I promised a sweaty face!

Well.....here it is!

Pretty rough looking but who cares!?!  Brandi just got her grove back. I didn't stop....sure wanted to though.  The last 5 minutes were rough and I really just wanted to jump off.  It's amazing the mind games that go on during the tough parts.  The part that really kept me going was feeling like my body could keep running...aside from the side stiches that popped in for the last 10 minutes!  It was my brain telling me, hey, you ran for 25 minutes straight, it's okay to stop...you know you want to...no one will know....OR 10 minutes into it, I could hear myself say, you know you could walk if you wanted to...  It was like a REALLY bad after school special going on in my head!  Say no to peer pressure!!

After I ran, I had an epiphany (trumpets in the background please?!)   I ran the full 30 minutes with a  5 min warm-up and a 5 min cool-down...I was pretty darn proud of myself but a little bummed because I still haven't hit a full 3 miles yet and I'm still pitifully slow.  I was starting to have some self doubt about my ability to finish a marathon and why I even started this crazy undertaking in the first place.  Let's face it, I'm still over 200#'s, never been a runner, not really that athleticaly inclined and I'm slow.  To call me a penguin would be way to kind!  Hold on a tick, I'm starting to sound like a major Debbie-Downer!  Let me get to my epiphany...when I started the Couch to 5K, it hurt somethin' fierce to even be able to run for 60 seconds.  Each little interval was like a foray into h*ll.  My shins hurt, I couldn't catch my breath at times.  I hated it.  There was no way I was going to be able to run for 30 minutes straight.  I had started and stopped this program at least 4 times and hadn't finished.  Well, guess who is running for 30 minutes straight?  Moi!  That' who!  I've realized that I have to trust the process and myself.  When I started, it wasn't easy and I really didn't think that I'd be doing it eventually, but as I just pointed out earlier, I can now bust out a 30 minute run.  I have to think of the marathon training just the same. At the starting line (pardon the pun!), the journey ahead always looks intimidating.  I just have to trust the process.  I'm ready.