30 minutes

Goal achieved! I hit 30 minutes monday night. It was quite possible the gnarliest run to date. Shin splints and tension caused by too much caffeine plagued the run. we'll see if today goes better.

18 minutes

I hit 18 minutes on Sunday. I ran on the outside track which seemed to a little easier on my shins. It really doesn't seem to bad now. I am still huffing and puffing but I am going at an 7.5-8 minute mile pace. I should probably slow it down to a nine minute mile pace. From what I've read, if you run slowly in the beginning you end up with less injuries. So, next time, I'll run a nine minute mile pace. As an added bonus, my inhaler worked so I didn't cough up a lung when I finished running. 20 minutes today

argh! I got to 15 minutes. It was good, but now I have shin splints. I guess I'll do some stretches and exercises to try to get better. But, I'm probably down for two weeks. I am going to change the surface I run on. I've been running on the indoor track. I think probably it is fine for a ten minute run but the surface probably does too much damage if I go any longer. I think I might switch to a treadmill for a while. Also, I went to the doctor yesterday, because of a persistent cough. He thinks I have asthma. So, I'll have to deal with that as well as the shin splints. This week, the Ultra marathon seems a bit daunting.

update

I got a new pair of running shoes today. The store gave me a free t shirt and a dorky han-teen water bottle. I ran 20 minutes today in the new shoes. the run felt a bit different. I felt like the new shoes worked different muscles than the old ones. I also played my trombone today. I am planning on playing a concert with the rhodes orchestra. Unfortunately, 9 months after my official retirement from trombone, I am still having jaw problems. To recover from a rehearsal last tuesday, it took me until Friday night. I guess I need to take 72 hours between sessions on the trombone in order to recover. I played trombone tonight. Other than an ominous pop from my jaw, it went fine.

I got up to twelve minutes and then took a break due to sore muscles.

update

So, I've now made it to twelve minutes. My second run was kind of painful. I had cramps on my shins that would not go away. I went to a dance the day after the painful run and couldn't move my legs very well. So I just stood there like a post and moved my arms around. The next day I felt better, so maybe if you have sore muscles you should try to dance. Last night, I ran my third run with no problems. I felt so good that I ran an extra 2 minutes. I am doing a workout program described in The Complete Idiot's Guide to Running that is supposed to ease you into running for thirty minutes straight. I think once I get to that point, I'll just stay there for a month and let myself get used to it. That's about it for now.

Today, I ran 5 Minutes.