Couch to 5K: Week 3, Day 3

I had a great run this morning.  The first 90 seconds was nothing.  I was barely breathing hard by the end of the 90 seconds and actually forgot to pay attention to the time and I went 20 seconds over before realizing I needed to stop.  The first 3 minute run was also a breeze and I considered trying to push on to the 5 minutes I've been dreading.  I decided I better take a walking break though because I still had another 90 second and another 3 minute run left to do.  I told myself that if I still had anything left in the tank at the end of the last 3 minutes I would keep going.  The next 90 second run was a little more difficult but still not so hard that I felt like I needed the 90 second walking break.  I picked up the pace a little for the final 3 minute run and pushed myself to 4 minutes and 20 seconds, the final 20 seconds at an all out sprint.  I was really sucking wind, but I did it.  The odometer in the car died on me yesterday, so I couldn't measure my exact mileage, but based on previous runs, I'm estimating it was somewhere around 2.2 miles in right at 28 minutes. That comes out to a 12:44 mile.

Adding on the additional 1:20 to the end of my last 3 minute run boosted my confidence.  I'm certain I can do the 5 minute runs next week, though two 5 minute runs on top of two 3 minute runs still sounds a little intimidating coming off of 90 seconds and 3 minutes. 

I've had a little shin and right ankle pain since my run on Wednesday, which is odd because I didn't push myself at all Wednesday.  I'm glad to have the next two days off.  I'm going to spend some time icing my shins this weekend and hopefully I'll be ready to go Monday morning.

Week 3 is officially complete, which puts me 1/3 of the way through the program.  I really believe I'll be able to run a full 5K when I'm done.  I don't feel like any of the workouts have pushed me anywhere near my physical limits so far.  They've not been easy, but I've never felt like I was going to keel over if I didn't stop.  I hope that continues on into the coming weeks.