5K crazy
Jillian and I are binging on 5Ks. She likes them because they keep her motivated to work out during the week, and I enjoy the competition and the environment. We have done two this spring and are looking to do another on Saturday. So far my times have been 23:03 and 22:45, and hers have been 26:45 and 26:35. Its nice to see progress like that. My goal is to get down to under 20 minutes, and jillian is shooting for under 25, and I will keep track of what we do here. A couple good sites to find 5Ks are www.runnc.com and www.active.com.
Last saturday morning we decided we didn’t want to go all the way out to high point for a 5K so we went running together in an area near where we live. She has run there before a bit but I never had, and I enjoyed it so much. I really don’t think I have ever had such a pleasant run. It was a 5 mile loop, and I was really powering at the end. Hopefully I will be able to get out there to run either Wednesday or Thursday and maybe this saturday I can get my time down below 22 minutes. The long term goal is under 20, the short term goal is under 22. We’ll see how it goes.
I have decided that the best way for me to train for a 5K is to get used to running strong for 4 or 5 miles. This way I am not too tired for 3 and I can pick up my pace. Also I would like to try running mile intervals at the a 5K pace. So like if I want to do a 19:30 5K then I run a 6:30 mile, walk for a couple minutes, run another 6:30 mile, walk for a couple minutes, and do this like 4 or 5 times. The breaks between running will get shorter and shorter and eventially I’ll be able to just do three 6:30 miles in a row.
Of course my long term goal has always been to run a marathon, and even more long term is to run the Boston marathon. I am not rushing that though. Lets make a few short term goals before buying a plane tickets.
I checked out both the Nike and Addidas websites to find inspiration for running. There is something about Nike, the way they don’t just sell shoes, they drive demand through inspiration. Their commercials make you want to run, and they glorify every ordinary person who does. Their website isn’t just about selling shoes, its about inspiring you to run, and it is complete with wallpapers, training pages, event calanders, and the means to hook you up with other runners in your area. Pretty sweet.
Addidas on the other hand is about selling shoes. Instead of going creating demand through inspiration, they create demand by producing a better product. Nike probably gets more people into running, and once they start running then they realize that they need to go to addidas for a good pair of shoes. Speaking of good pair of shoes, check out the insane technology that Addidas put into these shoes. Crazy.