I went out with Sinner this morning for my run, and my shin felt really good. I stayed on the grass as much as possible, and I had planned to do another 4.5km just to be sure I could manage on Sunday week. Well, I’d done 4km and the last km didn’t feel any worse than the one before, so I thought I’d push on and just see…. sure enough, the trusty Garmin ticked over 5km, in around 32 and a bit minutes. I will admit, the last half km was very slow, around 7 1/2 minute per km pace, and it was a bit trudgy, but it’s done. My shin felt good, it was twingy but I pulled up very comfortable. I guess I have officially finished the C25k program.

I’ve been mulling over what made it work this time, given I’ve read the C25k program a couple of times in the past and never really been inspired to start. I think the biggie is having a running buddy, even though we didn’t run much together, we did the program together and shared celebrations and commiserations. There was also the feeling that if I didn’t do it, I’d be letting Roseanne down, and that kept me getting up in the morning when I really wanted to sleep in. Another biggie was having a goal, we’d publicly announced we were going to enter the Bridge to Brisbane run, so there were people watching, and that’s a push too. We’d spent $25 to enter the race, which was another commitment. It really helped me a lot having a decent pair of shoes, I didn’t have the knee pain that had troubled me every other time I half decided to go running. And, my hubby who was so keen for me to run but tried so hard not to be pushy, and really was ever so helpful. 

 Where to from here? You just thought you’d not have to read this blog any more, eh? My plan is to keep running 3 times a week for now, and only going a max of 5km. I want to get comfortable at the distance so I don’t tire so much at the end, and when I’m doing that, I’ll work on increasing my speed. Eventually I’ll see if I can find a 5km - 10km program and maybe have a go at that. We’ll see.