Journey to a Half Marathon

Week 6 Day 1 Duration: 40 minutes Warm up: 5 minutes Run: 30 minutes Cool down: 5 minutes 2.85 miles/4.59km - If you're keeping track that's another .1 mile better than my last 40 minute workout!  Going back to Week 1's workout that's .3 miles better.  YEAH PROGRESS! For today's workout I decided I was going to push myself.  My lungs and throat were good last workout so I was feeling confident that I could finally kick it up a notch.  They were good again today so I'm super happy about that.  I don't want to jinx it but I think the cold from hell is finally, completely gone!   Started the warm up at 3.4mph.  Bumped it up to 3.6mph for the last 3 minutes of the warm up.  Then I decided to go to 4.8mph for the run and did that for 10 minutes.  Went down to 4.6mph for 10 minutes and then I started getting tired.  The last 10 minutes of the run I did at 4.4mph.  I had to talk myself through every minute of the last 10 of...

Week 5 Day 4 Duration: 90 minutes Warm up: 5 minutes Jog: 80 minutes Cool down: 5 minutes 5.53 miles/8.9 kilometres Started the warm up at 3.0mph.  The first 25 minutes of the jogging portion I did at 3.6mph.  Then I bumped it up to 3.7mph for 20 minutes.  I was feeling pretty good at this point so I decided to go up to 3.8mph and did that for 25 minutes.  The last 10 minutes of the jogging part I wanted to push it so I did 5 minutes at 3.9mph, 2 minutes at 4.0 and the last 3 minutes I did 4.2mph because the music fit that speed really well.  The cool down was done at 3.2mph.  Overall it was a good run.  It started off really well.  I had a great pace going and my breath rhythm was steady.  I got half way through and then started feeling angry.  Do any of you get angry when you run?  My sister said it happens to her sometimes too.  It doesn't happen every run but some of them ...

Week 5 Day 3 Duration: 40 minutes Warm up: 5 minutes Run: 30 minutes Cool down: 5 minutes 2.75 miles (4.43km) - The beginning of week 5 was a 40 minute workout as well.  I did 2.65m/4.3km for that workout.  .1 more miles/.13 more kilometres done today!  YIPPEE!! I crushed it today you guys!  Crushed.  It.  Started off with the warm up at 3.4mph did that for 2 minutes.  Then I went up to 3.5mph for 2 minutes and finished the warm up off at 3.5mph for the last minute.  For the run I went to 4.4mph and did that for 10 minutes.  Then I bumped it up to 4.5mph.  Rocked that out for 15 minutes and then went down to 4.0mph for the last 5 minutes.  Cool down I did at 3.0mph.   I've had a wicked headache all day.  It's felt like there was a vice tightening on my head. So much pressure.  I didn't let it stop me from doing my workout tonight though.  The amount of crap I've had to push through lately jus...

Week 5 Day 2 Duration: 51 minutes Warm up: 5 minutes Run: 41 minutes Cool down: 5 minutes Today's run felt really good!  I can feel my body getting stronger with each week that passes and it feels amazing.  For the warm up I did 3.6mph.  The first 21 minutes of the run I did 4.2mph.  Then I had to go down to 3.8mph because I was getting tired and the kids were starting to fight so my blood pressure went up and I had to talk to them which throws my breathing rhythm off so I just had to slow it down.  I did a brisk walk/jog at 3.8mph for 4 minutes and then went to 4.0mph until there were 8 minutes left in the run portion.  For the last 8 minutes I did a brisk walk at 3.7mph as I got a cramp on my right side.  The cool down was done at 3.2mph. 3.3 miles (5.31km) Though I still have a cough I really feel like the cold is gone, finally!  It's my mental health that has been rough the last couple of days.  The darkness has lifte...

Week 5 Day 1 Duration: 40 minutes Warm up: 5 minutes Run: 30 minutes Cool down: 5 minutes 2.65 miles (4.26km) Today's run was really good!  I actually did the workout this morning but ran into some technical difficulties with my laptop so I wasn't able to post until now.  It showed that there was an update available so I okay'd that to run while I did my workout.  It failed half way through but thankfully I was able to fix it with the help of google and Apple Support.  Phew!  I was so scared that I lost everything.   Back to the run!  I did the warm up at 3.2mph.  The run I started at 4.4mph and did that for 15 minutes.  I started to get tired after 10 minutes but pushed through for another 5 minutes.  I did a jog at 3.8mph for 1 minute to slow it down a bit before bumping it up to 4.0mph for the last 14 minutes.  Cool down was 3.2mph. Not going to lie, I wanted to call it in and walk the rest of the work...

Week 4 Day 4 Duration: 85 minutes Warm up: 5 minutes Jog: 75 minutes Cool down: 5 minutes 5.0 miles (8.05km) I don't normally do my workout this late but the kids and I went over to a friends place this evening.  To be honest I wasn't even going to do my run today because I'm exhausted, it's late and I knew it was going to be a long one today.  BUT, when we got home I put my workout clothes on and decided to go for it.  My son fell asleep on the couch and my daughter put herself to bed.   It was a good jog.  I spent most of this work out with my eyes closed.  I did the warm up at 3.2mph.  Bumped it up to 3.8mph as it's a jog day.  I did that for 20 minutes and then went down to 3.2mph for about 10 minutes then went up to 3.3mph, 3.4mph and did the last 30 minutes at 3.6mph.  I did the cool down at 3.6mph as I wanted to get to 5.0 miles which I did so I was happy!  This one is for Paula!  My friend who had us ove...

Week 4 Day 3: Duration: 40 minutes Warm up: 5 minutes Run: 30 minutes Cool down: 5 minutes It was a good run today!  Started off with the warm up at 3.2mph.  I decided to light it up and do 4.4mph for as long as I could.  I made it to 15 minutes of the run and then bumped it down to 4.0mph for about 7 minutes.  I started getting tired so I did a brisk walk for 3 minutes at 3.6mph and then went back to 4.0mph for the last 5 minutes of the run.  This is why I do my blog entry right after my run!  I would never be able to remember all of that if I did it later.  Haha!   It felt good to maintain 4.4mph for half of the run part of the workout!  My chest is still sore from coughing and my throat is raw but I am getting stronger and feeling better.  It feels good to just do my workouts despite this cold from hell.  I'm looking forward to seeing how good it feels to run once this thing clears up completely! ...