Couch to 5K in 7 Days

    I signed up to run in the Principal Financial Group 5K Road Race with a bunch of people I work with earlier this year.  Everyone started to run at least a couple of times a week.....except for me.  Now the race is a week away and I have not ran in at least three years!  Leave it to me to wait until the last minute to do something!

    So I'm going to do the Couch to 5K in 7 Days program!  No, there is no such thing, but I'm going to do it.  I'm going to run once a day (maybe twice) for the next seven days to see how I can get ready for the race.  I would like to finish the race in under 30 minutes.  But right now, if I can finish the race without walking, I'll take it.

DAY 1
    I knew I would not be able to do the full 3.2 miles, so my plan was to do 2.4 miles.  I made it to the half-way point before I had to walk.  I didn't think that was too bad.  In all, I only walked 3 times.  The last time I walked, it was because my knee was hurting and not because I was out of breath.  It took me 30 minutes to do this run.  Tomorrow, I plan on doing the same run.

DAY 2
    Ouch!  I was sore when I got up in the morning, so I didn't go for a run first thing.  I shouldn't have waited!  I got busy doing things and didn't do a run at all.  This 5K may be interesting!

DAY 3
    Still sore, but I got up and ran first thing in the morning.  I did the same 2.4 mile run with the same results.  This time though, my lower back was hurting!

DAY 4
    I couldn't get out of bed in time to go for a run first thing in the morning, so I went after work and kids activities.  I did the 2.4 mile run and I have to say that I'm happy with my results.  I was able to do the run with only walking once!  I cut the time down to 26 mins.  I'm happy with that.

DAY 5
    This sucks!  I hate being an 18 year old in a 45 year old body!  I did my run today, but had to walk a lot more.  My right calf hurt to much when I ran.  It felt like the muscle was torn.  I'm trying to stretch it through out the day to see if it will feel better tomorrow.

DAY 6
    Picked up the race packet today.  I guess this is really going to happen.  It is pretty exciting to see and hear all that is going on.  Unfortunately, I am being lazy and not running.  I guess I will run tomorrow!

DAY 7
    Went for the same run that I have been doing all week.  About 1 mile into it, my calf started hurting really bad again.  I walked for a little while trying to stretch it out.  I wanted to stop all together, but I know I have to force myself to complete it.  I completed the 2.5 mile run walk in 35 mins.  Not good with the race tomorrow!

RACE DAY (Sunday 10/21/2012)
    Well here it is!  I was meeting the people from my work at 7:45 downtown.  In the race packet, there was a sample of Biofreeze Pain Reliever cream.  I used that on my calf hoping it would help.  It did.  I made it through the race without my calf hurting.  I finished the race, without walking, in 31:18.  I didn't make my goal of 30 mins, but all things considered, not to bad.  It was good enough for 448th overall (out of about 1,300) and 20th in my age division.  I'll take it.  I'm planning on looking for another race to run and to keep the running going.  I would like to get down to the 25/26 minute time range.