Can You Believe I Ran 5 Miles?

I know I posted this quote before, but it felt so appropriate today.  I just need to replace one word. ...the idea that I'd ever go 5 miles seemed impossible.  And of course it was until I ran 5 miles.

I was preparing for my long run a week ago Saturday and decided it would be nice to run down by the Bosque instead of in my neighborhood.  So I drove down there and I was glad I did!  My Last long run was three miles and for some reason this one was suppose to be about 5 miles.  I have never ever run 5 miles, and I wasn't sure I could do it, but I was willing to give it a try. I was only .6 miles into my run when I decided to change it to a two mile run.  My whole body hurt and it just wasn't going well.  Around a mile and a half I decided I should go ahead and make it a 3.1, my body still hurt but I was feeling better.  When I hit 3 miles I decided to continue and run for about 4.25 miles, my body was feeling better.  Around 3.75 miles I decided I was to close to 5 to stop so I ran 5.17!  My feet felt like they were broken, but I finished.

Not only did I run 5 miles, but my Garmin (watch that tracks my running time and distances) tells me it was my fastest 5K yet.  That really surprised me because I hurt most of the 5 k portion. I felt must better around 3 miles. My question is did my body really start feeling better at three miles or does it just go numb to the pain??

It blows my mind that a 10K is only 1.2 miles more than 5 miles.  My goal was to be able to run a 10k by January.  I can't see a reason why I wouldn't be able to run one by June now.  Now I just need to speed up to a snails pace and I can run a race!

I Ran My 1st 5K

I ran my first 5K (run/walk/run)  today and I am so excited.  The 1st half of the 5k I was little worried I wouldn't finish, however, the last half I rocked it, I could have gone further!  My first mile was 16:15, so I figured my last mile would be around 18. However, I was so happy to see my last mile was 16:42.  I was happy to be that consistent.

One of my first goals was to run a 5K and I thought I would run in a 5K race. When I started looking at races I realized that I am so slow I didn't really want to go run around other people.  Then one day I saw this T-shirt (see above) on the internet.  I loved it, so I bought it for accomplishing my goal, I felt like it was very fitting for my running ability.

I think it was interesting today.  I ran at a 20/40 pace, and my pace is almost exactly the same as it was on 15/45.  I am not discouraged right now because my goal is to go further both in total distance and in time of continuous running. I am heading in the right direction on both of those.

3.1 down 10 miles to go!

An Interesting Thing Happened When I Upped My Run/Walk Ratio......

Today, I wanted to increase the time I ran.  I wanted to go from 20 minute runs to 30.  However, I realized I didn't have time to do a 30 minute run.  I do a warm up and a warm down and then I have to get home and that takes 5-10 minutes more.  So basically in order to run 20 minutes I am gone between 30-35 minutes.  So I decided to up my running ratio instead.  I went up from 15sec walk/45 sec run to 20 sec walk/ 40 sec run.  I was worried about running the extra 5 seconds.  When I started I was only running 10 seconds at at time and I was having a hard time with it.  Then when I went up to running 15 seconds at a time, that extra 5 seconds felt a lot longer than 5 seconds. At the same time you reduce your walking time by 5 seconds.  I was worried this time about the same thing happening.  I was also worried about not having enough walking time to recover before I ran again. The 1st 5 minutes was hard and of course I wondered if I made the right decision in upping my ratio. The second 5 minutes I settled in and did much better. I discovered something interesting at this point, I felt good while I was running, my legs didn't hurt, my breathing was fine, and I felt good. However, as soon as it was walking time, my legs hurt, my breathing was heavy, and I felt bad.  What is up with that?  I know I couldn't have gone out and just run 1.5 miles straight so why did I feel bad while walking, but not running?  Anyone have any thoughts or ideas for me.