Am I the Walrus? No, I am the Tortoise…Coo Coo Ca Choo

And no, I am not the Eggman, just the Tortoise of Aesop’s fables. I am slow and steady and if I don’t win the race I sure as sugar finish it! Today was Day 3 of Week 5 in the 9 week Couch to 5K series. This was a tough one and even though a few times I wanted to stop I hung in there and made it through. The reason today was so hard is twofold.

1.) This was the longest run time to date, 20 minutes non-stop and I haven’t done that in over a year making it seem very daunting.
2.) My head and body were not in sync, meaning a few times a slight side ache or other diversion almost made me stop. My body just felt slower/heavier than it did on Wednesday like it wasn’t quite awake. I think my head got so caught-up in the longer time it started to bog me down in the first half of the run, but I got over it.

A few times my mind wandered and I realized a speed walker might lap me, so I had to speed up. The first 5 minutes were fine, but then a slight side ache crept in (Princezz, you are not alone) and I had to focus on breathing and ignoring the pain (which was mild and annoying) to keep going. I also had to face my own Heartbreak Hill of course my Heartbreak Hill is not very long or very steep, but it came at about the 12 minute point when my legs practically screamed at me “What the Hell are you doing? We don’t like you right now! Stop running uphill, we mean it!” Yet up the hill I went and the later little dips and rises were much easier to take after I got up the more challenging slope.

I kept telling myself to keep going, distracted myself a few times with nature (a few pretty cardinals and suddenly appearing squirrel), occasionally reminded my legs to pick up the pace, and before I knew it I was done. Whew! It was tough, but I feel like it was a good challenge and next weeks even longer runs will hopefully be better now that I have made it over this hurdle. So now it’s time for the Tortoise to get on with her day. There is work to be searched for, interviews to prep for, and of course plenty of horribly daytime TV to amuse me if I am so inclined…but hopefully I can resist that until the work part is done. So onward and upward I shall plod on!