Progress and Questions

So I didn't go to bed before midnight. And I did eat after 8pm. White cheddar popcorn, at that. (I've been WAY overdoing the popcorn lately, I think because I want chocolate.) Bad news... hopefully going home this weekend will help break that habit.

However, I did run at 5:30 this morning. I changed a few things from the last few runs. I've been stretching my leg muscles afterward, but without much of a cool down. After some seriously sore calf muscles last night, I thought that maybe adding a cool down period would help? So I walked at a pretty brisk (walking) pace for 5 minutes, alternated jogging/walking (4.5 and 3.5 mph, respectively) for 20 minutes, and took 5 minutes to cool down, lowering the speed at minute intervals. That 4.5 is a kick up from the 4.0 I started at on my first workout, by the way.

This is disheartening for a few reasons. One, if I were to go for a mile at 4.5 mph, it would take me 13:47. I'd really really REALLY love to get that down to about 10:00 by the first 5K. I don't want to be the only one left on the course, cause that is more embarrassing than being a fat runner. I can handle being the fat runner at a 10 minute mile pace for 5K, but not the fat AND slow runner. Secondly, ouch. I know I'm going to have to be better looking before running doesn't hurt my body so much, but I also think that maybe I'm not running with good form? My calf muscles have always been pretty strong, so perhaps the targeted soreness I'm getting has something to do with running the wrong way. At the moment, I'm mostly running on my toes- is this normal? Am I just being a wimp? Yes, probably.

Good things about this morning:
I sweat an equal amount at 4.5 mph and 4.0 mph jogs, so I might as well go with the faster pace.

Stretching afterwards feels REALLY good.

Interesting television makes for quicker runs. If I didn't have access to a treadmill and a television, I swear that this program would have stopped 10 minutes into workout 1. I'm going to need to be in better shape before the only sound around me is my labored breathing. I read last night that running with an iPod is dangerous because you can't hear the sounds around you. I thought "phooey on you" and decided that when I start running outside, my buddy Nano is coming with me.

Crying while jogging is weird, but makes things go faster. For the record, I was crying as I watched homecoming videos of American soldiers returning from overseas. Wives and children and men crying... guaranteed way to make me sob EVERY time.

And the best thing of all... just 2 minutes after getting back to my apartment, I was ready to go again. Anxious to go again. I know that it will get hard eventually. For now though, I think I'm going to love this.