Connect the Dots Ginger | Becky Allen: 5 Miles

Saturday, September 14, 2013

5 Miles

My first 5 miles post baby! YEA ME! I took it really easy so that I didn't overdo it at all. I am still doing a walk/run style of training which is great for me! Today though I increased the amount of running time compared to walking time. My goal was just to do a nice steady 15 min/mile pace which is what I did. I actually went just a hair faster than that due to the warm up which was nice and slow and I took the whole 5 min for that. At the end of the 5 miles I continued to do a long cool down giving me a total of 5.5 miles walked/ran. I normally don't include my warmup and cool down in the timing but since I new I was going to be on the machine for a long time I included the warm up and did the cool down as extra.

Findings for running my first 5 miles in 3 years:

IT IS A LONG TIME TO SPEND ON A TREADMILL! Even doing it in just an hour is still a long time. Today was a nice day out too and I should have run outside but I didn't and opted for indoors. At least I knew exact mileage though and I could time myself on the walk/run intervals.

Find a good show or have good music! Thankfully the machine I used had a TV and I could watch the food network, but I downloaded Pandora on my phone for next time just in case.

Use the bathroom. It is a long time on the machine or out and about.

Need more energy. Time to start using gel things or energy beans to keep me boosted up on energy. I got super tired and just felt like I was limping in my energy at about 4.25 miles.

Listen to your body. I realized that my breathing is amazing, now! I had a steady breathing pattern. I was taking full breaths not short little spurts that I used to. I would have been able to run and talk. I finally didn't sound like I was dying. I sounded like a runner. My thighs were burning which is great! They were really working it. NO SHIN SPLINTS OR CALF CRAMPS AT ALL!

I am so proud of my mind and body for doing what I asked it to do today. 5 miles is a long time, but every Saturday it just keeps going up by 1/2 a mile for the next few weeks in preparation for the 10k coming up. And honestly today I thought, "ok next week I am running 5.5 miles and the 10k is only 1.2 miles more, I CAN TOTALLY DO THIS! It isn't that much further!!!" And I felt like I was in a good groove and pace and one that I could sustain longer. Would I like to be fast, heck yes! But, I want to be injury free and cross every finish line with a smile on my face and as I proved with my 4 miler, I will get faster. This was just my starting point!

Total walk/run mileage this week alone: 16.4 miles!
Elliptical mileage: 11.75 miles
Spin Class: 21.4 miles

My legs have done a lot this week! 6 days out of 6 days! GO ME!

QOTD: Do you prefer indoor or outdoor long runs?
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...