The Plan - Week 7

So I had a bad running week last week. Between the tight IT band being treated by my chiropractor and the fact that my legs were, just in general, killing me, oh! and the rain (the rain it never stopped) - I was losing motivation, desire, and anything else that would actually make me get out and run.

Luckily for me - I have a pretty good support system. An email from my brother-in-law with actual dates of 5Ks, some facebook comments, some comments on that last post, a chat with a semi-new, but oh so very motivating friend, my chiropractor, my family - there's just so many people - and talking about this running thing is making it easier.

But really - what's helped the most? Is that my semi-new, but not that new, but very motivating friend, told me I don't need to run every day. I've been running every day. And doing my own thing. I had my own plan. One mile in August. Two miles in September. And then three in October. Every day. Anyway, this semi-new, but not that new, but very motivating friend, said there are plenty of training programs online for running a 5K and none of them have you run every day. AND - she only runs 5 days a week (and she is like, you know, a true runner.)

Anyway - so I looked some up. This is the one I like the most. They provide a training program for people who don't run at all yet and also a training program for Your First 5K run. I started at the end of Week 6 of the "program for people who don't run at all yet" and then I'll be doing the program for "Your First 5K".

Saturday I ran 2.75 miles - 5 minutes of running, 1 minute of walking - but I covered that much ground. A 5K is like 3.1 miles.

So - here's my plan for the week.

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Today you are going to try something different. Go to a school track or a trail in your area that you have measured. Warm up with vigorous walking for 10 minutes and then jog 2 x 1 mile repeats. Jog one mile and then walk for 5 minutes. Then jog another mile. Cool down with 10 minutes of walking.
Wednesday -Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 30 seconds and jog for 5 minutes.
Thursday - You will extend the distance of your workout today. After a 10-minute warm up, jog for 1.25 miles. Cool down with 10 minutes of walking. You can run almost anywhere. Through your neighborhood; in a park; on a school track; or on a treadmill.
Friday - Rest or cross train.
Saturday - Warm up for 10 minutes. Jog 2 x 1 mile repeats. Cool down with 10 minutes of walking.
Sunday - You will extend your workout again today. Warm up by walking for 10 minutes. Jog for 1.5 miles. Cool down with 10 minutes of walking.

The best part about this plan? Every Monday is a rest day. Which makes it really easy to do exactly what I'm supposed to do on Monday morning. Awesome, right?

I like having a plan. Even better, I like having a plan that forces me to take rest days. Even better than that, I like having a plan that makes sense.