Well the stomach virus was out of my system and I got back out there this morning. I had another kinda sorta setback this morning. Last year it took me a while to avoid distractions such as thirst, burping, etc. This year so far has been golden, except for this morning. I went to the diner last night. I ate ok, but it’s not a good idea to have a salad with onions 12 hours before a run. For me anyway. So most of my jog was spent burping. Not fun. I was still able to go just about 2.5 miles in just under 25 minutes. I just had to cut the run 20 seconds short because I had enough. I did run at an exact 10:00 pace despite my condition.

I was glad I stuck it out. There were a few times I wanted to bail, but I didn’t. Plus the time/pace wasn’t bad at all.

This run will serve once again as a reminder about avoiding distractions. No more onions for me. Now it’s on to week 8. A 28 minute run awaits me on Saturday.

Well my streak of running every other day was just broken. On Sunday I came down with a stomach virus. This is the second time my kiddo brought me (this time mommy too) home this unwelcome present from daycare. Luckily it wasn’t as severe as last time, but it did knock me for a little loop. That meant no run yesterday (as scheduled) or today. I feel a little better today, but I’m still going to wait at least one more full day to get it out of my system fully. I’ll probably be back on the road on Thursday.

All I have to say is that it was so humid that you can feel it. I was up early, and out of my door at 5:45am. I at least beat the heat, but the humidity was enough to slow me down. I did maintain a steady pace, but I felt worn out early. I didn’t have my usual slow down point, which is a good sign. Rather I didn’t have the energy to up the pace at all. I made it 2.49 miles in 25 minutes (10:14 pace). Not too shabby given the weather conditions. Still right on track on the program. One more 25 minute run to go, then it’s up to 28 minutes.

I had another good run today. Not as good as the last one, but still good at this stage. I ran 2.55 miles in the 25 minutes (9:53 pace). I tried to start off a little slower to not burn myself out so much. I find this strategy tough to figure out. It seems no matter the pace, I still start to slow down at the same point (today at the 18 minute mark). It’s almost better to start off faster. I think I came to this realization last year too. I think I have to run more naturally instead of concentrating on the pace so much. I’m sure the pace will work itself out. I’d like to make it a full 3 miles without any slowing down. Once through with the C25K program (I can’t believe I have less than 3 more weeks to go), I’m going to push the distance out some more. I’ll also work in some sprinting/HIIT as I’d like to get back some athleticism lost throughout the years.

Today’s run called for a 25 minute run (or 2.25 miles). I’ve decided to stick to the time rather than the distance. I made it 2.64 miles in 25 minutes (9:35 pace). This is the best I’ve run in the last 2 years given the distance and pace. This morning was nice and cool and not so humid. That had to factor into this. Almost every other run so far has been in either heat or humidity and mostly both. This puts me well ahead of schedule on the C25K program.

I completed week 6 day 2 of couch to 5k yesterday morning. The only comment I have is that it’s much hotter at 8:30am than it is at 6am. I had a so so run. I probably fell short of a mile on the second 10 minute run. Given the heat, I’m not disappointed. This was the last interval run. Now it’s straight runs from here on out.

Finished W6D1 up without any problems. I’m not sure how my pace was since I changed back to the C25K app (for the last 2 interval runs), but judging how I did the 20 minute run I think the pace was fine. Although I’m not restricting calories (I am eating much healthier though) I’ve finally started to really shed some weight. Reading back to last year, I’m am in a much better groove this year. Now there is just one more interval run to go. I must, must, must run through the winter this year. I don’t ever want to start over from scratch again.

I ran the first non-interval run of the couch to 5K program this morning. It called for a 20 minute (or 2 mile) run. It was good to change gears a little and focus on my pace in addition to the time.

I had the CardioTrainer app at the ready. I wrote the developers last year and gave them a suggestion for a countdown timer so that there is enough time to get the app started and get the phone put away before the actual timing starts. I was happy to see that this feature was put into one of the last updates–and that actual pace time wasn’t taken up while getting my phone secured before the run.

I completed the run at a 9:50 pace (going 2.09 miles in 20 minutes). I’m very happy with that. I didn’t really start to slow down until the 17 minute mark. It was very humid out, so that had to play a role. Otherwise it was a very good run. I felt the pace, and it was the same pace I had been running at, so I can look back and confidently say that I’m ahead of what the program is expecting. I did maintain some of my cardio fitness after the 6 month layoff.

Only 2 more interval runs to go, then it’s straight time.