couch 2 5k: week 5, day 1 {3.25.2013}

I haven’t run since Wednesday. My schedule has been packed with cakes and parties (of the Easter and birthday variety), and then we had some vicious storms with hail and tornado warnings, and dedication be damned, I was not going outside in that mess.

On another note, Mr PugRunner did go out on Saturday and got caught in a (non-hail) storm. It was Day 2 of week 4 for him, and he had a really rough time. Some of it was probably the rain, but for some reason Week 4 is not a favorite in this household.

I did do some soul searching about how I was going to proceed. I mentioned that I wasn’t feeling great about how I finished up the 4th week of Couch 2 5K, and didn’t know if I should move myself ahead to Week 5. I analyzed the parts of the week where I felt good and where I had a hard time to see if I could find a reason for or pattern to my troubles. I saw that I did great on the three minute runs after the five minute warm up and the 2:30 recovery interval, but when I went into the five minutes off the 1:30 interval, I was dragging. I’m guessing that maybe the recovery period wasn’t enough for me. Which is partly shameful, but hey, I’m being honest.

So I looked at Week 5 Day 1 and saw that we were looking at intervals of five minute runs and three minute walks, sandwiched between the five minute warm up and cool down. Clearly, a far more significant recovery period, even if the actual running time worked out to be longer.

The verdict? Why start off holding on to all that negativity from last week’s sessions when this week brings something new to the table? Far better to put the past in the past and start fresh.

I graduated myself.

And it was wonderful.

I really tried to be careful with my pace, since I hadn’t done any major cardio in four days, but it felt great. I got hit by a couple of pretty cold gusts that left me a little winded for a few beats, but it didn’t slow me down nor did it stop me. I didn’t even need to encourage myself out loud. Yay for not talking to myself in public!

My knees and ankles really didn’t bother me at all today, which was also a nice surprise. However, I’m experiencing a rather unpleasant pressure in the ball of my right foot, which I need to keep an eye on. I’m not sure if it’s an anomaly or if it’s something with my technique that needs to be adjusted via new shoes or correcting my positioning. I’ll see how it does this week.

I would be a lot more jubilant right now, thinking I could get comfortable with Week 5. But that’s not how it works. You see, today was comprised of those nice five/three intervals, but Day 2 and Day 3? Not so. I’m not entirely sure the breakdown for Day 2 except that it involves an eight minute run. And Day 3? Oh, yeah. That’s a straight 20 minutes, my friends.

So I’m kind of terrified about that.

I don’t know what I was expecting, exactly. At some point, this app is going to expect me to actually run a distance of 5K, and that’s not going to happen by repeating intervals over and over. But, no point getting worked up about it now. I’m just going to bask in the accomplishment of getting it done today.