I love a 5-miler.   It’s short enough to fit into one hour and long enough to really clear my head.  When I run 3 miles, it’s so short sometimes I spend the whole distance waiting for it to be finished, thinking about what I’ll do afterwards.  But with 5 miles, you really have to settle in for the long haul.

6:15 am my and my running buddy (see below) left for a good fiver.

Running Buddy

I finished them in about an hour, but I don’t know exactly because my Garmin died at mile 3.79.  My splits are approximately as follows:

Mile 1 – 12:04

Mile 2 – 18:33 (stopped to talk to a friend)

Mile 3 – 12:14

Mile 4 – ????

Mile 5 – 11:00

It’s amazing what a couple weeks of solid running will do for you.  Honestly, I have run more consistently the past two weeks than ever in my life.  I always averaged 3 runs per week, maybe 4 during serious training.  I always used to give in to silly excuses to cancel a run.

Since I’ve been dedicated to following the plan, however, I have felt my fitness and comfort with running increase quickly.  I only had one brief moment of tiredness in the whole 5 miles.

I am contemplating making 5 miles my normal morning routine.  It’s a nice, easy distance.  I can finish it before even the earliest of my responsibilities.  We’ll see how I feel about getting up at 5 am tomorrow to run at 5:45.

I also am thinking about adding some more serious core work.  I know running is hard on my posture and therefore on my chronic back neck tension.  So, I hypothesize that if I really work at strengthening my core, at the end of training, I won’t be a hunchback like normal.  We’ll see how well I follow through.

Post run, I swept and mopped my floor (a mostly daily occurence), made breakfast for my husband, showered, and, finally hungry, made a bowl of health and yum for my breakfast.

Post Run Breakfast

My bowl contains

  • 2/3 cup oats
  • 1 TB almond butter
  • 1 banana
  • 1/2 cup yogurt

I am off to eat!