Independent Learning Project: Week 2 Couch to 5k

Week 2 is down, and what a week it’s been!  I ended up putting in 3 1/2 hours of walking/ running this week, unless you want to count the hour of walking and mowing the lawn.  This was spread out over 5 days this week.  I finished week 2 on the Couch to 5k app and started on week 3.  Woohoo!   I’ve also been working hard on drinking 96 ounces of water or more, which ends up being 4 of my water bottles full.  I’ve blown that goal out of the water…pun intended.   I hate drinking water, so it’s not enjoyable for me, but the health benefits can be amazing.   I’ve also been religiously taking a multi-vitamin every day as well as B-12.   I had planned on trying to make healthier food choices, but I’m failing.  I just love food!  I really want to be fit and trim, but I also want to eat a six pack and a pound by myself.

Here’s what my second week look liked:

Sunday:

Sunday was a bit of a busy day, between church, a church hog roast and penny carnival and then both kids having baseball practice at two separate times in the afternoon and evening.   It was a LONG day!  I’ve designated Sunday and Saturday as my long walk days, so I really needed to get an hour walk in and decided to do it while my 9-year-old had practice.  My husband coaches the team, so my other two sons hung out at the fields and I walked around and around the fields and the block next to the fields for an hour.   It was a long, boring and really hot walk!

 

Part of the walk was around the baseball fields, with pasture lands on the other side.  I also walked past the fairgrounds and then through town a bit.  The view of the sand hills from across the fields was beautiful!  I made it 2.81 miles in that hours time, which seemed to be a bit slow, but I think it makes a difference when I don’t have my dog pushing me along.  It was just too hot for her.

Tuesday:

Tuesday I worked on my Couch to 5k app, which was week 2 day 2.  It consisted of running 1.5 minutes and walking 2 minutes 4 times and then running 1 minute and walking 1 minute 2 times, with the 5 minute warm up in the beginning and the 5 minute cool off in the end.  I ended up going my 2 miles in 33.25 minutes, with an average pace of 16.42 per mile, which was a bit slow for me.

Every time I run or walk by this big bush with flowers, the smell is just amazing!  I finally posted them on Facebook recently to see if I could find out what they are, but I received a few different answers.  Does anyone know?

Thursday:

Thursday I worked on my Couch to 5k app again, and did week 2, day 3.  It consisted of me running for 1.5 minutes and walking 2 minutes 6 different times.  My time wasn’t too bad, as I finished my 2 miles in 30:10 minutes, which is faster than the previous Tuesday’s time by quite a bit.

It decided to lightly rain the entire 30 minutes we were out, but it actually felt nice compared to the hot weather we’ve dealt with in the past.  It was such a nice, warm rain with no wind.  We even lucked out and saw a beautiful double rainbow, though I failed to get a decent picture of it with my phone.

Friday:

Friday I worked on the Couch to 5k app, and completed week 3 day 1.  It consisted of a 1.5 minute run and 1.5 minute walk 2 times and then a 2.5 minute run and a 2.5 minute walk 2 times.  The longest I had been running was 1.5 minutes straight, so moving up to 2.5 minutes straight was a little intimidating, but surprising I did it!  I went 2 miles in 31.14 minutes, which was a bit slower for some reason, but I’m more concerned about building up stamina and then getting in 2 miles.

It

 

It was another beautiful night, with clear skies, which makes the work out much easier to complete.  The view is always spectacular!

Saturday:

I made it to the end of week 2!  Saturday is my long walk day, and Faith and I put in 2.91 miles in a little over an hour.  It was a hot one, which makes it more of a struggle, but it needed to get done.   I always seem to have more energy after working out, and that helps with getting my homework done.

I think the corn in the field across from our house will make it to knee high by the fourth of July!  Such a beautiful view of the open spaces I love!

It was another successful week, and I’m only hoping I can stick with it.  I finished another full week of the couch to 5k app and started on week 3.  With baseball finished for my 3 boys, I’m hoping to get more workouts in throughout the week.  Though I do worry about the next couple of weeks when we’ll be visiting family.   I’m determined to get it done though!