It seems like no time at all has passed since I wrote my last entry about the Couch to 5K running program – but indeed it has. I’m in week 9 of the program – the final week. And yesterday’s run had us out for 30 full minutes of running.
And other than the hill at the end (living on a hill = nice view, shit for running), it wasn’t actually that difficult. Colour me shocked.
For the past few weeks we’ve been done with the intervals of walking/running, and just gradually increasing the length of the runs. This final week, we’re out for the full 30 minutes. Hooray!
I tracked our route with the excellent Gmap Pedometer web page, and despite being out for 30 minutes, we’re not yet at 5 kms. Generally we’re at about 4k, so once this week is over we’ll start adding a couple blocks every week until we can make 5k in 30 minutes. I’m not sure where we’ll go from there.
As for the health benefits – honestly running hasn’t done anything particularly stunning. It’s added the level of activity I need to not gain weight without being on a strict diet. I’m also sleeping a bit better, though don’t have any more energy through the day than while I wasn’t running. I don’t get any sort of runner’s high, and my sense of accomplishment at having made it through yet another week far outweighs any physical benefit I feel.
Still, I tell myself that it’s a good thing. Hopefully “Sober January” as it’s been dubbed in the House of Watkii, a focus on clean eating for the month and the addition of a day or two of weight training on top of the running will have us in Beach-worthy shape to spend a large chunk of February here:
Good work! I found that my distance slowly improved over time without actually being conscience of it, so you’ll probably naturally hit 5km as you get more comfortable. I also tacked on an extra minute at the end where I try to run as hard as I can–that buys me–what–an extra 250 meters?
.-= Darren´s last blog ..A Troika of Inspiring Videos =-.