Hitting the pavement again!

Lacing up my running shoes and getting back out there yesterday felt so good. I've been looking forward to this all Winter.

I went out there on a whim, it was wet and cold and near sundown, and I had a bowl of chili sitting in my stomach, but I just decided to go for it.

And I'm really glad I did. I set my iPod to the Week 6 Day 2 intervals (10 mins jogging, 3 mins walking, 10 mins jogging), thinking that I could run at least 10 minutes straight, and if I didn't need the 3 minute break, GREAT! I'd keep running through it. I resigned myself to take it slow, steady, to not get winded, to take drinks out of my water bottle and to not give up.

And I did it. All 23 minutes of running, I DID IT. And, by some stoke of luck, I ran FARTHER in those 23 minutes than I did running 25 minutes back in December.

?!?!?!

It was mind-boggling, it truly was.

Until I remembered, I've lost over 15 pounds since then! Plus, Zumba has probably increased my leg strength, endurance and breathing efficiency! I am ecstatic! I was not expecting to do as well as I did and I was practically jumping for joy at the end.

Today I did Zumba sculpt and tone. My quads are sore but it didn't affect my dancing much. I'm thinking I could do Zumba three times a week, plus running 2-3 times a week, and then troupe on Sundays.

I don't want to push myself too hard, but I'm thinking about running my first 5K race this summer and I'd love to do it in under 45 minutes.

More later.