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.
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.
My bowl contains
- 2/3 cup oats
- 1 TB almond butter
- 1 banana
- 1/2 cup yogurt
I am off to eat!
February 19, 2013 at 9:13 am
where did you get that almond butter?
February 21, 2013 at 5:51 am
5 miles really is an ideal distance. I know what you mean about trying to speed through a 3 miler.