Couch to 5k: Week 3 Check-in

Well, this is the second time I've made it to the end of Week 3 of the Couch to 5k training! I've been feeling really good about my progress thus far, and I'm definitely doing better than I was doing at this point the last time I was training for a 5k. After every run for the last few weeks, I've recorded that I was feeling really good or pretty good after my runs. I haven't been feeling like I'm struggling to breathe. I got pretty worn out towards the end of the week, because I had also done a TON of walking! (I don't own a car, so I pretty much walk everywhere). But I still felt positive about my run at the end of the day and was looking forward to starting week 4.

Week 3 is deceptively challenging. It's the first significant increase in the length of your running intervals during the workout. My program went from 2 minute runs in week 2 to 3 minute runs in week 3. That is a much bigger jump than from week 1 to week 2, where the amount of time running only increased by 30 seconds. It may seem small in the grand scheme of the training program, but I think week 3 is really when you start pushing yourself to improve. For me, week 3 is the first obstacle you have to get past. And damn is it exciting to get past it!

My best workout in week 3 was 2.06 miles. Since the workout doesn't last as long as in the previous two weeks, 2.06 miles seems short compared to my 2.27 mile workouts in week 2. However, the training program is designed that way so you're not wearing yourself out trying to get those 3-minute intervals under your belt. Of 2.06 miles, I was jogging for about 0.85 miles, and walking for 1.21 miles.

My average overall pace was 13 minutes and 34 seconds per mile, which isn't my best pace (13 minutes 15 seconds per mile), but I feel really good about being able to stick to a steady pace while jogging for longer amounts of time. My running pace was 10 minutes 34 seconds per mile, and my walking pace was 15 minutes 40 seconds per mile. Those are very good times, since the average pace for a 5k is around 10 minutes per mile. I don't expect to be able to keep up that pace as I'm heading into weeks where the running interval is continuously increasing, because I'll get much more worn out. However, this pace is a great start and shows me that I can get to the point where my 5k pace is around 10 minutes per mile!

I'm really excited heading in to week 4 to see if I can maintain a good overall pace, despite the increased challenge of running 3-minute, 5-minute, and 8-minute intervals in the next couple weeks. My first workout where I'm jogging for a full 20 minutes happens at the end of week 5, so the length of my running intervals is going to be increasing a lot in two weeks!

In the last three weeks, I've noticed being in a much better mood overall. There are so many things I'm working on in clinic, in law review, as a teaching assistant, and as a law student! I'm always worried about trying to get everything done on time and well. When I go for my run, I have 30 minutes that day where I don't think about anything except pace and breathing. I'm not worried about how I still have a lot of research to do for my law review article. I'm not thinking about the 10 student papers I have to cite check this week for my teaching assistant position. I'm definitely not obsessing about the fact that I haven't started outlining for exams yet! I am only focused on myself for those 30 minutes. At three days each week, that's a good 90 minutes every week that I'm only focused on me and my health!

I'm feeling super good about where I am in training so far, and I'm noticing the benefits of the endorphins that are being released during those runs. I'm looking forward to seeing how far I go in the next few weeks! I'm planning on doing another check-in at week 6, which is two-thirds of the way through my training program. Good luck to all you other newbie runners out there!