20 minutes felt like 20 years

So today was the day I've been dreading for a long time. It's Week 5, Day 3 of Couch 2 5K. 

This is the day when you really step up the distance. You go from a max run of eight minutes to a solid 20 minute run.

I don't really know when the last time I ran for 20 consecutive minutes was. Maybe high school? Maybe not even then.

I made excuses and tried to get out of it. My ankle hurt. My legs hurt. I didn't feel great. But I went anyway.

I started with the five minute warmup and didn't feel great when the chime went off signaling it was time to start running. My body hurt and wasn't feeling any better as I started to jog. I knew I'd have to go slow or I'd never make it. So that's what I did. 

My phone is set to update my progress every two minutes and I welcomed each update. I pushed through the pain and up a couple of pretty serious hills. And I made it.

Yay for me.

Now the bad part. I was supposed to go two miles. I only went 1.4. Very disappointing. But at least I finished.