Couch to 5K – Week 5, Day 2 (time workout) - Why is this so hard today?

Breakfast: Greek yogurt, 1 tablespoon Fig preserves, ¼ cup walnuts

Today’s agenda:

Brisk 5 minute warm up walk

Brief stretching routine

Jog 8 minutes/walk 5 minutes/jog 8 minutes

Longer stretching routine

I’m having my usual trouble getting motivated. I don’t want to run right now. I want to go back to bed. It’s cold and I’m tired and I want to sleep some more.

There are things to do today. More laundry (lots of towels). A pile of dishes leftover from cooking lessons. Get my library card. Dear gods, the library is only open four days a week. They do have downloadable audio and eBooks though, which of course I can download anytime. That’s nice. I might look into using the audio books for my longer runs, when I finally have to break a mile. That’s coming up sooner than I’d like.

Okay. I went and put my running clothes on. They’re a little stinky; I forgot to put them in the laundry. They got covered by clean clothes by mistake.  I have other clothes I could wear, but these are actual exercise clothes. When I have a day like this, where I don’t want to go out AT ALL, NO SIRREE, wearing real exercise clothes helps me focus. If I just put on some knit pants and a t-shirt…hell, I can go back to bed in that outfit easy.

Here’s an odd thing. For me. The amount of time I have to run isn’t bothering me, because this past Saturday I ran three segments of approximately the same time. I know I can do the time and the effort. Why is getting started so hard? Why is getting started STILL so damn hard?

So here I am. Still staring at the screen. Still telling myself I need to get going. Still not doing it. What the hell am I waiting for? The sun will be up, people will be out. I will not like it. 

 

Post Run:

Well. I hated that.

See, see, SEE what happens when I stall until 8:14 am to leave the house?

Goddamnit, SOMEBODY SPOKE TO ME. One of my new neighbors on the street (new to me) felt the need to introduce himself and ask me about TheMan and TheDaughter while I was on my warm up walk. Dood. Can you not see my exercise clothes? My coral-means-business running shoes? My chronograph? My effing sunglasses? I’m. Doing. Something. Stop talking to me.

 

See what happens when you don't follow the rules?
picture credit: Ned Flanders belongs to the Fox Network I believe.

 

Fortunately I was able to get away quickly and politely.

The sun was pretty high too, but not blazing directly in my eyes and hey, I remembered my sunglasses.

I ate properly yesterday. I hydrated. I slept. I ate breakfast this morning.  Why did I have to drag myself through this today? Why did I hate nearly every second of it? Physically it went fine. Mentally I just wanted to be back home the whole time. During the second run segment I wanted to sit down and cry. Not because it was hard physically for me, just because the effort made me feel like crying. Today I did not feel lean and mean.

Oh well. It’s done. Wednesday will be better I’m sure. Yes? Right? Yes, Wednesday will be better, damn it.