Run with me. Week 01
Road to Wings for Life
This week I pick up running again after a long pause. My goal is to be able to run a 10K comfortably for the next Wings for Life World Run, which will happen on May 07, 2023, 301 days from now.
Last May I took part to my first Wings for Life World Run. I had so much fun that I signed up for the next one right away. May and June however were difficult months for training: lots of personal not-so-good stuff happened, I had minor surgery on my leg and foot, and work was so intense I had little time to do anything else. So here I am in July, picking up training and running again, slow and easy, careful to not overdo it so I can keep enjoying the process until the next run.
I am hoping to update this blog regularly for accountability and in case anyone wants to give it a try and run with me.
I am using the C25K (Couch to 5K) running program as a guideline. These are nice and easy training sessions, so all that is needed are a good pair of running shoes, and a stopwatch / timer / any free C25K phone app. I skipped week 1 of the plan as I had been running up until 2 months ago anyway, and the first week is more of an introduction.
This week I started with 3 easy 31 minutes jogging sessions alternating walking and short jogs, as such: – Brisk 5 minutes walk to warm up – 6 repetitions of: – Jog for 90 seconds, as slow as possible. – Walk for 120 seconds – 5 minutes walk to cool down
My training went well despite the two challenges of having a massive cold that makes it hard for me to breathe from my nose, and the very hot weather outside. Waking up early enough that I could be out and finish my run before the temperature would be too hot wasn't easy after a night of broken sleep caused by my cold, but I did it and I always felt a lot better after my runs, which is great motivation to continue training.
Next week, the plan is for 3 easy 28 minutes sessions: – Brisk 5 minutes warm up walk – 2 repetitions of: – Jog for 90 seconds, as slow as possible. – Walk for 90 seconds – Jog for 3 minutes, as slow as possible. – Walk for 3 minutes
On the days I am not running I am doing some body-weight training to improve my strength. Nothing fancy, just roughly 20 minutes alternating basic exercises like squats, lounges, hip thrusts, push ups, dips, pull ups (assisted), and planks. It sounds like a lot, but I do take rest days and make sure to take it easy, and it seems to be working well for me for now. If it gets too much once my annual leave is over, I'll adjust it to avoid getting too tired.
~ Melyanna