Twelve Years of Rust: The 20 Minute Run

This Couch-to-5k program has been great for me, from so many angles. The running has certainly helped my weight loss. The plan has made it easier for me to progress in my goal of running the Undy 5k in November. Hell, you could even argue the routine of running has helped me with procrastination (Shannon would probably beg to differ, since I still don't do the dishes or clean the rabbit's cage as often as I should or without a few honey-do reminders).

The plan itself is pretty straightforward. (PLUG: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml). You assume that you are not up to snuff physically (hence, COUCH to 5k), and this little puppy outlines some easy stepping stones to help you break down the task of going from not running to running 3.1 miles in a single sitting. The steps in the early weeks are pretty simple. Run 1 min, Walk 1.5 minutes (Week1). Run 1.5 min, Walk 2 min (Week2). Run 3 minutes. Run 5 minutes. All the way until Week 5. In week 5, it does something a little odd...Day 1, Run 5 minutes, Walk 3, Run 5, Walk 3, Run 5. Day 2, Run 8 minutes, Walk 5, Run 8 (Ok, there's your step up from 5 minutes, got it).

DAY 3. Run for 20 minutes without walking. Ummm, WTF? Are you serious?????? I haven't run for any longer than 8 minutes...ONE TIME! How am I supposed to run for 20 minutes? At once?

So first off, a disclaimer. I repeat weeks on Couch to 5k. I find that helps you best, if you do each week twice, your legs get used to it easier without injury. So I did the first 2 days of W5 last week. Then I repeated them this week. On Wednesday, after doing my first 8 min run, followed by 5 min walking, I went to do 8 min of running. But I decided to push it. I finished out my route running it. I ended up at 11 minutes and change running. And what did that tell me? Once you get past 8 minutes...nothing really happens. Your legs don't fall off. There's no searing pain. There's no panic attack. Your legs are still hella tired, but that's it. So I said, alright, let's do the thing.

Tips...1) Do not look at your watch. For as long as you can stand it. Because as soon as you see you've run for 4 mins/5 mins, all your mind can do is "I have to do 3 more of what I just ran?" And then time just stops moving. 1 minute of running feels like 5 minutes. 2) Since you need to check your watch, pick a landmark on your run for watch check. I used the library, which is about 1.6 miles of my normal 2.1 mile run. So when I checked in and saw I had run for 16.5 minutes, I was like "Allright! Only 3.5 more mins to go! I can do this easy!". And 3) If you start feeling tired, first try slowing your pace. Just do a little more than a brisk walk. If that doesn't do it...then walk. No shame in trying, you'll probably get further than you thought you would anyway.

So yeah, 20 mins. I can do that. Because I just did. So eat it, body rust!