Week 5 – Day 3

Well, I got through day 3 of week 5 today.  I’ve come quite a way’s since considering redoing week 4 last Wednesday.  Todays run was one long 20 minute run and I’m happy to say that I made it through the entire run without needing to stop and walk!!  I was able to adjust my speed to keep my heart rate in the mid 150’s bpm for most of the run.  I did creep into the 160’s bpm occasionally between minutes 10 and 20 especially the last 5 minutes of the run.  I even had enough energy to push hard with a moderate sprint for the last 15 seconds of the run.

If you’re struggling with this program I highly suggest getting a heart rate monitor and adjust your speed to try and keep your heart rate between 70% and 80% of your max heart rate, doing so has helped me to go from hardly being able to go for 5 minutes last week to being able to do 20 minutes non-stop today with energy to spare.  Both Polar and Garmin have good heart rate monitors and Polar’s website has a good calculator to help you calculate your specific heart rate ranges to stay in while exercising.

Garmin Forerunner 305 stats for todays run:
Total workout time, including warm-up and cool-down: 30 Minutes
Average Pace: 1 mile in 11 minutes 54 seconds
Avg Speed/Max Speed: 5.0 mph/9.0 mph
Average Heart Rate: 150 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 186 bpm
Total Distance: 2.52 Miles
Calories Burned: 397

That’s it for this week, I’ll post the weekly summary tomorrow or Sunday.  Have a great weekend!

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Tags: couch-to-5k, running, fitness

Week 5 – Day 2

I made it through week 5 day 2! Todays program consisted of the following:
5 minute brisk walk warmup
8 minute jog
5 minute walk
8 minute jog
5 minute cooldown walk

I once again tried to keep my heart rate on the jogging portions to between 147 and 158 bpm so that I would be able to complete the running portions of day 2. One thing is for sure, keeping my heart rate under 158 outside is harder to do than it is on the treadmill. My first 8 minute run my heart rate averaged 156 bpm with a high of 165 bpm near the end of the run. During my second 8 minute run my heart rate was pretty much in the 160’s. The average heart rate for that run was 165 bpm with a high of 182 bpm during the last 15 seconds. Even with my heart rate being in the 160’s for most of the second 8 minutes I had enough energy to finish that run with a 15 second light sprint, which I try to do at the end of all my last run for the day, so I’m pretty happy with that. My jogging pace is between a 10 minute 39 second mile and a 11 minute 6 second mile which I’m satisfied with for the present. Now, for day 3 I just have a warmup walk followed by a 20 minute run and then a cooldown walk. We’ll see how my heart rate and pace fare for that…

Garmin Forerunner 305 stats for todays run:
Total workout time, including warm-up and cool-down: 31 Minutes
Average Pace: 1 mile in 12 minutes 14 seconds
Avg Speed/Max Speed: 4.9 mph/10.6 mph
Average Heart Rate: 150 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 182 bpm
Total Distance: 2.53 Miles
Calories Burned: 381

Those stats are quite a bit different than what my foot pod showed on day 1 of this week so I’m going to work on getting that foot pod synchronized with a known distance on Saturday or Sunday so if/when it rains again I’ll have more accurate data from running on the treadmill. See ya Friday!

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Tags: couch-to-5k, running, fitness

Week 5 – Day 1

Today started with lightning and rain so I decided to skip the morning workout and see if it would clear up so I could run outside tonight.  Well, when I got home it wasn’t raining but when I went outside to warmup I saw a bit of lightning off in the distance.  Since I didn’t want to end up being a lightning strike statistic I decided to go downstairs to the treadmill for todays run.

I have a foot pod accessory for the Garmin Forerunner 305 which will send your running results to the Garmin even though you aren’t running outside where it can pick up the satellite guidance.  This was the first time using the foot pod and I didn’t get a chance to calibrate it so I’m not sure exactly how accurate the distance or pace data is but it’s certainly better than what my treadmill gives since the tracking sensor on the treadmill is broken and doesn’t tell me the speed or distance that I’ve gone.

Todays program consisted of the following:
5 minute warmup
5 minute jog
3 minute walk
5 minute jog
3 minute walk
5 minute jog
5 minute cooldown

I programed my Garmin so that on the running portions I would try and keep my heart rate between 147 bpm and 158 bpm and the walking portions between 100 bpm and 158 bpm.  Keeping an eye on my heart rate really helped me complete the running portions of the program and I plan on watching that closely instead of just trying to keep my pace to 10 minute miles.  I can work on the pace of my runs once I’m consistently doing 5k three times a week.

Garmin Forerunner 305 stats for todays run:
Total workout time, including warm-up and cool-down: 31 Minutes
Average Pace: 1 mile in 13 minutes 22 seconds
Avg Speed/Max Speed: 4.5 mph/8.5 mph
Average Heart Rate: 145 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 174 bpm
Total Distance: 2.32 Miles
Calories Burned: 295

I will be interested to see what the numbers for Wednesday’s run will look like, hopefully I will be able to do it outdoors this time.

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Tags: couch-to-5k, running, fitness