Week 5 Day 1

Monday. Brisk 5-minute warmup walk, then: Jog for 5 minutes; walk for 3 minutes; jog for 5 minutes; walk for 3 minutes; jog for 5 minutes.

Now that I am past the half-way point, we are getting into the "meat and potatoes" portion of the workouts. This is where it starts to work you up to the final push before running the 5K. Over the weekend, I was nursing my shins as I seem to have developed shin splints. This is most likely due to the fact that I literally went from being a certified couch potato to being a runner pretty quickly. Plus, I often run on hard surfaces like concrete. My muscles are just not used to this much activity...but all the more reason to keep going, I need to get in shape!
So I found myself some kinesiology tape - that colorful tape you may have seen the Olympians wearing on various parts of their bodies - and tried it out on Saturday. It seemed to be working, as I did not feel any pain in my shin...of course, all I was doing was walking around the house. I was eager to try it out during my run to see if it really would work. Turns out, it did work! I was feeling almost no pain in my shins! Evan was skeptical and thought that it was probably producing a placebo effect. But hey, if I wasn't feeling any pain, I was happy. Of course, I made sure to stretch properly before and after and ice my shin after the run. Just because I wasn't feeling any pain did not mean it wasn't there.

I felt GREAT on today's run. I honestly felt like I could run a 5K today! The first 5 minute interval felt amazing. Since I wasn't feeling much pain in my shins, I felt like I could run forever. When the walking part came up, I was almost disappointed that I had to stop! I wanted to keep going. But I just cheered myself on, and couldn't wait for the next running part. I tried to push myself a little harder, and run a little faster. I felt great. I got to the half-way point a lot faster than I thought I would, but I was still feeling great. I decided to take it easy on the last 5-minute interval until it was time for the cool-down. I kept saying, "I can't believe I'm doing this!" I was grinning ear to ear. I never would have thought I was capable of this type of exercise. I am so proud of myself, and I really appreciate all the encouragement from all of you. Did I mention I felt great today?!

So with that, I leave you with this...