RUNNING PARTNERS (the five reasons to leave them at home)

1. I DESPISE RUNNING WITH PEOPLE!!! ESPECIALLY SKINNY PEOPLE WHO CLAIM TO BE OUT OF SHAPE!!!!! Their skinny butts can run circles around me even if I've been training for months.

2. Its impossible to find anyone who is not skinny to run with you. NO FAT PERSON WANTS TO RUN. EXCEPT ME!

3. They try to be supportive but watching them try to run slower to run with me feels like torture cause its clearly more of an effort to run slow then to just run at normal pace for them.

4. You have to watch them pass you, then be in front of you, and then eventually lap you and then repeat!!!! I wish I could trip them.

5. In the game of mind over matter, it is extremely important to not feel defeated. BUT when you are lugging 300lbs around the track the word defeat is so inevitable that its laughable. THE LAST thing you need is to watch some skinny person, who claims to be out of shape bounce pass you over and over again. TRYING to BE SUPPORTIVE!

The Schedule

This is the running schedule I am using to get me to my half marathon by the spring. This picture shows exactly how I feel about it!!!

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

WEEK 1: 35 min Rest 35 min 40 min cross train Rest 45 min

WEEK 2: 35 min Rest 35 min 40 min cross train Rest 50 min

WEEK 3: 40 min Rest 40 min 45 min cross train Rest 60 min

WEEK 4: 50 min Rest 50 min 55 min cross train Rest 60 min

WEEK 5: 40 min Rest 45 min 40 min cross train Rest 90 min

WEEK 6: 35 min Rest 45 min 40 min cross train Rest 110 min

WEEK 7: 45 min Rest 45 min 40 min cross train Rest 3 miles

WEEK 8: 4 miles Rest 4 miles 5 miles cross train Rest 5 miles

WEEK 9: 4 miles Rest 5 miles 5 miles cross train Rest 6 miles

WEEK 10: 4 miles Rest 5 miles 3 miles cross train Rest 7 miles

WEEK 11: 4 miles Rest 6 miles 3 miles cross train Rest 8 miles

WEEK 12: 5 miles Rest 5 miles 3 miles cross train Rest 9 miles

WEEK 13: 4 miles Rest 7 miles 5 miles cross train Rest 7 miles

WEEK 14: 4 miles Rest 5 miles 3 miles cross train Rest 7 miles

WEEK 15: 5 miles Rest 5 miles 4 miles cross train Rest 7 miles

WEEK 16: 3 miles Rest 4 miles 4 miles cross train Rest 12 miles

WEEK 17: 4 miles Rest 5 miles 5 miles cross train Rest 6 miles

Week 18: 5 miles Rest 4 miles 5 miles 5 miles Rest 4 miles

Week 19: 4 miles 4 miles Rest Rest Rest Rest Race DAY!!!

Day 2 Week 1

I just finished day 2 of week 1. I decided to see how much I could push myself. I'm at the stage in training when I don't worry about miles I just worry about minutes. Week 1 you can run/walk for 35 minutes. Today I decided to see if I could run the entire 35 minutes. So I walked a quarter of a mile and then I set my watch and ran for 34 minutes. I only made it through 2 miles in that time so I'm running at a very slow pace of 17 min miles. Most people can walk at the speed but there's nothing like adding a little bounce to that walking pace to get your heart pumping.

I had a very interesting experience while I was out bounce walking (that's how I'll describe my running for now). This morning/early afternoon I was bounce walking at the track. There was this middle aged black man there walking in font of me. I finally go to the point where I caught up with him and wanted to pass him but I had doubts about it. First off...I'm black which means I have a serious badonka donk (aka butt). So bounce walking inevitably means serious butt is also doing some major bouncing. My shirt was not long enough to cover the bouncing action so my semi tight yoga pants and my bounding butt was cause for some major concern. Should I pass this middle ages man so he could stare at my butt for the next 2 miles or not? After a while I decided to get over myself and pass him. Luckily he stopped walking after about another half mile...so I only had to be self conscious 2 laps or so. I'm hoping it wasn't because of me, but who know?