August Running Goal

My exercise goal for August is to run three times a week. So far, so good! I ran on Sunday to make up my third run of the week - it was just a short 3K to get the cobwebs out after my Ultimate playoffs on Saturday.

I've been following a Nike+ Intermediate 5K program in an effort to achieve a time goal at my next race. I had to alter it quite a bit to fit my schedule and to dial back the intensity, too. For the first few weeks I had Ultimate on Tuesdays, so I reduced the mileage increases to compensate for the Ultimate games. Now that Ultimate's over, the mileage starts to increase. Last week was 12K, this week is 15K, then 19K next week, holding at 19K the week after, then a cutback week to 11K. The program initially featured some drastic mileage increases, no cutback weeks after weeks of increases, as well as hills and speedwork. All of this was a little too intense for me, given my mileage base and my running experience.

My achilles is a little sore, so I'm being very diligent about warm-ups, cool-downs, stretching and icing. Other than that, I'm experiencing no problems. I'm looking forward to my rest day today!

I just hope that the transition back to regular running, the mileage base and the bit of speedwork in the plan will all translate into a sub-30:00 5K time at my goal race in September. I finished in 30:08 (chiptime) at a 5K in June, though my iPod showed 30:01 because there was no chip timing mat at the start line.

Oh and I got my running skirt from Runningskirts.com - including a free gift of a tote back, technical tank in pink to match the black and pink skirt, a headband and a chapstick! Kudos to Cindy and Christy at Runningskirts.com. What an awesome bonus gift!