Running Progress

No pictures - I've been too focused on jogging to pause for pics! The only one I've taken is a post-walk/jog sweaty pic, and you probably don't want to see that. :)

I'm only 1 1/2 weeks into my running, but given that I only have 3 weeks left until the 5k, I'm a third of the way there!! So I figured it was a good time to post.

SO, first the stats:
WEEK 1

• Walk/jog 1 Tues: 2.32 miles, 11:39 pace 
• Walk/jog 2 Thurs: 2.40 miles, 12:06 pace (a little tired after Tues walk/jog and Wed 21DFX pilates) 
• Walk/jog 3 Sat: 2.28 miles, 12:24 pace, but pushing almost-4-yo in the jogging stroller and carrying on a conversation the whole time!! (And even more tired after Tues,Wed,Thurs, plus Fri 21DFX upper fix extreme plus 10 minute hardcore abs) 

 Sunday rest day!

WEEK 2

• Walk/jog 1 Mon: 2.54 miles, 10:50 pace!! Woo-hoo! Already starting to see improvement from the 3 walk/jogs last week and a rest day to let my body rebuild itself stronger. :) 
• Walk/jog 2 Wed: ... before I give my stats - I was totally expecting this one to be worse since I was tired from Mon walk/jog and Tues T25 Total Body Conditioning video - BUT 
• 2.54 miles, 10:33 pace! Woooo-hoooo! :) 

I'm sure my Friday walk/jog will be a little slower, but I'll take another rest day Sunday and hopefully be able to jog faster/longer again on Monday. I'm hoping to be able to do full jogs, rather than walk/jogs, starting next week. We'll see how it goes.

It's amazing to me to see progress like this already! Overall, I'm following the basic approach of alternating walking and jogging, and increasing the length of the jogging intervals more or less gradually.

I'm doing my walk/jogs 3x a week, on alternate days, with cross-training (using my 21 day fix extreme and T25 videos) 3x a week on days I don't run. Sunday is a rest day.

I'm reading the Runner's World "Complete Book of Women's Running" by Dagny Scott, and it's great. (Thanks K-- for recommending it!!)

I think the main thing I'll have to be careful about is overtraining. I'm trying to keep my cross-training relatively low impact to minimize the strain on my knees. But T25 is *very* jumpy. That's part of why T25 is supposedly so good for runners - it increases speed and power - but I'm really not at an "increase speed and power" stage as much as a "manage to jog without falling apart" stage. So I may hold off on T25 a little until after the 5k and fall back on 21DFX for now. We'll see. I'm going to read the chapter on cross-training tonight before I decide! :)