C25K Updates!

I’m excited to report that after some struggles, I finished week 4 of my Couch to 5K program! It was hard, definitely hard. I did day 1 on a treadmill (the 114 degree heat wasn’t appealing to me) and it was great. I felt great and even felt like I could keep running longer that I was supposed to but I went with the program’s timing anyway.

Day 2 came around on Friday night. I went around 7:45 and it was still a chilly 94 degrees outside even though the sun was setting! I went ahead and went anyway. I decided to stick with my original run down Breckenridge and back. This is a rather hilly route but I had hoped my timing would work out where I was walking up the hills and running down them. That worked out almost the whole time. Then….it didn’t. My last 5 minute run interval was straight up the hardest hill. I couldn’t do it. I had 2 minutes left but I stopped. This was the most disappointing part of the entire program to date. I had done so well for the past 3 weeks.

On day 3 I pumped myself up and went early before church. The weather started out around 88 degrees and I finished at around 91. It did make a bit of a difference in how I felt doing it. NO CHEATING this time! I was sooo excited. I ran a total of 16 minutes and even though that may not seem like a lot and it was broken into 3 and 5 minute intervals, I was so excited! Every week accomplished makes me even more proud of myself.

Then I looked ahead to week 5. Big mistake! I should have just looked ahead one day but that’s not how my brain operates. As with everything else in my life, I look ahead and plan and plan and plan again. This was no different. Week 5, Day 1 seemed do-able. Run 5, walk 3 and continue for the 20 minute run. Day 2 is a little harder- run 8, walk 5, run 8. But day 3 is a solid 20 minute run! No walking!! I’m pretty terrified but hoping that I can do it and determined that even if it takes me 5 tries, I will finish it.

In church on Sunday our pastor went back to some very basics that I absolutely needed to hear. God loves me. God loves me no matter what. He created me just the way I am. He knew I wasn’t going to be a runner. He knew it wasn’t going to come natural to me. He knew I would struggle and my motivation would be like riding a roller coaster. And although I am my own worst critic and master at self comparison, I need to remember that God loves me anyway. He doesn’t compare me and he doesn’t criticize me. He loves me and he loves you too.

I’ll keep you posted!

-Geneva