Duration, Not Distance

I've had two reasons to pat myself on the back this week - a very rare thing. As someone who is somewhat, just slightly, really minutely insecure, I very rarely stumble across reasons to congratulate myself.

First pat is for having lost 3.5 lbs when I weighed in Monday morning. The other is running last night.

As I mentioned before, I'm using an app - Ease into 5k - for my running "routine". It starts you off at small intervals of running and walking. It's a 3-day-a-week program over 8 weeks.

Week one, day one was running 30 seconds, walk 45 seconds, run 45, walk 60, run 60, walk 90 - fairly easy and actually manageable for someone who used to get winded walking to my car in the Walmart parking lot. So the gradualness (is that a word?) was perfect for me. Then came week 3, day 1 - the longest run interval was 3 minutes!! I thought surely there was NO WAY I was going to make it a full 3 minutes, but figured if I could go at least 90 seconds that would be longer than intervals of previous weeks. But, I actually made it a full 3 minutes. Hmmm....

Animated GIF via: acciohealthylifestyle: if you’re not running… – Turning day-dreams, into reality

Week 4, day 1 - the longest run interval was 6 minutes. I truly remember dreading it since I just knew I couldn't make it for 6 minutes straight. I figured I needed to tell LOML where to look for me if I didn't come back within 30 minutes because I would be passed out on the sidewalk somewhere. But again I reasoned I would at least try my hardest to last longer than the previous weeks longest interval. But amazingly, I made it, again...without passing out.

Week 5, day 3 - longest run interval=9 MINUTES! I wondered if I could rent a portable oxygen mask somewhere as that was the only way I was making it through 9 whole minutes. And guess what...I didn't stop :), I made it! One great thing about the app it that it "updates" you throughout the run, letting you know when you have 5 minutes, 2 minutes, etc left, depending on the length of the run. And I remember, when I heard the, "you have 2 minutes left" alert, I quickly thought, "I got this!". I was really surprised - those first 9 minutes were really kind of easy.

Week 6, day 1 - TWO 9 minute intervals with only a 3 minute walk in between! I knew I could make it through one 9 minute run, so I planned to suck in as much oxygen as I could in that 3 minutes and just do the best I could. And again...it was really kind of easy. At the end of the second 9 minute interval, I had a really big smile on my face.

Well, last night was the most challenging run so far - 20 MINUTES STRAIGHT WITH NO WALKING/REST!!! I honestly, absolutely thought I couldn't make it an entire 20 minutes...but would give it my best, anything longer than 9 minutes would be better than before. I kept waiting for an update alert...but nothing...until, "you have 10 minutes left", another BIG smile. That first 10 minutes had only felt like 5. I was winded but had plenty of energy left. And guess what :) :) :)? I made it the ENTIRE 20 minutes without stopping or slowing down! I wanted to find a set of steps so I could do the Rocky fist pump!

I am really proud of myself for this, considering what my "fitness" level was when I started, basically 98.5% stationary. Running that first 30 seconds straight felt like going from standing still to full blast!

So what's next? The next run, week 6, day 3 is a 15 minute run, 3 minute walk, 10 minute run. I got that :)! The next longest interval will be week 7, day 2 for 26 minutes straight. Then it basically creeps up a minute a day until I'm running 30 minutes straight for 3 days, then 45 (!) minutes straight for one day, then 60 (!!!)...after that? There is also an Ease into 10k app...I'll keep you posted!