Week 4 Day 1

Back on track. Tonight we started week 4 of the program. The proscribed routine is:

1. 5 minute warmup walk
2. Jog 3 minutes
3. Walk 1.5 minutes
4. Jog 5 minutes
5. Walk 2.5 minutes
6. Repeat steps 2-5
7. 5 minute cool down walk

In reality, all of my runs from home start with a 10-12 minute warmup walk (the first 8-10 minutes is up a hill with about a 250 foot elevation change in a quarter mile - when I get to the top, I need to walk a minute or two to let my heart rate calm down to the "brisk walk" pace). That's usually the point at which I begin the first jogging segment. I keep going away from my house a little more than halfway through the program, so I end up with a longer cool down walk that ends on a downhill stretch (and I sometimes run down the hill for fun!). So it ends up usually being about an hour of cardio.

Once I clear that first hill, the terrain flattens out with shorter intense hills mixed with flatter stretches in between. Somehow I always end up going uphill either on a recovery (walking) segment or at the end of a longer jog. So tonight, Matt & I jogged back and forth about 8 times on one of the flatter stretches precisely to avoid the hills. I would've ended my first 5 minute jog segment going up one of the tougher hills, and I would NOT have made it for 5 minutes with that hill at the end of it. So Matt suggested just going back and forth. But I did it - I ran the full length of time with NO walk breaks and I'm so darn proud of myself I could just bust. Maybe by the end of the week I'll be ready to tackle those hills.

I am truly blessed to have such a kind and supportive husband. He's told me before that he's by nature a sprinter, not a distance runner. He also said he finds it difficult to jog as slowly as I do, and he likes to push himself. (For me, the pushing myself comes in with jogging AT ALL). So far, the jogging segments have been short enough that he can run faster (significantly faster) than me. He's not someone who's really run any amount since his teen years - but distance has always been harder for him (I suspect because he goes too fast). Anyway, usually he gets a ways ahead then comes back to me on the walk segments. Well, tonight he hung right by me, encouraging me all the way. I think he's still wondering where his *real* wife is and who the impostor is who insists on running three nights a week. He tried to get me to run with him when we were teenagers and I wasn't having it. I'm not sure why I decided to start this. But I'm glad I did. It's such a sense of accomplishment for me.