Couch to 5K Week 2 - The Real Fun Begins

Lucy after our workout today

I've been dreading the run today since I finished my last session of c25k on Wednesday. The first week is pretty much about easing the runner in, honestly a lotof people can run a minute, but increasing it to 90 seconds feels harder. I knew I had to get it together and go though, because if I didn't, I would end the program then and there.  And I needed to enjoy it because my next two runs will be hot and humid.

So I started with the warmup, and I noticed I was walking a little faster than my previous warm ups, but it felt good and Lucy was into it so I prepped myself that I was going to start running just as we got to an incline.  The run command came and I started to jog, up the incline for the whole 90 seconds.  I was really feeling it, especially by the second 90 second run and then I hit a mile and I discovered why.


Including the 5 minute warm up I had done the first mile in under 15 minutes.  It was my first sub 15 minute mile since I started running with the stroller a week before and I couldn't believe it.  Once upon a time I was running sub 8 minute miles in races, but that was long ago and shaving any significant amount of time off was a pretty big deal for me.  Seeing that number pushed me a little harder and that was the last time I felt like giving up mid jog.  It was a harder run with Lucy, who can sometimes be aggressive with other dogs when the baby is around, and we met a lot of dogs that Lucy was unsure about today but we kept pushing.  And I'm so glad I did because when the time for my second mile popped up I was in shock - it was under 14 minutes.

I know I'll have days where my average goes up, but having a successful 4th session gave me a lot of confidence to continue.  My reward for a great run - carrying a sleeping baby up to his room with jelly legs.