I did it!

Today was kind of exam day for me. After ten weeks of training it was today I was supposed to be able to run 5km without stopping, and, surprised as I am, I actually did it.

Well, it’s not like beating a world record or anything, but to me it was a victory that made me feel great today. In the beginning of summer I was totally untrained, a coach potato. A lot of anxiety over problems was taking it’s toll on me, and I really thought I was dying, as my heart started to jump around. Sleepless nights followed which didn’t help to get things better.

Somewhere I realised that a better physical state could help me out, and I began to take brisk long walks. Each time I felt better, and I really wanted to get a much better endurance, and more of those lovely endorphins, so I decided to start running.

At least I started to walk, and run a little during the walks, a minute here, and a minute there. A little too eager, I did this almost every day at first, which made my knees protest wildly, and forced me to take a break a couple of weeks. I figured out it would be best to follow one of these couch-to-5k training programs, with training three times a week. I found one in an Iphone app, and now seven weeks later, here I am.

Last week I was very doubtlful that I would make it, since the much shorter training sessions felt quite hard that week, and since it was based on intervals, I had not run any longer than 800 meters without stopping to walk. But the training program said “Trust in your training”, which almost sounded like “Trust the force Luke” to me, and I did. Since you are so interested in my run, here’s a short recap:

1 km – “Oh, that went smoothly, longer than I’ve run before”

2 km – “Hmm, I do feel more tired, but maybe there’s a possibility I will make it”

3 km – “I’m soon exhausted, and there’s a staggering 2 km left. I won’t make it”

3.1 km “Interesting, It really is possible to run slower than I did before and gather some strength”

3.2 km “It’s only one point something km left! I will actually make it!”

4 km “Only 1 km left, soon I’ll see the finishing line”

4.8 km “I’m alone in the woods here so I will raise my arms in the air as a victory gesture when I pass the goal line”

5 km “I did it! And I’m still alive! And I feel good!”

Well, that was about it. I will continue to run of course. I think I will have to set up a new goal of some sort. Problems do still exist as always, but now I’m awake to take them on, and sometimes even with a smile. /Pär