Thinking Positive
Not all of my longer runs have been successful. In fact, on my first 28-minute run, I hit a wall. From minute 15 on, I had to force myself to keep going—and I hated every minute of it.
I finally had to slow to a walk at minute 22. I felt like a failure. I thought that 22 minutes must be my limit, and I wouldn't be able to go any longer than that. That's when I decided to give myself permission to walk if I needed to.
I reminded myself that this is a program for everybody, and there is no way that everybody could finish all the runs every time. I reminded myself that this is a process, and that I would get there eventually if I kept at it. I also reminded myself that I am not going to be running my 5K to win, I am running it to finish, and there's a big difference between the two.
As usual, I was being too hard on myself.
When I went into my second 28-minute run, I told myself that I would go as far as I could, and that it was okay to walk when I had to. I would push myself, but I wouldn't kill myself. I was more positive going into that run than I had been for a few weeks.
And guess what? For the first time, I ran for all 28 minutes. BAZANG.
Looking Ahead to Race Day
I have one more 28-minute run, then three 30-minute runs and then my 5K on September 10th. I'll be doing the race with my sister-in-law, who is also a non-runner, and my husband and kids will be there to support me.
I'm really excited about it, but also nervous that running outside in warmer weather might be tough for me. I also worry that by running on a treadmill this whole time, I won't be able to figure out the right pace for myself.
I've learned my body is capable of way, way more than I ever gave it credit for.
Therefore, I plan to do a few of my last runs outside (gasp!). This will give me an idea of how I'll make the transition and how different it's going to be for me.
But no matter what happens, I am incredibly proud of what I've accomplished so far. If you told me a couple of months ago that I would be able to run for 30 minutes straight, I would have said you were insane. I've learned my body is capable of way, way more than I ever gave it credit for.
I can't wait for race day.
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