The Day After Couch to 5K

We now return to your regularly scheduled running program. So since I didn't run Thursday and ran Friday instead, I only had one day off in between. I was tired after swimming and running after Max all day, but got my butt in my running gear and got outside. Forgot to do a weather.com screenshot again, so the weather data below is just a guess.

I didn't have a new week of C25K to follow, so I repeated week 6. Problem was, I ran for time again instead of distance. I should have looked at the assigned distances on the website instead of relying on the C25K app. I further confused myself by programming 3 intervals into my Forerunner. So I screwed myself a bit by not having a clear plan.

It was much warmer than the night before. I started out walking to loosen up a bit. I walked about .25 mile and then started my run. I started out pretty quick. When I got to the hill at the top of Trentdale, I slowed down quite a bit. Then I looked at my phone and Nike+ said I was on a crazy sub 10 minute pace. So I caught my breathe and sped up. At this point I planned on only doing 2 intervals. Run 1 mile, walk 3 miles, run 1 mile, cool down. So I felt like I could run at a quick pace because I only had about 15-18 minutes remaining. So I ran down Hoadly Road at a pretty good pace and finished my first mile in 10:10. Didn't realize my time or that it was a personal best till Lance Armstrong announced it to me at the end of my run on Nike+. Thanks Lance!

By the time I finished the first mile I was pretty out of breathe and the walk part of the interval felt great. Not sure how long I actually walked, but I think it was just under 3 minutes. I started running again when the C25 app beeped at me. At that point, I turned the screen to my phone off so I couldn't see my time or pace and began "running by feel".

I finished my second mile (after walking about 1/4 mile) in 11:10. I thought that was pretty good considering I walked for 3 minutes. I must have really been moving during the run part. So I cover 3/4 of a mile in about 7 minutes or so. Again I was out of breathe and really wanted to end things here. But I walked my 3 minutes (maybe a tad longer), and then began running some more. I made the turn from Hoadly onto Dale and my body was telling me to make the first left onto Tango and to head home. I fought that off and ran past Tango and down Dale until I reached Trentdale and made the turn for home. At this point I was getting close to home, and approaching 3 miles. In hind site, I should have continued down Dale where it is relatively flat. But I made the turn onto Trentdale and headed for home. I ran past the guy who is always working on his cars and I felt great. Again I felt stronger at the finish then I did at the start. I started to pick up my pace. I tell ya I was moving, or at least it felt that way. According to the Nike+ instant pace, it said I was running a 7:30 minute mile pace for parts of my last stretch home.

I hit 3 miles and turned off Nike+. I should have just kept going till I hit 3.1 so I could see what my 5K time would have been. I estimate it would have been around 34.5 minutes or so. Way better than my previous 5K time. I was pretty gassed at the end, but ultimately could have ran the extra .10 of a mile. When I got home after my cool down walk, I was drenched. Didn't feel super tired, but I was soaked. Didn't realize just how soaked I was till I got in the bathroom to take my shower. My boxers, shorts and t-shirt felt wet. Not damp, wet. My shirt and boxers in particular. They were still a bit damp some 8 hours after I set them to dry in the bathroom.

So the last run proved to me two things. I am stronger when I take walk breaks. I can give extra effort when I know I have a walk break scheduled to catch my breathe. That makes me thing I should do the Bridge to 10K now. That plan for week one only has a 1 minute break scheduled after each 10 min run interval, so I'll just go at a slower pace and see if I can complete 4 intervals. If not, at least I should come close to finishing 5K distance in the 32 minutes of the first 3 intervals.

The weather seems to really make a difference as well. It's supposed to be VERY hot this coming week, so I may have to alter my plan a bit. The forecast for tomorrow is 95 with thunderstorms. I wouldn't mind a thunderstorm or light shower around my run time. I think it would keep me cool. It should cool down to the 80's by the time the sun goes down, but a little rain would be nice.

Distance Run: 3.02 miles
1st Mile: 10:10
2nd Mile: 11:10
3rd Mile: 11:18

Total Time: 33:01
Calories Burned: 325.34

Temperature: 82 (estimate)
Humidity: 50% (guessing)

Morning weight: 143