Week 2

I've concluded week 2 and I'm still standing. Whoo Hoo! This week was an interesting one. Due to some "over-indulgence" on Saturday night, I was unable to eat much of anything on Sunday and therefore had to cancel my Monday's run. All was not lost though... I reshuffled my schedule and was able to get my runs in throughout the rest of the week (although having 2 days of back to back runs was NOT fun). Also, Andrew came down with a case of strep throat, so he was unable to run with me for a little bit... Mark stepped in and did a fair job as running coach.
Tuesday and Wednesday I did 3.5 mile runs, one outside and one inside. My outside run was good. I felt pretty strong throughout and my inside run was great... it almost felt easy. I was able to run a good pace without any stress or pain. Needless to say I felt like superwoman on my way into Friday's run. Well let me tell you... Friday was, in my mind, a disaster (although I was assured by Mark and Andrew that it was not a bad run). To give you a little background, it's been getting gradually warmer and warmer here in good ole NC and by the time Friday rolled around, it was well into the 80's and peaking over 90. We decided to do our run as scheduled, but shortened it to 2.5 miles because despite the fact that it was around 5:30pm, the sun was still pretty hot (I think it was around 84 outside). The run started ok... I felt the sun on my back but it wasn't too much to bear. Unfortunately, by the halfway point I was miserable and my energy was draining fast. I didn't think I would make it the last .75 miles. We ended up cutting the run down to 2 miles and I had to take a short walking break near the end. I knew the sun could be bad, but this was BRUTAL. I've never felt so exhausted. On top of that, there was no breeze whatsoever and all the sweating I did just stuck to me like a moist towel instead of evaporating and cooling me down. Yuck! On the way home, I felt very defeated as if I had failed. It seemed as though I had taken a step back after making so much progress. I've learned that these feelings are normal and you should not let them get the best of you! All runners have bad days, but at least you got out there and gave it a go. Looking back, I still have lingering feelings of disappointment, but I know that I tried my best and my body just wasn't going to get me through that time. It happens, you know...
Saturday morning came and I was ready to redeem myself for the previous day. We got started at 9:45am and ran 4 miles. Overall, it was a very good run. I was able to run solidly throughout and felt pretty good when we finished. The route we ran was challenging too, so it made me feel good that I was able to get through it. Our path took us through the Brier Creek Country Club development and there are lots of hills -- one particularly big hill at the end that kind of made me its bitch but I was able to get to the top (albeit, with a lot of pain in my thighs... a deep burn if you will). It's a picturesque run, so that made it easy to kind of zone out for a while and just focus on the lush surroundings.
In the end, this week went very well... I'm pleased that I'm still sticking with my regimen because honestly, I figured this wouldn't last too long! Not that I'm a quitter, but its hard getting into a routine and sticking with it. Usually, life happens and you start to stray and before you know it, you're back at square one. I've made lots of progress and am proud to say that in 2 weeks time, I've gone from running a 13 minute mile to running 4 miles at about an 11:00 minute pace! One side note... my knees have recently begun to get a little sore. I was told that this isn't anything to worry about, as long as the pain isn't extreme. I've begun icing my knees after runs for about 15 minutes which is helping. Again, it's not really pain, but more of a soreness.

18 more weeks to go!