"You Might Think I'm Crazy..."

My penchant for 80's music aside, I officially signed up for another 5K race. A big thank you to everyone who gave me a pep talk and/or advice after my last race! :)

I have about 4 weeks to train for this next one, so this time I am mapping out a real training plan. I'm currently using Turbulence Training 2K6, which appears to be a good workout choice. It's 2 alternating workouts - one upper body, one lower body - 3 times per week. The lower body workout has 3 exercises that are lower body-specific, and 3 exercises that are more ab-specific (and 1 other exercise that's more arms), so it shouldn't be too tiring for my legs since I will be running more. So after consulting a few websites and a few friends who run, here's the plan:

Mondays: 4 mile run, TT Workout (later in the day)
Tuesdays: 1 mile warm up and cool down, 4 pace intervals (length will vary week to week)
Wednesdays: 3 mile run, TT Workout (later in the day)
Thursdays: Off
Fridays: 3 or 4 mile run, TT Workout (later in the day)
Saturdays: 5 or 6 mile run
Sundays: 1 mile run, increasing speed each week

The week before the race is a little bit different than this, but I'll tell you about it when I get there. :) Since I'm such a beginner, I didn't want to make the training too complicated. I wanted to put a lot of focus on gaining endurance. Any opinions?

So yesterday was my first 6 mile run. I re-used the course from the 5K race I ran last weekend and mapped out a course that ended up being about 5.8 miles. I ran at a pace that was "easy" for me. (Run along to Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" and that was my pace.) It probably looked like I was running in slow motion. :) It took me 1 hour, 19 minutes, and 49 seconds. But I was able to run the whole way, except for the few seconds I stopped about every mile to check my heart rate. (My heart rate monitor watch is kind of diva and won't take my heart rate while I'm actually running.) My first few miles were at about a 13:15 mile pace, the middle miles took a little longer. But my last mile was at about 12 minutes, so I was proud that I was able to speed up at the end. (And I was still able to sing along with The Outfield's "Your Love".)

Today my quads and hips are sore, but not near as sore as I was expecting. I ran "down to the tracks" and back, which is about a mile. It took me about 11 minutes so next week I will aim to be a little bit faster.

Well, that's all the news I have today! Although I will hint that I found a recipe for doughnuts that I've being playing around with so perhaps look for a doughnut recipe soon for Recipe Wednesday! :)

Oh, and here's the link for Craig Ballantyne's Weekly Fat Loss Call ==> Fat Loss Program Call I keep forgetting to post the link on Sundays when they come out. This week he talks about dreaming big, foam rolling, and the first 5 day per week Turbulence Training Program (TT Reconstruction Program).

Have a great week everyone!