Pushing Through

Warning: What follows is a really LONG description of my run today.  If you're short on time or not a fan of my long-windedness, here's the summary. I thought I couldn't run two miles today, but I did.

Here's the long winded version. It's a story of triumph over adversity if you're into that sort of thing.
I'm following the Couch to 5k program as I try to get back into running shape.  According to the plan, I run a few minutes, then walk a few minutes, increasing the time spent running as the weeks go by. Today I finished  week 5, and it was a doozy.

In week 5, the plan takes a huge leap forward.  On day 1, you run 1/2 a mile and walk 1/4 a mile, alternating three times.  Not so bad.  On day 2, you run 3/4 a mile and walk 1/4 a mile twice.  This is harder, but I did it on Thursday during a perfectly timed break in the spring storms we had that day.  On day 3, they suddenly wanted me to run two straight miles with NO WALK BREAKS.

This is big. Not only was a jumping up to running a whole 1/2 mile further than I had run before, but those walk breaks are crucial to my mental game. When I've been running, and I'm tired and breathing hard, I can usually convince myself to push through for another minute or two to make it to a walk break.  But running two miles straight means it's a long time before you get to say to yourself "Oh just another minute."

These are my awesome new running shoes,
shown kicked up after I got home.

I was nervous.   So I wore my new workout tank top and my brand new awesome running shoes to psych myself up.  I went to my favorite place, the RiverWalk, so I could smell a little more honeysuckle.  I did my warm up walk and then I started to run.

To fully understand, you have to know that the RiverWalk has three really steep, long hills and a bunch of smaller ones. The first biggie was during my warm up. No biggie.

The second one I ran up last week and I figured out that if I looked down at my feet while I was running up the hill then I didn't have the opportunity to whig out about the size of the hill. I just climbed it, one foot in front of the other.  This was an awesome discovery, and it helped me beast that hill again this week.

Anyway, I made it to the 1.25 mile marker (which means one mile of solid running) and turned around (the RiverWalk is a straight line...to get back to the parking lot you have to turn around at some point).  Except that I just couldn't go anymore. Knowing I was halfway through just meant that I had to go just as far as I had  already come. And it was hot. So I stopped running and started walking. I gave up.

But the 1.25 mile marker is at the top of a beautiful downhill slope.  There's no uphill climb to get to the downhill.  It's just downhill.  So I thought, I'll run this downhill and that will make me want to keep going. Going that direction (instead of turning around) meant that I would be completing more than two miles, but I figured I could always walk the rest of the way after I finished the two on my plan.

But at the bottom of the down hill, I wanted to stop again, and I did. I walked a half mile and then turned around and headed back.  This time I had to climb that beautiful downhill as I approached the 1.25 mile marker.  When I got to the top, I decided to give the running one more try.  I started running.

I don't know what was different this time, but I just kept going.  The first 1/2 mile flew by and once I made it that far I thought I could finish it out. It got progressively harder, but just when I would've given up again, I hit that first hill from my warm up, except that going this direction, it is a beautiful downhill.  Once I got to the bottom, I still had about 3 tenths of a mile to go.  At this point, I actually cheered for myself out loud in a "Come on, Stuckey, keep moving!" fashion.  Two old people who were walking the opposite direction started cheering at that point, saying "You can do it!" and "Keep going!"

To make a long story short, I ran one mile, walked one mile and ran one mile.  Not exactly the plan, but it is nice to know that I can run two miles again.  I'm not sure what the lesson here today is.  Not to give up on myself?  Don't be afraid of a walk break?  Be my own cheerleader?  Don't look up when climbing a hill? I think all of the above were helpful to me today, so you can take your pick.