Day Twenty-Nine: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

I barely thought about running today. I wasn't tired, or overly busy, or afraid; I just woke up uninterested. They say it takes 30 days of repetition to make any behavior a habit. Today is day twenty-nine of my training. So close to that benefit... Was I going to falter just shy of the mark?

Sometime in the late afternoon I sat down at the computer and logged in to blogger.com. I selected "New Post" and typed "Day Twenty-Nine:" in the title. As I was about to finish with, "Day Off," because I had no intention of working out at that point, I noticed I felt a twinge of guilt. There was still time left in the day to get a run in. Yes, I did have a boatload of work I needed to do for a class I'm taking - an advanced bartender course that my company is requiring I complete - and the exam is next week in Las Vegas - but surely I could carve out 30 minutes for a sprint if I really wanted to.

My eyes fell down the page to previous days' posts, and comments left by friends from all parts of my life. New friends, old friends, former bosses and colleagues, neighbors, ex-boyfriends, cousins... So many people I care about have been showing me their support. Not just here, but on facebook and gmail, too, and with calls and texts. And even more amazing - so many have told me that I am inspiring them to get off their duffs and run again, or try running, or just think about getting in shape. The benefits I feel are so tremendous; if I can help someone else realize that feeling for themselves, well then, I don't know what more I could ask for out of all this.

I had a little talk with myself, put the shoes on, and took myself to the gym. I felt like I needed to play a little game with myself, to keep my own interest; so I decided I wanted to test myself - and see if I could run one mile straight, without stopping, and faster than my pace in yesterday's race. While my overall pace had been a 13:30 mile, I'd completed my first mile in 13:13, so I decided to try to beat that.

In the gym I was running next to a man who looked like a trainer and I glanced at his speed. He was running at 7 mph! Oh geez. Funny thing was I thought initially we'd looked like we were running the same pace. I think I just looked like I was working as hard as he was!

I cranked mine up as high as I could stand it (5.8) and kept it at that speed through the whole mile, just until the last 10th of a mile when I had to drop down to 4.8 because I simply could not breathe. In the end, I ran my mile in 12:20! A whole minute faster than I'd run it yesterday! Then I got off the treadmill and did some small arm weights. My body's getting a little weird... stronger in some places - and not stronger everywhere else. I definitely need to start doing sit-ups. Oh dread. I think I might hate sit-ups more than I hate running, which is - as you know - a pretty strong dose of hate!

Quote of the day: "Now that which don't kill me, can only make me stronger. I need you to hurry up now, 'cause I can't wait much longer!"