jog for 20 minutes straight

I was running/walking daily for a week and a half. I felt great, and every day I ran a little more. On the last day I did it, I ran way more than I thought myself capable of, and I probably could have kept going but I had a lot more walking and a full day of work to do and I didn’t want to overdo it.

The next day I had a seizure. That was Wednesday, today is Saturday. I thought I’d feel well enough by today to run again, but I guess not. Sucks! I’ve never had a seizure before. I wonder how long it will take to get back to normal.

since my last post. I just have not had time! Suddenly I have so much to do. I look ahead in my week for a chunk of “free” time, and then I assign it to something else, so I’m not getting enough sleep. And I’m getting sick again! I have been sick four or five times since Christmas – what is up with 2007?

This time I’m taking lots of vitamins, eating fruit, drinking lots of tea. Hope that helps. I feel better now than I did yesterday, but I got less sleep…

I again didn’t run for about four days. I was fatigued. I wasn’t feeling all that well. Every time I had time to run, I’d ask myself, “Could I run now?” And the answer was always “Nope.” But last night I “felt” it, so I ran for 16 minutes. Yay!

I was thinking beyond this goal. After I complete this goal, I’m going to focus on other “health” related goals instead of running for more and more time. I don’t have that much time, and I’d really like to focus on my diet next.

Three minutes. I got an awful pain in my stomach within 10 seconds of starting. I tried to breathe more deeply – that made it hurt more. I tried pressing on the spot – that made it hurt more. I barely moved my feet enough to call it “jogging” – that made it hurt more. I pushed myself like crazy as if I wasn’t feeling any pain, and it hurt more. So I had to stop at 3 minutes.

Dang! I thought I was over this hump. It’s discouraging. I might try again later tonight. Going for 16 minutes this time.

I used a timer that I couldn’t see the progress of today. I like that.

Today I felt like I had energy throughout my run. Usually I feel like quitting in the first 10 minutes, and then it gets easier. The only thing that keeps me going sometimes is knowing that if I hit some “paltry” amount like 8 minutes (used to be difficult, but shouldn’t be any more) I’ll have to report it on here and I’ll feel embarrassed.

So, 15 minutes!

And I think I got over another hump, because I felt like I could keep going – in fact, I was half watching the timer, but I was a few seconds over 14 minutes before I realized I was done.

I’m noticing which songs really help me stay in rhythm. The last song I listened to made me pick up my pace, and amazingly, it gave me more energy. I’m sweaty now, but I feel soo good!

I just ran for 13 minutes straight!

Boy, I’m just unmotivated. I’m tired. I haven’t been sleeping enough. Therefore I don’t want to run.

I’m not going to force myself. My body knows it needs sleep more than exercise right now. I’m going to listen to my body.

Nap time!

It was hard. I felt my strength giving out at about 11 minutes and 30 seconds, and I’ve never “barely” made it before. Next time I run I may have to do 12 again.

I just ran in place for 11 minutes, and I was working it! I ran without music because people are already in bed here (luckily I’m downstairs, so they don’t hear my feet pounding). Instead of doing a light jog, like normal, I imagined running in place, and it was harder, but I did it. Right afterward I thought I would throw up, I felt so sick. And during it, I realized why, at this point, most people run outside – there’s no easy place to spit while running in my room!

This was hard. At about 3 minutes of hard running in place, I thought to myself, “No way can I keep this up for 11 minutes”. But then I imagined putting this entry and knowing I’d have to try again for 11, and then I thought “Well, I have to at least hit 10, since the whole point of adding this goal was because I could hit 10. And by the time I get to 10, what’s one more minute?” I also tried to imagine that I was in a Nazi camp and was being forced to run in place for 11 minues. With all these thoughts, I managed to convince myself that I didn’t exactly have a choice except to run the 11 minutes. I hope 12 will be easier tomorrow because of today, but now I feel like I’m on level 2 and I’m starting over again.

I feel like this is truly the second leg of the journey. Now that I’ve hit my 10 minute goal, I’m starting to tell a few people who will probably hold me accountable. I’m tired of being the wimp all the time. Without knowing that I’d been running a little bit, my cousin asked me to be her workout buddy at the gym, so now I really need to work it so I won’t look like a baby! I hope I can hit 20 minutes before our first trip.

Now that the nausea has passed, I feel absolutely great. I hope I’m not sore tomorrow.

Oh, and while I was running, I had NO sharp pains in my rib cage, sides, or stomach! Wow! I hope this trend continues! I now have hope that my endurance actually is improving.