About 2 weeks ago, I wrote about my goal of restarting and finishing the Couch to 5K program. Along with that goal, I posted 4 other goals in relation to running that I made for 2021.

Well, it’s surprising how making your goals public can really boost accountability. And how some things come when you least expect it. I surprised myself in my “long run” today by finishing my 5 mile run in 1 hour and therefore finishing goal #2!

I did technically say my goal was:

“Run 5 miles in under 1 hour”

I passed the 1 hour mark by 11 seconds but I also passed the 5 mile mark so I’d call it even and check it off as an early victory even though it’s not technically under 1 hour. Of course I will still strive to improve my time, but being able to say I completed one of my goals right now gives me the motivation to continue running.

Is my 12 min/mile fast? Heck no! The friends I run with are consistently running 7 to 9 minute miles. But I don’t compare myself to them. As they say, comparison is the thief of joy. I am happy for them when they improve their time, and am constantly in awe at how fast they can go. But my focus is solely on improving myself without comparing my accomplishments to theirs.

This is my 9th run out of the 52 runs I plan to do on this trail in 2021. The first run I did on this trail took me 1 hour 12 minutes and 24 seconds. I remember thinking after mile 1 that it’d be best for me to turn back since I couldn’t possibly make it to 5 miles. I felt dizzy midway. I had stomach pains, runny nose, and walked more than I could run but in the end I made it.

So yes, a 12-minute mile may be slow by most people’s standards, but that’s still 12 minutes faster than what I was able to do 8 weeks ago.

One landmark I hit on today’s run is that I finally ran a full 5 miles. What do I mean by that when I say that I’ve been running 5 miles for 9 weeks straight? Well, you can blame my Fitbit for that.

I love my Fitbit but it does have its flaws. I found that it tracks more mileage when I go slow/walk versus when I’m running.

So for the last couple of weeks when I’ve ran this same 5 mile trail, my watch would tell me I’ve hit 5 miles when I know I haven’t reached the 5 mile mark on the trail.

Well today, since I was running more than I was walking, Fitbit successfully tracked 5 miles correctly as I successfully made it to my 5 mile mark for the first time since I’ve started this routine!

Week 5 Day 3

Today also marked the completion of the dreaded W5D3. It was eerily similar to my recollection of my first Week 5 Day 3 two years ago.

Just like then, I was too scared to jump straight to the 20 minute non-stop running that W5D3 required so I skipped to Week 6 Days 1 and 2 alternating run/walk before coming back to W5D3 to gain a bit more confidence.

It was a really good idea as Week 6 Day 2 is a 10 minute run followed by 3 minute walk then another 10 minute run. So the same 20 minute run I’d have to do for W5D3, just without the walking break.

A recap of how I felt going through that 20 minute run with no walking intervals:

I felt like dying after the first 5 minutes. Then when my app notified me that I was halfway there at the 10 minute mark I got a burst of energy.

I felt like I couldn’t go on anymore at the 13 minute mark and promised myself I would just push to 15 minutes before calling it quits. Somehow I pushed past 15 minutes telling myself I’m going to regret it if I stop and before I knew it the final 1 minute countdown began. 

I was shocked that when the 20 minute mark came and all the pressure was lifted that I actually was in a good rhythm and didn’t feel tired! So I kept running through the cool down and didn’t stop running for 25 minutes total!

I actually had to force myself to stop at 25 minutes for fear of overdoing the C25K program and sustaining an injury for pushing myself too hard too soon. But today, for the first time, I truly believed I could run a 5K nonstop.

Today I ran 5K in 36 mins and 45 seconds which is crazy slow and far from my goal of a sub 30 minute 5K! But I’m proud of it nonetheless.

For full disclosure, I suffer from constant runny nose whenever I run so I did have to stop about 4 times during this 25 minute period to blow my nose. I also took some sips of water while at it so I probably stopped for about 10 seconds 4 times during this 25-minute zone. But I’ll still call it a pass!

Lessons I Learned Today

I’m obviously no pro, but as a beginner runner who is now coming on her 10th week of at least once weekly running, these were some of the takeaways I learned these past 2 months.

1. A good book makes a huge difference. I used to listen to music on my runs but I found that podcasts and audiobooks kept me much more engaged. Time kept passing by and I wasn’t so preoccupied with being out of breath since I was able to steer my focus to listening to my audiobook.

2. The first 10 or so minutes of running is the hardest. But as long as I push past it and get in the groove, it feels like I could go on forever. 

3. Weather makes a huge difference and sometimes you just have a good run day and some days you have a bad run day.

Through my 9 “long runs” along with my 2x/week weekday “short runs”, I noticed some patterns while other things are still wild guesses to me. I noticed that on nice cooler weather days I am faster. But some things I am still learning like why some days I’m just hit with side stitches pain.

I’ve learned to deal with the fact that some days I’m just not going to have a good run day and I’ll just have to stop and walk a bit more than I want to.

4. Slowing down is the key to non-stop running. On today’s run, I focused on time more than distance as I didn’t care how slow I had to go as long as I could run for 20 minutes non-stop. I found that going at a slower pace allowed me to conserve my energy which allowed me to run a longer distance without having to take walking breaks as much hence why I felt like I could keep going even after the 20 minutes had passed.

5. Keeping a streak and having accountability partners are great! When I first made a pact with my friend to run 5 miles every week, I instantly regretted it. I thought I was over-promising something I couldn’t deliver. But having other people to run with and keeping a streak going has become kind of like a game and makes it fun!

Update: 3 Weeks Later

I couldn’t help but think I “cheated” on completing this goal by not officially going under 1 hour based on my time of 1:00:11 (that darn 11 seconds).

It didn’t help that the next 2 attempts I made at running 5 miles under 1 hour failed.

Thankfully, 3rd time’s a charm. I was finally able to complete a 5 mile run in 58 minutes and 50 seconds thanks to an especially nice weather one morning 3 weeks later.

I can finally say, it wasn’t just a blip and I can officially cross running 5 miles in under 1 hour off my list!