress. And above all else, I hope I don't fail.