Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Stop Thinking About It and BE ABOUT IT!!!

I'M GONNA DO IT!!!!! I WILL BE CROSSING THIS ITEM OFF MY BUCKET LIST THIS YEAR! I WILL RUN A 5K!!!


Starting in June (exact date to be determined), I WILL start training for my very first 5K. That will give me about 4 months of training for my very first 5K race. I have decided to run the CIBC Run For the Cure on October 4, 2009 (website). I chose this particular race for a couple of reasons. One, it gives me enough time to properly train and two, the cause is near and dear to my heart because of my history with this disease. I will post more on this race in the upcoming weeks/months.

I wanted to ensure that training for this 5K works with my current training plan so I ran this by my trainer. He gave me his blessing, so I'm good to go!! Right now, I'm working out twice a day, 6 days a week. About an hour of strength training and 30 miniutes of HIIT Cardio (sometimes I workout once a day for and hour and the half - combining the cardio and strength). Incorporating the 5K training plan will not be an issue.

I've done some research (good old internet) and found a 5K training plan that I think will work for me. I used http://www.coolrunning.com/ as my website of reference. Rob (my trainer) took a look at it and gave me the green light. YAY!! This program will replace some of my regular cardio trainnng sessions.

I want to do my best to not get turned off of running simply by trying to start off too fast. I am a total BEGINNER when it comes to running, so I know I will need a good beginner's running program that I can ease into. Nothing too fancy. I chose this training plan because it is less of a running regimen than a walking and jogging program and it somewhat mirrors the cardio training I'm currently doing. The idea is to transform yours truly from a couch potato (when it comes to running) into a runner (well, jogger). The program will get me running 5K on a regular basis in just about two months - I plan to extend the program to 4 months.

Each session should take about 20 or 30 minutes, three times a week, making sure to precede each session with a five-minute warmup walk or jog. It's a 9 week progressive running training program that should have me jogging for 30 continuous minutes at the beginning of week 9, providing I stick with the program! So that's it. I will be training on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday for the next 4 months.


It's official. I'm excited again. Getting back that feeling that I had at the beginning of this journey - you know, that nervous, anxious, excited feeling!! Loving it!! :)

The 5K training program that I plan on using is called (appropriately for me), "From Couch-to-5K Training Program". I will lay it out in my next post!

If anyone wants to do this with me, I would love it if you'd join me. My girlfriend Janet already agreed to run the race with me! Thanks Jan! Let me know, maybe on race day, we could have a group of runners - would be cool!!

Until next time....


Joania (2KMINE!!!)

4 comments:

  1. Tried posting this earlier but had some issues. Here I go again...

    Fab news about running a 5K. I was an instructor for the For Women Only running clinics at the Running Room so if you're looking for tips, motivation or have any questions please feel free to contact me.

    The Veg Next Door

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  2. Hey Joania...if you want to do a team run, I'm totally in! BTW, when I decided to start running back in 2001, I used a program that was very incremental - 30 seconds running, 4.5 minutes walking the first week for 20 minutes, then 1 minute run/4 minutes walk the next week etc. and it worked really well. And I used to HATE running too! You will feel so great when you cross that finish line!!!
    Good luck!!
    Elizabeth

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  3. Guaranteed I won't be doing any running in the near future but I will sponsor you! I wish you well in this endeavour! You will rock the 5K just like you are rocking the weight loss!!!

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  4. Thank you all so much for the encouragement and kind wishes.

    @ Elizabeth...that team run sounds like a great plan...I think I'll do it - I'll let you know!!

    @ Kimberley - thanks for the support as always

    @ Veg Next Door - I WILL DEFINITELY BE TALKING TO YOU!!! :))Thank you so much for the offer!! That's amazing!

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