Starting Couch-2-5K Again

***Edited...don't forget to vote for me over at the Sisterhood for the Ultimate Shrinkvivor! You can vote once a day thru Thursday night now!! Go Forth And VOTE!




Over the course of the next 9 weeks I will be training to run a Virtual 5k with my sisters from the Sisterhood of Shrinking Jeans. Last year they hosted a virtual 5k and I told myself there is NO WAY I could do that! Wow!! What a difference a year makes, huh? Not only am I going to do it, but I already did my first 5K last month. Before the virtual one takes place on January 8th I am planning to run with one of my real life friends on December 4th! That's only 1 month away!! Can I do it? Who knows if I will be able to run the whole thing by then but I'm going to give it my best shot! That will be my preliminary, test run for the January 8th one with my sisters!

Anyway, I wanted to make sure that I am ready for running outside this time, since my earlier 5k I didn't train at all for outside and I think that really threw me a BIG curve ball....so today I started the C25K training plan over by running outside. I also got this really cool app for my ipod that told me when to walk and when to run! It was one of the best $3 I have spent in a very long time! It played my music in the background and it was SUPER easy to use! Just the way I like it! It really helped alot and it was fun to be able to look down and see the minutes ticking by till I could stop running or till I needed to start running!

As I said I am doing this training a lot different...I have a good pair of shoes, I am making sure I am running outside (unless I just absolutely CAN'T), and I brought along a little running partner, That Other Kid! Since I homeschool him and he's only 6 (going on 16) I can't leave him at home alone. DH is not always home to supervise him for 30 - 45 minutes so I decided that he could do some of these training runs with me. He is naturally athletic but has become rather lazy because I couldn't get him out much while I was working, so he is in essence training for a 5K also! As the runs get longer I may not be able to take him along, but then again I know some kids that run that far for that long without too many problems. We'll see what happens.

Today was our first run and I explained what we were doing before we got started. I was surprised to hear him want to quit so soon after we got started which was after the 2nd run set! He complained that his legs were sore. He faked injury a couple of times and he said he was soooooo tired he just couldn't go on! But he did run most every time it was time to run. Of course, as soon as we got home he wanted to play football/catch with me and he was miraculously healthy once again!

I'm not real sure how far our course was today, but based on the milage in the car tonight I'm guessing it was about 1 1/2 miles. It wasn't the safest course for That Other Kid either, but it was what I started with today. When I have access to the car I will find better, safer courses that I can measure. Of course, I could take my handy-dandy pedometer...but I forgot today!

Anyway, I was pretty proud of myself today. I was able to run every interval the entire time. I was able to pace myself slowly enough that I didn't struggle with breathing issues and I was able to drink my water when it was walk time. I remembered my heart rate monitor and I was in my target zone for the majority of my session today, so I got optimum health benefits as well! I took the advice of my brother and went as slow as I needed to and I was successful! It felt so good! I wish I would have known these things last month...but oh well! Next year I will know how to run that race and run it well!

So...did ya'll start training for the virtual 5K today? If not, it's never too late to start! Just START!!