Really Feeling It + I Ran a 5K!

Update on Running from these past few days:

Monday

I ran for 20 minutes again.  I went into it feeling so encouraged because of my progress from Saturday!  I started off feeling fine, I ran no lower than 5.0 speed this time, and ran as fast as 6.5 speed.  At about 14 minutes in, I was starting to feel like I just couldn't do it again... Frank encouraged me, and I started praising God, asking for Him to give me strength.  My body and purpose are for His Will, so why shou;dn't I praise Him!? :D  He is so good and He has blessed me with a wonderful man to call my husband :)

After all...

I ran 1.72 miles in 20 minutes!

Tuesday

I got to the gym much later than expected so I really only had about half an hour to work out.  I made the best of it!  I biked for a mile between 85 and 92 rpm, I did 20 reps of each machine after that:

Lower back
Glutes
Row
Shoulder Press
(and two other arm machines)

Then I biked another mile for as fast as I could as long as I could!  That was my cross-training!

Wednesday

Wednesday was a fun day.  I got to do the ab workout from P90X with my friend Emily (who is a gem!) and that was tough, a lot of fun to laugh at, and not that bad!  I can definitely feel that I worked out my abs!

After we finished that, I skipped into the treadmill area and ran for as long as I could (since they were getting ready to close) I was determined to run as fast as I could to make the most distance in the amount of time I had left.  So in 10 minutes, I ran 1 mile!!!!  And then we had to go... thinking of how I could make up the time I lost from not being able to finish, I decided I would run around the entire apartment complex.  This was a big decision for me since I'm not used to running in thick moist polluted air yet.  But I ran around the complex twice!  I said in a previous post that I wasn't sure how far around that is, but I'm going to assume that it's almost a mile if you go twice.  I'm not sure how far I ran, but I did it in good pace and non-stop!  I was proud :)

Thursday

Here was my cross training for Thursday:

Quarter mile between speeds 5.0 and 6.5 in 3:21
Low Back Machine - 20 reps at 60 pounds
Glute Machine - 20 reps at 30 pounds
Pectoral Fly - 20 reps at 30 pounds
Chest Press - 20 reps at 30 pounds
Row - 20 reps at 30 pounds
Shoulder Press - 20 reps at 30 pounds
Lat Pull Down - 20 reps at 60 pounds
Bideps Curl - 10 reps at 20 pounds
Adductor - 20 reps at 40 pounds
1.12 miles bike level 8, between speeds 70 and 107
Quarter mile run between 5.5 and 6.5 in 3:12
Lots of stretching.

Friday

Rest

Saturday

Here's the big one for the week....

I ran an entire 5K - 3.1 miles!

Yes, that's right!  I ran a 5K on Saturday :)

Here were my goals:

I wanted to make any sort of time in my first mile, then beat that time in my second mile.  What ever my mile time was by the time I hit mile two, I would try to beat with mile three.  This is how it all went down:

1 mile mark: 12:07

2 mile mark: 24:09 - I beat my one mile mark by 5 seconds!

2.5 mile mark: 30:17 - I beat my last 2.5 mile run by 45 seconds!

3 mile mark: 35:56 - I beat my 2 mile mark by 55 seconds!

3.1 mile mark: 36:54

I ran an entire 5K (on the treadmill) in 36 minutes and 54 seconds!  I did it!  I felt a bit more exhausted afterwards than I did when I ran 2.5 miles.  But I still felt good :) I would love to give special thanks to my darling husband who stood by me, encouraging me, and taking times for me as I ran - he is brilliant and I love him!

Well Sunday, I rested, feeling the goodness from the run the day before.  Today, Monday, I am scheduled to run 25-30 minutes.  I think I will start off tonight with doing 25 minutes, and then on Wednesday I will do 30.  Again, if you'd like to see the training guide I'm following, you can look HERE!  Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement - please continue to pray for me as I'm reaching further towards my goal!  God is so good and He is the reason I am able to do this, it is His strength that I am leaning on.

Man... I ran a 5K!