Day 8 - 10

Day 8, on the road - Today is the day! Can I really run the whole 2 miles without having to take a walking break? In my mind, I didn't really focus on my goal. I thought, it does not matter if I can't do it. I am a beginner, right? How about I am doing 5/5 (5 minutes running / 5 minutes walking). I got my iPod ready, plugged in my headphones and started running with the focus on my breathing. The songs were playing loud and the bass was hard on my ear drums pumping my motivation to run constantly with the beat. A couple songs later, I realized that I can go further. After a mile, I realized that I can do it, I might be able to actually pull this off. I closed my eyes to avoid seeing the long and extremely straight street in front of me. I did not want to end up wishing for the street to finally end, I just wanted to focus on my breathing and told myself: YOU CAN DO IT! A honk... a loud honk by a car. Why is that idiot honking at me? I opened my eyes and realized I reached the end of the road and almost killed myself by jumping in front of a car. The time flew by, and it was only a couple more yards back to my apartment. When I reached the front lawn, it was like a blur. My legs were aching harder than I ever could imagine, my heart was on full power, my lungs were filled with air. I decided to do the stretches outside in front of my building before I even attempted to go inside and fell in temptation of falling on the couch and pass out in this rush of adrenaline. I did it, which was the only thing on my mind. I did it!

Time: 22 minutes
Distance: 2 very proud miles
Strategy: Just running - on the road

Day 9, on the road - Today, I decided I needed to take it a little bit slower, but with a new challenge. I ended up doing a 4/4, but a longer distance was necessary to get the right exercise. My 2 mile route has a turning point at exactly 1 mile (the sidewalk ends at that point). I decided to cross the street and get into the business park which offers me plenty of opportunities. Mapquest actually was very helpful here afterwards in order to find longer routes to run. As of right now, I am at 2.5 miles, which didn't exhaust me as much as the previous running days. It was a nice run in a cool morning breeze, but I am getting bored of my neighborhood. I need a change of scenery...

Time: 32 minutes
Distance: 2.5 miles
Strategy: 4/4 - on the road

Day 10, the treadmill - Today, I was watching the kids at Jess' parents house. Rachel is Jess' mom and needed me to watch Jess' siblings who are the cutest little buggers I know. I refused to take a day of rest today, so I decided to get back on the treadmill and see if I can do my Day 8 challenge again. I was happy to figure out that I still have it, and I also could have run longer, but was interrupted by two little things: My headphones were falling out of my ear (I didn't have mine with me, so I borrowed some from the family) AND the kids wanted to play with me.
The after workout slowly shows off. My push ups are finally kicking in and my crunches are not as pathetic as they used to be when I started more than a week ago. My flabby belly is getting flatter, which I can feel when I run already.

Time: 24 minutes
Distance: 2.2 miles
Strategy: Just running - treadmill

Day 11 - Day of rest.