And another one bites the dust

No, not me - another week!

I have been diligent in keeping to the programme and am so proud that I ran on Thursday and Saturday so got to the end of week 3 without faltering.  Saturday was a little draining as it was warm and muggy, bu it felt great to finish the week on target.

I approached today with my usual trepidation - how the heck was I going to ramp up from 3 min to 5 min runs when it was hard enough going from 90 seconds to 3 mins?  I am not one to back down though, so off I went, Chubby Jones in my ears as ever.  I decided I'd try to reverse my route somewhat, so that added a bit of interest.  The routine this week is Brisk five-minute warm up walk, then:
•Jog 3 minutes
•Walk 90 seconds
•Jog 5 minutes
•Walk 2-1/2 minutes
•Jog 3 minutes
•Walk 90 seconds
•Jog 5 minutes
then cool down 5 mins walk

I was amazed that the 3 minute jog that seemed so hard last week was fine today.  I suppose my focus was on what was to come.  I did find myself thinking that my calves were feeling tight as I went along, but I am always tight to start with, despite doing the stretches and warm up.  Anyhow, the first 5 minute jog loomed and off I went at my usual, tentative snail pace.  It was a challenge, but I got to the end of the 5 minutes without stopping or walking - I just ran.  The walk was so welcome, but I am happy to be noticing that it is taking me less time to get my breath back so I even had to time to enjoy some of my walk  before the sequence repeated. 

The second 3 minute jog seemed to take a very long time, but again determination saw me through.  By the time I walked to the last 5 minute jog I had taken myself to a new road to jog along, which was kind of a mistake as it started downhill and then was uphill for the last 90 seconds - eek!  Sheer willpower won out and I was elated to finish.

Another demon thwarted! 

Buoyed by this, I have 'outed' myself on facebook and ravelry as doing the programme and have loved the positive reactions.  someone pointed out that I am nearly half way through the programme - what a surprise that was as I am deliberately focusing on the current or next day.  My children keep asking me what I'm going to do when I finish the programme, but that is too nebulous for me to consider.  I'd rather take it all just one step at a time.