C25K: W5D2 Completed

This morning I completed w5d2 of the C25k program and I really enjoyed the run. I feel energized! The session consists of an 8 min run+5min walk+8 min run sandwiched between the standard 5 min warm ups and cool-downs.

I had three goals for this session:

(1) make it through

(2) increase max cadence and avg cadence

(3) improve speed consistency during run segments

I nailed all three goals. Go me!

Make it through:

I started outside – it was 95 degrees with a real feel of 102 – and found that from the start of the warm up walk I couldn’t get enough oxygen (felt like I was breathing water). Therefore I moved my workout inside to the treadmill at the gym. That does take a little bit of wind out of my sails since I know treadmill running is easier than street/trail running. On the other hand, the objective was to get my heart rate up into the aerobic zone during the specified intervals (which I did), maintain a minimum speed of 5.0mpg during the run (which I did) and work on my cadence (which I did). So I’ll mark it as a victory, despite the advantage of the treadmill.

Increase max and avg cadence:

Two runs ago, my average cadence was 64 with a max of 80. Last run average was 66 with a max of 83. Today my average was 67 with a max of 87. Huge jump forward, which is great. (I’m working on improving the cadence b/c studies show max efficiency during runs is correlated with a cadence of 85-90.) Toward this goal I relied on the strategy of choosing music for my workout that had a higher cadence and then just took my strides in time to the beat.

Improve speed consistency:

No doubt the treadmill also helped me maintain the constant speed during the run segments. Hopefully I can keep that up on my next outdoor run.

Here are my stats for the run:

Garmin Stats

Comments

Board Game Review: Brass Birmingham

Here’s a story of a lovely lady (spoiler: it’s me) and her pride and how it has led to the discovery of the single greatest board game I have ever played. It’s probably also a good primer for other reviewers on increasing your reach.At GenCon this year, I was perusing the wares of the various booths and my eyes caught a glimpse of two beautiful game boxes. Each had crisp metallic lettering with an old world feel and artwork that radiated European class. I made my way to the booth and waited patiently to speak to to the team manning it as there were many buyers lined up to purchase the games. I didn’t know anything about the games (Brass Birmingham and Brass Lancashire), or the publisher – Roxley Game Laboratory – but I knew I wanted to review one or both of the games. Almost every board game love story I star in in can be summed up this way: I am seduced by the artwork or theme and then I stay for the right mechanics. When the lead rep spoke with me, he gently rejected my request. He …

Board Game Review: Brass Lancashire

A few months ago, I fell in love with Brass Birmingham (you can read that review HERE). I fell hard. It was an all time top 10 best games ever kind of love and so when Roxley Game Laboratory offered to send me Brass Lancashire to play and share my thoughts, I was a bit hesitant. Is there even a chance I could enjoy it as much as Birmingham? Lancashire was the original game designed by Martin Wallace, and while it’s been updated for the most recent release, I was concerned it might prove to be an older, tired version that couldn’t compete with Birmingham.

My concerns were unfounded. Brass Lancashire is fantastic. Playing Lancashire after playing Birmingham is a bit like dating someone and then dating their sibling. Sure, there’s a resemblance, but the kissing feels different.
The artwork for Brass Lancashire is beautiful, radiating a classic style evocative of the theme (industrial era production). The artists have shown great attention to detail such as the raised gold lettering on …

Board Game Review: The Shipwreck Arcana

We hosted a lot of small gatherings in December and they presented the perfect opportunity to bring some games to the table that we hadn’t yet played. The Shipwreck Arcana was one of these games. My husband Christopher talked me into acquiring it, promising it would be something I’d enjoy. I was skeptical because he described it as a logical/mathematical pattern building puzzle game (BoardGameGeek.com classifies it in the Math category among others) and I don’t tend to enjoy those as much as other types of games. We played several games, usually with the full count of five players. The first thing I noticed when I unboxed the game was how pretty the Arcana cards are. The artwork is is unique in style and reminds me a bit of a tarot deck. It’s a pleasure to lay out the cards for display on the table. Components include the Hours card, the Arcana cards, fate tokens, score and doom trackers, number line tokens, and a velvet grab bag. All of the components are sturdy enough to hold up to…