C25K: Week 5 Day 3

Today was it, the first non interval run of the C25K program.  My confidence fluctuated all week as I worked towards this run.  Part of kept thinking about how strong I've been running this time through the C25K program.  But then the evil part of my mind kept saying "20 minutes...that's a loooong time."  Finally on the drive to the gym today I set my intentions, quieted my inner doubt and decided I was going to finished all 20 minutes of the run, strong and upright and hopefully at a 10:30 min/mile pace.

Of course, then I saw the bank sign on the way to the gym that said it was 98 degrees outside.  Holy cow that's hot!  I have GOT to figure out a better time to run then at 11:30 when the sun is beating down on me.  And that's pretty much all I thought about for 20 minutes while I ran.  Well, that and "oh my gosh my mouth is so dry!"  I'm glad my husband forgot his nice Camelback water bottle today because I totally stole it and took it to the gym with me.  I downed all 24 ounces after my run was over before I even finished the 5 minute cool down walk.

So then I started thinking about what kind of running gear I need to invest in.  I know I'm only running short distances right now but I may want to look into going ahead and buying a hydration belt since it's so hot.  Plus that might help me get use to it for the long distance runs.  Do any of you have a hydration belt? What brand do you recommend?


Well, now for the information you've all been waiting for, pace and distance.  In the 20 minute run today, I clocked a distance of 2.04 miles.  So I amazed myself keeping it around a 10 min/mile pace!  I even used the lap button on the Garmin and I remember my first mile clocked at 9:40 and the other was 9:50ish.  So that's pretty freaking awesome!  I have NEVER run a 9:40 mile in my life.  Not even in middle school when we had to do the President's fitness challenge.  So I feel good about that.  The downside is that I'm getting accustomed to that pace and I'm starting to expect it out of myself so I'm worried about how down I'm going to feel when the run times are just more than I can do at that speed.  Of course, I would really have liked to see a negative split.  Though I'm not a real runner I talk to enough of them to know that negative splits are something you are supposed to strive for.  But I did push and give it all I had at the end so I'll have to live with that.

My main motivation coming up on the end of the run when I really had to push that last minute was that I left my water bottle at the point where I started the running interval and I was for sure not going to have to walk to get to it.  So I pushed hard at the end so I could make it back to the mile marker and get my water!  Whatever works right!  And yes, I did make it to the water bottle just as the narrator said time's up.