Judebert

Today I tried Week 5, Day 3 of the Couch to 5K program. With its 20 minutes of uninterrupted running, I was both excited and intimidated.

I complete my 5K course, regardless of the time or distance specified by the program. So far, I've just extended the intervals to cover my length. Today, since there was no walking interval, I set my timers with a 5 minute walk before the second 20 minute run. Since my times are around 38 minutes, I didn't expect to use the entire second run, of course.

The temperature was 37F outside, so I wore my sweatpants, jacket, and gloves. (My hands get cold easily.) As I passed my house on my figure-eight route, I tossed the jacket in the driveway. Not too long thereafter, the timer beeped and I reveled in the feeling of completing 20 minutes of running. I could have gone farther!

Five minutes later, I started running the rest of the way. The slight hill on the way home tested my resolve, but I somehow worked through it. I stopped all the timers, only to find that I had still taken 38 minutes. And oddly, the second 20-minute timer still had 7 minutes left.

Let's see, two 5-minute walks (warmup and interval) is 10 minutes; plus 20 minutes of running is 30 minutes; plus 13 more minutes is 43 minutes. Something wasn't adding up.

Double-checking my timers, I found that my first run was only 15 minutes. My elation had been unwarranted.

So what to do now? Week 6, Day 1 starts with 5 minute / 3 minute intervals; I don't think I need to repeat Week 5. I'll just wait for W6D3's 25 minute run for the big celebration!