Week 3 Complete!

Let me just start off with saying this: I love San Diego!!  While the rest of the country has had freezing rain, several inches of snow or just plain ol' wintry weather, I completed two of my three workouts outside this week.  Today in particular is ggooorrrrrgggeeeeoooouuuusssss.   Clear skies, low 70's, light breeze.  Perfect weather for an outdoor workout!  Ok, I'll stop bragging about San Diego's perfect weather....

Week Three consisted of the usual 5 minute warm up and cool down and two intervals comprised of 90 seconds jogging, 90 seconds walking, 3 minutes jogging and 3 minutes walking.  During the first two workouts I kept checking the clock during the 3 minute run wondering how much further I had to go.   (I've only gone for 1 minute?!!) But by the third workout the 3 minute jog was a piece of cake.  I didn't even break a sweat! Could have just been the perfect weather. :-)

Here's a graph of my workout. I kept my running pace pretty steady but I know I need to walk a little faster in between intervals.

And just in case you wanted to see the weather for San Diego.

Couch to 5K Workout 2

Two weeks down, only 7 more to go! Oh, and I'm supposed to jog for 20 minutes straight by the end of week 5??  Eek!! That's only three weeks away and I'm scared!!   

Week Two was a little more challenging than Week One.  This week consisted of a brisk 5 minute warm up, alternating 90 seconds of running and 2 minutes of walking for twenty minutes with a 5 minute cool down.   I completed all of the running intervals without resting, but I'll be honest, by about the 5th interval I was wondering when I would reach the cool down period (and still asking myself how I'll ever run for 20 minutes straight).  I ran two of the workouts this week on the track and one on the treadmill.  So far my preference is on the track. Surprisingly enough, I can still keep a good pace and end up in the same spot for each interval.  And the fresh air is nice.

So far is this ish ain't easy, especially if you've never been the athletic type. But I'm going to keep at it because I'm determined to run a 5K this year!

Couch to 5K Workout 1, Week 1

It's the New Year and that means it's time to get back on track with my running program! Over the two week break I worked out a few times and continued my running program but I decided to start an actual program instead of something I made up in my head. I've heard a lot about Couch to 5K and decided it best suited my  needs.  I realize I'm no couch potato but I haven't been able to improve my distance so I'm starting over.  My goal is to run a 5K by April and that gives me time to train and ensure I'm ready by then.
 
I downloaded the C25K iPhone app and hopped on the treadmill.  5 minute brisk walk as a warm up and then 60 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking intervals for 20 minutes.  I kept my speeds about the same as what I've been doing the past few weeks - 4.0 walking, 5.5 running and it felt like a pretty good workout. This is the same workout for all three days this week and each week the running intervals increase and the walking decrease.  By week 9 I'll be running 3.1 miles in 30 minutes. We'll see!