The main reason I bought the Garmin Forerunner 305 was for use in Couch to 5K. I have always wanted to be a runner, a long distance one more so than a fast one. Someone who can run a 4 minute mile doesn’t impress me, someone who can run 25 miles does.
So the Garmin was exactly what I needed for the C25K program as it allows me to program each individual week or day as a training workout. After each workout I can track my pace, calories, etc, although that stuff doesn’t mean much to me at the moment. My main goal is to get the to 30 minutes of running without stopping landmark. Yesterday was Day 1 of Week 4 for me and it has 2 sessions of running for 5 minutes, and while each of those was challenging, it was not impossible.
One thing that I have noticed thanks to the Garmin’s history feature and the ability to upload it all to my computer is that my heart rate is going down. About 2 weeks ago I was pegging out at around 160 during the high point of my runs. Now it is drifting slowly downward and not spiking quite as high and taking less time to recover. I am feeling a lot better during my runs also.
Today is my rest day, something that is very important. I have a friend who started off running and was doing 2 miles a day minimum with no rest days. She essentially went from 0 to 2 miles per day with no ramp up. Now one of her knees has made it impossible for her to run and she has to see a doctor. So if you are starting to get into running, do not skip the rest days! Your body needs those days to heal and get stronger.
