I ran for twenty effing minutes without stopping!!! I am so so proud of myself. This challenge has been eating away at me ever since I started the C25K 6 weeks ago. I stupidly looked ahead and saw that I'd have to run for 20 minutes non-stop, and since then I have been convinced that I couldn't do it. The first attempt I lasted almost 10 minutes. The second try was about 5. The third try I got to about 2 minutes and my HRM was playing up so I just gave up.
I ordered a new chest strap for my HRM, and it was still playing up. Overnight, a thought came to me... I haven't tightened it in a while, and when I got my new one I tightened it to the same length as my old one. So this arvo when I got home from work, I grabbed it and tightened it another two inches or so. It's elastic, so of course I haven't lost two inches around my chest.... but IT WORKED. All I needed was to tighten the bloody thing and it was fine. I guess Mum is getting a HRM for her birthday as I ordered a new one as soon as the replacement chest strap wasn't working. I hope she likes it!
Anyhoo... I popped off to the gym to do my SSS and was determined to do 2 hours on the tready. I walked in the door and someone was on MY treadmill. I don't like the other four, just that one, so I was a bit disappointed. The dude looked kinda sweaty, so I put my stuff in one of the lockers and thought I'd do some weights while I waited for him to finish. Doing my weights, I realised I haven't done them in about 3 weeks. SLACKER! Even though my treadmill was free within about 5 minutes, I finished my weights sesh (only takes 20 minutes as I only do upper body) and then jumped on the treadmill.
Another guy there was running, but he was running really really slowly. I'd watched him for about ten minutes while I was doing my weights (I like to distract myself from the pain, I'm so weak in the upper body) and he ran the whole time. I thought... why not give it a go. The last few times I've attempted the run, I've done it at 7.5km/h. I walk at 6.1, and do my sprints at 9.0, so figured 7.5 was middle ground. Well... this time I put it on 6.5km/h. I can walk that fast (faster, actually) but that's about the slowest I can run without looking like a nong.
I got through the first two minutes easily. Broke a sweat, and thought I'd go for five. The Living End were on Channel V doing a live concert at a surfing festival, so I had some good tunes going. Before I knew it, ten minutes had passed, and I had just been jamming along to all my old favourites. I was breathing well, running comfortably, and felt really good. Fuck it... I'll go for the 20.
20 minutes came along really quickly. The pace was good - it wasn't easy, but I wasn't gasping for breath like I usually am. I was sweating heavily (even got some drips in my eyes!) and had to learn how to co-ordinate the drink bottle business while running. I was so proud! Done and dusted, now I can move on with the program.
I only got to about 2.5km in the 20 minutes. I'm signed up for a 5k on the 1st of April, and I want to do that in under 40 minutes. I think if I stay on track (pace my runs well, and not give up), I'll actually have a chance at achieving that. This has been such a mental block for me, and I'm happy I'm over the hurdle. As soon as I'm finished with the phone app C25K, I'm going to take my running away from the treadmill and onto the bike track. I need to train in more real conditions, and I need to learn how to pace myself without the aid of a treadmill going at the correct speed. I also need to learn how to do all this without music - the race has a 'no i-Pod' policy, so it'll just be me and my thoughts. Jeebus... I might be in trouble!
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