Couch to 5K Week 1 Day 3~!

Week 1 Day 3

Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

Average Heart Rate: 157bpm

Highest Heart Rate: 176bpm

The last day of week 3 bites the dust! Reyy! I enjoyed the run itself. It was a *really* cold morning here in England so I had to put a few layers on (I prefer covering up anyway). Although it's kiind of awkward when your running interval stops about 3 seconds after passing the postman, halfway up a hill and you're huffing and puffing, probably looking like the laziest, least fit person ever! Heh.

The intervals are leaving me feeling like I could go for more which is always a good sign. I'm not too worried about the 90 second intervals next week, in fact I'm kind of looking forward to running for a bit longer.. I may be eating those words later I realise ;). But yeah week one is over and I didn't die. Always a good sign. 

However, I am feeling so thankful that I have two days off of running... My shins were hurting at the point of  actual agony when I got home. I couldn't even walk up the stairs, I just had to sit, ice, and stretch. Now that I've been sat down for 30 minutes or so they feel much, much better but I can't help but feel a little worried. I hope this is nothing. I mean it seems silly (and unfair) to have problems with my shins so early on. It doesn't seem like a normal ailment for someone only running 60 second intervals to experience. I wonder whether it's because I'm running on quite an uneven ground (the pavement is patchy and bumpy where I live, also quite hilly) and the fact that I've suffered with shin splints before (I'm not sure whether you're more susceptible to issues if you've had them before..?) 

Anyway, YES it's annoying, but I have two days off to recover and look for answers.. Perhaps running on the treadmill next time is the solution. I'm NOT giving up though, so don't take it as me trying to weasel my way out of this, I'll crawl my way through this if I have to ;)

It's also worth noting that I've cleaned my diet up quite a lot recently. The running is definitely helping with that. Junk food just doesn't have that same appeal when you factor in that you were running at 5am in the freezing cold, it seems almost offensive to try and counteract that by stuffing your face with chocolate. Although this IS the first week, I'm pleased with how it's going so far - long may it continue!! :)

- Nova x

(P.S. I have ice burn on my shins. Ow.)