Couch to 5K: Week 6

After a strenuous end to week 5 of the programme, week 6 reverts to a shorter running interval at the beginning and ramps up significantly towards the end. Here are the 3 runs:

Run 1

1. 5-minute warm up walk
2. 5-minute run
3. 3-minute walk
4. 8-minute run
5. 3-minute walk
6. 5-minute run
7. 5-minute cool-down walk

Run 2

1. 5-minute warm up walk
2. 10-minute run
3. 3-minute walk
4. 10-minute run
5. 5-minute cool-down walk

Run 3

1. 5-minute warm up walk
2. 25-minute run
3. 5-minute cool-down walk

On the first run, I started the first 5-minute interval at way too fast a pace, which I couldn’t keep up for long. I also ran out of breath much quicker than I had expected to. I still finished the run without stopping. Slowing down a bit helped. I was also able to pinpoint the problem—I was listening to heavy metal music which inadvertently caused me to try and match my pace to the beat, which was a bad idea. Thank you, Iron Maiden.

Run 2 went relatively smoothly. My legs did feel sore the day after, but thanks to my diligent pre- and post- run stretching routine, it was manageable. I am now doing a slightly longer (10-minute) post-run stretch, which works miraculously well.

For run 3, I chose to listen to the Dream Theater’s Octavarium instead, a 24-minute track that I love and know so well. Even if had been compelled to match my pace to its beat, it would have been okay—it not particularly fast tempo-ed. I took a slightly different route, too, with the same start and end points. After I finish the programme and start doing longer runs, I will have to keep exploring the neighbourhood for the best routes, because I don’t ever want boredom to cause me to stop.

I’m looking forward to tackling the longer runs of week 7. I start tomorrow.

Follow my Couch to 5K progress here.