Despite a night of poor sleep, it seems my hormonal fluctuation abated. Joints were good, other parts less achy, determined attitude. Started Week 3 of my training program strong--steady runs, great time.
What I like about this program is that this is as hard as it's going to get. From here on out, each week will consist of two days of 20 minutes alternating running and walking (or "steady" and "slow," according to the prompts) plus warm up/cool down, and then one day each weekend for building distance (1 mi, 1.5 mi, 2 mi, 2.5 mi ...). With the conventional program, I dreaded the longer intervals ("Ugh, I gotta run five minutes straight"). In a way, this program builds in the "cheats." I'm not going to make every single run interval right now. But I noticed I ran more than I did last time, covering more ground more quickly. I suspect as I continue to do this over the next four weeks I will "cheat" less and have to adjust my route to account for more distance within the time allotted. I also love that the scheduling fits within my lifestyle--I can really only budget 35 minutes on a work day; Sunday mornings are good for longer runs before church.
I'm hoping I can do the first 5K in about 35-40 minutes. That should put me in the middle of pack.* A doable goal.
*Hooray for mediocrity!
