And the pattern remains: if I run on the day after I do a P90 routine, it’s torturous.   Like, legs saggy and completely without energy after 90 seconds of running.  Now, I don’t know a damn thing about physical activity, but this sounds to me like my body is too busy repairing itself (“micro-tears” from exercise, etc.) to be ready for what is some of the most concentrated activity it’s been subjected to in 20 years.

So I have a bit of a dilemma.  On the one hand, I think a broader exercise regime is really important, more fun, and probably meets my overall fitness goal better (cardio AND strength).  On the other hand, I’ve got a fair bit of momentum with the running — plus, Eon’s doing it, and we both have signed up for a 10k with our neighbors.  So, social support/pressure there.   Result: apparent conflict!

So, naturally, the way to fit it in is to do the P90 on the same day that I do the running — to give my whole body maximum recovery time between workouts.  But that means carving out about 1.5 hours, 3 times a week.  I’ve tried doing this in the evenings, and it’s a disaster for my sleeping pattern.  But with taking the kids to school in the mornings, it’s hard to fit that in.  …And this method might not even work!

I suppose I could punt the P90 until after the 10k, and just focus on the running after all, and spend the other day only doing push-ups, or something hyper-focused on other parts of the body that wouldn’t impact my running endurance.

Or, option number 7 or whatever, I could just keep running week 4 runs until my body builds up enough endurance to handle it.  …But then I might run out of time to train up to run the full 10k distance.

No good answers.  But I’m pretty sure that if I do my P90 workout tomorrow (later this morning, really), then Week 5 day 1 will ABSOLUTELY KILL ME.  Perhaps I’ll take an 2nd day off between weeks (a “weekend”, as it were).  But that’s not sustainable.  Blargh.

So here we are this morning, and I’m holding the bag.  We just checked the daily baseball news and upcoming games, figured out who to root for in each game, talked about what “perfect game” means, watched a little Lego Star Wars video (on the web site).  Socks and shoes are on, hair and teeth are brushed, and the breakfast dishes are in the sink.

It occurs to me that the next 4.5 weeks is also the approximate timeframe I have left in Couch to 5k.  Ok, then.  Go, spring.

1. Brief appearance at next door neighbor boy’s 5th birthday at a park in Campbell.  I ran for about 4 minutes across the park to fetch the car.  Neat.

2. Tee-ball game.  Our boys on the Mets played the Indians.  Jack won the game ball!  We celebrated with snack shack treats afterward.

3. Ran week 4 run 2 a few minutes ago.  It was hot today.  I’m still sore from yesterday’s Power 90 workout. I had to really push to make it.

4. Guests are now over for an adults + kids BBQ thing.  Time to relax.

In case you’re wondering: yes.  YES, this is ‘portnt enough to blag about.  Dammit.

It was tough, but my legs were well-rested, and I’m not doing the extreme calorie watching I had been doing for two weeks (often doing < 1k calories per day), which I think contributed to week 3 being sluggish.

I ended up doing my longest distance, at 3.77km, at a pace (across the whole 32 minutes of walking and running) of 8:41/km — about 20 sec better than my previous best.  Woot.

By the way, some people pronounce “beta” like “beetah”.