I Did It...and didn't die!

I looked fear and failure in the eyeballs and said, "Bring it! Bring on the pain. Bring on the mind games. Bring on the running in a stationary place for 45 minutes. I will beat you down!"

Ok, maybe it wasn't quite that dramatic...I'm following a Couch to 10K running program. Last week I ran in 5 minute intervals (run 5 minutes, walk 1, repeat 5 times). Starting today it jumped to 8 minute intervals (run 8 minutes, walk 1, repeat 4 times). I honestly didn't think I could do it. Plus, I've had some leg pain issues this week.

I thought about just repeating the last workout - running 5 minute intervals. I mean, it's still running and I might hurt my leg if I push too far. When I got up this morning my leg felt great. I decided I'd try - if I fail, I fail and just try again on Monday.

And even though I did knock my iPhone off the holder and had to chase it off the treadmill (seriously, people laughed I'm sure), I DID IT! I ran the snot out of some 8 minute intervals. Does my leg hurt? Yep, but nothing a little aleve and ice won't fix. I ran/walked a total of 3.64 miles in 45 minutes (about half a mile of that being the 5 minute warm up and 5 minute cool down).

I learned today that my mind plays a much bigger part in my running ability than I previously realized. I learned to thank God for the little victories - that's what keeps us going. I also learned to wear my armpocket instead of trying to balance my phone on the treadmill.

Best tunes: Once again, Will Smith to the rescue with Gettin Jiggy and Miami. These are the only two Will Smith songs on my iPod - maybe I should download more since I seem to like it so much.

By Chrystal Murphy