Day 5 (Week 1 training complete)

I don't know if it was our late night and lack of sleep, or if it was the cold, foggy air, but today felt more like Monday. I was breathing harder earlier, and I really strained in each of the first six running segments. As I ended the third one, my thoughts jumped ahead to the weeks ahead, and I found myself thinking, "Why am I doing this to myself."

Let me get down to physical inventory. My quads/thighs didn't bug me at all when I got up. Suprisingly, as I sit for a moment to write this post, they're not sore at all despite having just returned home from our training routine. Where I feel it more today is in my calves--they feel tight and a bit sore--and in my lower back, in the muscles just above my pelvis. I felt a little stiffness in my right ankle today--likely tied to an unlar break I had some years ago that left a small bone chip at my ankle. I'll watch for any trouble there (my doctor said we would remove it only if it ever started causing me trouble). I also felt a little bit of strain just below the kneecap on the inner side of my left leg--probably just another reminder of an injury, though this one was from over 20 years ago.

One thing was pretty neat today--we clearly covered more ground. There's a cross street down the trail some distance. I hadn't even seen it on Monday or Wednesday, but we made it across it today. Our pace was good both going out and coming back in, because we ended right where we started. Mrs. FatManRunning was ahead of me on the first half of the sets today, but I was closer to her pace nearing the end. On the final run, I actually pulled ahead a little bit. Before I could get a big head about, Mrs. FatManRunning informed me that she felt she was running a bit slower today, because she felt a cold coming on.

I wonder how much the cold, foggy air affected our breathing. She indicated that breathing was harder today, too.

It feels really good to have gotten through this first week. I'm a little scared about going into next week. Increasing our running time from 60 to 90 seconds during each set may not seem like a lot to you, but it might as well be a cross-country run to me.

I was a little smarter today. I only took my driver's license and our car keys. We still brought the phone, too. I'm going to go in to work at 7:30 AM today, instead of 7 AM, so that bought me the time I needed to make this post while things are still fresh in my mind.

Our eldest son's race went well yesterday. It felt good to know that our secret plan was well under way. One week down. Eight weeks to go.