25 minutes with just one break... but....

Well, shit. I just finished my first day of repeating week 7, and I was all proud that I only took one break, about 10 minutes in. Then I was looking at the podcast on the way home and wondering why the hell it is only 33 minutes long, when a 25 minute run + two 5-minute walks should = 35 minutes. And I SWEAR TO GOD I had downloaded the up to date Running Into Shape week 7 podcast. I swear!!

No, I didn't. I got home and looked at the site and re-downloaded, and she added another song to make up for the 3 missing minutes :( So, I can run for just over 22 minutes (I added about 30 seconds on at the end to "make up for" my 2 minute-ish walk in the middle) with just one break. Damnit! Foiled again!

Well, anyway. I still feel like I'm improving. Who's to say I wouldn't have made it another 3 minutes? Haha. Kind of doubtful, but it's in part the fault of the weather. It got cold again -- weather.com said it was about 20 F when I left and felt like 7. And it is WINDY. Luckily, I wore leg warmers, an undershirt and my trusty ninja mask, which was annoying in terms of fogging up my glasses, but really helpful because it was freaking freezing out there. I kept it on for about 5 minutes and then stumbled around trying to continue running while my headphones fell off and I tripped over them (NO BIG FALL, just a stumble, don't worry) and tried to collect them.

Anyway, the reason I might not have made it another 3 minutes is that my nose was getting really runny and stuffy due to the wind and cold, but I was holding my ninja mask and, by this time, my gloves. So it was getting hard to blow my nose. This is one thing I will not miss about summer (though I'll have to get one of those armbands to keep my mp3 player in place!).

I was able to run in the park again and I think this was helpful. For some reason -- maybe because I feel more conspicuous on streets -- I think I'm able to better set my pace on the running track. I think I try to run away from people on the streets and then run too fast. What can I say, I'm a misanthropic runner.

So the reason I returned to the podcast, btw, was that I find the little "You've completed five minutes" type reminders helpful. I downloaded the new one and might do that Thursday, or maybe I'll switch back to my own playlist. We'll see!