C25K encouragement continued continued

[redcandlelight]

all welcome

total beginners
re-starters
recent graduates
fell runners

lets keep running

For those who have graduated or are about to graduate, how do you plan to celebrate?

@KarmaViolet

I just went back to W1R1 and did it as intervals, jogging the walks and speeding up for the runs. That was just as hard as W1R1 was the first time!!

I think this is what I need to do. Good idea (albeit slightly terrifying). I ran faster today over my whole run and shaved 30s off my time. I’ll try the interval idea next as I think that is a better (more structured) plan. Thanks for sharing.

I find with intervals I prefer to mix the rest period into walk and jog with at least half the rest being jogging. If I'm feeling amazing I might jog the whole rest period but generally being able to jog the entire "rest" period means I didn't push hard enough on the interval! Doesn't help that I still can't find a relaxed "easy" pace that my cardio system and legs agree on. I also find I go faster if I'm slowing down from a speedy interval than if I'm finding my speed from zero, which is annoying - I need a few strides of walk to reset to my gentle jog pace!

Thanks @randomsabreuse I think that everything you say might be the same for me. I’ll bear that in mind when I give it a go. I’ll just be pleased if I can manage the faster intervals at all - I suspect I’ll need a lie down not just a walk between them!!

Hi ladies, forgot to post after my run this morning. Went out fairly early again and did my 1 mile, 5 x hill repeats, 1 mile home. I was actually loving it! The first three up hills felt quite easy so actually stepped up the pace on the last two. I think I may need to use a bit steeper hill next time
So my long run at the weekend was planned for 5.5 miles but thinking sod it I might just go straight for the 10k. I've got a nice flat route I can use and I managed a hilly 5 miles fine a couple of weeks ago. Tho I am slightly worried that I've had 2 great runs this week so am I pushing my luck to go for 3?!

I need to do intervals. I haven't been doing them. I'm in a rut/groove (depending on how you look at it!) of doing the same 5k route twice during the week and the same 6k route at the weekend. I'm quite into it at the moment. I had a lovely early run this morning where I had a few moments of feeling really "in the zone" and like my form was good. I got under 29mins again.
So I'm happy but I am worried I'll get bored eventually if I keep on doing exactly the same run, listening to the same playlist! I don't really know what to do to mix it up though. There aren't any other nice routes near me that don't involve busy roads.

@WhereAreWeNow Could you try your normal routes in reverse? Or you could use one of your 5k routes to do intervals; an easy mile warm up, do your intervals, a mile afterwards you'd nearly be home
Although if it doesn't bother you doing the same routes it's not really an issue. I get very easily bored, I have maybe 4 routes I can do from home but try and tie running in with doing other errands. I also know lots of routes from where my horse is based (about 10 min drive away) so I can use those too to mix things up

I definitely get bored of the same routes even though I've got loads of options once I go beyond 20 minutes!

My main choice is flat (canal path or railway path -bit further from home), undulating (all the local road routes and one local trail) or properly hilly (drive away or one local trail route). Or possibly track which is about a km away and free.

However despite all this choice all my short runs are tied to local streets and a quick loop of the canal/park because of timing. Can't wait for parkrun and other races so someone else can do route planning for me!

@Iampicklerick I’m the same. Really want to aim for 25 minute 5k over the next few months and then a 10k under an hour.

@emilyjeff I can do that for the 6k weekend run but the 5k weekday run isn't a loop, it's A to B then back the same route to A. I'll try building some intervals in though. How far and how fast should they be? A minute of running as fast as I can or something?

@randomsabreuse yes, I think time is part of the problem as well as lack of nice, green spaces to run in nearby. I do my runs at 6.30am and need to rush back to get breakfast, get DD off to school, and to get showered and ready to start work at 8.30am. If I wasn't trying to fit my run into such a tight window, I could drive to a park or canal path a bit further away for a change of scenery.

@Talksunderwater this was the first attempt I had at intervals, and I slowed down SO much during the light jogs that although my fast bits were faster than I usually go, Strava told me I was actually no faster overall than usual!

@Iampicklerick I’m thinking of getting a Garmin watch do I can track my runs easier to mark graduating.
I need new running shoes also, my current pair are two years old, bought when i had a notion of running but never did it two years ago, but with the heavy duty wear over the last few months they have a small hole in them. So I may get them and the watch another time.

Ah @KarmaViolet I wonder if I’ll actually be slower overall!

@WhereAreWeNow Yes I did a minute of running at about 80% effort then 2 or 3 minutes at easy pace to recover. I actually quite enjoyed it tbh, didn't think I would.
I've decided I'm definitely going for the 10k tomorrow. Planning on getting up for a decent time, driving to the old railway line that's about 10 mins from here and doing an out and back along there. It's a nice track, pretty flat, hopefully shouldn't be too many walkers so fingers crossed 🤞

Maybe I'll give that a go @emilyjeff. I worry I'll wear myself out if I go full pelt though and then won't be able to manage the rest of the run.

Good luck @emilyjeff. I'm planning to try for 6k tomorrow..... let's see!

I worry I'll wear myself out if I go full pelt though and then won't be able to manage the rest of the run

That's why you only go at 80% effort, for a short period of time, then jog slowly until you've got your breath back. Intervals are brilliant for making you stronger and faster. You shouldn't be faster overall than usual though - that's not the point, not in training. The point of the training is to learn to run at that faster pace so that, when you do want to run faster overall - such as in a race or if you're going for a PB - you have that extra gear you can switch up to.

Stupid question @fellrunner85 but how do I know what 80% is for me? I don't have a good sense of what I'm capable of at full pelt or what percentage of my full pelt capacity my usual runs are.

I would like to know that too?

plus how long should an interval sprint be? my sportspark has 100m markings, but it feels like I can only keep up 'almost full pelt' for about 50m.

My interval runs always work out slower overall than anything other than a very easy run.

My plan has my intervals pace just under 2 minutes/km faster than my easy pace. Easy is 7.02- 7.45 ish. "Challenging but not sprinting" is 5.30-5.45. Intervals vary from 30s with 1 minute recovery to 5 minutes at a less challenging pace (5.45 to 5.58) with 3 minutes "off".

It's difficult to say how to quantify 80% effort - for me I'd say that's around 5k race pace, which is around 6:30min miles, which is 2 mins a mile faster than my steady run pace.

But without a watch, what does it mean? Again, it varies according to the individual, but for me it would mean being unable to speak other than the occasional shouted word, whereas a steady pace is chatty, with the ability to hold a conversation.

The question "how long should an interval sprint be" also doesnt have a set answer! If I'm in proper training, I'll do anything from 400m reps with 2 mins rest in between, to long reps which are 5 mins hard and 5 mins easy.
That's one of the reasons "fartlek" - aka speed play - is popular. You just make it up as you go along, running the hard reps for as long as you can comfortably tolerate, and then jog til you recover. When you're just starting out, or even if you've been running a while and you're not a proper pro, it doesn't have to be too structured. Just working any faster stuff in will have its benefits.

Sorry if that is vague!

a steady pace is chatty, with the ability to hold a conversation.

I'm not able to hold a conversation at my comfortable speed...

thanks fellrunner that's helpful even if vague.
I take from it that if I try harder that's OK

Basically yes, if you're putting in more effort, and can sustain that effort for a short time, then you're doing the right thing!

I can't hold a conversation while running even at a gentle pace, I've never been able to!

I did feel a real sense I'd improved though going from a faster pace back down to a lighter one and actually feeling like it was a rest, as my heart rate came down and my breathing regularised again even though I was running not walking. That was one of those HEY LOOK WHAT I CAN DO moments (in my own head only, obviously)