Since I was old enough to know about exercise, I’ve always wanted to be a runner. I doubt I’d be so drawn to it if I didn’t suck at it, so bad.
I remember back in junior high and high school Physical Education, we were required to run a mile at the start of the year to assess our fitness level, then again at the end of the year to assess our progress. We had 12 minutes to complete it. Without fail, I was always the last one to cross the finish line. To be an overweight teenage girl with low self-esteem, the only one left on the track and my classmates and teacher watching (some laughing) me struggling to make it to the end is one of the most horrible memories I carry. Yes, I know, I’m being overly dramatic, but seriously, I nearly died from exhaustion and embarrassment. To this day, I can see my mean bald teacher yelling at me on the last few yards about how "a snail can run faster than that!" Coach Turner - you’re a mean old bastard and if I knew how to locate you all these years later I’d give you a nice lecture about destroying the fragile confidence of young girls (and boys).
Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest…
I’m trying it again. My girlfriends Laura and Erin and I have decided that the next time we get together (we all live in different states) we ought to try a 10K. That’s a pretty tall order since I can’t even run 1K, but hey, what the hell. I’m up for the challenge. We’re still in the process of finding a race for sometime next spring in some awesome location (please leave suggestions in the comment area of you know of a good one), but the front-runners are New Mexico, Austin, Texas (I’m dying to visit this city), Arizona or Colorado.
I found a Couch to 10K training program (listed below) and just completed week 2 yesterday. Since I live in Chicago and it’s already freakin freezing outside, I’m running on the treadmill at a 2% incline.
If you know me very well at all, you know I hardly ever finish anything, so I have no reason to believe I’ll complete this program. Still, I thought share it with you. You can follow my progress here. Anybody wanna join me?
Coach to 10K Training program
Week 1
Session 1 - 34 min. Run 1 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 8 times.
Session 2 - 28 min. Run 1 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times.
Session 3 - 31 min. Run 1 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times.
Week 2
Session 1 - 38 min. Run 2 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times.
Session 2 - 31 min. Run 1 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times.
Session 3 - 34 min. Run 2 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times.
Week 3
Session 1 - 45 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times.
Session 2 - 34 min. Run 2 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times.
Session 3 - 40 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times.
Week 4 - EASY RECOVERY WEEK
Session 1 - 40 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times.
Session 2 - 30 min. Run 2 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 5 times.
Session 3 - 40 min. Run 2 minutes. Walk 3 minutes. Do this 6 times.
Week 5
Session 1 - 46 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 9 times.
Session 2 - 34 min. Run 2 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 8 times.
Session 3 - 42 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 8 times.
Week 6
Session 1 - 52 min. Run 5 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 7 times.
Session 2 - 38 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 7 times.
Session 3 - 50 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 10 times.
Week 7
Session 1 - 54 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.
Session 2 - 40 min. Run 4 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 6 times.
Session 3 - 52 min. Run 5 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 7 times.
Week 8 *EASY RECOVERY WEEK
Session 1 - 54 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.
Session 2 - 38 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 7 times.
Session 3 - 46 min. Run 5 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 6 times.
Week 9
Session 1 - 68 min. Run 10 minutes/walk 1 minute; Run 15 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 20 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 10 minutes.
Session 2 - 46 min. Run 5 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 6 times.
Session 3 - 54 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.
Week 10
Session 1 - 72 min. Run 10 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 20 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 30 minutes.
Session 2 - 54 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.
Session 3 - 57 min. Run 20 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 15 minutes/walk 1 minute. Run 10 minutes.
Week 11
Session 1 - 71 min. Run 40 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 20 minutes.
Session 2 - 54 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.
Session 3 - 57 min. Run 20 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 15 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 10 minutes.
Week 12 *EASY VOLUME WEEK
Session 1 - 60 min. Run 50 minutes.
Session 2 - 43 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 3 times.
Session 3 - 52 min. Run 15 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 15 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 10 minutes.
Week 13
Session 1 - 50 min. Run 40 minutes.
Session 2 - 43 min. Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 3 times.
Session 3 Event Day 10K: have fun, and take care not to start out too quickly
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