I got up "early"... Well, early enough to make it to the trailhead before 9 AM. I started off the Couch-to-5k today. I hit the trail at approximately 8:56 AM. I've previously used this trail for a 10k step, walking program & worked my way up to doing around six miles three on a near-daily basis. That was last fall. (During today’s session, I found myself wishing that I'd kept it up...) I obviously survived though. I'm not sure how my quads are going to feel tomorrow and I can tell that the extra weight I'm currently carrying is going to make the jogging portion uncomfortable for a while. The pounding on the ankles is telling that I need to burn of the flab & smooth my running stride out. I should be rolling my gait, not tromping along.
Still, it was a very good session. I wasn't as out of breath as I thought I would be. No heart meter here, but I don't think I need one. My heart rate is either up or it's not. Today it was UP! I'm currently using the cadence tracks from Podrunner as after perusing several podcast & download sites I found these to be the best... easiest to follow. However, I'm thinking of shooting them an e-mail as the description of the tones is different from what's actually on the tracks. Not a big issue here, but the originals were much more obvious in their reference to the up-run & down-walk segments. I'm curious why they changed them... especially since the explanation is supposedly directly related to the tracks that I downloaded.
I'll also note that I ended up doing closer to a 6k distance, mainly because there's no mid-way marker in the tracks. I was looking at my watch the entire time & estimating where that point would be. Before I knew it, the track for day-two had begun... & I still had around 3/4 of a mile to hoof back to the trailhead & my car. There are also no obvious mileage markers along that portion of the trail. So... I picked a landmark. I'm surprised that I got as close as I did but I have a very good idea where the 1/2 way mark is for 12k steps... & that's approaching a 5-mile round trip. So I simply cut that short. Also, the first interval track starts late... so I'd probably gone 1/10th of a mile before the cadence began.
I'm feeling pretty good right now. Not bad for only 30-minutes or so of training. I highly recommend this for people wanting to get off of their arse. If I can manage this (smoking a pack of coffin nails per day) just about anyone else should be able to get going on it & finish up successfully. Yes, I AM going to quit smoking! This first session wasn't bad but I honestly cannot fathom trying to do this once the running intervals get up to 2-minutes or longer ... & still be puffing the cancer sticks.
So this program is great for anyone wanting an easy introduction into aerobic interval training. I’m actually already considering how well this will acclimatize me for higher intensity Fartlek sessions where I’ll be going from jogging to full-on sprinting. I’ll have to figure out how to time those or memorize the landmarks more effectively. Springing for a full minute segment would be akin to running several hundred yards. I think that the one-minute segments are too long for running sprints.
I’m not sure how sprinting is going to work on that concrete trail. I’d prefer to find a local school that had a track where I could do this. It’s not just the running surface either. It’s dodging the dogs & baby carriages. There’s too much activity out there for a more concentrated training regimen. I started out early today to beat the heat… but also to try & avoid the tourists. Perhaps the next time I see an LEO I’ll ask them where they run. If they have access to a public track, maybe I can go there for the Fartlek training. I really would prefer a track to the trail. It would have a more forgiving surface, fewer people and I wouldn’t have to stop and wait for traffic at intersections. I've looked at a few sites for specific "running trails" in the area... & there aren't any. The closest deginated trails fo rrunning are around 40-miles in any direction. There's plenty of rails-to-trails for biking... but none specifically for running. Now I hate bicyclers even more.
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