Half Mile

Well, according to the oh so handy mapmyrun.com...I reached a bit of a milestone on Saturday by jogging a half mile in right at five minutes. Now, I know that is nothing for 90% of the population, however...it's a big deal to me. It means that what I am doing is working. Two weeks ago...I barely completed three tenths of a mile. So, getting up to a half mile means I am moving in the right direction. Half way to my first mini-goal of a mile. October 11 I will step out my front door and head off to achieve a mile. Three weeks away...and for the first time...I know I will do it.

This morning I began a new set of intervals. It's based on week three of the Couch to 5k program on coolrunning.com. Now, I've started this program a million times and here's the funny thing...I have never before made it to week three. What's that say about my commitment level in the past? I always tried to push it too hard and even if my body wasn't ready...I was moving along. I always ended up injured or burnt out before even getting to week three of this program. Now, I'm beginning week five of my training...and am only to week three of the program. That's okay, though. I'm mixing up different programs and seeing what works for me. As long as I'm walking and jogging for 30 minutes, four times per week...I'm fine with that.

So, this morning was jog 1.5/walk 1.5/jog 3/walk 3. I did that three times...and then added one more 1.5/1.5 interval to get me to 30 minutes. Every time I begin a new set of intervals, I do the first day on the treadmill, just to test myself and make sure I'm ready to move forward. This morning, I was. It was great. My endurance was pretty good and my leg and hip pain was minimal. My max HR was 179...so not even reaching 180 is pretty good for me. No knee pain after either! So, Wednesday will be the true test when I take this interval set outside. I'm deciding whether I will take Sammy along or not. I know it will be a lot more difficult to get through this test when pounding the pavement...but we'll see how it goes.

Strong body. Clear mind.