Guess who is one month old today? Miss Claire!
And that means I’m that much closer to my post-partum check-up, where my midwife will hopefully give me the thumbs up to start exercising again. I’ve got no doubt that I’ll be cleared to run, but I always think it’s wise to wait for the official okay.
I’m really looking forward to training for a 5K in 2015. I’m a blog ambassador for the Publix Savannah Women’s Half Marathon and 5K and will be running the 5K on March 28!
The Savannah Women’s Half Marathon route encapsulates all of Savannah’s history and beauty in 13.1 miles, while including some of Savannah’s most scenic areas. The course starts off by running alongside each of Savannah’s two largest recreational parks, Forsyth Park and Daffin Park. Connected by beautiful tree-lined streets, the route also navigates around 12 of the city’s scenic squares in the Historic District before a picture-perfect finish at the iconic Forsyth Park Fountain.
If you’re interested in doing the Half Marathon or 5K, use code HTPSAV10 to get $10 off your registration! I’ll be doing a fun blogger meet-up over race weekend, and I’d love to meet you. <3 <3
But if you can’t get to Savannah, we can still virtually train together! Let’s call our little support group A 5K for 2015, shall we? (If there’s any interest, maybe I’ll put together a private Facebook group where we an all track our progress? Let me know!). There are 11 weeks until the end of March, which is more than enough time to get 5K ready – whether you plan to walk it (still legit!), walk/run it (also legit!), or run it (go you!).
Here are some of my favorite (FREE!) 5K training plans:
A 9-week plan from Couch to 5K
A 7-week plan from Mayo Clinic
A 15-week plan from Jeff Galloway
An 8-week plan from Hal Hidgon
A 6-week plan from Fitness Magazine
A 7-week plan from Shape Magazine
My plan is to start off with the Couch to 5K method and then hopefully accelerate training a bit to include less walking and more speedwork. I’d like my Savannah 5K to be a fast-for-me race, but it just depends on how training goes with two kiddos.
Are you starting from zero? Let me assure you that a 5K is totally attainable, no matter what your current fitness level! It really, really is. Some of the plans above only require three days of walk/running a week – if you can carve 20 – 30 minutes out of your schedule, YOU CAN DO IT! And trust me, you will feel an incredible sense of pride when you cross the finish line (whether a real one or a pretend one – you don’t have to sign up for an actual race, although I recommend it because it creates a deadline). Your first 5K is an awesome experience – give it a shot!
Are you building your fitness back up, like me? I get it – it can be discouraging to be starting all over again, whether it’s because of an injury, pregnancy, life circumstances, or you just simply fell off the wagon. But here’s an idea – instead of thinking negatively about how much work you have to do again {groan}, remind yourself how great it felt to hit those goals the first time around. It will feel just as awesome the second time {yay!}. That’s how I’m looking at things; I’m really excited to get back to working out, even though I know I’m going to feel winded and rundown covering distances that I used to consider a warm-up. I can’t wait to prove to myself that I can do it again – and have a lot of fun at the same time!
LIKE Publix Savannah Women’s Half and 5K on Facebook
Are you training for a 5K or other distance this winter? Is it your first attempt at the distance or are you trying to hit a speed goal?
I was going to sign up for ColorMeRad again this year, but they’re not coming to Omaha (Urgh! Argh!). Instead, I think I’ll plan on doing another Color-type run. Color Vibe or The Color Run are coming back this year, so those should be fun.