This was the goal I mentioned in yesterday’s post: I want to be able to run a 5K distance in 45 minutes or less by two months from today.
I plan on using the indoor running track at our local YMCA three days per week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I have arranged to drop off Sarah at the Child Care playroom for a one hour time slot on each of those days. (This will be good for her, too, as up to this point she has never been in the care of someone other than me or my husband. She is going to benefit from the socializing time with other toddlers!) With the one hour that I will have available to me, I can spend ten minutes stretching (I hope that’s enough) and a few minutes cooling down afterwards.
In the 45 minutes reserved for exercise, I will begin with a warmup walking lap or two around the track. I will be wearing my MP3 player with energizing upbeat music and I will be carrying a stash of toothpicks in my hand. Each time I complete a lap, I will place a toothpick on the ledge at the edge of the track. At first, I don’t care how much of the 45 minutes I spend jogging/running versus walking, but I am going to try to jog/run as much of it as I can. It’s just important to me to be active for the full 45 minutes. Then, when the 45 minutes are up, I will count my toothpicks pile on the ledge to see how far I went. The equivalent to one mile, I was told, is 11.5 times around the track in the center lane.
So, that is the plan! Stay tuned for a report on how my first run went yesterday!
