Well, I have the chance so want to document my workouts this week. Monday was done on the treadmill. After 1.6 miles of running (mostly), the machine quit. I had to start over which was a total distraction. So, all in all a 3.1 mile day. I walked for probably 3 – 4 minutes total, but felt pretty good about the run. Tuesday was a scheduled rest day and this morning, I planned on hitting the weights but the sleep was needed – and was much better for my body than lifting was. Today, the schedule calls for a 4 mile easy run (easy — yeah right). I didn’t want to do it on my own, so decided to join a few others who have been running outside Monday and Wednesday nights. We discussed it on week 4’s Saturday run, and they have been doing it since.

The weather was great tonight — upper 50s with a slight breeze. We met at about 5:55 and waited until after 6:05 to see if others would join us. There were 3 women, another man and myself. I wish I were better with names than I am — but will certainly recognize all to say hello to on Saturdays. One woman was close to my age, and the others were all in their 20’s. I felt that I was in for the run of my life just to keep up. We finally took off and ran the same course as on Saturday — hills and all.

Apparently, doing my “homework” has paid off. I think that I was either feeling much better or was doing better because of the warmer weather. I kept up the entire time (granted it was at a slower pace), but no walking at all. I even led at part of the run, but everyone kept close. No walking, not even up the hills — ZERO Walking!!

The four miles went by quickly, keeping up a conversation along most of the route with these really nice folks (runners). I was tired at the end because I pushed myself harder than previously, but have recovered quickly. Saturday, it’s another 4 miles — but I have full confidence I can do it now. I think our time was 45 minutes – about 11+ minutes per mile, but non-stop and with hills! Remove the hills and I know I can drop several minutes from my time.

For the first time, I am actually looking forward to the rest of the training and running in the 10K!