The Running Bug (and 30 Day Shred results)

Wednesday was my last night of the 30 Day Shred.  I was able to complete the whole of Level 3 without stopping for breath (a first), and as promised, here are my before and after measurements:-

	15th May 2012	20th June 2012
Hips:	46	45
Waist:	36.5	34.5
Bust:	42	40.5
Neck:	14	13.5
Right Thigh:	27.5	26
Left Thigh:	27	26
Right Upper Arm:	14	14
Left Upper Arm:	14	14
Right Calf:	17	17
Left Calf:	17.5	17

I lost a total of 7 pounds and 8 inches!  I think that's a pretty amazing result in just over 30 days.  Granted, I did climb a big mountain in there too and I also did some extra exercise, but for the majority of the days my main form of exercise was the shred.

My next challenge arrived on Wednesday too - Jillian's "Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism" DVD, which, interestingly claims to "burn mega fat and shed unwanted pounds"!  I said to my husband "do I need to burn mega fat?"!  And a friend of mine pointed out the fact that no one has "wanted pounds"!  It's just my weird sense of humour laughing at silly phrases, I guess!  Anyway, I plan to do this DVD on the days that I am not 5k training.

Now that the 30 Day Shred chapter has come to a close, the 5k training programme has opened!  Tonight was my last session and it went very well.  It was quite windy and threatening to rain when I went out, so I had my rain jacket tied around my waist (handy, as I had a zip pocket for my iPhone!).  Thankfully, the rain stayed off but the wind was blowing against me for quite a lot of the run, which was annoying!  I would love to have a tail wind to help me out, not a head wind!  The local loop circuit that I take is just over 2.5 miles and normally takes me 40 minutes - with the 5k training, I'm meant to be doing 30 minute training sessions, so there's a 10 minute walk back to my house where I feel like I should be doing a bit more.

Tonight, when I got about five minutes from home, I decided "Sod it!  I'm running home!" So, I kept to a slow pace, but I ran the whole way home!  It was probably a pathetically minimal distance, but I reckon it must have taken me about four minutes - but that's four minutes of continuous running!  Unfortunately my Walkmeter had stopped when my 5k training session ended, so I have no idea what my pace was, how far I ran or for exactly how long - but I was pleased that I did it!  I even passed my neighbour who gave me a big smile, thumbs up and shouted "go girl!" as I ran past.

The adrenaline is definitely kicking in with running.  Although I've just started training, I find myself wanting to go out and run more!  So my question to all my fellow runners - is this just a "honeymoon" period - or are you all still as much in love with running now as you were when you first started?