And here we are.
We have reached the point of our journey where there are no more intervals. There is just running.
I guess we could pretty much call it the point of no return.
I can’t believe I made it this far. It has been a long, long time since I used to run and I’m not going to lie. It’s been tough to get back into it. I’ve been motivating myself by signing up for big races and planning ahead, but at the end of the day, I have to put my miles where my mouth is and do the work.
Running is not for the instant gratification set.
So I went out for Week 7, Day 1. Twenty-five minutes of running, sandwiched between a five minute warm up and cool down. A grand total of 35 minutes, pounding on the pavement. And let me tell you something.
I did it.
And if the Couch 2 5K app is even remotely accurate, I have my first 5K in the bag. Because in that 35 minutes, even walking for 10 minutes, I completed exactly three miles. And my time was not bad at all. I mean, i’m not lighting the record books on fire or anything, but I’m working with a respectable pace.
I am also getting the hang of my Garmin. The GPS on that doesn’t always agree with the one on my app (it’s off by about .1 mile), so I am taking that in stride and just making a mental note of it for real races.
Based on this performance, I feel really ready for May.
However.
I am going to be fitted for proper running shoes. During my last few long runs, I have been experiencing some aching and tingling in my ankles and my feet. It’s dragging me down. I can totally deal with being winded and the occasional side stitch, but the pain in my lower extremities is distracting and I can’t get my mind off it. We knew that new shoes were on the horizon, although for me, it is coming three weeks early. Mr PugRunner is still doing well, although he is just starting to get into his longer runs, so we’ll see if he changes his mind in the next few days. I’m hoping proper shoes with the supports I need will help alleviate my issues.
Today made me realize something, though.
I’m not a journey kind of girl. I’m about the destination. I don’t want to kick back, enjoy the music and just go. I want to visualize, in my head, my finishing point and then work my way there. When I finish my time, I feel fantastic. During the runs? Not so much. I need to do something about that and I’m hopeful that most of it is the discomfort I’m experiencing.
I’m the same way with travel. I could happily skip the airports/car rides/plane trips and just get to the new place. The waiting gives me some kind of bizarre anxiety. All is well when I get to where I’m going – I just don’t really enjoy getting there.
So for running, I just need to keep visualizing the finish line. I have to mark it off in my head before my training runs and I have to see it in my mind when I’m going for longer distances. It’s on my list to try to enjoy the journey a little more, but I have a lot of things to work on, so it might take some time to get there.
I’m sure everything will fall into place soon.
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