Week 5 Day 3 (So exactly how long IS week 5, anyway?)

Well, I've stretched out week 5. The short version is that having had the pleasure of my husband's company the whole time thus far, I want to progress together as well. There have been a few occasions where he was unable or unwilling to come with me for a variety of legitimate reasons. So I resorted to simply walking for 45-60 minutes and running flat & downhill stretches just to maintain and not backslide. I even forced myself to run up a few of the hills that have been tough for me just to prove I can.

So last night we embarked on Week 5, Day 3. This one calls for a 20 minute run, with warmup/cooldown walks on either end. Since it had been many days since the last run, I was on the fence as to whether to repeat the last day's regimen or "move on" to the 20 minute run. Finally I told Matt "Let's try for 20 minutes, and I'll commit to at least 8." So off we went. At 8.5 minutes, I said "New interim goal - 12 minutes." And once that was achieved: "OK, at least 15 minutes." By then we'd turned around and were on our way back to the house. So we got to 20 minutes, and by then it was downhill or flat the rest of the way, so we kept going until we hit our street (which is our stopping point for the cool down walk the rest of the way home). Total running time: 26 minutes. This is a first ever for me in my life. Even when I was forced to run in PE in school, I can guarantee you I never jogged that long, even WITH a walk break. I'm so unbelievably proud of myself that I could burst.

A very big Thank You to my husband Matt for being so encouraging and going along with me. I definitely could do this myself, but it's easier for me to push myself when he's with me.