Going Postal

Through rain, sleet, or snow (ok, the last two would never happen, but I digress) I was determined to tackle W5D3 tonight. For the workout, I'd be running non-stop for 20 minutes. Keep in mind that, up until this point, I haven't run more than 8 minutes without stopping and that was done on Tuesday night. Granted, the overall minutes are only increasing by 4 (16 minutes Tuesday vs 20 minutes Thursday), but the runs have always been broken up.

Thanks to a random evening thunderstorm that decided to start about the time I planned on beginning my run, I ended up going out much later. The workout started a little iffy with a minor ache in my right knee. I think it was the result of planting awkwardly in the first few steps as I attempted to get into the slow pace I planned on going but, whatever the reason, it went away fairly quickly. Because of the pace I was running at, the first 10 minutes weren't too bad. Toward the ten minute mark, my legs felt a bit tired but it wasn't anything to worry about.

At the halfway point, though, I found a new burst of energy. I upped the slow pace just a tad and continued on at the new pace until about the 15 minute mark of the run. I knew there was still plenty of time left and wanted to conserve my energy for the home stretch so I slowed back down to my original pace. I was honestly surprised, at that point, how well my legs were doing considering my previous PR for consecutive minutes. However, at about 18 minutes, my legs began to scream expletives at me for pushing them so hard. It wasn't pain, just the expected aches of muscles building.

The "1 minute remaining" announcement came and went; leaving a feeling of imminent disaster in its wake as my legs felt like they were on the verge of exploding. In the midst of the toughest mental battle I've faced so far in this program, I soldiered on. Before I knew it, the "workout complete" announcement sounded and I officially did what I thought may have been impossible. My words of acceptance of this fact were something along the lines of:

"I f***ing did it. Awesome."

A bit more subdued than one might expect but I'm happy as hell right now. At the risk of being cliche, I must admit that my confidence is through the roof. I fully expect to finish the C25k in the 9 week window it resides in rather than the 11 weeks I gave myself as a safety net. Week 6 starts Sunday and I can't wait.