Run run run!
I had another good workout this morning. Somewhere around the beginning of the year I started the Couch to 5k running program, which takes you from being a couch potato to running 5k/3 miles at a stretch. I was doing great up until the sixth week; I had just run 2.25 miles straight (possibly the longest distance I have ever run in my life as I have never had the stamina for extended exertion) and felt physically ill, and I couldn't face up to Week Seven's three 2.5-mile runs.
All of my running is done on a treadmill, as running on pavement is too hard on my legs. As a result, it is easy for me to know my speed and timing. When I started the program I was running at 5.0 mph, a slow jog that allowed me to run the distances I wanted. After hitting that 2.25 mile barrier, I decided to go back and increase my pace by running shorter intervals at higher speeds.
Now about a month into my speed increases, I am running at 5.3 mph plus doing the last two minutes/0.2 miles at 6 mph. Today I even ran two quarter-miles at 6 mph which is great; when I started the C25K program I could barely run a quarter at 5.0 mph, and when I started increasing my speed I could only do 1 minute/0.1 miles at 6.0 before getting out of breath.
The best part of all this? It's watching my cardiovascular health improve! Whereas when I began, my heart rate would shoot up to its max of ~178 after a jog of just a few minutes. Now it rarely gets that high, and when it does, it's after running much longer distances at higher speeds. Yay!
All of my running is done on a treadmill, as running on pavement is too hard on my legs. As a result, it is easy for me to know my speed and timing. When I started the program I was running at 5.0 mph, a slow jog that allowed me to run the distances I wanted. After hitting that 2.25 mile barrier, I decided to go back and increase my pace by running shorter intervals at higher speeds.
Now about a month into my speed increases, I am running at 5.3 mph plus doing the last two minutes/0.2 miles at 6 mph. Today I even ran two quarter-miles at 6 mph which is great; when I started the C25K program I could barely run a quarter at 5.0 mph, and when I started increasing my speed I could only do 1 minute/0.1 miles at 6.0 before getting out of breath.
The best part of all this? It's watching my cardiovascular health improve! Whereas when I began, my heart rate would shoot up to its max of ~178 after a jog of just a few minutes. Now it rarely gets that high, and when it does, it's after running much longer distances at higher speeds. Yay!