Day Two

Day two training consisted of:

2 miles, 5X1:00 AI, 2 miles. AI=Aerobic intervals; "You push the pace, but just a little. Find a tempo that feels somewhere between comfortable and, "Hey, I'm workin' a little here." Don't run this too hard. Adding too much intensity while you're also increasing mileage is a recipe for injury. When you finish the timed AI, jog slowly until your breathing returns to normal, then work back into your regular pace." (Runner's World) 

Picture credit here. 

I could tell within the first mile that I was going to die. I knew I had to go slow or I wasn't going to make it. If this had been just another day of running where I didn't really have a goal in mind I would have decided right then to go 3 miles and call it a good day. But I couldn't do that--I had a stupid goal!

I had been nervous about the intervals but they turned out to be really easy. I only had to do 5 and they only last a minute each so the time went by really fast. I would walk for 30 seconds, run hard for a minute, walk 30 seconds... I was finished with that part in under 8 minutes. Piece of cake--until I realized I still had to run 2 more miles.

The road I run on was pretty busy--I could have just jumped out in front of a car to end my misery but I figured that would hurt really bad. So I finished my run, stretched, and laid on the pavement wondering if I was really going to be able to pull this off or not. I ran less than 5 miles and it hurt. 13.1 miles? That seems so unattainable right now!

Once I got in the house I just sat in the floor and blindly stared at the TV for an hour. My sweet little baby sat on my lap the entire time which is a miracle in itself because he doesn't normally sit still for more than, oh, say... 3.5 seconds. He even went to bed easy. He pointed at his crib and smiled. What is wrong with my kid!? I said to him, "Give Mommy a kiss," and he shook his head no. So then I said, "I'm not letting you go to bed until you give Mommy a kiss." And then he kissed me and went right to sleep without any fuss. It was mind boggling.

After what seemed like hours later, I got up off the couch and mumbled something about going to bed. My husband looked at me and said, "Really? Now? Honey... it's 9 o'clock." Whatever... It felt more like 2 in the morning. So I went to bed. My awesome hubby came in and rubbed my back and before long (like 2 minutes later) I was asleep. Wanna hear the best part? My little baby slept all night long. That's the first time in about a week and a half! He must have known Mommy needed her sleep... or maybe he did wake up and I just couldn't hear him because I was in a coma?