I am POWERFUL! I also have a cheerleader.

I ran for 20 minutes straight today! YES I DID! I thought it was going to be really, really hard seeing as I'd run twice for 8 minutes on Saturday morning and that was kind of hard... then twice for 10 minutes on Monday, also quite challenging. But I did it, and I feel very WOO HOO! about completing week 5 of c25k.

There's this little man at the park most days when I'm out there chugging along. He's short, Asian, probably in his 60's, and always wearing his tucked in white golf shirt, hat, sweatbands on the wrists, and mid-calf socks. Sometimes he's alone, sometimes he's with an older man or two, who I assume to be his relatives. He's always explaining to them that they need to move over on the trail when someone else is coming by, they all seem to always be in good spirits.

He's always happy with a "Hello" or "Good morning" if I'm walking, but he gets really cute when I'm running.

He can hear my footsteps behind him when I'm about to pass, so he always turns to look, begins clapping, and shouting, "WOO! WOO! YES! YOU SO POWERFUL! YES!"

Now, in the beginning, this was slightly embarrassing, I wasn't sure if he was "special", or a tourist, or just a really encouraging guy-- you don't normally expect random strangers to be cheering you down the path, you know? It's a funny story to tell at dinner. But then once I started talking about him, I noticed that my runs are far more exciting when I know I'm about to pass him...lol. Well today I was out super early, since I'm having to adjust my schedule to make sure I'm home by 7, when my kids wake up and start getting ready for school. I was on the last 7-8 minutes of the 20-minute run and really wearing down!

I came around a curve and passed a small parking lot to find him walking ahead of me with one of the older men. I found myself wondering if he'd tell me I was powerful today! As I passed him, he cheered me on, and GET THIS! He jogged for about a quarter mile with me cheering me on! I smiled, was too out of breath to really talk and was trying to just keep my feet moving through the fatigue and be finished. When we reached the part where the little roads cross (I assume he didn't want to leave the elderly relative too far behind or out of sight), he yelled, "THANK YOU!" and waved.

Thank ME? I yelled back, "Thank YOU!"

He makes me feel very She-Ra : )

One of these days when it cools off a bit I'll have to take him a little thank-you note and introduce myself.