Can I, Really?

Ufdah. The hold up on the posting is a mix between perfectionism and technology (I wanted to get the pics posted and it involved finding a mini usb and an adapter for the card reader). Last weekend, I broke my running "fast" after being sick, and ran while at the in-laws. I had mapped out a 3.3 mile route and it was a gorgeous morning all around. They have the perfect set up for a 5k training ground. The above pic is the 5 minute walk/warm up section on a hard packed dirt road.



Then, I played telelphone pole tag. I tried in the beginning to time my run, but since I didn't have my watch and just my phone, I realized the futility. Instead, I saw the line of telephone poles along the road and remembered someone saying that they used to run between poles, then walk between one. I did that, even though I can run farther than between poles. What was different was the greater distance and I was actually running half my run, not 1/3 to 1/4 as usual. I loved this change of pace.

This week, I'm back to my schedule, sort of. I missed Monday so I'm off a day but will get back on track in a few days. Today I thought I'd try the actual CP25K week 4 run, which is run 5 minutes, walk 2 minutes for about 36 minutes. It was a bear! I'm used to more recovery time between my runs. So I extended it to a 3 minute walk. I ended up not quite doing the whole thing, but still ran about 18 minutes. I may try this again on Saturday along a different route. It seems every time my run was to start, I was going uphill, and walking was downhill.


The Upcoming 5K

I've been thinking about the upcoming 5K, with October just around the corner (tomorrow!). I have 4 weeks of training left and:

• I got behind a week from being sick
  
• I haven't run longer than 6 1/2 minutes at one time
• My mile time is still around 20 minutes, average walk/run rate
• I haven't run longer than 1/3 mile at one shot
• My run is often not much faster than a fast walk

October is my time to really hit it hard. I think I need to go back to the C25K running plan because with missing a week, my modified is not going to do it. I won't be able to run the whole thing right now. Even though I've seen improvements each time I go out, my body isn't there yet.

Perhaps what I'll try to do for my 5K is:

• Run 3/4 mile
• Walk 1/4
• Run 1 mile
• Walk 1/4
• Run the rest
  
• Finish

So maybe what I need to do in training, is do these 3 sections of running. Split my training into a smaller scale version and work up to it. I'll have to do some thinking on it.