DST or Running Restart

Weeks ago, I decided Sunday, March 11, 2012 would be the day I restarted my running schedule after taking the winter off. (I'm such a wuss when it comes to running in the cold.  I can handle 105 degrees as long as I have lots of water, but man, when it dips below 55, I put those running shoes back in the closet!)

Anyway, March 11 sounds a little arbitrary but it's also the day Daylight Savings Time begins.  With that extra hour of sunlight, Husband can join me (and a stroller full of kids) on a run.  And that's how I like it best.  Even though he's much faster than me(esp when I have the stroller), I still feel like we are doing it together.

Our plan right now is to run Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.

MY plan is to start over the couch25k series that I've had great success with the past two summers.  But instead of just doing the 30ish minute podcast and being done, I am doing a 5k - every time I run.  (when the podcast is over, I restart it and go until I've reached a 5k) I figure that's the best way I can get my body used to running that far is just to DO IT from the start.  In intervals.  So yesterday my 5k was 46:57 because I was doing it to week 1 of couch 25k.  So I actually only ran 14 minutes of that 47 minute time.   (btw, it takes me about an hour to walk 5k)  This is the part of my post where I recommend sports-tracker.com.  I use it on Husband's android phone and really like it.

I have that huge 46:57 written on the calendar and I'm ready for a slightly smaller number each time I run.

I'm excited and optimistic about this approach.  The last two years I could easily manage all the podcasts but even at the end, I wasn't running fast enough to run a 5k in 30 minutes. So when the podcast was over, I was finished but never got the distance.  I'm hoping this will do the trick

After yesterday's run, I'm a little stiff and my left hip is hurting.  But overall, I feel good and I'm excited about doing it again on Tuesday.

I've got a race on the calendar for late April in Oneonta.  And, as of right now, that's the first one I'm planning on doing. I'm excited.