Three Weeks Completed

I’m about to wrap up week three of my nine week 5k plan. I’ll be heading into the fourth week where it looks like running ramps up a bit. Well, challenged accepted, 5k plan! I’m looking forward to week four.  

 I think this is a good point to look back and see how my running plan is going now that I’m a third of the way into it.

 The plan calls for a 20 minute workout, three times a week. I’ve consistently done a 30 minute workout, four times a week. Occasionally, I will run a little bit more than the plan requires just for kicks. And well, to see if I can do it.

 Right off the bat, a few significant changes that I’ve noticed is my endurance. I’m finding the runs are going a little bit easier each time even though I’m continually increasing my speed slighty at each run.  I dropped a few pounds and can run for longer periods of time. Double score. 

 Somewhere along the way I figured out that running after dinner = a bad idea. I noticed that it would take me a lot longer to get into the workout after stuffing my face.  I decided to eat a somewhat bigger meal at lunch and maybe a snack at night. Running goes a lot easier this way.   I also think curbing dinner has attributed a lot to the weight loss – but I’m hoping that running is helping me in that department, too. 

 Every so often I get a little discouraged with how long of a process it feels like to get to a 5k running ability .  In a perfect world, I would say, “Hey, I wanna run a 5k, let’s go!” but I just don’t have that natural athletic ability or stamina.  Let’s face it, I’m out of shape. I have my work cut out for me.  I need to actually train for it and sometimes using the 9 week approach makes me feel like I’m never going to get there and that makes me cranky.

 Sometimes I need to go back and re-read this part of the running plan:

 “It’s easy to get impatient, and you may feel tempted to skip ahead in the program, but hold yourself back. Don’t try to do more, even if you feel you can”.

 I know going at this speed/pace is helping me not to injure my knee again. That’s an important 2012 goal and so far my knee is feeling pretty good!

 I love posting my runs to my Facebook wall. It helps me keep track of my runs, but also the encouragement and the “likes” I get helps me to stay motivated. 

Another good motivator is possibly doing a race in February with Kim. Nothing is set in stone, but the thought of doing a race gets me moving!

Speaking of Kim, have you checked out her lastest giveaway?  I almost hate to link up to her page because I WANNA WIN IT!