Training Day

With the 5k 8 days away and my first night off rehearsal since Monday I took the opportunity tonight to give it a shot.  I mapped out a 5k on my usual walking route, which in itself was a wake up call because it turns out what I thought was just short of 4 miles is actually about 3.25, so my evening walks up to now have not been as long (or as fast) as I thought.  I guess last time I mapped it I doubled back by accident or some other error.  The website I used is free, but not the cleanest experience so it is easy to mess up and have to backtrack.  This time I was exact though so here is how it went.

Distance: 3.13 miles/5.04 kilometers
Time: 41:08
Pace: 4.57 mph

Not bad in my mind.  I was able to jog about 2 out of every 5 minutes, which is an improvement over my last walk/jog outings where I was at about 1 out of every 3 minutes.  I know with time as short as it is I do not have much chance for improvement, but tonight's outing was educational, and I feel I can make some improvements just with a few simple changes.  Tonight I ate dinner about 5 minutes before going out.  About 10 minutes in I had a G.O.B. moment as my stomach felt like all of my dinner and the plate it came on were sitting between my lungs and stomach.

"I've made a huge mistake"

So in the future I will follow the old swimming rules and give myself at least half an hour after eating before getting on the jogging path.  I also think that in addition to the stretching I did before starting I should do some of my actor breathing exercises.  Muscularly I could have jogged a larger portion of the time than I did, but breath management forced me to slow it down.  Pushing like I have previously and did tonight has helped and will continue to help my singing while dancing, but maybe if I warm up my mechanism in that way I will give myself a better chance of managing my breathing on my jogs.  I would love to reach about 5 mph as a pace for the race, but I know that is really ambitious.  For now the goal will be to take time off every time I go out to jog.  My next go at it will be after rehearsal on Sunday.  I will go out for a walk after work tomorrow, but it will be pretty late, so I will keep it simple.  Weigh in tomorrow.