5 is greater than 3. Easy math. Not so easy running. Week 4 calls for two repetitions of a 3 minute run followed by 90 seconds of walking and then a 5 minute run with a 2 1/2 minute walk between the repetitions. I did it. I pushed through the whole routine. This is the first time I've really had to push myself to keep going for the whole prescribed run. I can tell this is the week that I'm going to start really feeling it.
I could tell when I started my warm up walk that today was going to be more difficult. My legs were stiff and my back was a little achy through the whole 5 minutes. Yes, achy. If Billy Ray Cyrus can use it, so can I. I did the 5 minute walk and stopped at the same broken picnic table that I always use to stretch. I took off from there and pushed myself through the first 3 minutes. My legs protested a little but started to loosen up by the end of the first 3 minutes. The 90 second walk between the 3 minute run and the 5 minute run didn't seem like enough, but I took off anyway and did the whole 5 minutes. The first 2 minutes felt great, then my legs started to tire out about midway through. I've been please that my lungs are handling the increased activity well. I ran the whole 5 and was glad to have 2 1/2 minutes to walk. The next 3 minutes were tough and the last 5 seemed to never end. Out of habit I pushed the pace up for the last 30 seconds and was really out of breath and a little light headed by the end of the run.
What started out a little rough turned into a good run because I made it through the routine. I read an article on small wins the other day and I'm counting today's whole run as a small win. I'm pretty proud that I was able to run 5 full minutes not just once, but twice. I don't think I could have done it 3 weeks ago, but now I can. It gives me some hope that I'll be able to do the full 20 minutes on week 4, day 3 if I just continue to follow the program.
Tomorrow will be a day to let my legs rest and heal. Wednesday will be the same routine as today.
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