C25K Update

Yesterday was my Week 5 Day 1 run of C25K.  Each day during Week 5 is different - - Day 1 is Run 5 min, walk 5 min, run 5, walk 5, run 5.  The thing is, the podcast for week 5 is all in one podcast - -so you also have Day 2's instructions mixed in there which are run 8, walk 5, run 8.  Additionally there is Day 3's which is one long 20 minute run.  I had been thinking about the Day 3 20 minutes run for a while - - not stressing, but a little nervous - -maybe anxious as to how I would do when Day 3 came . . . so I started Day 1 - -run, run, run . . .when it got time to end my first run and Ullrey said, "If you are on Day 2 continue running you have 3 more minutes", I thought to myself - "Let me see how far into Day 2 I can get"  so I ran through that interval as well - - 8 minutes running so far . . when it got time for Day 2 to stop and walk, I already had ran 8 minutes so I thought I would see if I could go 10 minutes . . . to make a long story short, I just kept running - - -ran through Day 3's 20 minute run; and by that time I could tell by my track that I was close to have run a complete 5K - -3 miles - - so I decided to go for it , and ended up running the whole 5K - in 25:57 . . . .25 minutes and 57 seconds to run 3 miles, uninterrupted . . . . .I couldn't believe it.  It was emotional for me . . . .considering that I really thought at the beginning of this year, just back in January, that I did not even know if I was going to make it to my 50th birthday - - I was so fat and out-of-shape . . . I was a mess . . . and now I had just ran 3 miles - - about 4 weeks ahead of schedule.

I shared it first with my #1 fan, my wife Summer, and she was really happy for me, but didn't seem surprised.  You know you have someone that supports you 100% when they are not amazed at things you accomplish, even if you are . . they just expect that you can do anything, even when you don't think you can . . .and that is a huge part of what I love so much about her.

My second audience was my "crew" on the C25K forums - - and that was the smartest thingn I could have done.  For the first few hours after having completed the "goal" for the program - -I was kind of confused "What do I do now?"  "Do I start running further on Wednesday?"  "Do I stick to the program?"  "Do I try to run it faster?"  Everyone was incredibly supportive and gave me incredibly sound advice . . .while my accomplishment is a huge victory - - and maybe from a cardio standpoint I have no problem running that distance and even more - - the program builds your body up as well - - and I would hate to injury myself at this stage because my body isn't ready for that kind of prolonged exercise - - soooooooo, I am going to start at Week 6 tomorrow and continue following the program out to its finale, get my name on the C25K graduation list and celebrate again.  I am going to add 1 additional day of my own to the week - -I am going to run 400's (1/4 mile) to try to work on my speed in the 5K without over doing it - -run a 400, walk a 400, run a 400, walk a 400 . . . .then the next week run an 800, walk an 800 etc . . .and build up my speed without overworking and hopefully it will all come together.  Been a long day today - -so I am going to cut this short . . . . .wanted to update . . . .no burrito shirts or bum faces today LOL!