May 01, 2009

T minus 22 hours and counting

This time tomorrow I'll be done with my 5k!!

Yall are probably getting sick of hearing about it, but it really is a big deal for me. A friend and I started on the Couch to 5K plan about 6 weeks ago. We decided that our first order of business was to find a 5K to run. Our thinking was that if we already had our registration in for the race, we'd be more motivated to actually go through with it.

We picked a race that was 6 weeks away, so we had to cut the first couple weeks off of the training schedule. The first week we did the following:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following:

Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes)
Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)


It was hard to push myself for those 3 minutes. I never dreamed that the plan would work as well as it did, and in just 6 weeks I'd be running 30 minutes more easily that I ran that first 3 minute segment.

Week 5 (my week three) I remember telling my mother I'd never be able to run like the program required that week:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)


I just didn't think that I could make it for 8 minutes without stopping.

Now I can run 40 minutes without stopping. It was a jog through my neighborhood, so I'm really not sure how far it was, but since I average a 10.5-11.5 minute mile I know it was well over my 5K distance.

Thank you guys for all your support. And I hope my bloggy friends who are real runners aren't too disappointed in me if my time tomorrow isn't great. In my training I have said finishing is more important than how fast I finish.

Improving my time for a solid 10 minute mile is my goal for my next 5K. For now, I'm just going to enjoy reaching my first running goal.

11 comments:

  1. Wow, that is awesome, Brooke! I am so excited for you! Good luck tomorrow!!

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  2. I'm so impressed that you are doing this! Hope it goes well and you have fun too!

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  3. I did couch to 5k and I'm a huge fan!! Alas...I quit running after I "achieved" the 5k...lol

    Good luck!!!

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  4. Hi, popping in from SITS to say good luck with your first 5K. I have been running on and off since high school. The 5k is a great race. I have done a couple of 10k's and now want to start training for a 1/2 marathon. My body just has to start cooperating.

    www.southernrose.wordpress.com
    www.sorose.blogspot.com

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  5. I'm so proud of you! I know you will do amazingly well because you already are.

    Next year I plan to do the half marathon so I need to literally follow in your footsteps and run a 5k or 3.

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  6. That's so awesome Brooke! That just goes to show when you set your mind to something you can do pretty much anything! :)

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  7. Good luck on your 5k, Brooke!!! I LOVE the Couch to 5k plan!! That's one of my goals for later on... once I get out of, "I just had a wicked pregnancy and my body is WRECKED" mode. I can't wait!

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  8. Yay!!! you are probably finished by now, so congrats!!! I think just the thrill of being in a race is exhilarating! I haven't done one in like 2 years, but with everyone on the blogasphere doing it, I'm thinking maybe I should join in!

    Hope it went well for yo!

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  9. Way to go! Let us know how it went... inquiring minds want to know...

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what up yo?