flekka journalrunning

can I do a 5k run? – week 4 and 5

nina — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 20:18:50 +0000

It looks more like it’s not going to happen – well, at least not as soon as I planned. Anyway, week 4 I decided to do the eliptical to try and rest my ankle from pounding on concrete. It was feeling fine, no pain during exercise, but it would hurt in the evening. I did a total of 10.3 miles in 4 days (about 35 min each day). I followed the same pattern as before: 1 min run, 2 min walk.

Week 5, the Thanksgiving week, we were away, and I did not have opportunities for running, so I rested – we walked a lot with the kids, but otherwise, no additional stress on the ankle. But some days it hurt, even just walking around. Some days I would limp. Not so good. Means I will probably have to see a doctor. And it probably means I will not be able to run for a while. With the holidays just around the corner, school holidays and kids at home, traveling… I will probably, hopefully, be back on the program in January. Until then – bike, swimming…

can I do a 5k run? – week 3

nina — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 19:21:55 +0000

Another little setback. This week I could run without pain – it did not hurt during running, but it actually hurt more after the run. Especially on Friday. Add some ankle swelling, I decided to rest the ankle for a while. Last week total: about 8 miles run/walk in about 2.5 hrs.

To rest the ankle, this week instead of running I will do the elliptical trainer and repeat the week one training program: 1min run/3min walk for 30 min. Running continues next week. The 5k run might have to be pushed to March. Oh well.

can I do a 5k run? – week 2

nina — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 19:52:28 +0000

A little set back this week. I was able to stick to the schedule until Friday, when I started feeling pain in my right leg, just above the ankle. Then both my legs started cramping. So I ran only half of the total time, the rest I walked. The same happened on Saturday. It was a little troublesome that I kept feeling the pain even after running, all day Saturday and Sunday. My hubby says I should take it easy for a while, walk for a week maybe.. I am not sure if the Beginning Runners Training Program was meant for somebody totally out of shape, so I will have to modify it further. So for this week, I am back to week 1 – 1min run/2min walk for 30 min total.

Totals for the week: about 12 miles walk/run, in about 4 hr and 10 min.

Not going totally as planned, but I am not quitting. I am actually still having fun. I will also try new shoes: my hubby swears by the new Free Run Nike‘s – very light and very soft shoes. That’s as close to running barefoot (the new “thing” among some runners right now), or in those 5 toes shoes (they just look ridiculous) as I will ever get. (actually I might run barefoot, but on sand only).

can I do a 5k run? – week 1

nina — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 17:44:28 +0000

I have completed week one of my “can I do a 5k run?” challenge. So far so good: no pain, no injuries. I do feel tired, but that is as expected – after all this is the most exercise I have done in a while (especially last 2 months recovering from shoulder injury). I skipped the run on Saturday: I couldn’t go first thing in the morning, and by afternoon I was too tired. But I caught up on Sunday. So the tally: about 12.5 miles walk/run in about 3 hr total.
As I said – no major pain or injuries but I did feel that jumping from 1min run/2 min walk intervals to 2min run/1 min walk intervals this week could be a bit much, so I decided to modify training (I am basically following The Runners World 8-Week Beginning Runner’s Training Program). So this week, it will be Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat 90sec run/90 sec walk, 10 times; Tues/Th easy 30 min walk. Wish me luck.

Oh, I also decided to do a 5k run (haven’t decided which one yet) early February, instead of January. Just in case I need to modify training more…

can I do 5k run? – day 1

nina — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:29:40 +0000

I have never been a runner. I have always thought it is hard and well, yes, boring. But I am giving it another try. Starting slow, with a beginner training program, armed with some Ipod and web tools (see the new widget on the right and below) – my goal is to be able to run 5k (3.1 miles) by the end of the year. To keep it fun I will try to vary my routes every training day. Today it was an interval – 1min run, 2 min walk for a total of 30 min (plus 5 min walk warmup) from home to the beach and back: