Finished 5K Training Week 1 of 5

We finished the first of 5 weeks of training for the 5K we have coming up on April 23rd.

First week felt amazing and really sore! I have to say the mid-week stretch/rest was definitely necessary and very helpful. On Saturday, we also got the opportunity to actually go outside and run a 5K; the only challenging part was a small problem with our route: we had to make two stops at traffic lights,  hence slowing down our rhythm. So here's a few pieces of advice that I want to give you all regarding running in general and also apply to running outdoors too:

Guidelines for Running

1. Always run with good form and proper shoes! Running with a bad form or improper shoes can injure you either immediately or in the long run, or just put unnecessary strain on some of your joins (i.e. knees, ankles). Keep in mind that in order for you to run with good form, you may not be able to run a full mile non-stop (I couldn't 2 years ago!) so you may have to start building the muscles and endurance for it by using a bike, elliptical or weight training before you attempt to run across the world. Here's three good videos to checkout about running form: 

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3hjpDs_Fq8
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fBh2qH4QbM&feature=related 
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXV3c2_zTk8&feature=related

1. Running with someone can not only help you push each other, but is strongly recommended if running outside at late hours. Having a running partner can motivate both of you and help you encourage each other when you really need to push yourselves. Also, your partner can help you adjust your form (and you can do the same for them) by seeing things from a third-person perspective. 
2. Music can help motivate you. Listening to music helps me to stay focused on pushing myself while at the same time kind of distracting myself from the oncoming exhaustion. So if you really want to be able to push yourself, get the right playlist that just gets you pumped and rock on while you get your run on. Granted some people don't like the music idea, I'm just telling you all what works for me and what may work for you.
3. Choose your outdoor route wisely. Try and avoid busy intersections that stop your rhythm and of course, always stay safe. You can even set up your route using Google Maps, like I did.

So that's about it for this post. Week 2 starts tomorrow with the same schedule as last week. At the end of this week, I will post some numbers so you can see the progress that we will hopefully make.