Day Nineteen: Distance Versus Time

The rest of week three went well and again I felt better about the run every day.  My pace was still lacking what I hope for, which hadn't really bothered me until today.

Today was the first day of week 4 of training.  For this week I started to track distance along with time and that added to my anxiety that since my pacing is so slow I probably have not been running the recommended distances.  Even as I carefully mapped out points at which I should walk and run per week four distance recommendations in order to keep up with the plan, keeping track of these points got hard, and I got too caught up in whether I was running the right amount.

I know, I know, I know.  This is all very silly and I shouldn't worry about it, but I really don't want to finish the c25k program and realize that I have only been running two miles the whole time.  I am a perfectionist.  It is very stressful and annoying, but when it is something like this, something where I have set a challenging goal for myself that I feel is very important to accomplish, I can't help be get wrapped up in doing everything right in order to reach that goal.

I should also add, it is also stressful that I have so much to do all the time and rarely can find time to run at all. This is a bigger problem since daylight is getting shorter and I don't exactly live in the safest place for a small woman to go running all on her onesies after dark or before light (who does these days?).

Someone please tell me that I don't need to worry about this crap.  Give me ways to avoid doing so.  Also, I am worried about training inside for the winter.  I will be on a flat track then.  Would my runner friends suggest that I try to push my distance more so that I can build up more stamina, keeping in mind that the half marathon will NOT be a flat track.  Or should I perhaps cross-train, doing the normal distances on the track and then maybe throwing in some elliptical or something?  I'm at a loss.  And I want to kick ass.  Help me kick more ass, please.

Day Thirteen: Not As Eventful As I Expected...

This is going to be a short one today...

Today I began week three of the c25k program.  This is the week when my exercise time is divided equally between running and walking and I run for a longer duration than I have previously in the program, three minutes.  I expected that this would be a big challenge for me, but three minutes? Really? It was just about as easy as any other part of the program.

I had also expected that my pacing would be WAY better since I was running more, but I was also wrong about that.  My pacing was worse than it has been and I realized why that is as I was completing the cool-down walk back to my apartment.  When I was alternating running and walking for shorter times I could keep a lot faster pace through the running because it was such short bursts.  This realization was a reminder to me that I need to be patient and work on endurance before pacing.  After all, I am not running a half marathon in order to get first place, I am running to cross the finish line and celebrate my very own personal victory.

While today was not as challenging or exciting as I had thought it would be, it was a personal victory because I am one tiny step closer to running those 13.1 miles in June.

Day Three: An Invigorating Walk/Run

I set my alarm today for 6am. I worked at 10am and I wanted to be able to stay on track with the couch-5K program. Of course when I say I "wanted" to I mean my brain had 1,001 excuses why I should not run this morning. Seriously, all day yesterday, all night last night, and as I laid in bed and hit the snooze button (only for 20 minutes though!) I had tons of reasons why I could/should skip today's work out. All the while that forceful She-Titan inside of me was saying, "if I cannot get up and got for a 25 minute walk/run there is absolutely no way I will ever succeed at a half marathon."

I got up. I ran. It was actually quite a lovely walk/run. I went on the hiking path where Pepper and I walk almost every day. It was nice to get such a wide variety of terrain with the pavement of the street, the dirt path, the rocky areas, and lots of up and down hill spots of varying steepness.

I am still on week one of the couch-5k program so I am starting with a 5 minute power walk and then alternating running for 60 seconds and walking for 90 for twenty minutes. It is quite easy for me and I considered skipping ahead in the program, but I checked on the website and it specifically said that you should NOT skip ahead even if the beginning exercises seem easy. For now I can just say that I enjoyed my walk/run very much this morning and I am glad I went so early cause it is HOT now.