Couch to 5k 2011: Part 5 - Polished and Ready to Run

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Yet more space for us to talk about our progress on the Couch to 5K programme, the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, the gadgets we use -and our nail varnish.

New runners are warmly welcomed - come and give it a whirl, you know you want to! Although this thread has been going for a year now some of us are re-doing the Couch to 5K, some of us are relatively new, some are doing half marathons already, we are a good mix and would love to hear from anyone who would like to run with us. Just jump in whatever stage you are at.

Hi all, still here. First fun today since Thursday as I had to go to London on the weekend for work and it was a running day but dp pouted at me taking running kit, assumed I would be kidnapped off the streets as it wasn't a safe place to run!!

Anyway, w7r3 done today, coped ok but a bit slower on pace than usual.

Seem to be getting an annoying pain in my hip bone too but not when I run, may need to keep an eye on that.

Yes, I am a man, last time I checked... I'm also a real person, but then I would say that if I was only a fake person so I guess that doesn't help much

Well, I went out on Sunday and had a really good ride on the bike and was feeling really good so I thought I'd go for 3k instead of 2k on the run...

Thankfully I think I felt a bit of a twinge it before it really went so I don't think I pulled/tore it properly. Either that or the stretching/strength work is helping. I think I'm going to rest it today and then go for 1 or 2k tomorrow (and do my best not to overdo it again...)

I know what you mean about goals jelli - I started out just wanting to be able to say I'd done a triathlon. I'm now thinking about doing several sprint distances this season. And then with my hilly Sunday ride being 85% of the distance of the olympic distance triathlon... Well, you get the picture, I seem to be on a slippery slope; I (and DW ) keep telling myself that I simply don't have time to train for an iron distance triathlon...

Week 6 run two done this morning so all straight running from now on, though next week a bit tricky as we have inset day friday then half term then Monday inset day! So not sure how much running I'll get in.

Have also decided to book my first 5K run for July

Yey Kew Where do you find out about the 5K runs? Ive looked into Parkrun, but the nearest one is a good 40 min drive away.

I googled "5k run london" and it came up with several relatively locally

Oh.
Good.
Lord.

I ran for 22 minutes, but the last 7 minutes were a complete bitch. I was so hot and it took ages for my breathing to recover.

I am looking forward to the day when a run is enjoyable rather than hard work

I am very impressed with the 5k Kew, I am too much of a scaredy cat to run a race.

Well done ILike! Next time will be better.

Good one Kew - always good to have something to aim for. I've just registered for this year's version of my first 5K last year not that I will be any faster

Neil - get off that slippery slope!

Lupus - tell your DH that a change of scene will do your running good. My last couple of trips to london I stayed near Waterloo Bridge and had some nice early morning runs along the river and was not kidnapped

No running for me - we have had along weekend and it has been horribly hot and muggy. A couple of longish walks in the park have been my limit. And yesterday I read a book while timing DH who was mad enough to run a lap (6 miles/53 mins).

Hi - Looking for some general advice on training techniques.. I'm doing my first sprint triathlon at the end of July which involves a 5K run and am in training at the moment. Never been much of a runner, dont like it to be honest. Whats the best way to try and increase my running times between now and end July? I can currently do a 5k in 27-28 mins. I'm currently running 5K in a typical training session, combined with sessions before on the bike and in pool, but haven't run any further than 5K in any one session. Should I be running for longer distances and for longer times? Whats the best way to increase endurance and strength in running over the next 8 weeks? Any help from all you great runners would be appreciated!

advice from this really rubbish runner would be to google "fartlek running" I believe its an accepted method for improving speeds and combines running slower than usual and faster than usual with normal running speed. eg www.coolrunning.com.au/expert/1997c002.shtml

I'm not sure what would be gained from running longer or furhter if its 5K you're aiming for. If anything I would have thought that doing shorter distances faster would be a better way to go.

If you have a smart phone you may find and app aimed at this to take out the calculations

Hi, Serendipty - I'm in a similar position to you (although I've done my first tri and am now looking to improve my times - plus I picked up a calf injury a week later which I'm trying to sort out now)...

You say you're doing sprint, most of the advice I've seen is to train to about 85% of race distance which is only 4.25k - however, the organisers don't have to stick to exactly 5k, mine was about 6.3k.

All the advice I've seen is to train less distance, but introduce intervals (Fartlek being one type as per kew) I'm planning to do some Tabata method intervals - again if you have a smart phone then you can get apps which will 'beep' at you at the appropriate points to tell you when to go fast/slow.

You're doing the right thing going for the run straight after the bike.

Oddly, the thing that let me down in terms of time on my run was pacing rather than fitness, I finished feeling like I could have run faster... I'd been training with a smartphone app which gave me my pace every km and remaining distance and had been using this to gauge how fast to go. But in the actual tri I didn't know the route or the time so had no clue what pace I was doing (and phones are banned)... For the next one I've invested in a cheap casio watch and intend to familiarise myself with the route before starting and have my own 'milestones' that I know the times I should get to them at so I can go faster/slower as necessary.

By 'finished feeling like I could have run faster' - I mean I still had plenty of energy left!

Thanks so much Neils and Kew for the great advice - re-assuring to know that at least I don't need to increase the distances, but increase the pace. I'm lucky in that my first tri is in my home town and involves a lovely run around our castle park which I'm very familiar with. And yes a good idea to invest in a watch for timing purposes (No smart Phone!!) and to then include a couple of milstones in your scheduled runs. Looking fwd to it with a mixture of dread and anticipation!

I always run teh last 60 run at the fastest I can - for no reason other than being out of breath at the end convinces me I haven't really shambled around at old lady pace most of teh way!

Anyone know a free online bpm analyser for songs, to help me compile a running playlist?

Thats a good idea Blue

Just checking in after week 6 run 2. The first 10 mins were easy, the first 5 seem to fly by. The second not so much, but I did have to go up 3 hills (that I have done before) though it wasn't too difficult and I could have managed a bit more. So thats it for me with the stop starts (well on that route anyway). On to continuous running.

Me too Blue - I'd like to know - maybe find a song which suits your running pace then try to find out what BPM it is - I'm assuming my slow pace is around 145 BPM

Good grief it's hot - 21 degrees according to my laptop, and it's only 7 am . It rained overnight so will hopefully be less humid .

I am going to attempt a short run for the first time in a week but may melt by the time I'm home. I'm telling you this before I go, because if i don't tell anyone I will sit on my sofa and drink coffee instead.

Week 6 run 3 done - 25 mins straight and its running all the way now isn't it? I did get a bit bored in the middle because though the lovely Laura is indeed very lovely her choice of music is pretty shit!

Feeling smug now though.

Well done, Kew - enjoy feeling deservedly smug :)

Well done Kew!

There must be something in the air as I ran 25 mins non stop last night too. I thought I was going to buckle at about 18 mins, then the last 5 minutes seemed a breeze in comparison and I probably could have carried on for a while more. But I thought I would stop while I still felt good rather than pushing it, plus my calf felt tight.

Did you get out for a run shredded ?

ILike - yes I did. Only a short one, but I went out and my hamstring felt fine. As I was waiting at a traffic light one of my colleagues ran past me in his suit. He was running for the bus, which then followed me part of the way home. As I was beetroot red and soaking wet when he saw me, not to mention wearing shorts, I was a bit when I had to got to a meeting with him later in the day.

We're travelling to the UK tonight so I'm looking forward to some new running scenery. I was thinking of a couple of parkruns, but the two I could do are both quite distant from where we'll be staying both weekends. I've worked out a nice circular route for tomorrow afternoon at the end of our journey starting and ending at the hotel.

Just popping by to say hello.

Blue - if you use Itunes you can set up a Smart Playlist with BPM as one of the selection criteria, press FIle, New Smart Playlist, then click in the box that says Artist and change it to BPM, you can then set it to ranges, lower, higher than a number etc then select artist/album etc

You can also see the BPM of all your tracks by adding it to the columns showing all your music, right click on the header bar that runs across the middle of the screen.

Ive added BPM on my columns of music on itunes, but all it gives me is a tick. Can't see any numbers. If I try to organise the tracks by BPM it just puts the artists in alphabetical order.

Im thinking now Ive finished doing the stop/start to just run to ditch Laura. I have made a route that is just over 3 miles (so I have a 5 min walk at the start and end) so just thinking of doing that now. I have been looking at sports watches too so I can see how fast I go. I dont have a smart phone and figured a watch will be so much cheaper. I have seen one on the Nike site thats about £50 IIRC. I am going to start week 1 again, but on the really hilly route to get some hills in me too, but will leave that for another couple of weeks while I get used to running non-stop.

That will be good for you shredded to have a change of scenery, its makes it all very more interesting.

Not all my music shows the BPM, I suppose it depends where the music has come from and what data is attached. Worth a try though.