Right from the start. Unable to run for a minute ----> To a Marathon.

Pacing Mule

This is my first training log (with thanks to Bammbaata for suggesting it to me) This is a little unusual for the forum here as most training logs are from established runners documenting their progress to marathons etc This is one right from the start and I'm hoping in a few months time may serve as inspiration for other total beginners.

A little about me for those who do end up reading this thread.

I'm about 6 weeks into a training program called "get running" which I have downloaded on my iphone. It's a couch to 5k app which takes you from the most humblest of beginnings and brings you to a point where you can hopefully run 5k in approx 30 minutes. I had a brief flirtation with running a couple of years ago but once stopped fitness levels plummeted and weight piled on.

I'm coming at this from being overweight (was at 16 stone 6 weeks ago) and struggling to run for 1 minute at a time.

My Goal

Short term - I have set a modest target of running the 5 mile race in the phoenix park at the end of June. I want to run this in less than 40 minutes and would be very happy with 38 or lower. In the medium term I want to shed some weight (have lost 10 lbs so far) and maybe stretch to a 10 mile or half marathon at some stage.

The last 6 weeks in summary ..

I already feel like I have made huge progress. Each week consists of 3 runs

Week 1
Each run was made up of 8 x 1 minute runs with 1.5 minutes rest between each.

Week 2
This time 6 x 1.5 minute runs with 2 minutes rest between each.

Week 3
2 X Run 1.5 min, walk 1.5 min, run 3 min and walk 3 min.

Week 4
2 X run 3 min, walk 1.5 min, run 5 min, walk 2.5 min

Week 5
Run 1 - 3 X Run 5 min, Walk 3 min between each.
Run 2 - Run 8 min, Walk 5 min, Run 8 Min
Run 3 - Run 20 minutes - no walking

Week 6 -
Run 1 - Run 5 min, walk 3 min, run 8 min, walk 3 min, Run 5 min
Run 2 - Run 10 min - Walk 3 min - Run 10 Min
Run 3 - Run 25 Min

When I started week 1 I struggled. I genuinely struggled to run 1 minute at a time !!! but I stuck to the program laid out above. If I started getting tired I slowed my pace down, on a couple of occasions I needed to stop for a few seconds rest before continuing. Over the weeks I could see and feel progress being made with every run.

On Friday I ran 25 minutes at 9.5 kmph without stopping and I was absolutey delighted with myself. I had to dig very deep for the last few minutes but I did get there. Compared to 6 weeks ago when I could hardly manage 1 minute this felt like completing a marathon

Next Up

Tomorrow begins week 7 - which is another 3 x 25 min runs before it steps up to 28 min for week 8 and finally 30 min on week 9 (where the app expects me to have covered 5k in the 30 minutes) From there I will be planning to run for longer and at a faster speed to eventually hit 8k (5 miles) in sub 40 minutes.

The point I'd like to finish this first post with is to anyone thinking of starting running - get out there and do it. No matter how unfit you think you are, how bad you think you will be - it's all in your head. You can go from nothing to a 25 minute run in 6 weeks. (And I'm going to show you that you can get to a sub 40 min 5 mile run in 6 months)

Thanks for reading !

ray lanigan

5 years ago i ran 3miles for the first time(felt like dying,but stuck in there)then 3.5months later i ran a marathon on a treadmill,6 months after that a ultra marathon,just keep at it and injoy the ride,good luck with the future:)

shazkea

Welcome to the logs and best of luck with the goals

Pacing Mule

Today I began week 7 of the program. A 25 minute run which I ran at a very slight increase of 9.6. It pushed me at the end but i wanted a bit more progress than the .1 speed increase. I had a 3 minute walk and then I ran until I hit 5 k with an overall time of 32 min.

My issue here is that the part of me pushed was my legs - breathing was ok so I have decided to do some weight training to help build stamina in my legs.

laura2011

This sounds good, im going to try this , i am terribly unfit and could badly do with improving, i have some weight to lose but nothing unmanageable, its my fitness that bothers me

Pacing Mule

Can't say today felt very good !

Program calls for another 25 minute run. I started off a little too fast for my current fitness level to sustain (10.5 kmph) and went up to 11.5 after 5 minutes. I had in my mind that I could start doing 1 min at a faster pace every 5 minutes. This was a bit optimistic and I ended up dropping back to 9.5 half way through and had to drop back to 9 for the last 7 minutes or so. Really struggled for the last few minutes and was annoyed at myself for going off too fast at the start.

A long recovery walk followed at which point I got back on the horse and ran until the clock hit 38 minutes having covered 5.3 km in total. Ultimately I am aiming for 8km in the same time period so my strategy from now on will be to run (or run / walk / run) for 38 minutes at least in each session and try and bridge the gap to the 8km distance.

Pacing Mule

laura2011 wrote: »

This sounds good, im going to try this , i am terribly unfit and could badly do with improving, i have some weight to lose but nothing unmanageable, its my fitness that bothers me

The couch to 5k app (get running is the one I use) is brilliant for what you want. Let us know how you get on.

Pacing Mule

Shame on me for not updating this sooner

So Friday the 9th March came along and I found things a little bit easier. It was the last run of the week and I actually ran for 26 minutes (1 more than the app demanded) had a walk and then a light jog towards 38 minutes with 5.5km covered in total.

Monday just gone was the first of a new week - this weeks target from the app is 28 minutes of a run. I am pleased to say that I hit the 28 minute target but was too tired to do much more than that.

Wednesday was a great day and I am still buzzing from it. The app calls for a 28 minute run. Concious of the fact that by the end of next week I am ideally expected to be running 5k in 30 minutes I set off at pace of 10kmph. I lasted 15 minutes at this before hitting a brick wall and having to drop back the pace to 8.5 to get a drink into me.8.5 actually felt like a struggle because it was too slow if that makes any sense. Anyway after a couple of minutes I settled down into it.

The 20 minute mark passed and I realised I was very comfortable and would have no problems hitting the 28min target. I was tempted to increase the pace but I decided there and then that I would keep going at the comfortable pace after 28 and head for 30 minutes. Then when I was approaching the 30 minutes I had a glance down and I had already ran 4.5km so I decided that I would finish it out and run to 5km distance which I ended up doing in a time of 32 and a half minutes.

Milestones Achieved:

Over 30 minutes of continuous running in one session.
5km distance covered in one continuous run.


(Again I am concious of how minor these things are in a forum filled with marathon runners and triathletes - But 8 weeks ago I couldn't run for 1 minute at a time so for me personally and for anyone else starting off their own journeys these are milestones to be proud of )

Overall Scheme Of Things:

Fitness is most definitely increasing and weight is continuing to fall off which of course makes running easier.

That pace for the 5k is well off the pace I need to be at for a 38 minute 8k but I have plenty of time to increase the distance and pace. My next steps therefore are to get to a stage where I can run for 38 minutes non stop - even if it is at a slower pace and then work on increasing the speed.

LarMan

Well done, I was in a similar position to you, did the C25K and then graduated to the B210K (app made by the same company as the C25K) now I'm getting ready to do a half Marathon in a week. So far it has taken me about 7 months to get to this stage. As you pointed out a lot of the logs are from seasoned runners, but as someone pointed out to me there are people out there who started just like us and who are now running marathons in times I can only dream about.

The moral is all good things come to those who wait - and who do the training. Good luck and I hope the running and weight loss progresses well for you.

Pacing Mule

Thanks for the replay LarMan - really appreciate the encouragement.

I titled this entry You lose some - You win some as it's an appropriate summary for the last two runs.

The Loss
I started my run on Friday feeling good about what was in front of me. I was still buzzing from the last run and expecting to progress from there. Boy was I wrong. 10 minutes is all I lasted (at 10kmpg) before having to slow to a walking pace. There simply wasn't anything in the tank. I ended up covering 5k in a mixture of walking and light jogging in a time of 37 minutes. Although proud to have stuck with it I did feel a bit deflated.

The Win
I had an indulgent Paddys Day and Mothers day - had a few beers (first time in months) ate a barbecue and a chinese and basically abandoned all good eating habits for the weekend. Bearing in mind my last run was not too good I wasn't expecting anything great from this run. I did however decide on the way in that I was going to cover the entire 5 miles for the first time no matter how much walking was required to do it.

I started off at 8.8kmph - a little faster than I had previously fallen back to (when starting at a higher pace) figuring it would give me more of a chance to last a bit longer time wise before walking. Delighted to report I jogged at this pace for 6km and 41 minutes in total. After a bit of a rest / walk I went on to finish off the rest of the 8k (5 miles) at 8kmph with a total time of 56 min 50 seconds. A Win for me.

Milestones Achieved:

Over 40 minutes of continuous running in one session.
6km distance covered in one continuous run.

Pacing Mule

So sticking with my previous training patterns I ran on Mon, Wed and Fri again.

This was the final week of the couch to 5k app I was following which called for 3 x 30 minute runs. The app targets you to cover 5k in 30 minutes which means you should be running at 10.00 kmph.

That said I found myself experimenting with some intervals on Monday and Wednesday - passing the 5k distance each time but taking longer than the targeted 30 minutes to pass that 5k distance. On both days I covered 8k in 55 - 56 minutes

Going into Fridays run I didn't feel 100% ready / able to cover 5k in 30 minutes (running at 10kpmh) so I went out at 9.5 - I just about made 30 minutes, was physically shattered by the end and headed for a shower thereafter.

Pacing Mule

I also copped over the weekend that I had made a slight error when I assumed that 5 miles was 8 kilometres (I took the standard 5/8 ths conversion as being literal) which is a bit of a pisser. I had been congratulating myself on covering 5 miles over the past few workouts but it turns out I only ran 4.97 miles :mad::(:mad:

So my more accurate calculations show me that:

In order to cover 5 miles in less than 40 minutes I need to be able to run at 12.07 kmph or 7.5 mph to do this.

I am currently capable of running for 30 minutes at 9.5 kmph so there is a little bit of work left to do.

I also am having niggly thoughts at this stage of aiming for a half marathon run in September with a view to a full marathon next year. Not sure if this is realistic or not but am logging it now here as the first time I have seriously considered going long distance !

ellie_sun

Finding your log really interesting, I'm in a similar situation to you. Well worse, I'm only in my second week! Its great to see how much progress you've made, hope I can do the same!

Good luck with your training

Pacing Mule

Thanks for that.

It's nice to know other people are reading this rather than this being akin to a personal diary. It does give it an extra dimension

Best of luck - on my second week I was doing 6 x 1.5 minute runs with 2 minutes rest between each and the last couple of 1.5 minute runs were tough. It's amazing that 8 weeks later I'm covering 5 miles in less than an hour. It's that kind of progress that gives me faith that I will get that time down under 40 minutes.

BobMac104

Great log here well done keep it up!

Pacing Mule

Yesterday I covered the full 5 miles for the first time (after previous minor miscalculation) in 57 minutes 10 seconds.

I started off at 10 kmph and lasted 22 minutes before having to drop back to a mixture of walking / running for the rest. It was extremely hot in the gym yesterday and I felt it impacted on my performance.

That said the chap beside me was also running at 10.00 and had been for an hour before I got there and finished after he ran 15km so can't blame the heat too much :pac::pac::pac:

scriba

Well done Pageant Messiah, some great work there. Take your time with regard to your pacing. It's much more important to do the distance, at a steady or easy pace, rather than attempt to go faster every time. Keep up the good work.

Pacing Mule

Good run today - taking a bit on board from scriba I went for a "let's see how far it goes" run at 9 kmph.

I broke 2 personal records.

1) I ran for 45 minutes non stop.
2) I covered 6.7 kilometres non stop.

Happy with those.

It hurt at the end and I had to dig deep for the last 5 minutes but it wasn't too bad overall. I'm confident of hitting a 5 mile distance non stop in the next couple of weeks. After that it will be a case of working on increasing the speed.

Pacing Mule

Last friday I was under pressure time wise and only had 30 minutes to squeeze in a run. I went for a faster pace knowing that I only had 30 minutes to cover and ended up covering 5k. Was happy enough with that.

This morning I had my first run (with a bit of walking along the way!) outdoors and I really enjoyed it. I found a great location to run - beechfield park, just behind Clonsilla train station. There is a path around the park which measures very close to exactly 1 kilometre per lap (it's a fraction more than 1km but only just) As such it's a great spot to run laps around and with the car park being in the middle you're never too far from the car if at any point you needed to call it a day. It's also relatively flat - a small incline and decline on each circuit but you don't feel like you're running up mountains.

There's certainly some difference between running on a threadmill in the gym versus the outdoors and I wonder if others found the same ?

• I found myself running at a faster pace than on the threadmill but being more comfortable doing so. I couldn't believe how fast I covered the first lap and how comfortable it was to do so.
• I wasn't as thirsty - In the gym my throat goes very dry and I constantly need to take in water whereas this morning despite leaving a drink on the bonnet of the car which I passed 8 times in total doing my circuit I didn't actually need a drink at all.
• You tend to run a bit longer when you don't have to do an action of leaning forward to adjust speed on the threadmill. It's like because you have the ability to ease off slightly in pace and keep going whereas on a threadmill when your finger is on the downward button you keep it there !
• The bit of downhill / uphill certainly makes a difference to pace - even the minor incline slows you right down.
• What seems so much easier and comfortable at the start turns out to hurt more by the end. My ankles, knees and muscles are a lot sorer now 8 hours later than when I'm in the gym.

With all that in mind I covered 5 miles in 52 minutes 19 seconds which was the guts of 5 minutes off my best time so far for the 5 miles. I'm very happy with that and it does tell me that certainly for shorter runs (short compared to marathons etc) there is a positive effect to running outdoors for me.

Pacing Mule

Recovery time for a run on concrete is so much longer !!!

2 days on and with it being time for my normal Wednesday run I still had sore knees, ankles, calf muscles - everywhere was hurting. I was under a bit of time pressure again work wise so only had a quick 30 min run in the gym varying between a fast (for me) 11.5kmph speed and a gentler 8.5 with a couple of min walk along the way. All in all and despite niggly pains from Mondays run I covered 5k in the 30 minutes.

On the positive side of things weight has now dropped to 14st 7 lb meaning a stone and a half has come off since January.

Pacing Mule

5 Miles covered in 52 minutes - a 19 second improvement on Monday. Little steps all add up ! Hoping to smash past 50 minutes next week.

tenreds

Great log,I'm doing c25k (on w3d3 ) and it's great to read someone's log and see how far you've got.Keep us updated and it might give us all something to aim for

Pacing Mule

tenreds wrote: »

Great log,I'm doing c25k (on w3d3 ) and it's great to read someone's log and see how far you've got.Keep us updated and it might give us all something to aim for

That's my plan ! best of luck with your own journey. The hardest part is starting off and getting past that mental block of "I can't run" You're well on the way now. Let me know how you're getting on from time to time.

Pacing Mule

A rather strange thing happened today. Normally I run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays but I was lying in bed this morning and I had an urge to run. I had a couple of beers and some crisps last night and I think my body was telling me that it needed to excercise them off. I just couldn't wait until Monday. The urge was with me all day in work and even though I only got in at 7pm I just had to get out and run !

And run I did - I had pre programmed a 5 mile course around the area I live in. It's quite hilly especially at the start but I figured the ups would be balanced off with the downs.

So I arrived home 5 miles later, 51 minutes and 4 seconds later, having ran non stop for the entire route. I was a little disapointed not to break 50 mins considering I had ran non stop but I'm happy with the non stop element - especially given the hilly terrain.

Milestones Achieved:
Ran for over 50 minutes non stop.
Ran for 5 miles non stop.
Shaved another minute or so off my best 5 mile time.

scriba

Well done Pageant Messiah. You're hooked now, there's no escape!

Pacing Mule

Not a great day at all today. I needed to be in work a bit earlier than normal so I actually set an alarm to get up out of bed early and hit the gym. I was so confident going today off the back of my previous record breaking run which was outdoors and hilly versus the flat and smooth threadmill - coupled with the sheer positivity of getting up early to train etc that I was genuinely expecting to be on here logging my first sub 50 5 mile.

Didn't quite work out that way at all :mad::pac:

Started off at 10kmph on the threadmill figuring that I could have a 2 minute walk / break half way through and run at 10 again for the second half coming in under the 50min. First part of the plan went ok - Was capable of running at 10 up to the halfway point of 4.03 kilometers. However after the 2 minute walk I was in bits trying to run again the other side. My legs ached - it was like they seized up with the walk and thought we were finished ! I was pushing through the pain until the muscle to the front of my left leg running down the shin started to get more and more painful. Not wanting to risk a long term injury pushing it too far I had to call a halt with only 5k covered.

A bit disappointed tbh but lesson learned that recovery time from concrete is a lot longer than threadmill.

Pacing Mule

Well after my disapointing last run I'm happy to log that progress was made tonight.

Running the same route as Monday I ran the 5 miles in 49:34 - a new PB and 1 and a half minutes off the last time.

Finally broke 50 min !

Pacing Mule

So the title of the log says to go from being unable to run for a minute to doing a 5 mile run. Mission accomplished here.

First post mentions though my goal time of 40 min This has not been achieved - yet I am aiming to hit this for the end of June's 5 mile Irish runner race.

I had been looking at the 10k night time city centre race a few weeks ago not thinking at all that it would be something I would be capable of doing so quickly. With renewed confidence from my 5 mile achievement I have gone ahead and entered the race. This takes place in less than 2 weeks. This morning so will be my first attempt to run 10k !

BobMac104

Well done pageant great determination.

Pacing Mule

Went very well !

10k route in the phoenix park - starting at the popes cross, down the kyber and back up to the main road through the bends and past the ordnance survey building. Right hand turn - down as far as the Zoo roundabout and then a final km back up the main boulevard. The section from the bottom of the kyber up to ordnance survey is cruel !!!

Anyway the great news is 64 minutes for a non stop 10k. The samsung night race allows 80 minutes to complete before roads reopen and you get bumped off so I am very happy with that time and am looking forward to the event.

Milestones Achieved:
Ran over an hour non stop.
Ran 10k non stop.

Pacing Mule

Bad day today. Went to gym but didn't really feel for want of a better term ready or motivated to run. Figured I would be fine once up and running. Ran 2k at 10.33 kmph felt fine. Increased speed to 12 and 1 min later from out nowhere I had a mini black out and found myself about to topple over side of the machine ! Slowed right down to a walk but again could feel dizziness in the background. I listened to my body and stopped the session. Hopefully just a temp bit of sickness.