Couch to 5k – week 8 in review

The only problem I’m having with progressing in the Couch to 5k running programme is that each week the training runs are getting longer and so you have less time to squeeze other things into your week – like blogging about it! But, on the flip side I’m finding myself really looking forward to my runs more and more and even going as far as wondering if I can squeeze in extra ones. I never thought I would have been saying that nine weeks ago!

So, week 8 of the couch to 5k programme is quite simple. Each of the three runs is a 5 minute warm up walk, 28 minute job and then a 5 minute cool down. It’s just 3 minutes more running each time than in week 7, but when you’ve been feeling like you’re ready to collapse at the end of 25 minutes the idea of an extra 3 minutes is actually quite daunting.

The good news is that I managed to run the whole 28 minutes without having to stop at all (other than the usual pause to cross busy roads). I was very much concentrating on actually managing the running part rather than my speed, so I could see that on the first run of the week my pace was slightly slower than the week before, but I managed to pick that up over the three runs. It was also the week that my official running top from Save the Children arrived. That’s made it all feel somewhat more official and slightly more real!

By the end of the week I was starting to feel really quite positive about the race and the extra Color Run that I’ve also agreed to do for Save the Children. The Color Run itself is un-timed and therefore doesn’t concern me too much, but I’m starting to worry about a few things relating to my main race. How will I feel running in the middle of a big crowd of people? Also, just how warm will it be? The last week or so has shown me that I do actually prefer running when it’s a bit wet and miserable outside as I find otherwise the heat affects me. What about hills? Are there enough in my training run route to account for the ones I’ll have to do in the race itself? And finally, the website for the race says that it’s “iPod free”. The thing that’s really been keeping me going whilst running has been my music. Will I manage without it? Will they really enforce the no iPod rule seeing as my race (unlike the half marathon on the same day) is all contained within the park and doesn’t go onto public roads? Lots of questions, but I guess only time will give me the answers.

I’m running both The Color Run and the 5km race at the St Albans Half Marathon for Save the Children. Please head over and sponsor me here. Thank you!