C25K Week 5, Day 1: Pushing through the pain

Each week when the running time increases, it causes a lot of anxiety for me.

This week, the maximum running time didn't increase. But the amount of rest time between decreased. And that caused some nervousness as I set out last night to complete Couch 2 5K: Week 5, Day 1.

The program was: five-minute warm up walk; jog for five minutes; walk three minutes; jog 5 minutes; walk three minutes; jog five minutes; five minute cool down walk.

I didn't feel great. We had done a bunch of work around the house on Sunday. That included moving a pretty heavy file cabinet up a flight of stairs. I didn't get out to run until after 8 p.m. But it worked out great.

The first five minute run was a breeze. The second was a struggle. The third wasn't bad. Again, mission accomplished.

The reality is that I didn't do myself a big favor with the route that I took. During the second running segment, I both started and finished with a severe uphill jaunt. I felt like I was going to have to stop during the the fourth minute. But I didn't. I pushed through it. And it felt like I crossed a marathon finish line when my five minute ticker went off.

The third five minute run was fine. No issues.

The next day it starts to get serious.The most I've run in any segment is five minutes so far. Day 2 includes a pair of eight minute runs.

Yikes.