Tuesday, October 01, 2013

Couch to 10k: Week 11, session 3 and Week 12 session 1

Week 11: Session 3 - 57 min. Run 20 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 15 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Run 10 minutes.
Week 12: Session 1 - - 60 min. Run 50 minutes.

Apologies for combining these into one post, but I did Week 11, session 3 on Saturday, then went out Sat night and battered myself into an exhausted wreck for Sunday and Monday.  I'm too old for late night parties.

Anyway, the run.
Week 11, session 3
I did very well on this session.  I did 4.64 miles in 47 minutes.  I did my first mile in 9 minutes 15 seconds, and the remaining miles were done in 10 mins 7 secs, 10 mins 45 secs and 10 mins 2 secs.  That's pretty impressive I reckon.  Parts of it felt hard - the inclines (Norfolk's very shallow ones, let's be honest) left me gasping but I soon recovered.  I had very few pauses at roads, only 1 I think, so the timing is an accurate representation of my speed.  I'm dead pleased.

Week 12, session 1
I did this one today, getting up at 6am to go out at 6.50 before work.  This one was my first time of a session with no walking breaks in it.  Or it would have been, had I not needed the toilet and so had a facilities enforced break for 2 minutes around the 16 minute mark.  C'est la vie. If I'd waited until I'd used my home's toilet I'd have never got out.

Despite that break, or because of it, maybe, this run felt easily accomplishable.  Is that even a word?  Anyway, it felt fine.  It felt easily doable, I wasn't really gasping at any of it and I felt perfectly happy doing it.  I did the exact same route as I did on Week 11, session 3, but I did it much slower.  It took me 50 minutes to cover 4.33 miles.  My average pace was 5.11 mph and my mileage times were 11 mins 44 secs, 11 mins 5 secs, 12 mins 24 secs and 11 mins 32 secs.  So much slower.  I'm not bothered about the slowness though.  I've proved to myself that I can run for a long time and that I can do so quickly.  that's enough for me.  I've also found a woodland based route that will take me one hour to do, so I'm happy.

In terms of wildlife, there were loads of unidentifiable birds out this morning.  The main thing I noticed though was the trees turning.  Leaves are on the ground and lots of trees are going orange.  When I woke up at 6am it was pitch black.  By 6.40 the skies had lightened.  I wore a long sleeved top and shorts and I really needed the top.  I've felt the cold wheedle into my chest for the rest of the day - it was a proper damp Autumn morning.  I do not like this time of year.  Well, it's nice seeing the sunrise, but I loathe the cold and the dark.

A reminder that the running programme I am using can be found here.

A reminder that I am using this training as an opportunity to raise money for the Abortion Support Network who provide funds to Irish women so they can travel to England and access safe, legal abortions.  You can sponsor me here or donate direct to ASN - see info on their website.

Funds raised to date:
£40 from me - I'm donating £1 for every training session I complete, plus an extra quid for every additional session at the gym.
£153 from some amazing sponsors.
Total: £193, towards a target of £200.

Gift aid: £38.25
Total including gift aid: £228.25

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