Couch to 5 K Its not about Speed (5!)

[addictedtosugar]

So, we seem to have filled up the 4th thread. Anyone want to join me here?

Thank you DontDoItDi - happy Friday to you!

Well done all, and glad to hear others worry about a slow pace- makes me feel less embarrassed.

Had to pick up my speed the other day though, when a very elderly man on a mobility scooter threatened to overtake me

I did say to him on my way back that I might need to borrow it to get home.....!

Did W3R1 today after a long long day of work and travelling, so am pleased that I did manage that step up, slow and crap as I am.

Thanks for the tips! Will try and squeeze in wk2r3 before work on Sunday...

midnight I have a couple of glasses of water but no food. Anything I eat at any time of day I have to wait for ages before running to avoid feeling sick. So if I have breakfast I'd have to wait for an hour, which defeats the objective (wanting to be back before DH needs to leave for work) And having coffee would wake up my bowels...

I'm starting W5 on Sunday, wish me luck looks like a steep increase: 5-5-5 then 8-8 and then 20. I could be misremembering the middle run, but I can see a distinct possibility of me taking longer than one week for this set! Even if it's my mind that needs to get used to the intervals.

mcbutton .yes speed comes later for most of us. After I reached my goal of running for 30mins, with just Laura for company, I kept with it. And after a while I noticed that I was actually covering more distance, very gradually. Only then did I get curious and got a GPS watch.
Now I am running again after a noticeable break, but of course I do still have the watch so I wear it, and my running speed is waaaay slower than it was last year. It should improve with practice but right now I need to focus on just keeping going for the required time, and if I meet runners, they're all faster than me

I always think I run very slowly but as I use Endomondo to track my distance and speed, I can see that I´m actually running fast :) maybe even too fast at times. I guess it´s just deception :) This app lets me keep track of my pace and I can see where it was, it also has a small map so I can see, yes, there I was going uphill so maybe slightly slower etc. I am using it because I wanted to know how fast I am going and maybe I tend to go too fast at first and tire myself out before the end. Well, and also, it´s free :) Can´t justify to get a gps watch so it´s nice to have something to track how I´m doing.

Can I ask a quick question of anyone; I've repeated W6R2 twice now, which with my app is 10r, 3w, 10r, and flipping heck, I'm finding it blardy difficult. I'm doing it but a panting, quivering wreck at the end. Do I keep repeating until it gets easier, or do I move on to the next run on the basis I have actually completed it?

Haven't posted on this thread before, actually didn't know of it's existence!
Through, how did you feel doing the solid 20 minute run, I think that's w5d3? For me (slightly ahead of you in w7), I found once I could run a reasonable amount of time it was easy to do one block of running rather than the intervals, you get into a rhythm. If you did the 20 minute run ok I'd say move on. As I am going through the programme I'm finding the jump in running times less scary and know that I can slow down a bit if I need to.

Thanks for reply Lokis, on the app I'm following the 20 min run isn't until W7R1; W6R2 which I'm stuck on is 2 x 10m and a sneak preview shows me that the next run of -W6R3 is 15m. Hmm, maybe Ill just see if I can run 10+ and see if I can get near to 15m. At the moment I can't envisage running for 20m!

ThroughThickAndThin01 have you tried running the longer slots deliberately as slowly as you can? Like almost the same pace as walking? I know it might seem like failing, but I used to try to go too fast, then I went running with my brother (ex-Para) and he told me to just keep going, but slow the pace right down. Once I did that I could do it and my speed built up naturally as I got fitter.

Thank you for the knee exercises DontDoItDi. I'm trying to do them everyday - well the ones I can! It's good to hear that there are other oldies running. Was hoping to get out today but too stormy. West Coast Scotland, it's the default setting! Tomorrow is meant to be better. Happy running everyone

I'll try that lb thanks. I am pretty slow but at the same time conscious of doing the 5k (ultimately) so a bit obsessed with covering the distance as quickly as possible, for my goal of a park run, if you see what I mean. So I'll take my focus off distance covered and just concentrate on getting through the blocks of time.

Good luck everyone, whatever stage you're at.

Through, ok sorry assumed you were on the NHS app. I would recommend slowing down a bit maybe. I couldn't imagine running 20 minutes myself, actually 10 minutes scared me and the end of week one when 60 seconds puffed me out. I did my first 25 minutes earlier this week and now I can't imagine not being able to do 30 minutes.

Cross post there, you sound like me I want to do a park run but at the moment at my pace I won't be covering 5k in 30 minutes! Anyway going off to do my run now.

My goal is a parkrun too. With the kids. Who are both really good at cross country and will outpace me. But that is fine!

Thanks all for the reassurance re speed. W4 R3 done today and I actually found it harder for some reason. I'm feeling slightly apprehensive about next week as R3 is a leap up to 20mins however looking at the last few posts and the advice, I'll just slow it right down if I'm struggling and hope for the best

mcbutton I'll be right there with you! As I said I may have to do the w5r2 twice... And as everyoneeveryone keeps saying, the first 10m of a run are usually the worst, after that you can settle into your run and just keep going. Apparently

The first 10 mins! I'll be amazed to get to 10 mins without having to stop

I ran for 30 mins today! Mixed feelings about it – I completed the time and it was great to run for that long for the first time. But I only ran 4km so still a long way from the parkrun. I’m going to have to spend more time building up speed or getting used to running for longer.

Love being one of the oldies I’m in eastern Scotland so lots of wind and hills. Bad weather slows me down, running into the wind is hard, and I avoid really heavy rain. I’ve gradually invested in weatherproofing – nicked a peaked cap from DH to keep rain off my face, bought a cheap rainproof jacket and a pair of stretchy knee-length jogging pants, the nylon kind that make my pubes itch just looking at them but I’m not wearing them for long and if it rains they dry out fast.

DS is young and tall and he can probably outwalk my jogging pace even now. But I am not letting him prove it!

Good luck to everyone here! I love reading about everyone's progress at all the different stages, it's really encouraging. Knowing how other people cope when it gets tough helps me to keep going.

mcbutton my thoughts exactly! So far I've only done 5 and now it's going to push me from 5 to 8 to 20?? Unless I misread it somehow. But really: yes you can do it, trust the programme. Are you doing it with NHS Laura, I found her instructions really encouraging! My app this time is very neutral with no extra chat. "you are on run 3 of 4" - "you have one minute left" - "your workout is complete". None of the "you might feel really tired now BUT KEEP GOING. One minute left" that was much much more helpful!

DontDoItDi hey that's brilliant, at whatever speed! Wish I were you :-) at the moment I'm scared of even thinking of 10 mins straight running. If you keep it up, it will get better. And you have hills, that adds to the challenge. I live in a flat place and have no illusion how I would fare elsewhere. When visiting my in-laws in the borders I carefully plot a route along the valley and back to avoid the steeper roads and paths.

Haven't been on for a while, sorry, but thought I'd just let anyone interested know that I am keeping up with it I took a break for about a week as my knees were sore, it was half term and my little girls were ill. I've picked it up again though. I got chatting to someone who's running 5k/10k races regularly but only practicing about once a week. It was reassuring as I'd been feeling under pressure to run religiously per schedule and thinking I was failing if I missed an extra day here or there if it didn't suit the family. I'm still aiming for 3 times a week but confident I'm progressing even if I miss a day now. Hope this inspires some of you too
Enjoying reading all your stories, thanks for sharing.

I completed W4R1 this morning - best bit was seeing the calories I'd used

Well did the last run of wk9 today - so pleased to have done it, but now the dilemma of what to do next! Obviously can just keep doing the 30 mins but I found the getting-through-a-programme part very motivating. Don't really want to run 10k (not even doing 5k yet of course!) - would love to do enough to run a park run with confidence though.

I know glow I kept looking at the app thinking I'd misread it- running 20 mins non stop seems a dramatic leap from 5 or 8 mins at a time. Yes I do have the app with Laura, her comments do help.

Yes well done everyone, I also like hearing about everyone's progress- pats on the back all round

Congratulations Iggi! There should be a graduation ceremony . I’m planning to download the three NHS Couch to 5K Plus podcasts when I finish. I don’t think they’re available as apps. There’s one for stamina and one for speed. That’s going to be my path to the parkrun. And I’m hoping we’ll still have the lovely Laura telling us what to do.

W3R1 was surprisingly OK. I thought I'd struggle to run for 3 mins but it was fine. Even did an extra run at the end as I messed up my timings and was miles from home when the podcast finished