Day One
Date: April 2, 2006
Time: 5:00 PM - 5:45 PM
Running Time: 8 minutes total, as prescribed by the Couch to 5K plan
Path: Cornelia to Lake Shore, Lake Shore to Roscoe, crossed under LSD to Lakefront Trail, down to about Wellington, back up around Belmont Harbor and returned same way (crossing back to inner Lake Shore at Roscoe). Approximate distance covered in walking and running: 2 miles.
Report: As first days go, I guess it could have been worse. The temperature neared 60 so it wasn't too cold, though out by the lake it was fairly windy. After I did the first ten minutes, which got me to my southernmost point at about what would have been Wellington had I stayed on the city side of Lake Shore, I had to sit down for a few minutes, so I didn't do the 20 right in a row. That may not have been entirely what the architects of the Couch to 5K Plan had in mind, but they do note that you should go at the pace you need and not try to kill yourself to meet the plan head-on. Ultimately I did the full 8 minutes of running and actually got in more than the 12 minutes of walking (plus the five-minute warmup walk) because that only about got me back to Melrose, leaving another almost 15 minutes of walking before I was back at the apartment.
So how did I feel? Well, not very good during most of the running parts, but I imagine that's only to be expected. I was marginally gratified to note that 90 seconds of walking was usually enough to make me feel like I could at least survive another 60 seconds of running, though by the time I got around to the last couple sequences I was pretty much done. The walk back was okay, though it was pretty slow going. By that time my feet were killing me, and my quads and calves still are none too pleased. I'm guessing it's ibuprofen time in a little while.
But this can't be considered too surprising. The shoes are still getting broken in, which may have contributed a tiny bit to my feet hurting. More importantly, I've never carried this much weight while trying to run before. I don't recall it being this much of a strain the first few times out in 2002, but I weighed 15-20 pounds less then, even when I was starting.
A few picture links. First, here's what I looked like when I got back from the run. I don't think you can tell everything (like how much I was sweating) but I do look more or less like hell, which is the general idea. Here's a picture of one of my new shoes. And here is a picture that gives you an idea of the gut I'm carrying around right now. I didn't take my shirt off or even pull it back so you can only tell so much, but I think you'll get the idea.
Time: 5:00 PM - 5:45 PM
Running Time: 8 minutes total, as prescribed by the Couch to 5K plan
Path: Cornelia to Lake Shore, Lake Shore to Roscoe, crossed under LSD to Lakefront Trail, down to about Wellington, back up around Belmont Harbor and returned same way (crossing back to inner Lake Shore at Roscoe). Approximate distance covered in walking and running: 2 miles.
Report: As first days go, I guess it could have been worse. The temperature neared 60 so it wasn't too cold, though out by the lake it was fairly windy. After I did the first ten minutes, which got me to my southernmost point at about what would have been Wellington had I stayed on the city side of Lake Shore, I had to sit down for a few minutes, so I didn't do the 20 right in a row. That may not have been entirely what the architects of the Couch to 5K Plan had in mind, but they do note that you should go at the pace you need and not try to kill yourself to meet the plan head-on. Ultimately I did the full 8 minutes of running and actually got in more than the 12 minutes of walking (plus the five-minute warmup walk) because that only about got me back to Melrose, leaving another almost 15 minutes of walking before I was back at the apartment.
So how did I feel? Well, not very good during most of the running parts, but I imagine that's only to be expected. I was marginally gratified to note that 90 seconds of walking was usually enough to make me feel like I could at least survive another 60 seconds of running, though by the time I got around to the last couple sequences I was pretty much done. The walk back was okay, though it was pretty slow going. By that time my feet were killing me, and my quads and calves still are none too pleased. I'm guessing it's ibuprofen time in a little while.
But this can't be considered too surprising. The shoes are still getting broken in, which may have contributed a tiny bit to my feet hurting. More importantly, I've never carried this much weight while trying to run before. I don't recall it being this much of a strain the first few times out in 2002, but I weighed 15-20 pounds less then, even when I was starting.
A few picture links. First, here's what I looked like when I got back from the run. I don't think you can tell everything (like how much I was sweating) but I do look more or less like hell, which is the general idea. Here's a picture of one of my new shoes. And here is a picture that gives you an idea of the gut I'm carrying around right now. I didn't take my shirt off or even pull it back so you can only tell so much, but I think you'll get the idea.
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