Day 3

We got up at 5 AM today, to make sure we'd be done in time to get home, cleaned up, and me off to work by 7 AM.

My legs were sore, but better than yesterday. I was still not sure how the running would go.

Before leaving, I ate one piece of toast with some peanut butter on it. Our son's coach tells him to eat light if running in the morning. I have a water bottle with me today.

My watch has a second hand and an illuminated face. Seeing it in the pre-dawn dark isn't a problem, but trying to read it from my wrist while running was, so I carried it today. That was much, much easier. I could hold it up to my face and hold it pretty steady.

The routine today was the same as Day 1 (it's the same all three days this week):

• Warm up with a 5 minute brisk walk

Then, complete eight sets of the following

• Jog/run 60 seconds
• Walk 90 seconds

Today, I was really surpised. My legs were still sore as we did our warm up walk, but when our first running phase started, I didn't notice it. In fact, it was kind of odd. It was almost like my legs had been waiting to run again. We'll see how that pans out again on Friday.

I didn't even bother to match Mrs. FatManRunning's pace or stride today. I just sped up to my run when the time came, and slowed to walk again at the right time. She was always ahead of me, but would curve back toward me and then we would walk together (after I scolded her for stopping to wait for me the first time). The walking parts on Monday seemed really short. Today, they seemed just about right. My biggest surprise was that, although it wasn't easy by any means, I didn't find myself already beat by the halfway point. In fact, when I got back to the car, I was only as beat as I felt at the halfway point on Monday. I figured I would get used to the activity level, but I did not expect to be able to perceive such a change so early on.

We opted to still carry a cell phone (just in case), but it was the smaller of the ones available to us. I still carried my wallet, but didn't notice it so much today. I swapped my stocking cap for a ball cap. I kept that on the whole time--it was not too hot to wear.

Dare I say it? I felt pretty good at the end of our morning routine. I can't say it was any sort of runner's high, but I just felt good the way I did in the spring when I finished turning our new garden plot by hand. It was that combination of having worked hard and seeing something finished, and that sensation you get when you are dead tired for the right reasons, I guess.

The hardest thing about ending this set was getting back into the car. My quads burned. I put my first foot in and went to sit down, and my body objected. I mean, I could force it, but knew it would hurt. I pulled the foot back out, turned sideways, and set my butt down into the seat first, then swung my legs in. It hurt, but it hurt less.

The ups and downs were still bugging me late in the day, so I deliberately did a few squats (with my arms extended to each side). Surprisingly, they seemed to help a bit. I was still sore, but didn't dread the ups and downs as much. Maybe I'm just a big baby.

Bedtime calls. Mrs. FatManRunning was smarter than I and headed to bed about an hour ago. I'm so glad tomorrow is Thursday (no running!).