Since my last post, I've done two more 28-minute jogs.

They were fine. I felt fine. I didn't feel like I struggled.

Hunh.

I find this very perplexing, seeing as how the first 28-minute jog I tried was hellish. But I certainly am glad to know that if I keep trying, things don't seem so dire anymore. It's a good lesson.

I also think that I shouldn't run on tracks very often. I seem to find running in circles to be mentally challenging -- i.e., boring. So it's back to the streets for me. If I keep up this jogging trend I think I'll subscribe to Audible and download episodes from This American Life to further help with my attention problems.

I also went on a long bike ride with Rainey Sunday to a local Army base, that's also an historic landmark. I love my bike. I don't know why I don't use her more often (my bike's name is "Chiska", which according to a co-worker is "pachuco" (Mexican slang) for bicycle, specifically slang used in the 50's in the Rio Grande Valley by Mexican-American hoodlums. It makes me feel like I'm in starring in a musical version of West Side Story -- except that it's set in Texas and all the song sequences are choreographed on bikes. Can't you just see it?)

I'm thinking of signing up for a December 5k. I just need to figure out the distance I'm covering now in my runs so that I can plan for the 5K and estimate the time for which I'll need to shoot.

One more week on the Couch to 5K plan, with three scheduled 30-minute runs, and then I'll have to start devising my own training plan. I think I'll do some research on tempo or interval runs. If anyone can tell me a place to look, please share, because I have a fuzzy idea about these concepts. Also, I've started using my heart monitor, based on a maximum heart rate calculated according to my weight and age. Somehow, I don't trust this figure, so if anyone also knows a way to perform a self-test for max heart rate, again, please share!