Two Minutes Is a Very Long Time

I worked this afternoon, as usual. Last week, I talked with Ashley, another hygienist where I work, and she said she wanted to start walking after work on Wednesdays. Kerrie (another co-worker) does too, but she couldn't join us today.

Ashley and I did a couple stretches before heading outside, where it was a chilly 45° but the sun was out and it smelled like spring. We didn't even have to wear jackets since we were going to be exerting ourselves.

Before we got started, Ashley said to me, "You're gonna kill me," meaning she thought what I'd planned to do today was going to be tough on her. I assured her it wouldn't be and it didn't take her long to see that I was right.

Today's schedule begins a week of two minutes running, four minutes walking and repeating that four more times for a total workout time of thirty minutes. All along, I thought two minutes sounded like a short amount of time that wouldn't be too hard to do. Boy, was I wrong!

We walked/ran through the apartment complex that's behind our workplace, which is a good area because of the lack of traffic. The first two-minute run had me sucking air and with jelly legs after one minute, so I stopped and walked for about fifteen seconds, then finished out the two minutes. Ashley kept right on running.

By the time we got to the last two-minute run, I was able to go longer, but still wanted to stop before the two minutes were up. Ashley didn't let me. She kept encouraging me - "You can do it!" - and counting off the remaining time in fifteen-second increments. Except that when there was 45 seconds to go, she told me there was only 30 seconds left. She fooled me into pushing myself a little further than I thought I could go.

I checked my heart rate after the third two-minute run and it was 168, which I don't think is too bad. When we got back to the office to do stretching, I couldn't believe how red my face was, and I don't think it was from the cool air.

Ashley is a really good person to train with. She's so upbeat and encouraging! She's also exactly half my age, at 25. That's probably why it was easier for her to begin with, but I refuse to use my age as an excuse for my lagging behind. She's contemplating running the half-marathon in September, which I'm encouraging her to do.

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( Run 2 minutes / Walk 4 minutes ) x 5 = 30 minutes √