Well today was the day I was waiting for (or dreading) - it was time for Day One with Coach Jim. I got up bright and early and headed out to the park. Coach Jim had promised that he loves hills and that this would be a hill run. I waited in the parking lot... and soon up ahead Coach Jim and Mariah come running up. Guess what? I was the ONLY one who showed up... perhaps the rain and wind kept people away ... but gosh I thought the weather was fine (I have run in much much worse).
So its just Coach Jim, Mariah, and myself. I pop my Ipod in ... and he shakes his head. "You can only wear that if you can still hear me." "Yep," I reply, "I have the awesome headphones with a microphone. See, I have never really run with people...
We take off .. a pace a bit faster than I am used to, but I was able to keep it up. The hills on the way out arent too bad, still more than I am used to. At about 1.5 miles there is a ginormous hill up ahead... I immediately think, wow I cant do that. Coach Jim is right there ... telling me I can, we cant walk until the timer goes off, one foot in front of the other, you can do it girl, etc. And you know what ... I made it up that hill (and several others).
In the last 1.5 miles there were two major hills ... I not only ran up them but I charged up them actually increasing my speed over the hills. Twice when my timer went off I said to Coach Jim "I just cant run right now I need an extra walk break" and he said ... "you know what we are going to do ... we are going to run real slowly because Jeff told us to and I know you can do it" and you know what ...
He was right! I didnt need any extra walk breaks... my 5 mile time WITH major hills was better than my best 5 mile time on flat ground...
Oh yeah ... one more thing... in the middle of the run he asks what my running plans are for the rest of the year, so I told him... and he says what about next year ... so I mention the one half I am planning on ... and he looks at me and says "so when you are gonna do a full?" I admitted that I fantasize about Disney 2013... he said that was a great idea. At mile 4 he starts talking to me about how great of a marathon Cellcom is ... and how he recommends your first half marathon be one at home.... and somehow by mile 4.5 he talks me into committing to the Cellcom Marathon May of 2012 .....
Its amazing what you can do if you just put your mind to it! :)
So its just Coach Jim, Mariah, and myself. I pop my Ipod in ... and he shakes his head. "You can only wear that if you can still hear me." "Yep," I reply, "I have the awesome headphones with a microphone. See, I have never really run with people...
We take off .. a pace a bit faster than I am used to, but I was able to keep it up. The hills on the way out arent too bad, still more than I am used to. At about 1.5 miles there is a ginormous hill up ahead... I immediately think, wow I cant do that. Coach Jim is right there ... telling me I can, we cant walk until the timer goes off, one foot in front of the other, you can do it girl, etc. And you know what ... I made it up that hill (and several others).
In the last 1.5 miles there were two major hills ... I not only ran up them but I charged up them actually increasing my speed over the hills. Twice when my timer went off I said to Coach Jim "I just cant run right now I need an extra walk break" and he said ... "you know what we are going to do ... we are going to run real slowly because Jeff told us to and I know you can do it" and you know what ...
He was right! I didnt need any extra walk breaks... my 5 mile time WITH major hills was better than my best 5 mile time on flat ground...
Oh yeah ... one more thing... in the middle of the run he asks what my running plans are for the rest of the year, so I told him... and he says what about next year ... so I mention the one half I am planning on ... and he looks at me and says "so when you are gonna do a full?" I admitted that I fantasize about Disney 2013... he said that was a great idea. At mile 4 he starts talking to me about how great of a marathon Cellcom is ... and how he recommends your first half marathon be one at home.... and somehow by mile 4.5 he talks me into committing to the Cellcom Marathon May of 2012 .....
Its amazing what you can do if you just put your mind to it! :)
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