Today was Week 5 Day 2 of the Couch-to-5K running plan, consisting of two sets of 8 minutes of running followed by 5 minutes of walking.
Compared to W5D1 on Monday, today’s weather didn’t seem so bad. It was about 21 degrees out, sunny, and only a little wind.
The total for the day was 3.06 miles in 38:28 (12:33 pace). Warm-up was 0.43 miles in 5:40 (13:21 pace). Intervals were 1.87 miles in 20:59 (11:14 pace). Cool-down was 0.77 miles in 11:48 (15:19 pace).
I kept my pace slow during the first running interval, and then picked up the pace a little on the second one. Amazingly enough, I felt pretty good when I was done. Only one more day left in W5, but Friday is the infamous W5D3 workout… a single 20 minute run.
Today was Week 5 Day 1 of the Couch-to-5K running plan, consisting of three five minute running intervals with 3 minutes of walking after each one.
I thought W4D3 was cold, but I apparently had no idea. Today it was about 18 degrees out with gusty winds making the wind chill about 14 degrees. Bit nippy, but I was able to keep going.
I covered 3.05 miles in 37:48 (12:23 pace). Warm-up was 0.38 miles in 5:01 (13:12 pace). Intervals were in 5-minute/3-minute sets and covered 1.91 miles in 20:59 (11:00 pace). Cool-down was 0.77 miles in 11:48 (15:22 pace). Maximum speed was 6.8 mph.
I’m not sure if it was the extremely cold, dry weather, or if I was just a little soft after a weekend of no exercise, but I struggled with today’s workout. It was particularly rough on my lungs, and I was wheezing a bit even after the cool-down.
W5D2 has me doing 8 minute intervals, so that will be even harder than today. I think I’m going to have to really focus on keeping my pace as slow as possible so I can go the distance.
Here’s what Week 5 of the Couch-to-5K running plan looks like:
W5D1: 5 minute warm-up; jog 5 minutes; walk 3 minutes; jog 5 minutes; walk 3 minutes; jog 5 minutes; 5 minute cool-down
W5D2: 5 minute warm-up; jog 8 minutes; walk 5 minutes; jog 8 minutes; 5 minute cool-down
W5D3: 5 minute warm-up; jog 20 minutes (~2 miles); 5 minute cool-down
It’s going to be cold all week, and it’ll definitely be the toughest week I’ve had so far. We’ll see how it goes.
Friday was Week 4 Day 3 of the Couch-to-5K running plan.
W4D3 was, by far, the coldest weather I’ve had to deal with up to this point. It was 22 degrees when I left the house and just under 20 by the time I finished. I’m not sure what it was after you factored in the wind chill. Definitely a cold one.
Total for the workout was 3.01 miles in 36:54 (12:14 pace). Warm-up was 0.36 miles in 4:54 (13:30 pace). Intervals were 1.99 miles in 21:24 (10:45 pace). Cool-down was 0.66 miles in 10:35 (16:02 pace). Maximum speed was 7.0 mph.
This week was a tough one, but I slowed my pace down a tiny bit (still around 9-10 min/mi for running) and I made it through. I’ll be moving on to W5D1 on Monday.
Wednesday was Week 4 Day 2 of the Couch-to-5K running plan.
Total for the workout was 3.06 miles in 36:58 (12:05 pace). Warm-up was 0.35 miles in 4:48 (13:39 pace). Intervals were 2.02 miles in 21:21 (10:34 pace). Cool-down was 0.68 miles in 10:48 (15:48 pace). Maximum speed was 7.5 mph.
The longer running intervals combined with cold, wet weather in the low 30s definitely slowed me down. But I finished, and (after the cool-down) didn’t feel too bad.
Today was Week 4 Day 1 of the Couch-to-5K running plan.
This week’s plan consists of a 5 minute warm-up walk, followed by two intervals of jog 3 minutes, walk 90 seconds, jog 5 minutes, walk 2.5 minutes. As usual I’m including a 5 minute (or longer) cool-down walk as recommended by the Ullrey’s Podcast for Running.
It was cold, foggy/misty, and about 29 degrees when I left the house. It snowed a little bit last night, just enough to make the sidewalks rather treacherous. So I was forced to slow down my pace a little bit to make sure that I didn’t slip. I’d rather go slower and be safe, than try to go faster and twist an ankle… and end up out of commission for a long time.
Today’s total was 2.85 miles in 35:22 (12:25 pace). My warm-up was 0.33 miles in 4:38 (14:07 pace). The total for the intervals was 1.97 miles in 21:25 (10:53 pace), followed by a cool-down of 0.55 miles in 9:19 (16:55 pace).
My goal up to this point had been to keep all of my running intervals at a 9:39 pace or faster. But today, based on both the weather and difficulty of today’s workout, I made the decision to slow my running intervals down to about 9-10 minutes per mile. I’m OK with that, and think it’s the right thing to do. I felt fine after the workout, and I’m sure speed will come with time. I still have about 95 days of training to go before the Rocket Run 5K.
Having to deal with January weather isn’t making this any easier, but with some luck I’ll be doing W4D2 on Wednesday.
Friday was Week 3 Day 3 of the Couch-to-5K running plan.
It was about 35 degrees and extremely windy, making the run a little tougher than the other days. Also, some technical difficulties with the Garmin led to me not being able to watch my pace during the intervals. But still, it seemed to go pretty well overall.
The overall total for W3D3 was 2.50 miles in 31:53 (12:46 pace). The warm-up was 0.39 miles in 5:16 (13:33 pace) and the cool-down was 0.73 miles in 11:38 (16:00 pace). The intervals covered 1.38 miles in 14:58 (10:50 pace). In general I was able to keep my running pace around 9:00 but at times I went as fast as 7:33 and as slow as 10:29.
It’s 20 degrees and snowing right now, and the prediction is for 1-2 inches of accumulation followed by freezing rain/drizzle. I’m not sure if I’ll be running W4D1 or not.
Upgraded to Wordpress 2.0.7 tonight. Seemed to go well.
Also, it looks like WordPress 2.1 is out and working fine for most people. Perhaps I should upgrade again…
Today was Week 3 Day 2 of the Couch-to-5K running plan, and it was a cold one.
It was a little under 30 degrees when I left the house, and it certainly didn’t get any warmer during the workout. Luckily I was dressed for the weather… for the most part. I forgot to bring gloves, so my hands were definitely frozen by the time I finished.
Total workout was 2.50 miles in 31:00 (12:23 average pace). Warm-up was 0.37 miles in 4:55 (13:22 pace). Interval total was 1.40 miles in 14:58 (10:40 pace), with running around 8-9 min/mile and walking around 13-15 min/mile. Cool-down was 0.73 miles in 11:06 (15:13 pace).
Fairly uneventful run overall. I tried to go a little faster during the running intervals, and that made it a little harder than Monday’s run. Still I felt fine when I was finished, especially after the extended cool-down.
It is supposed to snow tomorrow and/or Friday, but hopefully I’ll be able to finish up Week 3 this week.
Today was Week 3 Day 1 of the Couch-to-5K running plan. This week’s workout includes a brisk five minute warm-up walk followed by two sets of the following: jog 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds, jog 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes. The total workout is 18 minutes plus the warm-up and cool-down.
The weather was a foggy/damp 45 degrees today when I headed out. I covered 2.46 miles in 30:59 (12:35 pace). My warm-up was 0.36 miles in 4:51 (13:33) followed by my intervals. By doing quite a few spot checks of the Garmin, I was able to keep my pace at around 9 minutes/mile while running and around 14 when walking. My cool-down was 0.71 miles in 11:02 (15:33 pace).
As far as the plan goes, this week is definitely a step up in the length of the running intervals. Plus, I’ve been stepping up my weight-training in the evenings and started including squats in my workout. So today was the first time my legs were really tired/sore after I was done.
I’m definitely looking forward to a day of recovery tomorrow… and then back at it on Wednesday.