It’s amazing

Hello, blog friends. Hope you are having lovely Fridays wherever you are. It’s cold here but the wind is calm and the sun is shining and that makes for a beautiful day in my opinion 🙂

I just got back from my Friday workout — I met my running partner Jessica for a mutual run/walk on the treadmills. It had been a long time since we’d been able to hook up and I have to say it’s amazing to have someone there with you, in the same boat as you, supporting and pushing you along. I have done a complete 180 from two days ago. I AM a runner doggone it. 🙂

I think I have come to the conclusion that I have to stop competing with myself. Yes, last year I ran really good times in a 5K, 10K, 10-miler and half-marathon. That’s awesome! But I don’t have anything to prove…I don’t have to beat those times, especially when I have not trained myself nearly as well this year as I did last year. I need to just clean the slate and take in the fact that I’m going to do all of these again, just in a different way. Perhaps a change of scenery! And this year, I won’t be alone.

I started out walking for 5 minutes, then I ran at 5.1 for a few minutes, then gradually jogged my way back down to 4.0 and walked some more (something Jessica taught me; she has a heart condition so she has to “gradually” slow down). Then I walked for 3-4 minutes and started jogging at 4.5 increasing gradually up to 5.0, then back down gradually again. Then I walked a few minutes, went up to 4.6 and slowly up to 5.2 and then back down. I promise to be a little more technical next time, but I was just “feeling” it out and I have to say, this worked really, really well for me. I still did more running (jogging) than walking!

Here are my stats:

Time: 45:00

Distance: 3.18 miles

Pace: 14:09 / mile

Calories (approximate/overestimated): 382

Yeah, I’ve gone longer. And faster. But for where I am right now, I’m awfully darn proud of that!

Advertisements