run a 5k

I’m not complaining about the slow way I’ve been increasing my speed and stamina at all – I think it’s the best way for me. But nevertheless, it feels great to finally be under 13 mins/mile.

Yesterday I ran 1.1 miles at a 12:45 pace, and then another quarter mile at the previous pace of 13:02.

Today I ran 1.5 miles at 13:02.

Time to bump it up another notch. I’m actually really pleased – the slow rate of moving things up has meant that I’m seeing real changes in how I feel when I run. Today I wasn’t actually getting tired until I was past the mile mark.

After I bumped up the incline to 2.0 on the treadmill, it was pretty slow going at increasing the distance. For some reason, it was a lot harder to go from 1.5 to 2.0 than it had been between any of the others.

But today I finally got to 1.5 miles at a 13:19 pace. This means I’ll go back to a mile at around 13:00 and keep going like I had been. No more increases in incline; I’ll hold steady at 2.0 at least until I get my pace down to about 12:00, and then we’ll see.

But just because I haven’t been updating here, doesn’t mean I’m not continuing to work on my goals.

In my last entry 3 weeks ago, I said I had done 1.33 mi at a 13:57 pace with a 1.0 incline. I’ve continued on with my plan from there, bumping up the distance to 1.5 miles, then upping the incline and the pace and starting over at 1 mile.

Yesterday, I did 1 mile at a 13:19 pace with a 2.0 incline. That’s the last time I’ll bump up the incline until I get the pace down more and can run farther.

Today I did 1.33 mi at a 13:57 pace with a 1.0 incline.

Next time should hopefully be 1.5 miles, or at least close to it.

On the 20th, I decided to go ahead and start adding an incline even though I know it will impact my progress in distance and speed. I started with a .5 that day.

I did 1.05 mi @ 13:57 pace.

Today, I bumped up the incline to 1.0 and did 1.1 mi at the 13:57 pace. I think I’ll probably leave it there till I’m ready to change the pace again, then I’ll put it on 1.5.

Got to my goal today—1.5 miles at a 14:16 pace.

Next time I hit the treadmill, I’ll be aiming for a mile at a faster pace.

Today’s goal was 1.25 mi at the 14:16 pace.

I did 1.32 mi., so I’m pretty much right where I want to be at this point.

Today, I went up to a 14:16 pace and did 1.1 mile. My goal was 1 mile even, but I felt good enough to do a little more.

And exceeded, even.

Today’s goal was 1.5 mi at a 14:37 pace.

I did 1.56!

So that means I’ll up the speed on the treadmill next time and try to do at least a mile.