July 05, 2021

Couch to 5K : Week 6 Recap (and an important announcement)

First, the important announcement... I've been putting this off until the last minute, because I have a feeling it's going to cause all sorts of problems with my blog, but if you receive my blog posts via email (and want to continue doing so) this is important.

Google is getting rid of feeds for Blogger--which means I have to switch to using something else to reach email subscribers. I think I'm going to use mailchimp, but I may use follow.it--I haven't decided for sure yet. Regardless, I am *hoping* it will be a seamless transition... meaning you will continue to get a daily email with my blog post link. It'll likely look different and may have a different sender name, but it will still be the post link.

I'm going to make the change on Thursday (unless Google shuts down its system sooner). So, if by Friday morning you haven't received an email, please let me know so I can investigate (first check your spam folder, just in case). I am not good with this kind of stuff, so hopefully I can make it work! The biggest downside to using Blogger as a blogging platform is that you can't get support; there is no customer service to call.

Fingers crossed!

Now, on to the Couch to 5K : Week 6 Recap.




Week 6 was a big adjustment--and kind of exciting! I actually had two rather exciting runs this week.

Week 6, Day 1:

This one wasn't really anything special, considering the previous run was 2 miles without walk breaks. This workout was: run 0.5 mi, walk 0.25 mi, run 0.75 mi, walk 0.25 mi, run 0.5 mi. I did this on the treadmill.

Interestingly, the running felt so much longer than Saturday's 2-miler! I think it was because I was expecting it to feel super easy in comparison, and when it didn't, it dragged on. But I finished, and was glad that there was only one workout with intervals left to go in the Couch to 5K plan.

As you know by now, I focus mostly on my heart rate to see if my fitness is improving. My average heart rate for the running intervals was 141, 149, and 150, respectively. I was happy about that! Getting closer to Zone 2, my MAF rate (still a long way to go, though).


Week 6, Day 2: 

This one was exciting--because I did it outside. I've been using the treadmill for pretty much every run in the past month, but the weather was really nice on Saturday, so I decided to do it outside. 

The workout was: run 1 mi, walk 0.25 mi, run 1 mi

I was very curious what my pace was going to be. When I used a measuring wheel on my treadmill (to finally test the accuracy), it determined that when the treadmill reads 1.000 mile, I've actually run 1.059; which is a speed of 5.3 mph and not 5.0 mph)--but I always just go by what distance the treadmill says, just in case. I don't want to unknowingly cut my runs short. Anyway, I always set my treadmill to 5.0 mph, which translates to a 12:00/mile pace (if it was accurate).

Running outside was HARD. It felt much harder than on the treadmill (which has always been the case for me). I noticed that I was going faster than 12:00/mile, so I tried to slow my pace to as close to 12:00 as I could get (I was hoping to run the same as what the treadmill reads at that effort level) but my "natural" pace just stayed in the 11:00's.

Anyway, my first mile split was actually 11:01! I was shocked. Back in my heyday, an 11:00/mile pace seemed really slow, but now that I'm a beginner again, I was pretty excited. That's something I really enjoy about starting over--the milestones (no pun intended) start fresh and I am proud of myself for the new distances. Running two miles at the end of Week 5 felt like a big deal; likewise, running an 11:01 mile outside was exciting.

I walked the quarter mile, the whole time working on catching my breath, and then started running again. It felt so hard! But I made it home, and that mile split was 11:44. I was SO HOT and dripping sweat when I got home--but it felt good!

My average heart rate for the running segments was 151 and 158. Quite a bit higher than my previous run! The running segments were longer this time, however, and I did this one outside. Not a great comparison.


Week 6, Day 3:

No more intervals! From here on out, I'll just be running without walk breaks. This final workout of Week 6 was simply to run 2.25 miles. I chose the treadmill rather than face the humidity outside. Also, I got hooked into a new book (I've been reading a lot lately!) so I wanted to read while on the treadmill.

If I'm going to be running on the treadmill regularly, I'd really like my Garmin to reflect a somewhat accurate pace. It always shows that I'm running much slower than I actually am; it also shows that I walk much faster. Now that I'm not doing intervals, I figured I could wear my foot pod and mess with the calibration until it reads close to what the treadmill says.

During this run, I just kept changing the calibration, bumping it up and down to find a number that gives me a reading close to the treadmill's. By the end of the run, I found it to be pretty close at a calibration of 91.10%. I'll see how it goes during my next run.

Messing with that made the time fly by--I felt like the run was over with SO quickly, which is great! (I'm pretty sure my heart rate was higher because of my playing with the watch rather than focusing on my breathing and a relaxed "easy" jog). I felt amazing, albeit exhausted, when I was done. I really do miss the way I feel after running.


I sat down in front of the fan to cool off and Duck was all over the treadmill (the picture at the top of the post). I don't know why, but he and Chick both love to climb the thing!

Well, Week 6 was a great success--and I'm starting to feel like a "real" runner again ;)  Week 7's workouts are all simply to run 2.5 miles.

7 comments:

  1. That is awesome! Good job! Try not to compare last time to this time. It's a new journey and be proud of what you are doing now and all the steps you are taking for your health! Funny - I was looking at the post trying to find a picture of the cat on the treadmill. Then I finally saw him behind you...LOL. love the picture!

    Side note: maybe an idea for an entry- I would love to know if you are feeling/seeing any difference in your mental health since you started running again, reading more, counting calories.

    Have a great week!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I think it's okay to compare last time and this time if it's in a positive way--like I said, it's fun right now because I'm going through all these milestones again, but now I know just what a big deal they are. Before, I knew nothing about running! I'm no longer at the point where I feel like a failure because I've lost so much fitness. I feel like my mindset is a lot healthier. I don't care if I ever get faster than I am right now, honestly--I just want to get fitter. Hopefully that makes sense! :)

      I love the idea of the mental health changes since I've made some other changes. I'll put that on my to-write list!

      Delete
  2. I use mailer lite, might want to check it out! Great job on the C 25K!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't heard of that, but I'll look into it right now! Thanks for the suggestion :)

      Delete
  3. Good luck with the e-mail transition! I'm so excited to read about your C25K progress, I'm just getting back into running myself (training for my second full marathon, it's been almost two years since my first). I would love to get an 11 min mile outdoors, that's fantastic!

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  4. Such good work! Look at that smile. Yay. On the blog/email front, I receive your blog via email in a summary called "Bloglovin." If folks aren't getting it via mailchimp or whatever other service you choose, they can subscribe to multiple blogs via Bloglovin. Good luck with the switch. The tech part can be a PIA as I'm sure you know.

    ReplyDelete

I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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