Week Five, Day Two - Complete!

Although running when it's cloudy and a bit on the cool side is ideal, it's not ideal for motivation.  And you know I've been struggling with that lately! So when I woke up this morning to a grey day, I wasn't feeling so motivated.  But I put on my running clothes anyway, and finally forced myself to head out around 12:15.

Wouldn't you know it, once I was out there, the sun came out? It ended up being a beautiful day here - and it was a good thing I wore sunglasses!

The run itself was going to be eight minutes running, followed by five walking, then another eight running - all in preparation for Friday's 20 minutes of running.

The first couple of minutes of running were brutal, just horrible.  My legs felt so dead and tired and I really didn't think I would make it five minutes, let alone eight.  I reminded myself that when I was running two years ago, usually the first mile was the worst, and then I'd settle into it.  Eight minutes wouldn't get me a mile (I'm running pretty slow, even for me), but I told myself to just keep at it.

And although I was exhausted after that first interval, I did it!  And it felt so good to take that walking break - I remembered how much I liked to run (which I generally feel once I'm DONE running ironically).

The second eight minutes went better - I focused more on form and running with my hips leading, and that seemed to help.  I felt less exhausted, though still physically very tired.  I hate to admit it, but I haven't been eating super well lately, and I'm sure that's what's causing the exhaustion.  I've got to focus again on improving my nutrition, and we'll see how things go.

But all in all, I'm satisfied with today's run. It wasn't the best ever, but I finished it without any cheating.  Now I can just be nervous all over again for Friday's 20 minutes.  Ugh.

And on another note, I officially registered for the River to Bay 5k yesterday. I figured if I didn't do it now, I'd keep putting it off until it was sold out.  So I just bit the bullet. It gives me something to shoot for, and my goal is to just finish it and run the whole way.  We'll see how that goes!