Training Log - Week 2 - Change of Plans

In my previous post, I mentioned my difficulty keeping track of where I was in an interval training session. In my research for a solution, I came across yet another running training plan for beginners, and it is called the The Couch-to-5K Running Plan by Josh Clark from the Cool Running website. It claims to have been successfuly used by thousands of beginner runners. So, again, this got my interest and did more research, and to my delight I found the PodRunner. In this site, a DJ Beatsmith created music mixes to be used in conjunction with the Couch-to-5K Running Plan (C25K). There is a specific mix for each of the sessions in C25K. So all one has to do is listen to the mix using his iPod or mp3 player and there will be audible prompts for when to slow down (walk) or when to pick up the pace (run, or shuffle in my case). Neat! The music's tempo or beats per minute also changes with the pace. He uses club music so you can really hear the beat and you can time your strides with the beat (around 130 bpm for the walk parts and 145 bpm for the run parts).

So, starting this week I changed my training plan to C25K starting at its week 3. Why week 3? Because, it's close to where I'm at in terms of intensity from my previous training plan. I also modified the scheduling a bit because I still would like to train 4 times a week and C25K's schedule only calls for 3 times a week.

This week's runs using the C25K plan went very well specially with the PodRunner mixes. I didn't have to look at my watch. I only had to listen to the mix from start to finish. I highly recommend C25K with PodRunner.