That's What Jenni Said

It's been several weeks since I've posted about my couch to 5k progress. I have been on the mat so to speak wrestling with the program. It took me 6 tries to nail w5d3 and that was my hardest goal to accomplish in terms of number of tries up to that point. On to week 6, I switched from the time goals to the distance goals so that I could master a 5k by graduation. D1 and D2 of W6 went by smoothly but it took 7 tries to succeed at D3. Seven tries! The distance goal was 2.25 miles and took me approx 28 minutes of running. Still, I refused to give up and I faced each session with a new dose of determination. It never occurred to me to consider quitting. Then....then I went out to tackle W7d1 (2.5 miles) and failed spectacularly. I cramped up before even a mile. I was going backward in progress! So I tried again and made it just 1.5 miles. And again going 2 miles. Just the week before I'd done 2.25 miles and now it was a struggle to even get to 2! What was going on?! I was...

Consolidating these here for the many people that have asked my advice for going from couch potato to runner on the C25k program: 1. Make sure you have decent running shoes. Other equipment that I have AND LOVE: wicking socks [asics], running skirts to look good while running and prevent chafing or riding up [skirtsports.com], wicking sports bra and tops [any sports store], garmin fr60 watch with heart rate monitor and shoe pod [the only way to objectively measure gains in cardio fitness- as you move through the program your resting hr should go down, your ability to stay below 170bpm during cardio should increase, your return to resting hr after workout should quicken, etc. also tracks mileage, pace, time, etc. you can buy on amazon.com] 2. Make sure your form is anti-injury: midfoot landing [versus heel strike] and try not to push off with your feet so much as lift them up using your leg muscles for each stride. 3. Make sure you stretch stretch stretch before each run. I do ...

This morning my husband and I both ran our first 5k race together. (Technically he ran a race or two as a kid but that was a long time ago). With regard to the c25k program, I am currently on week 6, able to run 2 miles with a 3 minute break in between, or able to run 1.75 miles straight through. We got to the race location and I had a bit of anxiety that I wasn’t expecting. Before arriving, I just assumed it would be like any other run session; I didn’t know I was going to feel jittery and nervous about the race. I hadn’t seen anyone write about that before in the running communities (maybe it’s unique to me then?). The net effect was that my heart rate was up to 125bpm before I ever started running!  (Normal resting hr is 74 for me). My second surprise was the pace at which everyone took off from the starting line. From reviewing previous year’s race results I *knew* I would not be the slowest in the pack, but when I started off with everyone else and saw my Garmin was repor...

As a reminder, W6D3 of the couch to 5k training plan is a 2.25 mile run. I successfully completed W6D2 (1mile run; 3 min walk; 1 mile run) on Friday 8/27. I was scheduled to run next on Tues Aug 31st to attempt day 3, but I let packing for the trip and other last minute errands that day get in my way. Wed was out for running b/c we were traveling all day to Sydney, AU. Thurs disappeared into the vortex of time zone differences, never to be seen again. So I finally ran again a week later in Sydney on 9/3 and only managed to squeeze out 1 mile of running before I had to switch over to walking the rest of the session (did 2.92 miles total). The rest of the days in Sydney  were jam packed with very little sleep and sightseeing and at least 4-6 miles of walking per day (seriously!). Although Jon had the self-discipline to get out and run every morning I did not. I was too busy trying to manage metric to standard conversions, walking on the left instead of right, adjusting to the 14 h...

Went out to run at 5am this morning to attempt W6D2 again. It took a little bit to find my groove during the first mile even though I had my standard stretching and warm-up, probably b/c it was early in the morning and I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. This time when I started the second mile I was sure I was going to be able to finish. My confidence and the ‘fun’ of the run persisted until a half mile into the second run and then it was getting hard and I wasn’t sure I could make it, although it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why. My heart rate stayed below 175 except for the last couple of minutes [which is fabulous, I’ve made more consistent gains in cardiovascular conditioning then any other part of my progress], so it’s not that I was running out of breath. And my legs were not aching or anything. I just felt tired-like my energy battery was drained. Still, I pushed through and I made it. I felt so good about the accomplishment that after I walked for a few minutes at the end ...

Went out to tackle day 2 of week 6 today. I made it 1.5 miles total. The first mile was cake and I ran it on average faster than I ever averaged a mile before- 5mph. (I’ve run faster than that plenty of times  but not sustained for a full mile).  I felt great during that mile, spring in my step and very happy. I could do anything! The second mile was harder, and I only made it halfway before I needed to stop. My abs were screaming at me a lot during the second run b/c they are sore from swimming yesterday (I did 10 single laps x 25meter pool=250meters). Here’s the conversations I had with the two me’s: critical me: Wow you are pathetic. People are out there running marathons everyday and you can’t even do two miles with a 3 min break in between.  You are never going to be able to run a 5k! Loser! caring me: Hey you know what Jenni, you are now following distance instead of time, which explains why it seems so much harder. Instead of just running 20 minutes total (whic...

This morning I woke up and felt the push to move even though it’s my running rest day. Not to meet any deadlines or tackle another running goal or anything, but just because my body wanted to be active. I didn’t really feel like biking and I don’t have a pool membership so I did what I’ve come to know lately- run. I figured perhaps I am at the point in my fitness regimen where I don’t have to take a rest day from running every other day anymore. After all, Jon runs 3 days in a row before he takes a rest day. So I ran. My first mile was moderately easy- I really enjoyed the run and my heart rate was in a good place. Since I ran a mile I thought why not take the 3 min walk break and then try to run another. Then I could actually cross W6d2 off my list a day early. My mind was all “yes!” but my body (especially my right knee) was like “um, no thank you, not today”. When I realized it wasn’t going to happen (another mile I mean) I finished up with a 45 second all out sprint (6 min pace w...

Today was the first day I began following the distance goals for the program instead of the time goals. The goals only overlap perfectly if you run at a 6mph pace, which is not feasible for me at this time (I’m running anywhere from 4.7mph to 5.7mph depending on whether I’m running without walking breaks or with them). I’d been following the time goals (run 20 minutes for example) this whole program but hubby pointed out I would not actually be running a full 5k upon graduation unless I started following the distance goals instead. So I’ve switched over. Today’s session consisted of 1/2 mile run, 3 min walk, 3/4 mile run, 3 min walk, 1/2 mile run. So 1.75 miles of running total and I had no problem completing it. As expected, I ran faster than when running without breaks between the intervals. I think also paying attention to the distance instead of time pushes me to run faster b/c I realize on some level that the faster I run the sooner I am finished. Also the distance represented a...

I just ran 1.64 miles in 21 minutes without a stop, averaging 4.7 miles per hour. Not only did I finally make the goal, but I did it without a rest day (I ran yesterday). I DID IT. Took me 6 tries, or two week, but I DID IT. my running stats for the session: Garmin Stats Now onto week 7!

Today I made it 16 minutes and 1.33 miles in my first run interval. I just did the one today; in retrospect it might have been useful to do a 2 or 3 minute walk interval and then do 4 more minutes of running for a total of 20 but I was pretty excited about adding 3 more minutes and 0.33 miles onto my run that I just lost the focus to do anything more. I know I could have done 1 more minute but it would have been at the expense of total muscle fatigue and I felt i didn’t need to prove anything to anyone so I let myself stop before the point of exhaustion. I enjoyed my run emotionally today which is good too. I’m still running at a pace of 4.7mph pretty steadily and I’d like to improve that but I suppose i should focus on one thing at a time.  I just know that when I am finally able to run a 5k I don’t want to be in the bottom percentile. Today I looked at the results of more than thirty 5k runs across the country and in every one, running at my pace (about 12:50) would mark me slo...

When I started c25k I could not run more than three 60 second intervals. Today I ran over a mile without a stop. For the first time in my life. Ever. Ever! My speed during the run segments was 4.7mph-4.9mph. Not at all close to the 5.5mph I could manage when limiting myself to just 8 minute runs, but a step up from the 4.5mph run I did just on Friday during a similar time-length interval. With hard work and perseverance each future run can build on this one, increasing my run interval time slowly up to 20 minutes. I will get there! There’s a million little criticisms I could pour over myself – my cadence has slipped back down to 80 (85-90 is optimal target for max efficiency), my total run time went down 2 minutes (because I put so much of myself into the first interval to make the mile), etc. But I’m not going to do that. I’m going to celebrate my victory. I ran a mile.  I ran a mile. I ran a mile! I am running away from heart disease and diabetes and an early death. I...

I’m going to stop writing w5d3 repeat (fail) as my subject line for these 20 minute run attempts because it’s too discouraging otherwise. Instead I’ll just increment the try count- today was my 3rd try toward a 20 minute run. On this day, my first run was just a shy of 13 minutes. Then I eased into a 4 minute walk followed by a 4 minute run. Objectively I am making progress on several fronts, even though I’m nowhere near making the goal of of 20 minutes yet.  I progressed in both my run length (up to 12:50 from 11 last attempt) and my recovery requirement between run intervals (only a 4 minute walk instead of 5 minute walk). I also made progress in my total run time – up from 16 minutes in w5d2 to 16.60 minutes today. Finally, I am gaining in my average speed over the entire session (incl walk and run segments) when I view the trends over the past few weeks (excluding the treadmill sessions I’ve done b/c as expected you can run faster on a treadmill and excluding the few sessio...

Today I went out to tackle W5d3 again. 20 minute run. I told myself it is acceptable to reach this session goal in mini-milestones. Perhaps 15 minutes today, 17 minutes next time, etc. How far did I get? 11 sad minutes. My legs felt like lead, my mouth was a dry cotton ball and my sweat actually stung my skin and eyes it was so concentrated. Dehydration – ugh.  I cried all the way home in frustration. My cardio system was ready for this run, my mind was ready for this run, but my major muscles were not due to lack of proper care via hydration. Here are my stats: Garmin Stats

I attempted w5d3 today and failed. Could not do more than 11 min straight (the goal is a single 20 minute run). Feeling pretty discouraged. Will try again Tues but i think it is going to take many tries to nail this session. To my credit, it's about 90 degrees outside, and I am maintaining a pace of 5.3-5.5mph which is faster than a lot of people in my weight/fitness bloc it seems. Not sure whether I'm going to force myself to slow down when I try again to make it easier or whether i maintain my speed and just take as many tries as needed to nail it eventually.

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 ...

Jenni’s Mix (165-170 bpm avg) how far we've come- matchbox 20 take on me- aha sour cherry - the kills one way or another- blondie whip it - devo are you gonna be my girl- jet i wanna be sedated - ramones blister in the sun - violent femmes surfin usa - beach boys living la vida loca - ricky martin

I am feeling pretty energized and motivated this morning. I knocked off W5D1 last night and really enjoyed myself. I still need to work on more even pacing- I ran at 5.5mph during the first interval, 5.0mph during the second, and 4.7mph during the 3rd. I really need to focus on steady pace, probably about 5.0 the entire time. My run stats for the session are here: Garmin Connect Stats for 8/3/2010 I also need to work on cadence. Studies have shown that the best athletes run at a cadence of 85-90 (that’s per foot, how many times a minute you step) which translates to 170-180 bpm in terms of music pace. I’m currently running at 80 cadence or 160 bpm. To aid in increasing my cadence, which in turn increases efficiency and lowers risk of injury, I am going to transition to using music mixes during my run that are fixed at 170 bpm. Then it’s easy- every beat is a step forward. I’ve found this site: Pod Runner Mixes (click on archive) that has free hour long mixes sorted by BPM. Way to go...

Started my session Saturday and after the first two intervals I got side stitches. Tried to run through them, but found it to be impossible. Next morning (Sunday) reattempted the run and was successful. Here is my dilemma: my body seems to enjoy a 5.0-5.5 pace. I *feel* great about the process when running at that speed, however i cannot sustain it for the full work0ut session. If I run slower I can sustain it the entire session, but the run feels like drudgery. Should I keep my speed low to push through the c25k program, or should I let myself run at the speed that feels right, even if it means have to repeat sessions several times before i can nail them? Here is this session’s stats, and the gap at around 20 minute mark represents where i paused the workout Sat and restarted it Sunday. It was a total of 3.49 miles over the two day session. Garmin Stats

Attempted to begin the run today outdoors. It’s 95 degrees outside with a real feel of 99. Ugh. Midway through my warmup walk I knew I was not going to be able to handle the heat/humidity so I moved it indoors to the treadmill at the gym. Pushed the incline up to 1 and the speed to 5 mph to attempt to compensate for the ease of the treadmill. Completed 2.84 miles and consider the session successful, although I did feel a bit dizzy/nauseous at the very end again when my HR was hovering in the 180s. Still waiting for runner’s euphoria to kick in. When is that supposed to begin exactly? Here are my stats for the run: Garmin Stats

Friday morning in Seattle (look for an upcoming trip report post soon!) I made time to tackle W4D1 again. As you may remember  I attempted but did not complete D1 earlier in the  same week, falling short by one minute and 30 seconds of the total run time. My run began a bit stiff – perhaps because it felt cooler than back home in northern VA and my muscles were not as loose - but I made it through the full session (16 minutes of running total) without a problem. I didn’t enjoy it though. I’m going to be really bummed if I finish the c25k program and discover that I actually don’t like running. I’m hoping it was just  a bad session. I should have completed both d2 and d3 prior to today, but I let my soreness from hiking 10 miles up some challenging trails on Mt Rainier over the weekend and then my exhaustion from the redeye flight home on Monday get in the way of finishing the week. Cannot let my discipline continue to slip! I will run c25k: W4d2 today. Here are...