Commitment on a bad day...

A bad running day that is! My day started off pretty good. I took the slowpoke way to get myself and the girls ready this morning and still somehow managed to get to Sunday School on time. Church was followed by having lunch at a friend's house. Matt and I enjoyed time talking to adults (the wife is Audrey's preschool teacher, Mrs. Grace) and my girls loved playing with their 4 year old and 8? year old daughters. I was also pleased to realize this afternoon that I would be skipping my second FULL DAY of real cooking. (Matt cooked breakfast and dinner Saturday, Grace cooked lunch Sunday, and dinner Sunday was leftovers) Yes, my day was actually quite good.

The bad part of the day was the running part. I exercise on a treadmill by myself Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sundays, though, I exercise with a group of ladies at church. Our goal time today was 28 minutes, and since I'd done 27 minutes Thursday, I wasn't too worried about 28. I should have been. I don't wear a watch when I jog, but I'd guess that around minute 7 or so I took a turn for the worse, and the rest of my running time was spent forcing myself to take another step. It was not fun, AT ALL! But I did it. In fact, I ran longer than 27 minutes. We had run down the street to another church, I forced myself to run the entire way back even though my time wound up being 31/32 minutes. I did find out that our mileage was 2.5 though. That's not as bad as I thought I was doing.

As a natural born worrier and list maker, and as a lady with 30+ minutes to think about whatnot this afternoon, I composed a list of potential reasons I had a bad running day.

Perhaps my problem was that I didn't have the time and mileage right there in front of me to give me a needed boost.
Perhaps my problem was that I was running on pavement instead of a treadmill.
Perhaps my problem was that I didn't have a TV to watch while I was running.
Perhaps my problem was that I decided to chew gum while running. (Stupid, I know - but I thought it so figured I ought to admit it.)
Perhaps my problem was that I hadn't drunk enough water lately.
Perhaps my problem was that my body has been busy fighting this cold I have and therfore I have less energy to devote to activity.

The list in my head went on and on, but you get the idea.

Anyways, throughout my bad running today I really doubted whether or not I could do this 5k next month. I thought about how much better and more confident I would be if I waited and ran one of the 5k's coming up in Feb. or March. BUT! I got home and decided that I didn't want to think that way anymore. I went ahead and signed up (i.e. paid money) for the Jingle Bell 5k Run - December 4th! YAY! Go me! And for those of you wondering, yes I had a hard time parting with the money (the frugalista in me is one powerful lady!) but I think it's worth it to participate in something that I never thought I'd be able to do. I also like that it's going to a charity (Arthritis Foundation), and that I'll get a t-shirt. ;)

Oh, and Matthew/Matt/Dear Husband, when I complete this thing in 20 days (oh cripes!) you're going to have to eat your "You'll never run a 5k" statement that you made around week 4. I haven't forgotten it.