I had a slight training setback. I did not run on Friday and Saturday. I did a run last Wednesday which involved three 9 minute runs with a one minute run in between each 9 minute run. It was tough. I almost fell off the treadmill while I ran the last 3 minutes and decided to close my eyes for a bit. Not a good idea I found out.

I took a break for a few days, but I decided yesterday to get back to it. I am repeating last week's training schedule and I hope that prepares me to better move ahead with my training and to be successful.

Onward and upward...

Proceed...with caution

That is the decision I am making right now regarding my running training. I went to the gym today and ran my 6 min run, 1 min walk, repeat for 30 minutes plan. It was so much more doable being at the gym. I feel good and I didn't find it TOO hard. Next week, things get dicey. The time I need to spend running is longer (8 min on Monday, 9 on Wednesday, etc). I am going to try it and see how it goes.

None of this has been easy, but I have been able to do it so far. One thing I know is that I can't do the running part at home. At least I am able to complete it somewhere...

I had my first post-writing class meeting with my classmates from last term. At the end of the term, there were 7 of us, and 4 of us managed to get together last night at Starbucks. We set up a schedule to meet on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month to share our writing progress. We discussed what we are writing, what we hope to write, and what we are reading...fun fun fun. This is the kind of interaction that is truly motivating.

One of the girls actually quit her job since the class ended and has almost finished a rough draft of her novel - WOW! That is inspirational. I am excited to continue to meet with this group and I hope that much creativity will come out of it and that they will motivate me to do all of the writing I want to do.

Ok, this week has been tough on the running front. I think it's partly because I have the treadmill set up at the house now and I can work out there. I think it affects my mental state to be running while only 7 feet away from my couch. It's impossible to do. I have decided that I will only work out at home on my walking days. I am going to try my running workout tomorrow at the gym to test my theory. I don't think it is as physically difficult as it has felt, but I could be wrong. If that is the case, I will repeat training week 3 next week as well, before moving on to week 4, because week 4 is going to be brutal and I need to make sure I can handle the level that I am at now first. We'll see how it goes. I will keep you posted.

On a wonderful note, I took advantage of a birthday gift certificate of a massage. (I know, I held out for 5 months before using it) It was WONDERFUL!!! My back has been hurting from running, and the masseuse told me that I had a couple of knots in my lower back, which she worked out. I feel a lot better already. She said that running shouldn't make my back hurt tomorrow. I am looking forward to that. Although, if that's the case, I may need to save my pennies for more massages in the future...

Joaquin is a pretty considerate kid and I am reminded of this constantly by things he does.

The other day I was cleaning the kitchen after dinner and it was obvious that I was very tired. Who knows if I was being cranky or not, but it was clear to Joaquin at least (who pays attention to these things) that his mama was exhausted. I was starting to make lunch for him and he looked over at me and said, "Mom, you can just make me PB&J...I'm easy."

He was trying to lighten my load, just a little, in the only way he knew how. I am enjoying watching them grow up so much, especially when I can see whispers of the people they are becoming.

Ok, yesterday was my 9th day of training and it was almost my last. I don't think I have ever worked so hard in a 30 minute span in my life. All I had to do was run 3 minutes then walk 1 minute and repeat that 7 times, then run 2 minutes. That means, however, that out of a 30 minute workout, I ran for 23 minutes. I don't think I have ever done that in my life. My face was purple, the word 'masochist' kept running through my mind, I thought I was going to get dizzy and fall off the treadmill, and I almost stopped a few times. I told myself I was done with this stupid idea and what in the hell did I want to do this for anyway?

However, within 45 minutes of completing the task, I started to feel good. I figure that if I can do that, I can work my way up to running for 30 minutes right? So I continue along this crazy path, and at least for the moment, I have decided to keep going. There is something to be said for the sense of accomplishment that comes along with doing something this difficult.

The last day of training on this program is June 14, Flag Day, no less! On this day, I will run for an uninterrupted 30 minute period of time.

Funny, 30 minutes never seemed that long before...