Currently, I’m listening to Chuck Palahniuk and the audiobook version of his essay collection Stranger than Fiction. Some stories are longer than others, but each averages around 6-7 minutes. It’s been nice to try to lose myself in the listening, even though my brain attempts to figure out approximately how much time I have left to go.
As a quick overview: The Color Run is a national charity event, where participants run/walk a 5K and get doused in colorful powder along the way. Most participants don white clothing, and by the time they finish… they’re a brilliant, colorful mess.
For now, here’s a photo of me at the end of the event… shortly before I left the main stage and headed to my car. Tomorrow’s recap should be pretty fun.
Liz and I have been doing our running in the mornings, and so far that’s been working out pretty well. With a slight increase in the overall time (and us adding in some ab exercises, immediately afterwards)… we try to get out the door as close to 7 AM as possible.
And lately? It’s been pretty darned cold out there. I think this morning the temperature was 41, but the “feels like” temp was 35. When Liz asked if I had any gloves to wear, I thought for a second and realized – Yes! I did.
Here’s what totally helped: I looked around online, and many other people had reservations about this particular segment of the program. Many folks were giving the same advice: slow down. Slow it WAY down. So though I looked like a senior citizen with a limp, we kept things slow and I was able to keep one foot moving in front of the other. Time enough to work on speed and distance… for now, my goal is time-based.
Yesterday, Liz and I started week 4 of the Couch to 5K program, and I’ll say this: I was pretty nervous, going into things… as it was definitely kicked up a notch.
The lines “And all you need is just one more excuse,” and “I want to hear your very best excuse” are perfect for me. Whenever I feel my energy flagging, I fixate on these two lines and dig in a little more.
As of this second week, I’m becoming more aggressive about our runs – treating them in a kind of combative way. I’m hoping this will change, as I can’t imagine maintaining this mindset for a super long time. But for now, it’s giving me a good kick in the ass, to ensure I keep at it.
Yesterday, Liz and I decided to start up a running regimen. We’re doing the Couch to 5K plan, as Liz is going to be participating in a run with her sister, Katie.