DAY 27

Greetings,


Here's a recap of week 4 so far:

Monday: Still exhausted from the party I hosted on Sunday, I dragged myself out of bed at 5 AM for my 20-minute run/1-minute walk/7-minute run training session. Totally unmotivated, I began my warm-up around 5:30 AM at Kelly Drive. About 5 minutes into my run, I realized that I felt fine, as opposed to sluggish and tired. My brain was telling me that I should've skipped this morning's run and caught up on some much needed rest, but my body was saying I could definitely run through the tiredness...and I did. This run turned out to be a breeze, even though I still felt like going back to bed afterwards.

Tuesday: I stayed up until midnight on Monday night working on a presentation for work, so I was completely set on skipping my 5:30 AM cross-training session at the gym on Tuesday. However, I pulled myself out of bed again at 5 AM, much to my surprise. When I arrived at LA fitness, I was still in a sleep fog. But after a few minutes on the StairMaster, I was completely pumped. I hashed out a good half-hour on the StairMaster and a quick half-hour lifting weights with no problem. I was completely shocked that I pulled through this workout, considering how tired was from a lack of sleep. I eventually lost steam at work around 3pm, so I left early and hit the pillow as soon as I got home.

Wednesday: With my goal for this week in mind (30 minutes of running with no walk breaks), I pushed through 20 minutes and hit 25 minutes. It was not as easy as hitting previous goals, but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The last 5 minutes was a bit tough, but I made it through.

Thursday: Cross-training at the gym for 75 minutes. I took the day off from work, so I focused a little more time on weight lifting. I really think the leg strengthening exercises are helping with my knees. They have been feeling fine this week.

Friday: My attempt at 25 minutes this morning was a bit more labored than Wednesday's attempt, but I made it happen. I was pretty tired afterward, but we'll see what happens on Sunday. I really wanted to give it another go on Saturday before my last run of the week on Sunday, but I'll let it go and REST as scheduled.

Saturday: I rested as scheduled, but it wasn't easy. I can't believe I've gotten to the point of WANTING to run on my days off. I actually look forward to running. However, I keep reading about how important rest is for recovery and injury prevention, so I will stick with at least one day of complete rest per week, no running nor cross-training. I'm sure I'll look forward to those days off when my training get more intense down the line.

Sunday: Will I be able to meet this week's goal and hit 30 minutes? Check back in tomorrow to find out!



Ready to run tomorrow,


Almost Thirty