Day Off

I was scheduled to do Week 5 Day 2 today, but I've had some knee pain since I ran on Monday.  I decided last night to give it an extra day of rest.  It's feeling better today than yesterday.  In fact, I felt like I could have run this morning, so I don't think running tomorrow will be a problem.   

Couch to 5K: Week 5, Day 1

Week 5, Day 1 didn't seem hard enough.  I guess that's a good thing, since I hiked 10 miles on Saturday in some evil boots that tore my feet up.  I have blisters on 5 toes, my right heel, and the inside of the ball of my left foot.  Oh, and my right big toe looks and feels like I hit it with a hammer.  I band-aided up this morning before my run and my feet didn't bother me at all during my run.  I did have some sore muscles from the 10 mile hike, and my left knee was really hurting after the run.  I didn't have any pain while running, but when I got back to the car my knee was really throbbing.  I'm not sure what's up with it, but I'm going to take it easy the next 48 hours and hopefully be healed and ready for W5D2 on Wednesday. 

I took it pretty slow this morning due to the soreness and wanting to go easy on my feet.  That may be why it seemed like an easy run.  I did 2.25 miles in 29:51.  I did the first half in 15:50 and the second half in 14:01.  That's 14:04/mile for the first half, and 12:28/mile for the second half.  Looking at my chart, I really must have messed up my calculation on W4D3.  I don't think there's any way I averaged 11:43/mile.

As far as mind over matter, I think I may have broken through a barrier this morning.  I didn't have any serious challenges, but I found myself just enjoying the process of running.  I caught myself smiling at the end of the last 5 minutes (and glad there was no one there to see me grinning like a fool), and I had been pushing pretty hard at that point.  I kept going for about 20 more seconds, just because I was enjoying it so much I didn't want to stop.  During that 20 seconds I kept pushing to go faster and my body just did it.  I was breathing hard, and my legs were tired, but I feel like I could have kept going.  It feels good knowing I have something left at the end of the workout, having to hold myself back from pushing too hard.

I find myself looking forward to the 20 minute challenge on Friday. 

Couch to 5K: Week 4, Day 3

Week 4 is done.  I'm almost halfway through the couch to 5k program and I felt like I was making progress this morning.  It was a good run.  I was tired by the end, but not completely wiped out like I was Wednesday.  I'm not sure how, but I increased my pace by 43 seconds per mile.  That could be a little off because I'm estimating my total time.  I stopped to stretch after my 5 minute warm up walk and somehow pressed the wrong button when I started running.  I ran for awhile but the stopwatch wasn't running.  I'm estimating I ran for about 2 minutes before I noticed that I wasn't timing myself.  I was only supposed to run a total of 3 minutes in that segment, but I went on for another 2 anyway, just to be sure I did the total 3 in case I overestimated how long I had been running. 

I started out at what felt like a very slow pace, hoping not to repeat the complete and utter exhaustion I felt toward the end of Wednesday's run.  Overall I think it worked.  I know I ran longer and farther today than I did on Wednesday, but I wasn't wiped out at the end. 

I made it all the way to the end of the road in the park today and I was running when I got there.  I made it almost that far on Wednesday, but it was halfway through the walk break between the first 5 minute run and the second 3 minute run.  I was able to pick up my pace during the second 3 minute run.  I was winded by the end of that segment, but I caught my breath pretty quickly.  The last 5 minutes did seem to drag on, but I was able to keep my pace up, and slowly increased all the way to the end.

At the entrance/exit of the park, there is a hill that goes up toward the parking lot.  I was in the middle of my cool down walk but I felt the urge to run up the hill.  It's not a big hill, but that's not the point.  I wanted to run up that hill...so I did, and it felt good.   

It was a good run, and I feel good now.  I have a little stiffness in my knees, but that should be better by Monday.  Monday doesn't look too hard.  It's just three 5 minute runs separated by 3 minute walks.  I'm not really concerned about it.  The two 8 minute runs on Wednesday intimidate me a little, and then there's the 20 minute run on Friday that still seems insurmountable.  Sitting here typing this, I know I can do it.  Breaking through that mental barrier while I'm actually running is going to be a challenge.

Couch to 5K: Week 4, Day 2

The best thing about today's run was the cold shower when I got home.  That's what I thought at the time, anyway.  When I realized I had increased my total distance to 2.64 miles and only added 9 seconds to my time I felt a little better about it.  That pushed my pace up to 12:26/mile.  It was another of those small victories. 

I decided last night as I went to sleep that I was going to push myself a little harder today.  I wanted to average 12:30/mile.  I started off pretty fast and by the end of the first 3 minutes I realized that I had probably started off too fast.  I was winded but managed to maintained a fast walk through the 90 second walk break the couch to 5k agenda called for today.  The next 5 minutes were tough.  I kept up what I felt was a decent pace but my body was tired at the end of the 5 minutes and I found myself wondering if I would make it through the next half of the run as it is written in the program.  The 2.5 minute walk flew by and I was still breathing pretty hard when it was time to start the next 3 minute run.  I made it through, but had serious doubts about the next 5 minute run.  At this point it became a serious battle of mind over matter.  I knew I could make my body do it, but I found myself wondering if it was worth it.  In the end, mind won the battle and I pushed out the last 5 minutes.  I started out pretty slow and tried to increase my pace as I neared the 5 minute mark.  I didn't have anything left at the end.  I was spent, a little frustrated, but I know I'm stronger for it.

Lesson learned: start out slow and push harder at the end.  I knew that, but I wanted to change things up today to see how it went.  Still, I'm pleased that I broke through that 12:30 barrier that I haven't seen since week 2.  I'm going to try to keep the pace up on Friday, but I'll probably try to save some for the second half instead of using myself up in the first half.

Couch to 5K: Week 4, Day 1

5 is greater than 3.  Easy math.  Not so easy running.  Week 4 calls for two repetitions of a 3 minute run followed by 90 seconds of walking and then a 5 minute run with a 2 1/2 minute walk between the repetitions.  I did it.  I pushed through the whole routine.  This is the first time I've really had to push myself to keep going for the whole prescribed run.  I can tell this is the week that I'm going to start really feeling it. 

I could tell when I started my warm up walk that today was going to be more difficult.  My legs were stiff and my back was a little achy through the whole 5 minutes.  Yes, achy.  If Billy Ray Cyrus can use it, so can I.  I did the 5 minute walk and stopped at the same broken picnic table that I always use to stretch.  I took off from there and pushed myself through the first 3 minutes.  My legs protested a little but started to loosen up by the end of the first 3 minutes.  The 90 second walk between the 3 minute run and the 5 minute run didn't seem like enough, but I took off anyway and did the whole 5 minutes.  The first 2 minutes felt great, then my legs started to tire out about midway through. I've been please that my lungs are handling the increased activity well.  I ran the whole 5 and was glad to have 2 1/2 minutes to walk.  The next 3 minutes were tough and the last 5 seemed to never end.  Out of habit I pushed the pace up for the last 30 seconds and was really out of breath and a little light headed by the end of the run.

What started out a little rough turned into a good run because I made it through the routine.  I read an article on small wins the other day and I'm counting today's whole run as a small win.  I'm pretty proud that I was able to run 5 full minutes not just once, but twice.  I don't think I could have done it 3 weeks ago, but now I can.  It gives me some hope that I'll be able to do the full 20 minutes on week 4, day 3 if I just continue to follow the program.

Tomorrow will be a day to let my legs rest and heal. Wednesday will be the same routine as today.

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.

Couch to 5k: Week 3 Day 2

I had a good run this morning.  I got to run with Lauren at a park in our hometown.  We run at different paces but we tried to stay together anyway.  I think I did about 2 miles in 30 minutes doing the prescribed w3d2 of 2 repetitions of 90 seconds running, 90 seconds walking, 3 minutes running, 3 minutes walking.  I was working pretty hard by the end of the last 3 minutes but felt my body could take me further if I had asked it to.  Overall I'm pleased. 

I'm looking forward to being back in "my" park Friday for the last day of week 3.  I'm pretty sure I can do the 5 minute runs next week with no problems.  I'm just going to have to watch my pace.