C25K is done ... but I'm not!

daddyratty

Yesterday I ran my first 5K in almost 3 years, and only my 2nd ever.

I entered a diary at dailymile.com and a modified version of it follows. But I freely call myself a runner now. It's a little source of pride of mine, now. I've begun pacing myself on my runs (all of which are 3 or more miles now), and it's just really a blast. I have another 5K in 4 weeks, a 10K seven weeks from now, another 10K nine weeks after that one, and then I'll keep in 10K shape until I get out of the "obese" range in my weight loss (roughly 221 pounds (mid-August if I can keep up 2 pounds per week until then ... maybe even sooner).

I began 9 weeks ago on the Couch to 5K program. It was 3 weeks later that I was referred to MFP, and that's when the real weight loss started. That was 5 weeks ago.

Based on the calories I've burnt running, only 3.5 of the 20 pounds I've lost to date can actually be attributed to exercise. The other 16.5 (3.3 per week) are from watching what I eat. I guess it's true what they say: diet AND exercise.

Now I am on a training program that I got from the Smart Coach feature at Runner's World's website. Both the site and the feature are free, although I am waaaaaay faster than my recommended times for this point in my training. Because I entered that I only ran 6-10 miles per week, it was very conservative with my paces. That's OK because I'm learning the pacing and listening to my body. I'm inching my pacing down as I go, allowing for longer and longer "kicks" at the end of my runs. It means I have to pull back the reigns in the first mile or so, but it also means so much more energy at the end.

So here is my "story" from yesterday's run:

Race Day Diary: Saturday, March Nineteenth, Two Thousand Eleven

Up at 5:40am. Got everything ready that I could to make sure my wife's job was as easy as possible when she got up 20 minutes later. She was going to nurse our 6-month old and we'd get the kids up about 15 minutes before departure.

All went smoothly until I went to head out to the car. WHERE ARE MY RUNNING SHOES?! I looked high and low and finally found them about 6 minutes later ... in a little cubby recently donned the "exercise stuff cubby" in our closet.

A light snow was falling at our home when we left just after 6:30am. A little nerve-wracking because there are two 4000+ foot passes to get over to the race locale: Eagle Point Middle School in Eagle Point, OR. The reason I chose this race is that it lined up with my original "Couch to 5K" schedule, a program from which I have since ditched in favor of a more long-term program (although the C25K program would have been about the same amount of running up till this point).

Pre-race meal was a Sausage Egg McMuffin and half a blueberry bagel from Raley's. This was about 90 minutes before race time, and I also downed a 20-ounce Peet's coffee to get the juices flowing.

The course is a beautiful course, not a lot unlike the ranchland I run by near my own house. However, the first half-mile included about 95 feet of elevation gain, so I wanted to make sure my first mile was within pace. I was about 80 feet behind the pace at the top of the hill, but made this up in the next half-mile.

I knew I was doing well when I realized that the course was a "turn-around" course so I would get to run down the very same hill at the conclusion of the run. I kept within 20 feet of my pace the whole rest of the time until the final hill. I didn't exert much for most of the descent, just letting gravity do its thing, until I heard the watch beep for the 3.00 mile mark. I wanted to have a 500' kick so I figured the final 0.11 would be pretty close to hitting that mark. The finish line was about 175 feet beyond the 5K mark according to my Garmin, but I was able to add that last bit on as an added lap anyway.

I got 4th in my age group (out of 4), but most importantly to me is that I did it. I race the very same course in 4 weeks and look forward to beating my time. As of this morning I am 22.5 pounds down from my weight just 5 weeks ago. I am feeling good cardiovascularly, and look forward to my next 5K, and beyond!

Splits:
Mile 1 - 10:53
Mile 2 - 10:52
Mile 3 - 10:22
3.00 - 3.11 - 6:11
3.11 - 3.14 - (including a few seconds where I forgot to stop it) - 10:01

daddyratty

Also ... my profile pic is from after yesterday's race.

galaxysue

well done on your run and success on MFP. Keep up the great work.