Running

Today was day 2 of week 4 for me in the Couch to 5K running plan. My neighborhood is still very snowy, so I went to the local park and arboretum, where the roadways and some of the walking trails were clear. Hoping to take everyone with me to walk there tomorrow morning before we leave for Chicago because it was just beautiful there in the snow!

By day 3 of next week, I'll jog 20-minutes straight with no walking break. I can hardly imagine that, because I'm really ready for that walking break by the end of the 5-minute jog. I'm trying to remind myself that I felt that way about a 60-second jog the first week and trust that it will all flow as I come to it.

Week 4 running playlist

Warm up song: East to the West by Michael Franti

3-minute jog: Lose Yourself by Eminem

90-second walk: Back Against the Wall by Circle Jerks

5-minute jog: Hello Bonjour by Michael Franti

2 1/2-minute walk: Lost Colors by Firehose

3-minute jog: Tubthumping by Chumbawumba

90-second walk: In the Ocean Blue from Charlie the Unicorn

5-minute walk: Hey-Ya by Outkast

Cool Down: I loop back to East to the West, Hello Bonjour, and then the birds singing!

Running & Running Playlist

I got some new running shoes and started the Couch-to-5K running program a few weeks ago. As someone who grew up *hating* running, I can't believe how much fun I'm having with this. Not sure if it's that I'm getting outside in spite of the cold, which always is a mood-lifter in the winter, or if it's because of the very gradual progression and very attainable weekly goals. I am having a blast.

I started week 3 this week. I wasn't doing so well focusing on keeping count of my time intervals in my head, so I decided to set up music to cue me when to switch back and forth between walking and running. It is pretty hard to find good 90-second songs, and my 3-minute songs were closer to 4 minutes, but here's this week's playlist:

Couch to 5K-- Week 3, Day 1

90-second run: Back Against the Wall by Circle Jerks
90-second walk: Trogdor by Strongbad

3-minute run: Lose Yourself by Eminem
3-minute walk: Handlebars by Flobots

90-second run: Gimme Gimme Gimme by Black Flag
90-second walk: In the Ocean Blue from Charlie the Unicorn

3-minute run: Hey World (Remote Control Version) by Michael Franti & Spearhead
3-minute walk: Underneath by Alanis Morrissette