As with every week... this week was no joke. This was the first week that all 3 days were not the same. It very quickly escalates into maddness in Week 5. Very quickly.
Week 5, Day 1 - Woah! The program required me to do a 5 minute warm up walk, run 5 minutes, walk 3, run 5, walk 3, run 5, and then cool down for 5. Ha! Now, I totally meant to do this day far sooner than I did, but I had no idea a crazy stomach virus was going to work its way through our family one by one making sure to take out each one of us. This virus was no joke either. It took each of us down for a minimum of about 4 days (though we were only "sick" for about 8 hours). Those 4 days of my own combined with still feeling kind of off for a few days before and after as well as tending to 2 sick children (and 1 very sick adult) was enough to make me want to hand in my Mommy card for a while and take an extended vacation somewhere without sick germs. That being said, it was over a week between the last day of Week 4 and today. I did.... okay. I ended up walking/running each running interval and probably ran about half of what was expected of me but I still felt pretty good about it. I averaged a 15 minute mile. I am likely going to repeat this day at least once just to try to get a bit of my stamina back before trying day 2. Although, it's not like I planned to be able to run all 5 minutes of all 3 intervals anyway. I planned to be a lot closer though. I know that even with this training, I will walk/run my first 5k in about 3 weeks but my goal is still to finish in under 45 minutes as of right now. Oh! I did get new shoes finally and I love them. So much more comfortable during my run than my old ones. You don't realize how worn down your shoes are until you use new ones. Pretty happy with the new ones.
Week 5, Day 1 (repeated): My shin splints are back. Not sure if it is the new shoes (I sure hope not) or maybe just poor form. Especially since it was more than a week between runs. It doesn't seem bad immediately after a run, but hurts the next day so hopefully tomorrow I am not in more pain as I tried to be more aware of my form again today. It could just be the increase in activity after sitting around for a week. I think that is part of what gave me the initial shin splints when I started but they eventually got better and I haven't had a problem since. It may take a while, but I hope they gradually disappear. We are just over 3 weeks from race day at this point and I am starting to get a bit nervous. I know I can finish it and I know I can do it in well under the required 75 minutes, but I am really hoping to be under 45 minutes and even a bit faster. The plus to a first race is that you can't help but set a PR and then aim to beat it. I would just like for my first ever PR to be under 45 minutes. Anyway, I waited until Saturday to do this run so I could (again) do the full 3.1 miles to see how my timing is. I was 20 seconds slower than my last time, but I think I did pretty good for not doing much for over a week. I ran all but about 15-30 seconds of the first 5 minutes, Then, I ran/walked the remaining 2 running intervals (5 minutes each). I probably ran a bit over 1/2 of each of them. I would run as long as I could and then walk just long enough to regain my breath as my breathing is still mostly what slows me down. My legs hurt, but I can push passed a lot of that without too much issue. I ended up doing the 5k in a little over 43 minutes so I am still below 45. I'm really hoping that adrenaline kicks in on race day and speeds me up even more. I averaged just over 14 minute/mile so I feel pretty good about that.
Week 5, Day 2: This run was different than the last one (as this entire week changes with each day). Today, I was supposed to run 8 minutes, walk 5, run 8. It is technically less running than the last day, but for a longer stretch of time. There is also the 5 minute warm-up and 5 minute cool down. Pssshhhh! Yeah, actually running all of that wasn't happening. But... it ALMOST did! I am so proud of myself after today. I actually ran for the entire first 8 minute interval. Then, I ran for about 4 minutes, walked about 30 seconds, and ran for another 2 or so minute before walking for about 30 seconds again and then finishing the run. So, I walked maybe 1 minute of the second 8 minutes. In all honesty, if the first 8 minute segment had been longer, I think I would have run longer. The reason I stopped during the second interval was that I was getting a stitch in my side. Maybe it was my breathing that caused it? I don't know. Either way, after I walked for about 30 seconds each time, it would go away but it did come back. I think the main reason I can credit being able to finish most of the run today is that I lowered my speed. Typically, with running/walking, my average pace is somewhere around 14:30 min/mile. Today, my pace was 15:31. So, that doesn't put me in a place to finish a 5k in under 45 minutes, BUT I also walked 16 minutes of today's run (15 minutes was designated walking time and 1 minute during the second running interval). We will see how it goes though, as I up running intervals more leading up to race day in a little under 2 weeks!
At this point, I have made a decision. The program wants me to run 20 minutes straight for Week 5, Day 3. That is never going to happen on the first try. Then, next week it goes back to a repeat almost of this week so I go from running 20 minutes, back to split up running intervals. I have read a lot of people's comments on C25K and most of them do not like going back to the split intervals once they are able to run 20 minutes. So, my decision is that I am just going to hang out on this day until I can run the 20 minutes straight. Then, I will increase that time spent running gradually until I am up to about 30 minutes or close to the 3.1 miles total for the 5k. I think it is going to take me some time to get to that point. That being said, I am going to keep documenting my progress until I am running the full 5k distance without stopping, but I will just keep my entries to 3 days total as if I were still doing the program. I'm not sure how long it will take me, but my goal has been this 5k even though I know I won't be running 3.1 in 2 weeks when my race happens. I will eventually do it though. I am setting my mind to it and I will just go at my own pace until I am there. So, here we go!!!
Week 5, Day 1 - Woah! The program required me to do a 5 minute warm up walk, run 5 minutes, walk 3, run 5, walk 3, run 5, and then cool down for 5. Ha! Now, I totally meant to do this day far sooner than I did, but I had no idea a crazy stomach virus was going to work its way through our family one by one making sure to take out each one of us. This virus was no joke either. It took each of us down for a minimum of about 4 days (though we were only "sick" for about 8 hours). Those 4 days of my own combined with still feeling kind of off for a few days before and after as well as tending to 2 sick children (and 1 very sick adult) was enough to make me want to hand in my Mommy card for a while and take an extended vacation somewhere without sick germs. That being said, it was over a week between the last day of Week 4 and today. I did.... okay. I ended up walking/running each running interval and probably ran about half of what was expected of me but I still felt pretty good about it. I averaged a 15 minute mile. I am likely going to repeat this day at least once just to try to get a bit of my stamina back before trying day 2. Although, it's not like I planned to be able to run all 5 minutes of all 3 intervals anyway. I planned to be a lot closer though. I know that even with this training, I will walk/run my first 5k in about 3 weeks but my goal is still to finish in under 45 minutes as of right now. Oh! I did get new shoes finally and I love them. So much more comfortable during my run than my old ones. You don't realize how worn down your shoes are until you use new ones. Pretty happy with the new ones.
Week 5, Day 1 (repeated): My shin splints are back. Not sure if it is the new shoes (I sure hope not) or maybe just poor form. Especially since it was more than a week between runs. It doesn't seem bad immediately after a run, but hurts the next day so hopefully tomorrow I am not in more pain as I tried to be more aware of my form again today. It could just be the increase in activity after sitting around for a week. I think that is part of what gave me the initial shin splints when I started but they eventually got better and I haven't had a problem since. It may take a while, but I hope they gradually disappear. We are just over 3 weeks from race day at this point and I am starting to get a bit nervous. I know I can finish it and I know I can do it in well under the required 75 minutes, but I am really hoping to be under 45 minutes and even a bit faster. The plus to a first race is that you can't help but set a PR and then aim to beat it. I would just like for my first ever PR to be under 45 minutes. Anyway, I waited until Saturday to do this run so I could (again) do the full 3.1 miles to see how my timing is. I was 20 seconds slower than my last time, but I think I did pretty good for not doing much for over a week. I ran all but about 15-30 seconds of the first 5 minutes, Then, I ran/walked the remaining 2 running intervals (5 minutes each). I probably ran a bit over 1/2 of each of them. I would run as long as I could and then walk just long enough to regain my breath as my breathing is still mostly what slows me down. My legs hurt, but I can push passed a lot of that without too much issue. I ended up doing the 5k in a little over 43 minutes so I am still below 45. I'm really hoping that adrenaline kicks in on race day and speeds me up even more. I averaged just over 14 minute/mile so I feel pretty good about that.
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| Loving my new shoes... but why do almost all running shoes seem to be so gaudy? Who am I kidding? I like that color. =) |
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| Loving the new BondiBand. So comfy! I might have worn it with a regular outfit yesterday. I didn't even run yesterday. =) |
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