Weeks 10-11 - Almost there

Not that I'm not going to still have work to do after I finish my first 5K next week, but I'm getting kind of nervous for the Kalamazoo Klassic. I'm just trying to accept that I'm going to be slow and that I'll be successful when I cross the finish line.

One of these days, I'll have something more profound to say. Right now, I'm getting ready to head to trivia (and hopefully our team will post a decent score).

Since the last post, I've run a total of 12 miles. Here's the breakdown:

Saturday, June 2 (run):

3.20 miles
40:54 minutes
358 calories
12:45 minutes/mile

Sunday, June 3 (run):

3.11 miles
37:59 minutes
346 calories
12:14 minutes/mile

Wednesday, June 6 (run) - this is an estimate since my GPS screwed up. Luckily, my running partner's worked.

2.59 miles
32:53 minutes
289 calories
12:41 minutes/mile

Thursday, June 7 (run):

3.13 miles
38:43 minutes
349 calories
12:21 minutes/mile

Week 10 - Closer to the 5K

Since the last update, I've done a pretty good job of staying on schedule. But it was HARD. The heat this past holiday weekend was debilitating and made it harder to run. However, here's the update.

Thursday, May 24 (run):

3.10 miles
38:53 minutes
348 calories
12:33 minutes/mile

Saturday, May 26 (ridiculously HUMID/HOT run):

2.90 miles
37:07 minutes
325 calories
12:48 minutes/mile

Sunday, May 27 (walk):

4.10 miles
1:00:47 minutes
458 calories (though, not accurate since I didn't change the settings on the phone)
14:49 minutes/mile

Monday, May 28 (run):

2.16 miles
26:51 minutes
242 calories
12:24 minutes/mile

I've noticed that the first couple miles are fine, but anything after 2 starts to get slower. Obviously, endurance is an issue, but I know that will come with time in order to be able to do longer runs.

My goal with the 5K is to finish in 40 minutes or less. I think it's doable, but also don't want to push myself too hard as I build up to this.

Weeks 4 & 5 and the Bucket List

Well, let's look at the good news first...

- I've been out and running on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and today.

- I went to the doctor this week and she was very happy with my weight, which I reminded her that it was helped by mono, but it's stayed off (151.6; it was a high of 178 in 2010) and blood pressure (which has traditionally been good), and it turns out that when I started this Couch to 5K thing, I most likely had bronchitis. Yup, that was brilliant on my part. Who knew? (Apparently, not me!)

- I can finish the distance of 5K without dying.

- I've been able to run for 8 minutes in a row.

- My life may be returning to some type of normalcy soon.

And the bad news...

- I ran a total of 8 minutes out of 57 minutes today. (Granted, it is a "walk" day on the Couch to 5K plan).

- I feel like work has taken over my life recently.

- Financially, I keep telling myself I just need to get through the month of May, and then things will be better.

- My apartment is an absolute mess (not that this is new, but I still have tons of stuff to go through and organize and get rid of).

- Life has felt a little out of balance recently...guess that means I should go back to yoga!

So, with everything going on, I decided that it's time for me to put together a Bucket List. And so far, I've been able to put things like "visit ...." or "Run and finish a 5K" but as I've thought of some things I've already done, I've been able to do some pretty cool things (Polar Plunge, speak in front of 400 people). Stay tuned for the Bucket List (which I'm sure I'll keep adding to)!

With all that, here's this week's progress - Week 4 going into Week 5!

Tuesday, April 17:

1.63 miles

21:30 minutes

152 calories

13:11 minutes/mile (I've changed how I view this on CardioTrainer)

Thursday, April 19:

3.20 miles

46:34 minutes

299 calories

14:33 minutes/mile

Saturday, April 21:

3.46 miles

45:58 minutes

457 calories

13:18 minutes/mile

Sunday, April 22:

4.12 miles

57:09 minutes

462 calories

13:53 minutes/mile

Since I started, I've burned 3,798 calories with the walk/jog and have gone 38.6 miles.