YES. I DID IT. IT IS DONE.
I mean, sure, it happened a week later than I wanted it to but whatever.
I DID THE RUN I STRUGGLED WITH LAST TIME AND WAS WORRIED ABOUT THIS TIME BUT IT WAS GOOD AND I FEEL LIKE I COULD KEEP GOING BUT I’LL QUIT WHILE I’M AHEAD.
*breathes*
So today was the big 20 minute run. I was meant to have done it already but life happened again and delayed it but I got there in the end. I was a little concerned because, as I keep saying over and over, it’s a big run and I struggled with it once before. On top of that, I’ve had to deal with delays between runs so I was worried that might hinder my progress.
But somehow, I got out there and did it. Maybe it was sheer determination, maybe I was better prepared, maybe it was the thought of the pizza I ordered waiting at home for me. We’ll never know but for whatever reason, I smashed it.
I don’t mean to brag, I know so many before me have done this and more, I know many more will do this after me, and they’ll do it better, but this is a big deal for me, this is the biggest speed bump I’ve overcome so far. I knew I could do it, just, but I never thought I could feel so good right after it.
Today I decided to go with David Bowie again but this time I went for The Man Who Sold the World because it’s one of the best albums of all time and it’s weird and distracting but also sort of good for running. So I put it on and I was good to go.
I started off very slowly because I wanted to go the distance and not feel like I was dying in the process. I was mostly successful. About halfway through there were some tight chest pains on my left side that extended up to my neck and jaw so my anxiety screamed HEART ATTACK but my determination said shut up, you’re not getting out of this.
Weirdly enough the first half was actually harder for me. I kept a decent pace but for whatever reason my shins started to hurt pretty early on. But I just focused on the music and carried on, it wasn’t too bad.
I already knew I could do at least 10 minutes without any trouble so I just decided not to even worry about it until the half way point, until then I’d know what I was dealing with.
The music definitely helped because I’m a big Bowie groupie so I distracted myself by imagining him smiling down at me for putting his music to such good use. He would then invite me to a party in Berlin with Iggy Pop and Lou Reed and offer me a cocaine milkshake. The rest of the night would be a bit of a blur but I’d wake up in New York to find my album had gone platinum.
I should clarify, I have never tried cocaine in milkshake form or any other form and I don’t intend to. I don’t know how I’d respond if David Bowie offered me some and I guess now we’ll never know.
ANYWAY
I was brought back to reality by Jo Whiley’s 5 minute warning. Had I really been running for that long? How the hell did I do that? Best not question it, I’d made it this far and I was feeling surprisingly good. A bit tired and sweaty but good. When I reached this point last time I could barely hold myself up so this was a huge improvement.
That last 5 minutes also flew by and when I heard the two minute warning I decided I had it in me to speed up, not a lot, but a bit. So I managed to maintain that speed until the very end but even then I realised I still had a little life left in me so I ran for an extra minute, just to see if I could and I could and I did and I now feel very good about the longer runs just around the corner.
There are going to be good days, there are going to be bad days and nothing I do in advance ever seems to make a difference but the end is in sight (sort of, it never really ends) and I think I can actually get there.
So if all goes to plan I’ll be starting Week 6 on Monday. I’m almost all caught up because last year I made it up to W6R2. This time I’m determined to make it all the way. I may be hindered by LIFE because it continues to get more complicated but I’ll find a way. I’ll do it in my lunch break at work if I have to.
W5R3 - nailed it!
W5R3
W5R3 - I did it!!
W5r3 - smashed it 😁
