Week 5 Day 2

I was dreading today just a little bit.  Mainly because of the podcast and the fact that it announces for all three days in one podcast.  I discovered that it wasn't that big a deal though.  It really did seem like more of a way to mark my time in relation to Monday's run than something that made me think "Oh God I still have 3 minutes to go" like I thought it would. 

I timed the warm up just right so that I was at the end of my street when I started to jog.  I made my way past my normal turn into the other subdivision entrance and toward the main road.  It was pitch black.  I almost turned around to go back to my normal route because I was actually worried that some idiot would turn in too fast and hit me.  My clothing this morning probably wasn't as reflective as it could be.  There was an idiot turning, but I was out of his way in time.  I continued jogging up the street to the the next main road.  I got to the intersection and was surprised that I had to turn around to keep running.  I half assumed that my first 8 would end about that point.  Jogged back toward home wondering if I was running too fast and if that was going to kill me for the second 8.  Was relieved to hear the announcement to walk more for that reason than any need to walk.

The downhill walk was nice.  Helped me keep my brisk walk pace up so I managed to get all the way back to my subdivision just in time to start running my second 8.  I was back on the old familiar ground so I was pretty sure of exactly where I'd be at the end of 8 minutes.  I chugged up the first street and back then up the second.  Right about the time I was expecting to hear the voice tell me to walk, it wasn't.  It was telling the Day 3 people they could stop.  So I decided to push a little since I knew I only had 1 minute to go.  I heard the blessed voice telling me to stop, but I didn't.  I was going to keep running until I got back to the start point of my run.  I knew it was about 2 minutes from the prior weeks of running and that the mental boost I'd get from knowing I'd run a total of 18 minutes would make the 20 on Friday less daunting.  And I felt really good when I finished it, like I could have kept going.  I didn't realize until I got home that in addition to it being a 10 minute run, it was also about 1.1 miles.  I haven't run a continuous mile since 1992.  I'm not counting elliptical machines because that's not the same. 

Also today as I was putting on my clothes, I realized my pants fit differently.  Felt easier to get them to button.  I went and checked the mirror, and they were not as tight as they used to be.  The white from the inside of the pockets wasn't visible like it used to be.  Just a little more motivation to help me through the program.