Exponentially Stronger

First of all...let me give a disclaimer.  Although I'm married to one, I, myself, am not a math geek.   So, please don't leave any comments about how the following statement can't be correct...it's just an analogy!!


I think I'm getting exponentially stronger each day (as opposed to incrementally stronger)!   When I first started running I was happy if I ran a full minute before needing to walk.  The other day I was excited to be able to run about three and a half miles with just one walk break.  Today I went a full 5K, not only with no walking, but pretty darn fast.  After that I did Hard Body's ab torture session where I only laid down a few times (hey, don't judge until you come to the class, okay!)... After that I went swimming!  (And...for the record, it was pretty close to real swimming this time (as opposed to splash, splash, splash--rest, rest, rest, rest, rest--splash, rest, rest).  I lost count but I think I did around 400 meters of freestyle, back stroke and legs only with a kick board!!


Okay, as soon as I get over my bad self, I'll write a real post!

*****

I had the pleasure of running with Daisy again.  We went out to a new to us greenway so I could check out the course for the race I'm running on Saturday.  As usual, I was as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.  My stomach was rolling and my shins were screaming.  I warned her that quite possibly from now on I will start our runs with a disclaimer of, "Okay, I don't know how I'll do today...but, I'll try my hardest."  ...and we started at a pretty decent pace.  I resisted the urge to look at my Garmin, determined to just run...and I still haven't uploaded the data to know exactly what pace we were keeping.  It felt a bit fast for me, but my training plan called for an uptempo run today anyway so I thought I'd just give it a go.

We chatted about various things and I started wondering how long I could hold out before I would have to tell her I needed to slow down or even walk.  It is a BEAUTIFUL greenway.  I wanted SO BAD to take some pictures, but the run was feeling really good.  If I'd have been alone, I surely would have used that excuse to stop for a breather, but I had Daisy to think about and she's not accustomed to stopping mid-run the way I am. 

We got to the half way mark and I was pleased.  I decided to try to make it at least 3/4 of the way before I walked...but if you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know the problem with that is I'm certifiably directionally challenged.  Not only that, remember I was not looking at my Garmin.  I kept playing the "just run to 'there'" game with myself.  And before I knew it, I saw a familiar landmark--THE PARKING LOT!!  It was a few minutes away but I could hear Daisy's voice in my head, "it's only six minutes"...and "you got this".  So, I sucked it up and probably even sped up just a bit until we got about 25-30 feet from the "finish" and I made like a barn sour horse and sprinted in with all my might.

When I told Daisy I had been really dieing almost since we turned around, she was surprised and said she would have never guessed.  After I caught my breath, and assured myself I wasn't going to toss my breakfast...I looked down and saw that we were well under an 11:00 pace!!  I started telling myself it was just a matter of it being much cooler...and that could very well be a big part of it...but I didn't run that well in cooler weather earlier in the year.  (Meaning...I AM getting better and faster!)

I'll skip the tooting of my horn for ab torture...but I do want to pat myself on the back for my swimming efforts today.  I actually made it FIFTY whole yards swimming freestyle!!  I took about a 10 second break on the side in the middle, but still!!  The gal I was swimming with today....I'll call her Sunshine...was AMAZING.  She and Flipper should be swimming side by side as I flail and splash in the kiddie pool.  But, today was the first time I felt like I was actually swimming laps!!

The best part??  I don't feel like I need to just die!!  Although, I think I will have to hire someone to mow my lawn.  ...My husband and I take turns mowing, and it's mine....but, really?  How could he expect me to mow when I have a marathon to train for!  I only have ONE HUNDRED and SEVEN days left!!   (((Okay...that was all just said in the hopes my hubby would read this before he got home and think the lawn was STILL not mowed...but he just got home so the surprise is foiled. ...I mowed the lawn even after all that working out!!)))

Tomorrow is a much needed, and well deserved rest day!.

I'm sorry for all the self-adulation.  I'm just so darn shocked with how well I've been doing.  I'm a complete "in the moment" kind of gal so I tend to think how I'm feeling now is how I have always felt and how I will always feel in the future.  It's good for me to stop and record this moment because one day not too long from now I'm going to forget how I started today wondering if I would even be able to make it 1.5 miles without walking...and I'll need to be reminded of what all I did AFTER that thought almost had me stopping before I even got started!

Thanks for stopping in, come again real soon!
:D