Today's run went well, but only after I came to the realization that I'm drifting away from the Couch-to-5k program. I didn't get in a third run last week at all. And my two runs were nowhere near the "run for 25 minutes" I was supposed to be doing.

I was feeling guilty about that today, about not having the time, ability, initiative, whatever to stick with the program. But then, as I was running, I thought "Hey, at least I'm improving." Today I ran for 18 minutes, then walked for five, and then ran for six more.

And you know what? I think I should feel pretty awesome about that. It shows that I've really come a long way in the past nine weeks. Even in the past three weeks. When I reached the 12-minute mark today, I thought "Two months ago I wouldn't have been able to do this at all." And then I kept running for six more minutes. And it felt pretty good.

My run yesterday went better...much better than Tuesday's run, and better than I anticipated it would go. I still had to walk midway through, but I ran the total time/distance. I ended up running for 14 minutes, walking for five, and running for nine.

I realize that's short of the total running time of 25 minutes, but I am such a speed racer that I am running a mile (10 laps on the track) in about nine and a half minutes, so I am getting the right distance if not the right time.

week 7, plus update

Just quickly since I have approximately a billion papers to grade this evening (okay, twenty)...I've been neglecting updating here lately for a couple of reasons. First, because of the aforementioned papers. I'm stressed out and bogged down with my teaching work plus grad school applications. This stress has also fed the second problem, which is my inability to find time to run. I ran on Sunday night instead of my usual Saturday morning run, and I only had about twenty minutes so I cut my run short. Instead of the twenty-minute run I ran for about fifteen minutes total. And yesterday I just wasn't feeling too great, plus my sports bra (my one decent one) was in the wash, so I skipped the run. I ran today instead and it was the opposite of good. Very, very bad. Instead of one straight 25 minute run, I ran for ten minutes, walked for five, and ran for eight before stopping because I was pretty sure I was about to barf over the edge of the track onto the 18-year-olds on the elliptical trainers. Real, hard-core nausea that I haven't felt since being pregnant. NO I'M NOT PREGNANT, fyi.

So, to recap: poopy. Weight today: 134.4.

Quick note to say that yesterday's run was TOTALLY AWESOME. Seriously. Two ten-minute (or one mile) runs with a three-minute walk between. I felt great. I didn't have to stop or anything. My friend Kristen, who was on a treadmill downstairs, said I looked great, like a real runner. Imagine, me! A REAL RUNNER!

Week six, we meet at last.

I felt different going into today's run. For the first time, I felt confident and assured that I would make it through the run. For one, it was a smaller, staggered run. After two two-mile runs rounding out last week, I knew this one wouldn't give me problems. And I was right! I felt good, but tired, at the end.

Charlotte's tugging at my leg to help her put her sock on her hand (like a puppet), so I should go.

Weight today: 135.2. Holding steady. At least the half pizza I ate Sunday night didn't cause any gain! Pizza....mmmm...hadn't had it in 6 weeks. It tasted fabulous.

Week five (finally) over

I did my last run for the doubled week five yesterday. Because it was such a beautiful day, and since I didn't want to take the extra time to drive onto campus, I ran on the bike path.

It was a very pleasant run, which surprised me. I still didn't make it all the way through the twenty minutes without a walk, but I still only walked for a minute, and I felt really good all the way through.

It'll be nice to start a new week this coming week and feel like I'm making progress toward my 5k-by-my-30th goal.

Two miles!

Break out the champagne! Today I ran two miles! Today I ran two miles (almost) nonstop!

What's that little parenthetical aside, you ask? Whither the "(almost)?"

Well, I didn't quite make it through without a break.

Today's run was twenty minutes. Of running. That's it. Warm up, run for twenty minutes/two miles, cool down. To my credit, I made it to seven minutes before I checked my watch. I made it to fourteen minutes before I had to walk. And I only walked for a minute before I started up again and finished the last six minutes.

I was counting my laps in my head as I went, and I found out that I actually hit two miles at around nineteen minutes. But kept going in case I was wrong and had lost count.

It feels great to have done it. It doesn't feel as great to have to do it again on Saturday.