5K Checklist, Last Week Until New Year’s Push

Next week is the beginning of our 5K New Year’s program.

If you haven’t already signed on, we really hope you will.  Here’s the link.  You won’t regret it.  If you have signed up, please help us spread the good word.  We posted some ideas on that here.

Now down to business.  Here are six things to take care of between now and next week when the program kicks off.

1.  Play with the app.  Take this week to get familiar with the interface and wander through the content a little bit.  It’s a good way to keep your excitement up while we all wait to get started.  Check out the different options in Settings and think about how you want to configure the app.  If you dare, skip around through the various weeks of training and start to take a look at what you’re getting yourself into.

2.  Do a laundry check.  Sometimes the little things make all the difference.  Do a quick inventory of your running clothes and make sure you have enough to avoid any unnecessary laundry drama.  Ideally, you’ll have enough to get through your three-workout week without having to wash anything.  You don’t want to fall behind on laundry in the middle of week six and find yourself with an annoying hurdle that makes training more difficult than it needs to be.

3.  Check your shoes.  If your shoes have been hiding in the closet for a while, don’t wait until November to dust them off.  Try them on, take a walk, and make sure everything feels good.  You want them to be comfortable and supportive with no major signs of wear.

4.  Pick up a case.  Most of us keep some kind of case on our phones.  If you don’t , this is probably the time to grab one.  Dropping your phone at the office or knocking it off the nightstand is one thing…spiking it off of the pavement is quite another.  Consider something with an armband if you’d like to go completely hands-free.

5.  Make your playlist.  Your music is going to be your training partner for the next two months.  Take some time this week to pull together your favorite, most motivational songs and start getting them queued up into playlists.  You might treat yourself to a few new tracks while you’re at it.

6.  Start hydrating.    The best habit you can develop in support of your training is to drink plenty of water.  Hydration isn’t something you should only think about when you are running.  Ideally, you’ll be drinking often throughout the day, whether you have a run planned or not.  Start now and follow through.