Monday, March 19, 2012

This Run has 22 Minutes (Couch to 5k: Week 6, Day 2 & 3)

Day 2 of Week 6 is a pretty big day for the Couch to 5K running program. The pattern isn't particularly difficult (5 min warm up walk, run 10 mins, walk 3 mins, run 10 mins), but it marks the LAST day of the program where there are walk breaks. From here on in, it's for REAL!

I managed to complete W6D2, but I didn't feel particularly great doing it. I am starting to think that once you start running it's easier to keep running, so perhaps it's a good thing that we are abandoning the walk breaks after today. The first 10 minutes seemed to go well, but the second 10 minutes were tough. I almost gave up, but somehow managed to push myself to keep going. I am definitely impressing myself with my dedication to the program so far. I'm really not accountable to anyone but myself (and my blog!) and no one would be the wiser if I had to quit on a run, but I just wouldn't let myself do it. I am going to become a C25K graduate - with honours! :)

So, fast forward to Day 3 - 22 minutes of straight running. I had already completed a 20 minute run, (with considerably less difficulty than the first 2 days of week 6, I might add), so I wasn't really nervous leading up to the run. My only concern is that I'm battling some sort of cold or mysterious illness, but I was hoping it wouldn't be a factor. (Maybe I could even sweat out the bug!)

(Side Note: I wore the same running outfit that I wore in Florida last week - a running skirt and a tank top. In March. I still can't believe it. All you running ladies out there that haven't tried running skirts, I highly recommend them. Lots of butt coverage, no riding up and a huge cuteness factor.)

Once again, the music proved to be a big help in getting me through the run. Using the old "don't look at the clock till after X number of songs" trick worked like a charm. I felt like my pace was quite a bit slower than it had been on the 20 minute run. Once I got home and checked my pace online (again using the handy-dandy website www.walkjogrun.net), I discovered I was right. In 22 minutes I ran exactly 2.83 km, clocking in at 7:46 mins/km (compared to 7:39 mins/km on W5D3). Not bad, but I'm hoping I can get my pace up to around 7 minutes by the time my goal race rolls around on May 5th.

I really can't believe that I'm starting Week 7 this week - only 3 weeks until "graduation" and 7 weeks until my goal race. I'm finally feeling like I will be ready!

J :)

2 comments:

  1. YAY! GO you!! The walk breaks in between definitely became killer and I preferred to just run! I think your c25k plan is a bit different than mine, I had to go from the 20 minute run into a 25 minute run. From there is increases to 28 minutes and the final week is 30! We're almost there!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We're so close!!! Yeah, week 6 day 3 was 22 mins, but tooday I did 25 for w7d1. 28 mins for week 8 and 30 for week 9. It seems to be getting easier now. I'm thinking about abandoning the clock now and just trying to add distance instead??? I was at 3.25 kms today - pretty psyched! :)

      Delete