5K Training Has Officially Commenced!

Very exciting news my friends, my 5K training has officially begun!

I realized I never showed you guys my plush puppies! These are my runners that guide me through every run, one mile at a time. They fit like a dream, and I'm glad to call myself a Mizuno Girl ;-) The red really brings out my fiery, fierce, competitive side I think ;-)

I had recently downloaded the Runner's World Smart Coach App for my iPhone that sets your training plan for 5K, 10K, Half-Marathon, or marathon depending on your individual exercise, pace, etc. I believe the app is now $1 but I got it a few weeks ago when it was free (sorry!). I am REALLY pleased with this app as it contains a glossary (tempo vs. speedwork), an 8 or 16 week program, and even an individual training plan for the week. I've stumbled upon various training programs online, but this one is perfect because it lets me add my own pace, when I want to log LSD (long slow distances) and how long I need to train til race day. Check it out, it might help you :)

Onto the training! My first day training was Tuesday with a LSD (long slow distance). I plugged in my pace at about 10:00/mile into the app, and it then calculated the remainder of my paces for the future training days. The LSD said to go incredibly slow (at 13:27 per mile) and NOT to speed up no matter what. Currently the training is set at 3 days a week, and then increasing to 4 days after 3 weeks. My first LSD was 6 miles. Easy, that's just a 10K! I thought. Not so much, once I got on the treadmill. Originally, I would have hoped to start doing all my runs outside, but with Toronto's weather (slush, hail, rain, snow, repeat) being neurotic, I had to stick with the gym.

The run started out pretty sore and had me distracted (can I really run the 6 miles? How can I do this for 6?): side stitches, other people's B.O, and the 7 TV's in front of me really distracted me. My calves felt sore, but I realized that if I stopped, I would be missing out on the whole point of the training. The good thing is, my knees felt great during the run and after about the 3rd mile, I picked it up and just focused on finishing, one step at a time (as they always say!). Although the pace was not challenging at all, it really becomes a mental game towards the end. On a great note, I never once walked during the whole run, and had about 5-8 pauses of about 15-30 seconds (I'm estimating here) of water breaks or to wipe the fat-cell sweat haha.

Overall, I pushed through and finished the full 6 miles, and felt FANTASTIC! I felt amazing once I finished. Amazing because I did it all on my own, without my inner gremlin telling me to stop and walk. Amazing because that's halfway to a half-marathon distance. Amazing because I have never ran that distance by myself, on a treadmill, and pushed my boundaries.

It was a great run, and next week's LSD is 7 miles. I'm excited, and knowing that I can do it on my own is easy-peasy since I'll only be adding 1 more mile.

Stats:

6 miles (9.6K) = 78 minutes (13:00 per mile)

Calories burned: 577

Next run: Easy 2 miles, Thursday afternoon.

Happy Running!

- K