No. Calories Needed

My first 5K is scheduled for April 25.  I have been following the Couch to 5K training program, and now I am up to week 6.  In a move that I think will have several long term benefits, I have decided to re-start the training program, and follow it step by step.  Here’s why -

• The 5K will be here in 10 weeks.  The Couch to 5K training program takes 9 weeks.  This means that I can follow the program, and it will have me ready to run the race, with a week between my final training session and the actual race.
• I have new shoes.  When I started training, I was running in ill-fitting shoes.  I think that this affected how I was running, and I missed a couple of days of training due to sore calves.
• I have developed a more sustainable training schedule, and I’ve actually budgeted the required three days a week for running.  In the past, I was fitting in my training.  Now, I’m working my life around my training.  Big difference.
• Proper form.  I now realize that I ran four or five weeks with really poor form.  I’m interested in seeing just how I’ll do, now that I actually know (a little bit about) how to actually run.
• Nutrition.  After taking a look back at my eating logs, I’m pretty sure that I have been eating, in an ironic twist, too few calories.  I’ve done some research, and I think I am better prepared than I was when I began training.
• The treadmill at the gym is a liar and now I am training on the outside track.  Let’s face it, I will not run the race on a treadmill, I’ll run it outdoors.  It makes sense that I should train outdoors (if at all possible).

So, tomorrow morning, I’ll hit the track and do the Week 1 Day 1 routine.  It will feel strange going all the way back to the beginning, but I REALLY want to start my running life out on the right foot (so to speak!).

I am becoming a big fan of High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).

What is HIIT?  From wikipedia -

A HIIT session involves a warm up period, several short, maximum-intensity efforts separated by moderate recovery intervals, and a cool down period.

I like to do HIIT on the treadmill.  I’ll warm up for five to ten minutes, and then rotate between speeds of 8.5 and 3.0, ending with a five to ten minute cool down.  The entire HIIT session usually lasts between 20 and 30 minutes, including warm up and cool down.

I have been doing HIIT before my strength training sessions, and I was wondering if I was doing them at the right time.  I found this video from Yuri Elkaim where he answers the question – When Should I Do High-Intensity Interval Training?  I was pleased to see that for someone like me, who is trying to lose weight, a great time to do HIIT is just before strength training.  Check out the video for the complete answer -

For more information about HIIT, let me suggest this NY Times article.

I am actually not going to the gym today, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to miss my workout.  Instead, in just a few minutes, I’m going to hop on the treadmill, do some HIIT, and then do some body-weight exercises.

Today’s workout went really well.  In fact, it might have been the best workout I’ve ever had.  Here’s what happened.

I started out with a five minute walk around the gym’s indoor track.  I felt a little hungry – and this is how I like to feel, right before a workout.  Not famished, but a little reptilian.  I actually forgot to bring a bottle of water to the gym, so after each lap of the track, I’d take several sips from the water fountain.  After warming up, and doing a bit of stretching, I hit the free weights.

Focusing on my back and my biceps and shoulders, I did several different types of curls and combination moves.  I really thought about each movement, each repetition.

After completing the weight lifting portion of my workout, I considered quitting and going home, but I was feeling great.  So, I decided to jump on the treadmill and work on Week 5, Day 1 of the Couch to 5K training program.

That’s when things turned from great to awesome.

On Day 1 of Week 5, the first running interval is to last 5 minutes.  On Day 2, the first running interval lasts 8 minutes.  On day 3, the interval lasts 20 minutes.  Since I managed to squeeze an extra running session in Saturday, and I was coming off of two days of rest, I decided to skip Day 1 and move directly to Day 2.

As I passed the 5 minute mark, I noticed something.  My breathing, instead of being rushed or ragged, was smooth, easy.  My legs, instead of feeling heavy, tired, or sore, felt light and powerful.  I kept running.  I hit the 8 minute mark, and I still felt fresh, almost as if I were just having a nice walk.  So, I decided to push on, and do the entire 20 minute run, without walking.

And it was easy.

Seriously, I just kept running and running, and my lungs felt great, my back felt great, my whole body felt great.  I even ran past the 20 minute mark, and ran for an extra 2 minutes.  I only stopped out of fear of over-training.

To put this into a little perspective, four months ago, I was struggling to run 2 minutes without stopping.  Now, I’m running 10 times that long, and I’m ready for more.  Granted, comparing myself to those who run marathons, I’m still a super-newbie.  However, compared to the NCN of four months ago?  I’m like an running-machine!

I’ll be very interested to see how I do Thursday.  Frankly, I fully anticipate that Thursday will be harder than today, because today I had the benefit of two full days of rest.  We shall see.