It was in the 40s when I left the house at about 3:30 PM. Sunny, windy, and generally a clear blue sky. Overall it was a beautiful day, but it turned out that I was too hot in the sun and too cold in the shade. I ended up being sweaty and cold at the same time… never a pleasant experience. But I made it, and although my official time was 00:00:02 slower than my W9D2 time, I’m still quite pleased:

Yep, 3.11 miles in 28:47 (9:15/mi pace) with an average speed of 6.5 MPH and a max of 10.1 MPH.

In a way, I thought it would be more exciting to finish the program. But the improvements in my running abilities have been so slow and steady that, in the end, it was all rather anticlimactic. Before I ever left the house on Saturday, I had no doubt in my mind that I could run 30 minutes and cover over 3 miles. What is amazing to me is how unamazing running a 5K has become. I think I can honestly say that I am no longer a couch potato. :)

The Rocket Run is still a long way off, so now I have the non-trivial task of keeping in shape until race day.

Special Thanks: I think a special mention of thanks is owed to Josh Clark, author of the C25K article at CoolRunning.com, and Robert Ullrey, creator of the C25K podcast. It was the outstanding combination of the running plan and the podcast that kept me on track for the full nine weeks. Thanks guys!

Back on January 1, I said in my very first post that my ultimate goal was to run a 5K in less than 30 minutes. At the time I could barely run a block without feeling like I was going to die. Today I ran 5K in 00:28:45… and I still have one more C25K workout left.

Here’s the data (pace vs. distance):

Total (not including warm-up/cool-down) was 3.11 miles in 28:45 (9:15 min/mile pace). Average speed was 6.5 MPH and a max of 7.8 MPH.

I’ll be doing W9D3 on Friday. The bar has officially been raised.

It was around 40 degrees for the run, and not bad weather overall. It’s nice that it is later each evening until the sun goes down, so I don’t have to rush to get out the door as much when I run after work.

Starting this week, I am no longer tracking my warm-ups. In fact, after W9D1, I am no longer going to be tracking my cool-down either. From here on out, it’s the run I care about the most, and therefore it’s just the run that I will be tracking.

Total (including run and cool-down) was 3.62 miles in 38:33 (10:39 pace). Run was 3.10 miles (argh!!!) in 30:01 (9:41 pace) with an average speed of 6.2 MPH and a max of 8.3 MPH. Cool-down was 0.52 miles in 8:31 (16:19 pace).

As you can see, I missed my 5K goal by about 36 feet. Doh!

It was much colder again on Friday, but the roads were clear. I also decided to switch up my route a little bit, although it was still basically the same thing.

Total was 3.83 miles in 47:27 (12:24 pace). Warm-up was 0.36 miles in 5:04 (14:04 pace). Run was 2.66 miles in 29:25 (11:04 pace), 5.4 MPH average speed, 7.9 MPH max. Cool-down was 0.81 miles in 12:57 (16:00).

Not a bad run, and I’m generally happy with the 11/mi pace I was able to maintain. Plus I was only about half a minute shy of 30 minutes, so I should be ready for Week 9.

It’s snowing/sleeting right now, so I’m not sure if I’ll be running W9D1 tomorrow or now. Hopefully it will be cleared up out there by then.

Better weather today! It was about 42 degrees when I left the house, no wind, and the roads were mostly clear of snow. Much easier running.

Total was 3.57 miles in 40:57 (11:28 pace). Warm-up was 0.39 miles in 5:16 (13:23 pace). Run was 2.69 miles in 28:00 (10:25 pace) with an average speed of 5.8 MPH and a maximum of 8.4 MPH. Cool-down was 0.49 miles in 7:40 (15:41 pace).

Good run today. Next up is W8D3 on Friday.

It was a little bit warmer today, around 30 degrees in the sun with no wind. Unfortunately, however, I still had to deal with the snow/ice/slush on the roads. That is definitely hurting my pace.

Total was 3.55 miles in 44:50 (12:38 pace). Warm-up was 0.38 miles in 5:18 (14:02 pace). Run was 2.40 miles in 27:44 (11:32 pace) with an average speed of 5.2 MPH and a max of 7.2 MPH. Cool-down was 0.76 miles in 11:47 (15:25 pace).

Nothing really notable about this run… which is amazing, considering this was my longest run to date. It’s hard to believe that just a few weeks ago I was working hard just to run for three minutes at a time!

It was cold and clear today, about 20 degrees, with almost no wind. That made it feel quite a bit warmer than yesterday, even though the temperature wasn’t that much higher. Apparently they aren’t making those wind chill numbers up. Who knew?

Total was 3.08 miles in 38:39 (12:32 pace). Warm-up was 0.36 miles in 5:09 (14:17 pace). The run was 2.26 miles in 25:53 (11:27 pace) with an average speed of 5.2 MPH and a max of 6.4 MPH. Cool-down was 0.46 miles in 7:35 (16:29 pace).

Once again I was a little short of the goal of hitting 2.5 miles in 25 minutes, but with a little melting going on today the roads were a mess of snow, ice, and slush. There were some stretches of my route that I could barely keep running let alone keep a good pace. In fact, at one point I slipped and was sure I was going down. I’m looking forward to some better conditions for my next two weeks.

Next week begins Week 8 of the running plan — three days of 28 minute runs. I feel like I’m ready.

Although some of the roads were plowed today, the area is still in pretty rough shape following yesterday’s snow and ice. It was about 17 degrees (4 degrees with windchill) and rather windy when I left the house. The sidewalks in the development were completely impassable and the roads weren’t much better. I was able to slowly jog on the roads, but even that was no small task.

Total was 3.06 miles in 40:21 (13:10 pace). Warm-up was 0.39 miles in 5:40 (14:42 pace). The 25-minute run was 2.10 miles in 25:36 (12:10 pace) with a 4.9 MPH average speed and 6.9 MPH max. Cool-down was 0.57 miles in 9:04 (15:52 pace).

The good news is that today’s run felt really good. At no point was I out of breath, and I actually enjoyed the 25-minute jog. The bad news is that by most standards, my paces were way too slow. But with the snow and ice as slick as it was, I’d rather go slower than normal than to try to go faster and end up turning an ankle or something. With only seven more workouts to go, I need to be careful.

Weather permitting, I plan on getting back on my M/W/F schedule and doing W7D3 tomorrow.

It was almost 5 PM and they still hadn’t plowed the streets, and most people hadn’t cleared their sidewalks… and running in snow higher than my shoes just didn’t seem like the way to go. So unfortunately, I felt I had to cancel my W7D2 run.

The current plan is to do W7D2 tomorrow, and then W7D3 on Friday.

It was a little warmer today, around 39 degrees and overcast when I left the house. Not bad running weather, but it was still a little cold until I got warmed up.

Total was 3.11 miles in 37:52 (12:11 pace). Warm-up was 0.42 miles in 5:38 (13:29 pace). Run was 2.25 miles in 25:08 (11:09 pace), with an average speed of 5.4 MPH and a max of 7.3 MPH. Cool-down was 0.44 miles in 7:05 (16:16 pace).

Overall I was fairly happy with today’s workout. I was able to complete the 25 minute run without a problem, even though I was pushing quite a bit harder today than I did during W6D3. My goal for the day was to hit 2.5 miles during the 25 minutes, but I fell a little short of that (2.25 miles). I’m not too concerned about it, however, because everyone says that speed will come with time.

We are supposed to get quite a winter storm beginning tonight and lasting through Wednesday. Hopefully it won’t impact my W7D2 run.