C25K - Week 3, Day 2

C25K Week 3, Day 2

Yesterday was my second run since I've restarted the Couch to 5K program. It went really well! I drove downtown and ran a loop around the lake, which was beautiful. It rained all day yesterday, but for the thirty or so minutes I was running it cleared up. I'm still struggling a little bit with the three minute runs, but I think slowing down will help me with this. I can feel my heart racing and I run out of breath. I have a hard time running slower for some reason, but when I do it's much easier and I feel a lot more comfortable. Because I missed my run on Wednesday, I was considering skipping day 3 and moving right to week 4. At this point in time though, I think it's best for me to not skip ahead. I should be finished with the training plan about three weeks before the race, so that gives me plenty of extra days in case I get sick or miss a work-out.

I picked up a race information packet about the Seattle Marathon, which is being held the weekend after Thanksgiving. I'd love to participate in their 5K! I don't know if that's a good idea though, since it would be right before I finish the program. It also depends if we go out of town for Thanksgiving! Seattle is a 4+ hour drive from Portland, too. The good thing about the Santa 5k is that it takes place the day after my quarter ends for school, so I'll be in the area already. I'd like to see if there are any Turkey Trots going on in Portland when I'm home for Thanksgiving break.

I just started using a new iPhone application called C25K, and it was great! The nice man tells me when to run and walk and when I'm halfway done so I can turn around. You can also play your own music through it, which is pretty cool. I wish I could combine it with RunKeeper so I could keep track of my pace and such! I have no idea how fast I've been running, or how far. I suppose I could pick one day a week to run with a podcast and the RunKeeper and use that to track my pace. That would probably have to be the day that I drive somewhere to run, since it can be tricky to get a strong GPS signal here.

One last thing, I've set a (tentative) goal time for race, which is 35 minutes. Once I figure out what my typical pace is I'll probably be adjusting that.