Day 40: Monday, May 4, 2009

Well, during the day on Monday, I did not feel like going to the gym. I still felt worn down from the weekend all day, and my legs were still aching, much like they had done on Sunday, Day 39 when I cut my workout short, so I really wasn't sure if I'd even make it to the gym, let alone if I'd be able to produce while there. Well, I'm writing this post, so it's obvious I did make it.

Actually, when I got home, I felt good. I had energy, I had a great dinner (tofu chicken and lite Caesar salad in a weight watchers 100 calorie whole wheat pita), and I wasn't going to be denied the gym.

When I got downstairs, I hopped onto a treadmill. I walked the first minute at 4 MPH - as I've stated before, so I can enter my specifications and get the right music set up - before I began to jog at 5.2 MPH. Then, I notice, in front of me is a hockey game (the Penguins vs. the Capitals) and the third period had just begun, which for me, is absolutely perfect - I knew the game would keep my mind off the actually running at hand.

Nine minutes pass - still feeling good, so I know I can go another 5 minutes and hit the 15 minute mark. 15 minutes comes, and I realize, that in order to have been running for 15 minutes, I need to hit the 16 minute mark. As 16 minutes approaches, I decide I'm going to shoot for 20 minutes, I'm just feeling that good. My legs did not ache, my breathing was good, and the game was keeping me occupied (for the most part, I still noticed the time as it inched by, but it was a good game). Then, I hit the 19 minute mark, and think "one more minute" - not so, however, as I realized, one more minute wouldn't suffice me, I needed two more minutes so I could slow my pace at 21 minutes, meaning I would have been running at 5.2 MPH for 20 minutes straight, and I pushed myself to accomplish this feat.

Running for 20 minutes in a row was something that was absolutely unthinkable when I started on day one where I was quoted as saying (when I only ran 10 minutes of the full 30 minutes), "At least a few times, I had the thought in my mind that I should just stop - that running was way too hard for me . . ." Indeed, it used to be excruciating pain to run just one minute of every 3, so to run for 20 minutes straight, is really a great, great accomplishment!!! I may get that 5 k yet!!!

So I did it, I slowed at the 21 minute mark, but what I did, was walk for only one minute before picking my pace back up. I then proceeded to jog for the next 5 minutes, before slowing again to begin my cool down session.

In total, I ran 25 minutes at 5.2 MPH (and 25 of the first 27 minutes) for a distance of 2.17 miles, I walked at 4 MPH for 5 minutes for a distance of .33 miles. Complete with cool down, I completed 2.53 miles in 31 minutes. And with that, my workout was complete. For someone who didn't think they'd even make it to the gym, I feel it was a great accomplishment. I am still glowing today (Tuesday) from it!!!!

On Monday, also, I got an unsolicited "you look like you're losing weight" comment from an unexpected source. It was nice to hear - and I think it added to my motivation for the day.