Hiccup

Well, well, well....I've done so well on the C25K plan until now.  I haven't experienced any injuries, and other than an occasional rainy day (I just recently realized that I can run in the rain and not die), I've stayed on my schedule of running every other day since February.

My hiccup is my endurance.  I guess as we age our endurance is more difficult to build.  Not saying I'm old or anything but I am realizing that I'm not 21 any more.  I should be finishing week 8 of the C25K program but I can' seem to run the required 25 minutes in week 7 without gasping for air and feeling like I'm going to puke my guts up all over the road.  So, instead of pushing my self to this point 3 times a week, I have decided to side step the program for a week by doing the 5k101 program to help build my endurance.  Week 7 of 5K101 has me run 12 min then recover for 3 min repeating this set 3 times.  I have done this twice already and feel pretty good at the end of the run.  I WILL go back to the C25K plan and pick back up at week 7 and complete the program.  The ultimate goal is to complete the program and get that feeling of accomplishment.

My 5K is next Saturday so I'm just going to treat it like just another training run and plan another 5K later in the year to test my endurance.

C25K is an AWESOME Program

I don't know about the rest of you but I've never really been a runner.  I've always been a somewhat "active" person.  My husband and I have taken our boys tent camping, riding bike trails, and hiking in the Great Smoky Mts, but I've never been a runner.  I'm not really sure why I wanted to start running but it was one of the best decisions I've made.  I did a little research on beginning running programs.  I looked at Jeff Galloway and Couch to 5k just to name a couple.  I chose the C25K because I couldn't run very far for very long in the beginning.  Week 1 I ran for 60 secs at a time.

Well, yesterday I ran W7D1 and ran 25mins without stopping.  I am so proud of myself and so thankful for the Cool Runnings website and their wonderful Couch to 5K beginning running program.  I will be ready for my first 5K on the 16th and am hoping to finish in less than 30 minutes but any time will be a PR!  :-)

You can find the program here:  http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml