It’s Saturday, so today is one of my “off” days according to the Couch-to-5K plan. But it was 53 degrees out this afternoon, and I really wanted to head out.
I did 3.46 miles in 42:46 (12:21 pace), which may not sound too impressive but that includes a 5 minute warm-up and an almost 20 minute cool-down walk. After the warm-up I ran 1.39 miles in 13:00 (9:22 pace), walked 0.13 miles in 1:59 (15:51 pace), and then ran 0.32 miles in 3:00 (9:26 pace). My cool-down covered 1.26 miles in 19:44 (15:42 pace).
My goal for the workout was to just get an idea of how far I can run at a reasonable pace (i.e. better than 9:39) before I had to drop back to walking. I’m absolutely shocked that I was able to go a full 13 minutes, and I probably could have gone longer. I was really worried about C25K W3 coming up because it includes 3 minute running intervals, but now I’m confident that I can do it.
Tomorrow is Sunday, so I plan to rest up. I’ll be hitting it hard on Monday (weather permitting) as I do W3D1.
Got my blog linked over at Running Blogs.
Had you told me a year ago that I would be training for a 5K and maintaining a “running blog” I would have laughed.
Today was Week 2 Day 3 of the Couch-to-5K plan. Once again I was doing intervals of 90 seconds of running and 120 seconds of walking for 20 minutes.
According to the thermometer, it was 45 out when I left the house but it definitely felt colder than that, probably because it was so damp out. Still, it was decent weather for January so I can’t complain too much.
Unfortunately I don’t have full stats for this run because the battery in my Forerunner croaked exactly 1.24 miles into the workout. I guess I need to keep it on the charger when I’m not using it? Very odd. Anyway, my 5 minute warm-up covered 0.36 miles in 4:57 (13:36 pace). My intervals went pretty well, with my running pace around 8 minutes per mile and walking pace around 13.
I’m learning to keep a steady pace which seems to make the whole process much easier. Forcing myself to slow down to around 8-9 minutes per mile has made all the difference in the world. I’m really not struggling like I was in Week 1. Still, the damp weather and dead battery made today’s run less fun than the others. Oh well, they can’t all be good.
Anyway, I did complete the workout and felt fine afterward. I’ll be doing W3D1 on Monday.
Today was Week 2 Day 2 of the Couch-to-5K running plan, and it was a cold one.
When I started at around 4:30 PM, it was 35 outside. By the time I finished it was somewhere under 32. Definitely the coldest weather I’ve had to deal with up to this point, especially considering it was 70 degrees last Saturday!
I did 2.50 miles in 30:58, including my 5 minute warm-up and a 5 minute cool-down. While I did remember to split my time for the cool-down, I forgot to hit the Lap button after my warm-up. So my times are combined for that portion of the workout. That put me at 2.08 miles in 23:51 (11:28 pace) for the warm-up and workout/intervals. I made an effort to slow down my pace during the running intervals, and kept it at around 8-9 minutes per mile, with a maximum speed of 9 MPH. My cool-down was 0.43 miles in 7:07 (16:43 pace).
I’m really shocked I didn’t feel worse than I did after I was done. By the time I finished the intervals and did my cool-down, I really didn’t feel bad at all.
Dressing for the weather certainly helped, especially my Pearl Izumi facemask. Props to Mike for the suggestion.
Today was C25K W2D1. This week I’ll be doing a brisk five-minute warm-up walk and then alternating 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
It was cold and clear today, with some serious wind. When I started at about 4:30 PM, it was in the high 40s or low 50s. By the time I returned home about a half an hour later, it was just under 30 out. I could definitely feel the temperature dropping as I did the workout. Also, this time I split the workout into “laps” on the Garmin so that I don’t have to include my warm-up and cool-down walks in the stats like I’ve been doing up to this point.
My 5 minute warm-up walk covered 0.37 miles at a 13:22 pace. Then I started my 90/120 intervals and covered 1.68 miles in 18:52 minutes (11:15 avg. pace) with a maximum speed of 8.5 MPH. My running interval pace was around 7-10 miles per minute. My cool-down covered about 0.45 miles, but I forgot to hit “Stop” after I returned home, so that number might not be right. Total distance covered including everything was 2.50 miles.
I made an effort to slow down my running speed to a 9:00 pace, and that seemed to help quite a bit. Normally, in weather this cold I would have been struggling. I was tired at the end of the workout, but I really didn’t feel too bad.
Now I have a day off tomorrow, and then back at it with W2D2 on Wednesday.
It’s January 6… and it’s 70 degrees out. I know today was supposed to be an “off” day according to C25K, but I had to go outside. It’s just too nice out today.
So I strapped on the MP3 player and the Garmin and headed out. I did two “big laps” around the development, rather than my usual route consisting of smaller loops. I covered 3.88 miles in 45:16 (11:40 avg. pace). My first lap was 1.94 miles at a 11:26 pace, and the second lap was at a 11:55 pace. My average running pace was 8-9 minutes/mile, with a maximum speed of 8.0 MPH.
More importantly, my 5K time was 35:50. For reference, that would place me at 99 out of 112 in last year’s Double Creek 5K (pdf).
Just got back from doing the C25K W1D3 workout, and surprisingly I feel pretty darn good!
It rained all day, but by the time I got home from work it had stopped for most part. The temperature was around 60° which felt great considering it is January.
I covered 2.45 miles in 29:01 (11:50 pace), including the warm-up and cool-down walks. My walking pace was around 13-17 miles/minute and my running intervals were around 7 miles/minute.
I felt like I was moving faster than W1D1, but according to the Forerunner I performed pretty much the same as the first day. I think the big difference was how I felt during the running intervals. Unlike W1D1, I felt fine doing each one and wasn’t even out breath when I finished the entire workout. I’m sure most of the improvement is due to the better temperature, but still… it was a good workout.
That means I’ll be moving on to W2D1 starting Monday.
Got home, loaded some music on the new MP3 player, and headed outside. Today is my “off” day as far as the C25K program is concerned, so I decided to just do a nice, easy walk.
The Sansa is very cool. It sounds great. It’s easy to control. And it is so small I don’t even notice I’m carrying/wearing it. So far, it seems like a good purchase.
The walk covered 2.71 miles in 39:02 minutes (14:22 pace). I was hoping to do two laps of 1.91 miles, but it was getting very dark by the time I was making my way around the second time. So I cut it short and headed home. The fact that I was chased by a barking, snarling dog (albeit a small one) didn’t help either. I may need to start carrying some pepper spray.
Tomorrow is W1D3. Hopefully the weather stays mild for another day.
As I mentioned, my aged Creative Nomad IIc locked up twice during a workout lasting less than 40 minutes. Definitely not a good sign. Luckily I had already ordered a replacement the other day and, as luck would have it, it arrived yesterday!
The new player is a SanDisk Sansa M250 (Amazon). It has 2GB of flash storage, an FM tuner, and a built-in voice recorder. I doubt I’ll ever use the tuner or recorder, but they are nice features to have.
The player itself weighs almost nothing and is extremely small, but the controls are easy enough to use. It comes with a clear plastic “case” and an attachable armband for running and such.
I’m kind of sad to see my Nomad go. It was a Christmas present from my parents about five years ago, and has worked faithfully ever since. Hopefully the Sansa will be a worthy successor.
I just did W1D1 yesterday, but I wanted to get on a M/W/F schedule for the workouts so I did W1D2 today. Technical difficulties aside, it didn’t go too badly. The thermometer said it was about 45° today, but it felt a little warmer than yesterday. Less damp out perhaps.
Part way through my first running interval my MP3 player locked up, so I dropped back down to a walk to try to get it working again. I ended up pulling the battery, but by then I lost my place. So I fired up the podcast track again and fast-forwarded to roughly were I was before. Basically I ended up doing the first interval again, for a total of nine rather than eight sets. I had a little extra cool-down time because the extra interval threw off my course, so I had to walk a little longer to get back home.
I did 3.00 miles in 37:25 (12:27 avg. pace) with a maximum speed of 10.5. My walking pace was around 15-16 minutes/mile, and my running pace was around 6-8 minutes/mile. During the final interval I gave it all I had and briefly had a 5:02 pace. I felt better than usual by the time I got home, but that was probably due to the longer cool-down walk.
My next run (W1D3) will be on Friday… weather permitting.