Our homework was gradually lengthening our run time, but I was still running 3 minutes and walking 2. It was all I could do to keep running for those 3 minutes, so I didn't see how I could do any more than that. I tried several times to do an extra 3 minute interval at the end, but sometimes it was all I could do to add an extra 2-minute interval.
Hills were my nemesis. I just couldn't run up them, no matter what I did. I tried to give myself markers to shoot for, but even though I'd say "I'll just run to that next mailbox," I couldn't will myself to do it. I made myself a goal to just get to the point in my running where I could make those small markers. I figured that until I could find it in me to push just that much farther, I wasn't going to progress much more.
Breathing was still problematic, but I was doing breathing exercises at home in addition to doing them while I warmed up, so it was getting easier to focus on my breathing and take deeper and deeper breaths while I was running. It was making a bit of a difference, and my legs no longer felt so heavy.
By Week Four, we were up to 2.5 miles in downtown Fuquay with Mindy on Saturday. I was still just doing 3 minutes of running, but I was trying to walk only 1.5 minutes in between the intervals. I was managing okay, but wondering when I was ever going to be able to do more than 3 minutes at a time! That Monday, I was finally able to run from the starting point to the stop sign on Holly Meadow where I had to turn onto Holly Branch in my neighborhood. That's about .6 miles, for those who don't know my subdivision. It maxed me out, though, and I had to cut back to 3 minutes for the rest of my runs that week.
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