Couch to 5K - Week 6 Update

Are you getting tired of reading about my Cto5K challenge yet?  :)  Only 3 more weeks to go!

Hey, what can I say?  This is what I'm doing right now so this is what I'm writing about.

This week went like this:
Monday
Brisk 5-minute warm up walk, then:
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)

Not too bad.  I'm used to doing intervals since that is what I've been doing pretty much for the past 2 years anyway.  And I always go by the times not the distances, because in order to do the distances, I'd have to be running at a 6.0 pace, which is a bit fast for my short little legs.  :)

Wednesday
Brisk 5-minute warm up walk, then:

Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)
Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)

This was the hardest day of the week because of the perfume lady.

Today (Friday)
Brisk 5-minute warm up walk, then jog 2-1/4 miles (or 25 minutes) with no walking.

My shins weren't happy with me this morning on the way to the gym.  My left shin kept cramping so I wasn't sure how well I would do with the straight running.  I stretched and stretched and stretched (read - procrastinated!) before I started running.  My friend, Lisa, chose to join me for a short time on the treadmill beside me while Laura cheered me on from the stationery bike.  Thanks, girls!

I ran at an easy 5.0 pace to see how my shins were going to hold up.  Plus that way I could actually talk to Lisa without passing out. :)

Then in the last few minutes of my run, I bumped it up to 5.5 for a couple minutes, then 6.0 for the last few.  I was half way through a lap when my 25 minutes was up, but I chose to finish out the lap running (remember, I'm anal that way?).  :)

Lisa and I talked for about the first half of my run, which made it go faster.  Or seem faster anyway.  She ran some but she hadn't stretched beforehand so she was cramping.  She walked a little before she had to leave, but I just appreciated the fact that she was there talking to me, cheering me on.  Then in the last few minutes Laura got on that treadmill so she could high-five me when I finished.  I soooooo need that!  But I told her I was leaving my headphones on because I couldn't talk at that point.  She was cool with that.

I let out a whoop! when I finished my last running lap.  I didn't really care what anyone thought.  I was proud that I did it!

From here on out it is just straight running.  No more intervals.  Five-minute warm-up walk, then run.

I want to run outside just so I can see what it is like.  I know it will be different running on concrete/blacktop as opposed to the treadmill.  I picked up a map at the gym today that has 3 different routes on it - 1 mile, 3 miles, and 4 miles.  So depending on how things go next week (and the weather, of course), one of my running days, I will try outside.

Laura commented the other day that my [body] shape is changing.  My clothes are fitting differently even though the numbers on the scale aren't going down.  Perhaps I'm converting fat into muscle?  Or perhaps I need to stop eating junk. 

As I blogged about before, I've got the exercise thing nailed - I miss it on days that I don't go - but I really need to work on eating better.  I consciously eat junk.  I know I shouldn't but I eat it anyway.  Some days I do really well, other days ... not so much.  I'll get there.  I just need to have more good eating days than bad.  :)

Thanks to everyone who has walked/run with me and to those that have been encouraging me from afar!  It really means a lot!!!

I can do this!

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