Since going Paleo my family has fallen even more in love with our grill. Paleo and grilling just work well together. The past couple of years I've even been stepping outside my grilling comfort zone more and more. Grilling things I'd never thought to have grilled before and trying new flavor combinations. I have to say I'm pretty thrilled with the results of most of my flavor experiments. In the past I'd never have thought to grill fruit, but it's amazing. Grilling fruit and adding it to traditionally savory dishes? Brilliant. Oh yes, and? New rule: every burger recipe for the rest of forever must contain grilled pineapple. OK, maybe more of a guideline. It's a seriously delicious combination though. This Smoky Grilled Pineapple Burger is always a crowd-pleaser at my house. It's not only Paleo, but Whole30, glutenfree, lower carb, and clean eating friendly. I promise you won't miss the bun! paleo, grilled pineapple burger, smoky
One of my life goals is to always be in the shape to run a 5k. I want to always be able to just jump into a race, or at least run the distance, at any time. You know, until I get old...like 100.
One of my 2012 goals was to run a sub 30 minute 5k. While I'd like to say I've been working hard towards that, the fact is I haven't. In fact, I haven't focused much on my running at all.
Time to change that.
While I may not be able to get that sub 30 this year, I can still improve. My fastest ever 5k was in 2010 at 32:50. The last 5k I ran was last fall at 38:24. Yikes!
I'm running a 5k September 15th. I want to KILL it.
My goal is to obliterate last year's time for the same 5k which was the 38:24. I'd like to come as close to my fastest time as possible. With only 30 days to prepare, how close can I come? We'll see!
Lately I've been running 3 to 4 miles, so a 5k is not a stretch by any means. Running it faster however will take some work. Here's my plan:
Hills. Sundays I will run 3 to 4 miles of a hilly route. I hate hills, but they help, so hills I will run.
Weights. Tuesdays and Thursdays I will do a total body weights workout.
Intervals. Wednesdays I will do speed intervals. These I like. I like brief bursts of speed. Sprints are just plain fun to me. I started last week with one minute run fast (I try to really push it), one minute jog slow. I'm going to work on upping my speed on the run portions and working my way to lengthening them to two minutes.
Tempo Runs. Fridays I will do a tempo run. I hate these almost as much as hills. I'm kind of a lazy runner, I really do prefer to run at an easy pace that I can belt out Adele to. But again, they help, so I'll do them.
That's pretty much it. I tend to over-train and battle an old hip injury (I keep meaning to look into some good joint supplements). I rarely run more than 3 times a week. I may work in a day of HIIT cardio if I'm feeling good. Otherwise I'll take two full rest days.
What do you think? Can I improve my 5k time in 30 days? Is there another running workout I should have added?