Day 5

Thursday: hot. Surprise! OK, not really. I live in Florida. It's summer.

The plan: run 40 minutes with a group about your speed. I was not excited about this. I don't really fall into a group. We have the really fast group, and that is definitely not me. Then, we have the group that does a combo of running and walking (three minutes of running, then two minutes of walking), and that isn't me either. The rest of the group runs, but some stop running before me. Some start out faster than I do. Others just don't run as far. I felt like I'd be taking a step back if I didn't run as far as I could. But, I did what our coach said to do and found a group about my speed.

Our group of three ran at about an 11:30 pace, which was fine by me. We ran 21 minutes, and then stopped to walk (I really felt like I could have gone farther, but I was doing as I was told and stuck with the group). After a three-minute walking break, we started running again for about six minutes. After another three-minute walk break, we ran the remaining seven minutes.

I felt great. And, even though I didn't go as far as I could initially, I felt stronger toward the end, which I guess is a good thing. Maybe that coach of ours does know what he's talking about.