Countdown to 5k: Less than Two weeks

I Finally made it to the gym this morning. First morning since last Tuesday, and first time to the gym since Wednesday. Thursday & Friday I got tired & lazy. I ran outside on Saturday, and Sunday I was lazy again.

Since there's less than two weeks left until the 5k, I am increasing my running. Today I ran the 3.1 miles (5k). It took me almost 40 minutes @ 5.0 + breaks. My goal is to run 3.1 miles every two days this week to work on building my endurance. I'll alternate that with 20 minute runs on the treadmill with intervals at higher speeds, and one day break. Also one of the runs should be outdoor. I just changed this from running every day--thanks to a friend's sage advise not to burn myself out before the race.

The days of the longer runs I'll probably have to cut out strength training. Today I was at the gym for an hour and a half to fit everything in. It was good because I hadn't been there in almost a week, but I should try to keep them to about an hour unless it's a weekend or something. Not good when I have to still get ready for work.

I also wore my knee brace today to help alleviate some of the pressure on my left knee since lately they've been killing me. Not a good sign even before I start training for the 13 miles, but, I think it'll be okay.

Damn my knees

They're going to hate me. So far I've run every day this week. I'm running tomorrow and Friday and probably Saturday. And my knees hurt something awful. Particularly the left. Oy.

Anyway--workout today was a little haphazard. I went and I worked out & I ran, but I was tired and because I had a board meeting this morning I left work dreading my evening trip to the gym.

When I belonged to Lucille Roberts, I used to only go after work or on the weekends. These days, I actually prefer the mornings! As hard as it is to get my butt out of bed in the AM, the gym is PACKED after work. I had to wait for a treadmill, had to wait for weight machines...not fun. It doesn't help keep my motivation in tact. In the mornings it's so much nicer and less pressure to rush through your workout either to get of the way of other people or to just get out.

Anyway--as I mentioned, today's workout wasn't as structured as it has been. I did my 2nd weight workout of the week--biceps, back, and abs, followed by cardio.

Eventually I got all of those done.

The hard part was the treadmill. I got on and did my usual 5 minute brisk walk for warmup, then increased the speed. But I wasn't really feeling it. And I had to pee. After another five minutes I ran to the bathroom. I probably could have gone longer, but I didn't want any mishaps. But then I had to start all over again.

Yesterday I did intervals of 6.0 interchanging with 5.0 and a couple stretches of 6.5. Today I was struggling to do 5.7. I guess my body needs to get used to it, and as I mentioned my knee has been killing me. In the long run (literally), I did push myself to go farther, faster, and longer than previous runs, but it was painful.

Tomorrow I'm planning to run outside. My goal is to go three miles, trying to run as much as possible. I'm using www.mapmyrun.com so I'll know how far to go and my goal is just to get as far as possible. And it will be cold, so conditions will be similar to my 5k in February.

The 1/2 marathon pre-training plan has me running anywhere between 3 and 5 miles for about 5 weeks before I start the 12 week training plan.

Okay, sure. First, I just need to get myself up to three miles.