For the interim...

Picture from the Pink series website.

So I've decided to run the Pink Series 10k in August.  I have *fingers crossed* two friends who will be run/walking it with me and that is just enough support to get me going.  That gives me 15 weeks to build up my endurance.  Three miles seems not so bad anymore, but six?  Am I crazy?  That is twice as long as the furthest distance I have EVER run!  Of course, I just have to remind myself that I felt the same way about three miles less than two months ago.
So, fifteen weeks, and the training program I found is thirteen.  Any elementary kid can tell me I have two weeks with no training plan.  What to do, what to do?  My goal is to run the 10k with a 5/1 run to walk ratio and as of last week I was to 2:30/1 ratio.  Here is the plan for  the next two weeks:

Mon/Wed: 30 minutes with a 3/1 ratio
Saturday: 2 Miles same ratio
Mon/Wed: 30 minutes with a 4/1 ratio
Saturday: 2 Miles  same ratio

Then when I begin my training on May 9th I might will be ready to go 5/1.  Looks like a good plan on paper. I hope it will work.  Little sidenote, my Hubby agreed to run a 5k with me in July!  I am so excited to run with him.  Nervous, I'm pretty sure he can out run me, but still happy.  And, my training has the option for 5k races worked into the plan so I won't throw myself off with a race.  Hehe,  I don't know why but I get giddy at the idea of running with him.  I guess I just love the man and now I can share something else I love with him.

According to the above schedule, today was my first 3/1 run.  It actually felt really good.  I went slightly slower than I have been going.  Adding 30 seconds drains more energy than I thought, or maybe it's just coming down from a sugar-filled weekend.  Either way, I kept going.  My last two runs have been races (14:00 avg pace) and I don't include my warm up or cool down in those...I guess I really didn't go too much slower after all.  I can't get over the fact that I can run as much as I do.  I feel so good after the first ten minutes that I'm kind of sad when it's time to be done.  Not sad enough to keep going, of course.  I just love not feeling like I'm going to pass out at the end of my workout.  It really is amazing.

Stats:

Distance 2.1 Mi.

Duration 30:00

Avg. Pace 14:18

Avg Speed 4.20 mph

Intervals	Pace (min/mi)	Elevation (ft)
5:00 (warmup)	15:28	8
3:00 (fast)	12:17	1
1:00 (slow)	17:35	-1
3:00 (fast)	12:55	4
1:00 (slow)	17:15	1
3:00 (fast)	13:16	2
1:00 (slow)	15:32	0
3:00 (fast)	13:08	-6
1:00 (slow)	16:47	0
3:00 (fast)	13:28	-2
1:00 (slow)	16:21	-3
5:00 (cooldown)	15:42	-1

5k Training:Overall Stats

I'm feeling kind of like this turtle,
just not so cute.

I've been really struggling this week with feeling like I'm not making any improvement.  My time slowed down quite a bit on Saturday, making me feel that I'm taking a step backward instead of forward.  So, to ease my mind (and because I just really like making charts and organizing)  I've decided to put all my stats into a table to see my improvement, whether it's speed or distance.  Something is better each day I run and this really helps me to see it.  So, here is the chart.  I'll update it with each run until my race day.  Only three 1/2 weeks left!!!!!

Day	Avg Pace	Distance	Avg speed	Duration
1	15:51	1.27	3.79	20
2	15:51	1.39	3.78	22
3	15:15	1.63	3.93	24:36
4	15:32	1.61	3.86	25
5	15:50	1.71	3.79	27
6	15:16	2.17	3.93	32:02
7	14:52	2.02	4.04	30
8	14:31	2.07	4.13	30
9	15:59	2.61	3.75	41:42
10	15:28	2.01	3.88	31
11	14:34	2.13	4.12	31
12	15:16	3.13	3.93	47:02
13	14:34	2.13	4.10	31
14	14:47	2.11	4.06	31
15	15:09	3.65	3.96	54.35
16	15:11	2.06	3.95	31
17	14:53	2.10	4.03	31
18	15:04	2.04	3.98	30:44
19	14:27	2.16	4.15	31
20	14:06	2.21	4.26	31
21 RD	13:57	3.10	4.30	42.24