Anyone fancy starting Couch to 5K on Monday 5th Aug?

[workatemylife]

I have not run for YEARS. In the last 18 months I have lost a lot of weight through diet and exercise (walking), and, it would appear, breastfeeding. But I'm back at work, LO isn't drinking me dry any more, my diet is not all that it could be, and the weight is sneaking back on. I don't have the opportunity for long buggy walks with a gurgling baby to toddler groups and playparks, but I do try to cycle to work to get a bit of exercise, although probably not enough. A couple of friends do Park Run eack weekend and I'd love to join them, but at the moment I suspect it would be Park Huff and Puff before Collapsing rather than actually a RUN .

I'm planning to start a C25K plan on Monday next week, and would love some (virtual) run buddies until I feel brave / fit enough to run with real people as well. I've seen some positive comments about the plan on here, although I think I'm still a little about whether it is possible to progress like that through the weeks and actually get as far as a 5K. Still nothing ventured nothing gained.

I have running shoes somewhere at the back of the wardrobe, but might need to invest in some suitable clothing, and have a weekend of overindulgence lined up. So Monday is the day I think. First Monday of the month, and counting. I'll put a big ring around a late Sept Park Run on the calendar and start counting.....

Anyone care to join me?

tinwe get well soon! Kids are great at sharing!
slev that sounds fantastic. I will be similarly in the final group of finishers at my local parkrun. Depressing, but these people must have started somewhere too. I hope!

Think I'm better today. Very achey though.

Slev - amazing times! I can see you doing long distances in the future.

Workate - are you doing the park run today?

Lurking - are you out again today?

Well I am one ANGRY c25k graduate DH refused to do a family trip to Park Run this morning because he wanted to do a longer run himself. He could have done it any other time over the weekend. I suppose I could have been more explicit about why this week mattered to me, but on balance it didn't seem worth the argument. I would probably have bombed in the effort to run it fast. I will try to chip away at my times and have a shot another weekend. lurking you might be our first Parkrunner!

That's a shame Workate but at least the park run wasn't your graduation run after all. Another week to consolidate so you can be super confident next time might be best anyway? Didn't know your DH was a runner?

I think it was Tinwe's DH who said we'd have bad runs sometimes. Well, Reader, W7R2 was my bad run. Wasn't in the mood before I set off (heavy legs after going out last night, general knackeredness after getting back late and being woken at 6.30am) and it was really blustery. So I did it and kept up my speed (9.03 min/mile) but it was really hard - I wanted to stop after 5 minutes and still not sure how I kept going.

On the plus side, that's a bad run out the way so the next one has to be better - right?!

Hope you've told your DH off workate. I think we've all got parkrun in our minds as the thing that really proves we're Proper Runners so it must be so annoying to gear yourself up for it and then not do it. Hope you get to go out anyway.

Tinwe - glad you're on the mend. I'd say don't push it until you're ready though - but it must be really irritating when you're so close to the end!

Oh Slev - I empathise! Still, very impressive keeping the pace up. If that's a bad run then I don't think you have much to worry about

Good luck to all running today.

I won't be running again til tomorrow earliest but I'm not eating normally yet so probably just as well.

Oh dear: sounds like everyone has had a bad weekend in one way or another. tinwe, I'm so glad you're feeling better - good that you've taken a few days off to get your strength up and in the great scheme of things missing a couple of runs won't make any difference. workate - bad husband! I do think that other people, whether runners or not, don't always realise how challenging this all is and how we have to set ourselves small goals all the time and it can be disproportionately disappointing not to be able to fulfil them.

Like Slev, I had a dreadful run yesterday. Aaargh. I had gone for a long walk in the country the day before, so was perhaps a bit tired from that. Also, it was baking hot yesterday morning and I was wearing a long-sleeved top so felt hot and bothered right from the off and was just counting down the minutes until it was over. The worst thing of all - oh the humiliation - was that another runner came up behind me, overtook me and then proceeded to run so far ahead of me that after a few minutes I couldn't even see her. That is how I need to be running to do a 5k but I am so far from that just now ... I was looking at my local Parkrun results and there are usually around 500 runners and with my times I'd be last. The winners usually come in at around 16 minutes and even if I could do it in 30 mins that would have me in the bottom 90%. Which is fine, but I can't even contemplate it until I can get to that stage or would be too disheartened to be limping in after everyone else had gone home. slev, if I could have what you think of as a bad run, I'd be delighted

Anyway, my stats, such as they are:

distance: 5.04km or 3.13 miles
running pace: 6.54 mins/km or 11.54 mins/mile

For the first time, I am not looking forward to the next run . I am no longer having any sense that I'm getting better at this and that's what has spurred me on until now. Aaaargh.

No Lurking! I've been there, round about the same point in the plan too! Think it's a common time to loose faith/drop out. Remember, this is about YOU and not the other park runners. You don't know their history, maybe they've been at this for years. You are moving through the plan and THAT's the progress, not the time/speed at this point. The building time/speed comes AFTER graduation. All you need to achieve to succeed at this point is complete the plan and then you will have gone from 0mins - 30mins solid running in only 9ish weeks! Think of the benefits to your health, stamina, looks etc. they come no matter how fast you go.

Lurking - for your interest, I checked back and I ran 6.44mins/km on W7R3, almost the same as you. I had better runs after that though and I'm sure you will too.

Thankyou so much for starting this thread, workate- and to everyone who has posted. It got me running again and kept me going, and I've just completed w9 r3! Really pleased with my achievement, feel fitter, more stamina, slightly more toned, but just mainly more energized, which is great! I'm quite slow, up to 4.3 k so far in 30 mins, but planning to work towards 5k over the next 3 or 4 weeks? And then just to keep going out regularly even once the evenings get darker, maybe with a longer run at wk ends. We'll see! Thanks again for all the encouragement.

Thank you for your kind words tinwe. I feel much better about things today and am just about to go out for W8R1. Only two runs to go. Eek! Hope everyone else is ready to take on another week and get to graduation.

southchinasea - well done on your graduation!!

workate - what are your running plans for this week?

Welcome / welcome back southchinasea and congratulations on your graduation! Glad to have been of some help! Are you going to stick with us? A few of us are dithering about how to continue after graduation, so the more the merrier.

lurking Sounds like one of those moments that we have all had, but keep at it. Please! We need you! tinwe has given some great advice based on her experience, and I would second the comments about focusing on you and your progress rather than other runners. I got really down about the whole thing a couple of weeks ago, based upon faster runners that I could see around me, the times online for Park Run, my own pace etc. But even if there is some progress to be made on all of these, I'm trying to take pleasure in the journey that I've travelled so far. I may not be fast, but I am at least running, which I wasn't doing two months ago. Still not enjoying it mind but maybe that time will come.

slev another one under the belt. One thing that amazes me (apart from your times!) is how one run can seem a total disaster with no hope of finishing, but is I stick with it, it turns out to be no worse than any other. tinwe's DH must have a point.

Sorry to have come on for a rant on Saturday. Poor DH - I've not really talked to him about what I've been doing, times, plans etc, so the poor bloke probably had no idea that one particular Saturday mattered. He started running around the time that I stopped (years ago), so has a fair amount of experience and races under his belt. But I find his attitudes to other runners a bit sometimes - mainly when he criticises their speed, which is probably way faster than mine.

I think maybe it was no bad thing that I didn't leap straight into Park Run from graduation. I need a better sense of my own speed / ability. I can never tell how fast I'm running from one outing to the next, which makes it hard to make a sensible plan for a 5K 'race' apart from putting one foot in front of the other and seeing what happens next. I know that the key to better speed is meant to be better endurance, so I'm trying to do a little more this week. I spent the last few runs of the C25K plan chasing to the line to try to get a good time for the course, so for the next few weeks I'm going to focus on running for a little longer - either another lap of the playing fields, like today, or for another five minutes, in the hope that being able to run longer or further makes a 5K / 30 minute run seem a little easier. I went out today and ran 3.5 miles. I could probably do with a better 'how to speed up and keep smiling' plan, but haven't got around to looking properly yet, and 3.5 miles was probably far enough!!

lurking glad you're feeling better about it today and hope your run went well. I think we just have to keep remembering how far we've come - a bad run is now one where we run nearly 3 miles - that's impossible for most people. So definitely don't give up or get downhearted - every step we take is progres!

And yes, workate - for all I was saying it was a bad run, ultimately I still ran as far and as fast as before (well, nearly) - it was just that it felt like a lot more effort. But I think it's so variable as to whether all the factors are right - I've taken to running in the evenings when it's dark, cooler, not as busy on the roads etc. and so when I run a bit earlier in the day as I did on Saturday it just completely throws me - even to the extent of timing of meals etc. But I was really pleased I kept going - in another time I would have stopped and walked but I couldn't fact coming on here and admitting it

So back to normal tonight and hopefully I'll get closer to enjoying it. Think I'm actually last now as that will be my W7R3 - lurking is yours an 8 week programme or 9?

Oh, and I agree with you on the speed thing workate, I never have any idea how fast I'm going which is why I'm slightly obsessed with running to the right beat of music, otherwise I go much slower than I meant to. I like your idea of just running a bit longer each time though and see if you gradually get faster - I really don't fancy going back to intervals again after getting used to running non-stop, which is what all the 5k improver and 10k plans seem to recommend. But I'm getting ahead of myself - got to get through tonight and another 2 weeks first!

Thanks, workate and slev, for your wise and kind words.
Honestly, where would I be without this thread? It has been so lovely to have three running companions at various ends of the country.

It was strange today. I went out in a much better frame of mind, took a different route, had a new and improved playlist and really felt like I was doing much better. Pushed myself to run a little bit faster, and came home feeling a lot more positive. That really was A Good Run, I thought to myself.

Imagine my pain, though, to discover that last time my pace was 6.54 mins/km and this time it had increased to an astounding 6.53. What is that all about?!!!! slev, I think you're right - there is so little difference in the stats between a good run and a bad run. I'm sure there is a lesson to be taken from that, but I'm not sure what exactly

Yep, just two more runs for me. I think I'm going to just have a couple of weeks of normal 5k running, where I don't really try to get faster but just consolidate everything I've been doing without every run being a new challenge and needing yet another big effort. After that I'm going to start on the 5k improver programme (I know what you mean about going back to intervals but at least in the app I've found very few runs have any walking; most are running/faster running) and do that until I feel ready to take on a 10K programme. Eek.

Have a good run tonight, slev.

lurking I had exactly the same thing. Thought the run was going better and then turned out my time was 9.00 minutes/mile so pretty much the same as my "bad" run!

I say better, I'm still finding it quite hard work this week for some reason. But I've got 2 more weeks to go - 28 minute runs next week and 30 minutes the week after. Which is probably for the best as Ias definitely ready to stop after my 25 minutes last night!

Good luck to anyone running today!

Lurking - the most important thing is that you had a Good Run. Those are the ones that keep us at this. Honestly as you're posing for photos after completing your first 10k/half marathon you'll be smiling at your bad run/good run worries at this stage!

Very interesting about times. I suppose it's more a reflection of our overall fitness than mood that day.

Only 2 runs left, we may graduate together! I'm off out on W9R2 tonight with any luck. Only just started eating properly again yesterday since Friday.

Workate - well done for sticking with it. I know you're worried about giving up now the target has been met so why not join us in a graduation plan once we're all over the line?

Slev - I'm sure with your speed you'll catch us up even though you're week 7! I'm glad I'll have another week or so to prepare before I see you in the metaphorical distance about to lap me.

Well done and congratulations Southsea! ?? Very glad to be of service and I hope you can join us when we move onto a graduation programme sometime soon.

I wonder how many other unknown people we have who are crossing the finish line with us? I imagine those of us posting crossing the line roughly together with a host of ghost, lurker, runners scattered around us

Thanks tinwe. I am pondering times a bit. I guess it must just be that I run at the same speed all the time, but sometimes it's a struggle and sometimes it's not. Penultimate run tomorrow so we'll see how that one goes.

I had never thought that there might be lurkers on this thread crossing the finishing line with us. Well done everyone who has stuck with the programme - hope this thread has helped other people as much as it has me!

W9R2 done! I was quite nervous beforehand as I hadn't run for a week and have had several bad nights with the girls not sleeping. It felt a slog but then it almost always does!

Stats:

30 mins, 4.9km / 3miles, average speed 6.1mins/km or 10mins/mile

Not too bad and maybe an extra push will get me the 5km next time?

Great effort tinwe! Only one more run to go! Are you planning something for your 'graduation'? Let us know when you have a date in mind and we'll come and cheer on the (virtual) finish line.

I had a bit of a mare today. I tried to up my speed, by building a few faster sections into my usual route, but I think I was too ambitious. After the first 'fast' section I dropped back down to a more usual rhythm but still felt really sluggish and ended up walking for about 30 seconds. At which point I gave myself a good talking to (I wasn't just walking - I was going to walk back to the car and give up ) and set off again.

However, all to the good. I kept going and ran 3.58 miles in 34.5 minutes. Not exactly speedy then, but I feel a bit better about the whole expedition having turned it into a longer run rather than a speed session. Mind games, but anything helps.

Mapmyrun seemed to lose the plot - it shows the route that I took, and the time for the whole thing, but won't give any 'splits'. So I can't even see if my efforts to run faster were actually any faster than usual. I've bought myself a cheap sportswatch though, and think I might start using it rather than mapmyrun. I know where I can find a 5K course, or circuits of playing fields / parks that are a mile long, and just time myself around those. I have a love / hate relationship with mapmyrun, my phone, and GPS, so may yet change my mind!

Thanks Workate! Hoping to graduate on Thursday but will have to check whether DH is ok with that.

Well done on building up your time. Don't worry about your short walk - you started again that's the most important. It was a watershed for me when I "broke" my run with a walk a little while ago but realised that the goals were bigger than one run and that I'd probably built my fitness and burned as many calories as I would've done staying running. I've been wondering whether there's an app or way to adapt our apps so that I can hear my speed/distance every few minutes rather than just once during the half hour. It would certainly help me to have an idea so I can pace myself.

Well done, tinwe - another one ticked off and one step (or many, many steps, rather) closer to graduation. Great speeds considering you hadn't been out for a week.

workate - what an achievement, and interesting to see what you're doing post-graduation. And no matter if a speed run turned into a distance run - it's all running and not lying on the sofa, and will benefit you one way or the other.

So I am just back from an interesting W8R2. I have felt awful all day - got scarcely any sleep last night, thanks to general insomnia and DH keeping me awake as he couldn't sleep either. Woke up and felt so dizzy and spaced out from sleeplessness so didn't feel like eating much. Had almost decided to postpone run until tomorrow for fear of (a) having another terrible one and getting discouraged again (b) actually passing out halfway.

Decided just to go and see how it went and of course it was one of the best runs I've had so far. I am very pleased although a bit confused as it seems entirely random what kind of run I have every time I go out ...

Stats: 5.49 km
Running pace: 6:40 mins/km (so could do a 5K in 33:20)

which, according to my spreadsheet (yes, yes, I am that sad ) is my third best running pace ever and the best since W6R1 (I am trying to remember what was so good about that one but have no idea...)

slev, are you out today?

I have just been looking at the latest results for my local Parkrun. Oh my goodness ...

Not so many people at Saturday's run - 386. With my best ever time, I would have come in 371st out of 386.

Also at the latest run, the first woman over the line was someone doing Parkrun for the first time ever, with a time of 17:24. Isn't that amazing?

Finally (then I really will stop banging on), my goal has been to get to 5K in 30 minutes, or a second or two below, but that would only have made me 322nd out of 386.

How do these people get so fast??? Eh? I'm kind of in awe ...