Learning How I Run

DISCLAIMER:  This is what works for me.  It probably won't work for anyone else, but it works for me.

Let's start with the couch to 5k program.  I've been all the way through this, or very nearly, three times now.  At the end of every one, I just couldn't run a 5k.  I couldn't do it.  Now I think I've figured out why.

The program is designed to get you running not so much for distance, but for time.  At least the way I did it.  Every run/walk interval is broken into sections.  Eventually the walk sections are discarded and you just run for a solid chunk.

This probably works great for the vast majority of people.  But, right now, running in one long continuous chunk like that just doesn't work for me.  To try and do a 5k like that would take me well over 40 minutes, as eventually I would be running so slow that I might as well be walking.

I have found what works for me, though.  I ran 5k in 35:56 this morning using it.  And I've used it for 2 weeks now.  I've actually run 6 5k lengths like this in the last 2 weeks, including the Race for the Cure.

The key for me is 10-minute sections.  For every ten minutes of running, I walk for at least 30 seconds.  This morning, for instance, I ran 10, walked 1, ran 10, walked 1, ran 10, walked 30 seconds, then ran to finish.  This pattern actually let me get my fastest time yet this morning.  In retrospect, Wednesday, I skipped the two middle walking portions, and ended up at 37:00.  I was thinking about the pattern this morning during the run, and really noticed that I was able to really keep a good pace during the running sections, where if I was just running constantly, my pace would drop continuously.

So I'm going to keep doing it this way.  Until I find something better.