The 'I just ran 5km, is anything (eek!) possible now?' log

mel.b

This morning I ran, jogged, plodded - (that's probably the best description) 5km.

As background, 10-11yrs ago I started jogging and worked through the C25K to being able to do 10km. And while I loved the running, everything else about it was hell. Shin splints, knee pain, injured my back, icing my legs after every run, hot baths with salts (actually that's probably the only good thing!) and the dreaded runners trots. After two embarrasing incidents I gave it up. Through running I managed to drop my weight from 110kg to 90kg but they say you can't outrun a bad diet and that's true, I put it all back on again. I have no doubt that my weight was the biggest contributing factor to all the difficulties I had.

Fastforward to 2011 - 2012 and I got a bike through the bike to work scheme. I started cycling and had a log over on the cycling forum (part of the reason I decided to start one here is that I got a lot support & encourgement from those guys). Through cycling I lost 10kg but a broken elbow and then a bad flare up with my back (thanks to that initial running injury) and then the addition of a puppy to the house meant I stopped cycling. And you guessed it, the weight went right back on.

2014 and I decide to sort the weight once and for all. However as everyone knows that's much easier said than done. And in my case, even more so, as I have what is known as Selective Eating Disorder (SED) or Avoidant, Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. This meant I was living on essentially bread, cereal, cheese pizza with the cheese pulled off, crackers, crisps, chocolate, nuts & soft drink. This started when I was 2yrs old - people say that my parents weren't strict enough or 'in my house you wouldn't get away with it' 'if you are hungry enough you'll eat it' but that's not the case. SED is essentially a phobia of food and/or trying new foods. You could promise me an all expenses paid holiday to New York and I still wouldn't have been able to put that carrot in my mouth. That's the difference. As a child a 'fussy eater' can be coaxed / bribed to try foods and they won't stave themselves. A child with SED will stave themselve.

Fortunately there is a fantastic Psychologist in London who works with people with SED and I went and saw him in September last yr and while my eating isn't perfect now, I have done a real 180. This combined with the walking that I was already doing (up to 40km a week with the dog) means that I since Sept I have lost 26kg (just over 4stone) and am halfway to my goal weight. The difference is that I have the eating sorted now and I am learning to eat normally - I'm eating healthy, normal foods and I'm making the right choices about the path I want to be on that I will never go back to how I was.

Feb of this year I posted this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=94156235 in the running forum and got great support so I started the C25K again. However I only did weeks 1 & 2. The weather was crap and I was still needing to walk the dog so trying to find the comprimise between clothes suitable for running in and clothes for walking the dog was difficult at that time of the year. Yep, excuses basically. 5 weeks ago then I started Gaelic4mothers&others which is basically an intro to gaelic footy for those who have never played. At the first session i realised I needed to do something about the fitness levels so decided to re-start the C25K. I started on Week 3 and am now on Week 8, day 1 and just got through my first 5k this morning

I realise you're not meant to do the 5k until the end, but since the end of week 6 I'd been doing it for the distance, regardless of the time it took me and I thought I'd be able for the 5k today (4.5k is what the programme says) so I tried and I did. It took me 40min and 47sec (see, plodded my way round!) but I know that my time will drop as the fitness and weight improves. What's even better to report is that compared to the first time I started running, this has been a breeze (she says, touching wood!). No shin splints, no knee pain and no runners trots (touching lots more wood here:pac:)!! I also have a great running companion who also completed his first 5k today. Here he is...


My first goal is to get that 5km under 40min which I think is acheivable in the near short term (especially if Cooper doesn't stop to try & water so many trees!). I'd like to do a park run maybe the weekend after next. There is a 10k in Galway in October that I'm wondering about. Would that be possible? Or should I keep it shorter for the time being?

Anyway, sorry for this being so long! I wanted to have it all out there, where I have come from and the changes I have made. It's such a nice feeling to know that I have acheived this and I want to keep it going - who knows what is possible now

aquinn

Fair play to you. Super, honest post. I wish you all the very best. All injury woes could be an easy fix of maybe runners or running too fast or the excess weight. Others would be more knowledge. If you steadily build up you'll do the 10km. Do you have a training plan?

Massive dog. He'll provide strength and resistance anyway. Jesus I wouldn't run with a dog.

Ososlo

Great stuff and good to see you back! Delighted you stuck with it this time. This is just the beginning for you! And yes anything is possible now!

I think a 10k in October sounds perfect. Here's a plan if you don't have one already. Even if you want to stick to running 5ks, it's a good idea to progress the time/distance on your feet as you develop as a runner. Great idea to do the Parkrun in a few weeks. 40 mins is actually not bad at all for a first 5k training run. I wouldn't be surprised if you'll knock a good few mins off that in a race/Parkrun.

FABulous dog!
Best of luck with it. Keep logging the training and keep enjoying the running!

mel.b

aquinn wrote: »

Fair play to you. Super, honest post. I wish you all the very best. All injury woes could be an easy fix of maybe runners or running too fast or the excess weight. Others would be more knowledge. If you steadily build up you'll do the 10km. Do you have a training plan?

Massive dog. He'll provide strength and resistance anyway. Jesus I wouldn't run with a dog.

LOL, strength training when I'm trying to pull him away from something he wants to sniff and sprint training when he decides to go after a cat. However he pays me back by pulling me up the hills

Ososlo wrote: »

Great stuff and good to see you back! Delighted you stuck with it this time. This is just the beginning for you! And yes anything is possible now!

I think a 10k in October sounds perfect. Here's a plan if you don't have one already. Even if you want to stick to running 5ks, it's a good idea to progress the time/distance on your feet as you develop as a runner. Great idea to do the Parkrun in a few weeks. 40 mins is actually not bad at all for a first 5k training run. I wouldn't be surprised if you'll knock a good few mins off that in a race/Parkrun.

FABulous dog!
Best of luck with it. Keep logging the training and keep enjoying the running!

Thanks so much and for the link to the plan. I had had a look at the Zen lab 10k app that follows on from the C25K but I like the look of this one better and it has the strength days built in which hopefully will see me do them as core work is something I really need to do for my back. Thanks for being kind about my first 5k time too!

Ososlo

mel.b wrote: »

Thanks so much and for the link to the plan. I had had a look at the Zen lab 10k app that follows on from the C25K but I like the look of this one better and it has the strength days built in which hopefully will see me do them as core work is something I really need to do for my back. Thanks for being kind about my first 5k time too!

It's faster than I was running 5k by the end of C25k! My first race was about 39 mins but got it under 30 within about 3 months so if you just stick with the training rigidly (not if injured or sick of course) you'll see big improvements pretty quickly.
Looking forward to following your progress!

Hannibal Smith

Love it!!! I dont have any advice...just cheering!!! Very best of luck. Do you have any park runs around you? Maybe with a bit of competition around you, you might be surprised about how well you might do?? Also, theyre great for chatting to runners and picking their brains!!

mel.b

Thanks Hannibal - I'll take all the cheering i can get Ennis would be my local parkrun and planning on giving that a go the weekend after this one. My next door neighbour does it most weekends so that will be good.

No run today as I did the one yesterday but was out at 6am doing an 8km walk with the dog. It's so nice being out at that hour! Will try a core workout later this evening from a book i got in one of the bookclubs.

mel.b

Well Tuesday wasn't a fluke, I've done another 2 5kms since

Wed & Thurs were early morning 8km walks with Cooper. While here in the west we didn't get the same heat as everyone else, being out at that hour meant I got the best of the day and actually saw some sunshine.

Fri morning up early again, this time for a run. My route today included a big hill and this is the second time I have shuffled up it. I don't know if i did it any faster than the first time I did it, but I know I am getting fitter as the first time, once I got to the top, there was no way I could go on, whereas I did this time and was able to do another almost 3km. Total distance 5.54km, 45m 36s... I managed a bit more than 5km as the last part was all downhill and I told myself that I was going to keep going until it was flat again. Total of 8km done (5.5 running, 2.5km walk home afterwards)

Sat morning - 10km walk with Cooper.

Sun morning - headed out to a nearby nature reserve today to have a go at running on the trails through there. I often take Cooper for a walk here. It was lovely and something different - I'll have to make sure we do it on a regular basis. The last km was slow in particular, the track was getting narrow and more roots and rocks to be aware of and Cooper was acting the maggot for the last 500m as we went past his favourite swimming spot and he wanted a swim :rolleyes: I wasn't stopping though:P So we kept going and he got his swim further up the trail once I'd my 5km done. 5.01km in 41m 56s + 4km walk back to the car.

Here he is after his swim...


I've also registered for parkrun and spoken to my neighbour so that's all set for Saturday I'm going to start on the Hal Higdon novice 10K programme and aim for the Galway Bay run on the 3rd Oct. Am I still ok to do the Parkruns on a Saturday? The plan has Saturdays as a cross training day. I'd still have to be out walking Cooper anyway, but was thinking i can do the parkrun in the morning and then give him a 6km ish walk in the afternoon?

Total for the week 15.58km (running) avg pace 8:14km + 39.5km walking

mel.b

Well, complete failure this morning but two important lessons learnt.

1. I was completely deluded above thinking I would be able to run Sat & Sun back to back. I ran on Sunday & did 5km (+4km walking afterwards) and waited until today to do another. The legs were still feeling heavy, no surprise since last week was the first week I had done 15km, however I wanted to do today so I could do Thurs and then the Sat parkrun. However it wasn't enough of a break and the legs could only do a mile (had planned for 2 which is week 1 of the HH novice 10km). So I'm going to change around the days of the HH 10K and make what is their Tues my Saturday so the 3mile run will be the Parkruns on a Saturday. Just wondering though they only have the 1 day recovery after the longest run..would I be better moving it forward a day to give two days or will the legs get used to it. That brings me to my second lesson...

2. I need to stretch. So far I haven't done any stretching either before or after and I'm pretty certain if I had been then the legs would have been feeling a whole lot better this morning.

So while it was a waste in terms of a run, I still learnt things and we still did a 7km walk mostly in the pouring rain ( no thanks to the met eireann radar website which showed no rain around at the time :mad:)

Ososlo

mel.b wrote: »

Well Tuesday wasn't a fluke, I've done another 2 5kms since

I've also registered for parkrun and spoken to my neighbour so that's all set for Saturday I'm going to start on the Hal Higdon novice 10K programme and aim for the Galway Bay run on the 3rd Oct. Am I still ok to do the Parkruns on a Saturday? The plan has Saturdays as a cross training day. I'd still have to be out walking Cooper anyway, but was thinking i can do the parkrun in the morning and then give him a 6km ish walk in the afternoon?

Total for the week 15.58km (running) avg pace 8:14km + 39.5km walking

Well done on the 2 5ks! Great going!

If you're doing the Parkrun on a Saturday, I'd drop the Sunday run. It's just too much to do both runs one day after the next and at this stage in your training could be recipe for injury. Tread carefully!!!! You could add a little warm up onto the Parkrun to extend the distance a little if you want so that you're running for the same amount of time as you're supposed to run on the Sunday (as per the plan). Maybe 5 mins very very slow jog to warm up the legs and the same to cool down after the race.
Best of luck!
ps: the walk that evening you mentioned with the dog will be great for helping your legs recover from the Parkrun!

Ososlo

mel.b wrote: »

So I'm going to change around the days of the HH 10K and make what is their Tues my Saturday so the 3mile run will be the Parkruns on a Saturday. Just wondering though they only have the 1 day recovery after the longest run..would I be better moving it forward a day to give two days or will the legs get used to it. That brings me to my second lesson...

2. I need to stretch. So far I haven't done any stretching either before or after and I'm pretty certain if I had been then the legs would have been feeling a whole lot better this morning.

Yes change around the days to suit your own personal circumstances. Nothing is written in stone. Great idea actually to have 2 rest days before longer run or Parkrun.
Have you a foam roller? If not it might be worthwhile investing in one.

Firedance

Well done on the 5ks Mel b! Cooper is stunning best of luck with the 10k plan and yes you can certainly switch the days around to suit you, the main thing is to keep training consistently & dont be put off by the odd tough run here & there.

mel.b

First Parkrun done and we think it was under 40min I couldn't get my run keeper started in time so I need to wait for the offical time to come through...

Ososlo

mel.b wrote: »

First Parkrun done and we think it was under 40min I couldn't get my run keeper started in time so I need to wait for the offical time to come through...

Great stuff mel.b!! Did you enjoy it? More details please!!!

mel.b

LOL, Sorry Ososlo. Yeah, it was fun. Ennis is my local parkrun and there was a small enough turnout this morning - maybe 25 or so people. I had my phone strapped to my arm but forgot to get it ready and the start sort of took me by surprise so I wasn't able to get it started. It was disconcerting running without the audio cues for distance especially as I had no idea how far I had gone or what pace I was going at, and not knowing the track I had no idea how much further I had to go. I found it to be an undulating course with little ups and downs...I'm sure others would call it flat but it was a good surface to run on and it's nice running through the trees. There were two girls in front of me who were walking / running and it was somewhat frustrating that I wasn't able to catch them. I got lapped by about 4 of the fastest guys but there were encouraging as they passed me and the marshall out on the course also gave me a nice encouraging clap as I went past him for the last time. I've never done a route before where you are running the same laps (Ennis is one smaller lap and two bigger laps) but it was comforting for the last lap in that I knew what it was like, that I had just done it and could do it again, rather than not knowing what is coming! I managed to put on a little bit speed for the finish and I'm hoping my time is in the 38 - 39min range. Do they take it from the stopwatch or when the tag is scanned? It took ages for my little tag to scan.

So overall, I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to next weeks

aquinn

Good for you and your first parkrun. They are fantastic events and as you noted everyone friendly and encouraging. They have a timer so doesn't matter how long you queued for scan it won't change from receiving tag. You can pass out or lie down and time won't change. Well done.

Firedance

congrats on your first parkrun melB! the first of many I've no doubt, it will be great to be able to see your progress in the same race on a regular basis. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.

mel.b

Argghhh, I'm listed as 'unknown runner' on the parkrun results. I've emailed them so hopefully it will be corrected during the week.

So after Tuesday's miserable effort I was completely bone lazy tapered ...isn't that what you professionals call it :P and didn't do any running until Sat morning for the Parkrun.

However i did get my walks in everyday and I've started to make a conscious effort to walk faster (I tend to dawdle and let Cooper sniff every tree and try to catch every mouse). I know that this will help with the fitness and increasing my pace when running.

Weekly total Running: 6.6km Walking: 43km approx

Plan for the coming week Mon: 3.5km, Thurs: 3.5km Sat: 5km Parkrun

annapr

Well done Mel B on your first parkrun... they are addictive and as you found out welcoming to everyone. Fair play to you on the weight loss too and on getting this far, you're being very sensible in your build up, the Hal Higdon novice plans are very good.

Best of luck with it!

mel.b

Finally got my Parkrun time...38min 41 sec, so i've now got an offical time to beat. And for the first and i'm sure the last time i was first in my age group*















* no one needs to know i was the ONLY runner in my age group!!

laura_ac3

Well done melb. Great to set that benchmark now and you'll start seeing chunks coming off it as you progress.

Don't try race your training runs, keep easy days easy and hard days hard and keep it consistent. Best of luck.

mel.b

Unofficial Parkrun PB this morning of 37:40 Mapmyrun was way out with the km's due to the tree coverage so it was giving me paces of 6:15 per km and similiar. I knew it was wrong but certainly gave me motivation to keep moving. I even passed someone today at around the 3.5km mark and managed to stay in front of them for the rest of the run

Edited: Official time in - 37:45

Ososlo

mel.b wrote: »

Unofficial Parkrun PB this morning of 37:40 Mapmyrun was way out with the km's due to the tree coverage so it was giving me paces of 6:15 per km and similiar. I knew it was wrong but certainly gave me motivation to keep moving. I even passed someone today at around the 3.5km mark and managed to stay in front of them for the rest of the run

Great stuff!!!! Lovely to see a big improvement in a week and great to pass someone like that!
Well done:)

Firedance

congrats! a minute off in one week that's great melb passing people is a huge confidence boost, you'll want to do that every week now

mel.b

Thanks, delighted with the Parkrun yesterday. Not sure if I'll be able to repeat the effort next weekend as I'm going to Ed Sheeran on Fri night and won't be home until about 3.30am. In fact, if I make it to the Parkrun that will be an acheivement in itself!.

Mon 13th July
3.5km run 30:08, avg pace 8:32 min/km + 4km walk. The legs weren't feeling it, but I kept going remember what Firedance said above about not being put off by a tough run. This particular route includes a long steep hill. As i was going up, I passed a lady who was walking in the other direction and after I finished the 3.5km (by which time the legs actually felt good) and was walking back down I passed the same lady and she said to me 'I don't know how you are running up this hill' - I replied with the only thing I could say...slowly! Finished with a 4km walk back home.

Tues 14th
Nothing tonight due to having to work late.

Wed 15th
3.52km 28:35, 8:08 min/km + 4.5km walk With the unexpectedly good weather I decided to do my run tonight instead of tomorrow which was forecast bad with a lot of rain. Because it was so warm I decided to head to the nearby nature reserve which meant i could run in the shade of the trees and Cooper could have his swim to cool down afterwards. Finished off with an approx 4.5km walk back to the car (not 100% sure as phone battery died ) For an evening with such good weather I surprisingly only saw two other people out...I guess everyone else went to Lahinch

Thurs 16th
7.5km walk

Fri 17th
6km walk

Sat 18th
5km Parkrun 37:45, 7:35 min/km + 8km walk As above delighted with this. Mentally found the first km a bit tough and told myself to just think it was 3.5km that I was doing, that I'd done this a couple of times already during the week and that it was such a nice, short distance. That seemed to do the trick and I forgot all about it after that. As mentioned I passed another runner and managed to stay ahead of her so I was really happy about that. There was a boy about 10 in front of me who was walking / running his way around. I caught him a few times and kept encouraging him to keep going. His dad and sister were waiting for him with about 300m to go and they gave him a big cheer, took a couple of photos and then he took off with them to finish ahead of me. Later went for an 8km walk with Cooper

Sun 19th
10km walk

Totals for the week: Run:12km, Walk: 39km

Plan for next week
Same as this week 2 x 3.5km runs + 1 5km run.

SmallTeapot

Loving this log mel.b...I'm only starting out, but will be following your posts as I'm hoping to get to the 5k mark soon. Also love Cooper; huskies have immense energy and it's great that you exercise him so regularly

Best of luck with your goals!

mel.b

Laura ac3 said above 'keep the easy days easy'. I nearly took that a little bit too literally and nearly didn't do anything tonight. Got home and the weather had just turned filthy plus the plumber was waiting for me, so I put off the run. Then fed Cooper but wasn't motivated for anything myself - didn't feel like cooking, didn't feel like eating...except chocolate finger biscuits:eek: One for me, one for Cooper, two for me, three for me, four...:eek::eek:

Then decided I wouldn't go and I think Cooper even gave up because he stopped getting up on the couch and into my face and went and sat outside. Finally 8pm rolled around and I told myself to HTFU and get out there...need to make up for at least some of the chocolate finger biscuits.

So off we start with me moving at nothing more than a shuffle. Decide that instead of doing the 3.5km run that involves a big hill and then a 4km walk home that I'd just go to the bridge and back which would be 3.5km run, 1km walk. Then after the first km or so (still not moving any faster than a shuffle), I decide that I will do the longer route and up that hill we will go. And the hill today was the easiest it has been...all explained when I compare my split from last week and see it was 1:30 slower...and I thought last week was slow!

We finally make it back home and I've got the 7.5km in the bag. I'm sure I didn't raise a sweat and I'm pretty sure I didn't raise a heartbeat but isn't that what 'taking the easy days easy' is all about :P

Then I get home and see this Grey's Anatomy quote on my facebook page...
'Even the biggest failure, even the worst, beats the hell out of never trying' and I think that pretty much sums up tonight.

PS - smallteapot, Cooper wants to tell you that he's a Malamute, not a husky but he's got just as much energy! Good luck with your running, you'll be at 5km before you know it

mel.b

Well as predicted i didn't make it into the Parkrun this weekend due to the Ed Sheeran concert on Fri night. It was 3.30am before i was home...no way was i going to be up & ready for a run at 9.30!

Mon 20th detailed above

Tues 21st: 8.5km walk

Wed 22nd : 3.5km run planned, ended up doing 4km because it was raining and i said that i'd keep going until it stopped raining. 4.1km in 34:17, avg pace 8:13 min/km. then a 4.5 km walk the rest of the way home

Thurs 23rd: 7km walk

Fri 24th: nothing unless you count the km's walking to & from the bus for Ed!

Sat 25th: while i didn't make it out of bed early enough for the Parkrun, i did get out for a run later that afternoon. Decided to head up to the nature reserve to run through the woods, it's such a nice change of scenery and easy on the legs. 5km, 42:44, avg pace 8:22min/km. finished with a 3.5km walk back to the car

Sun 26th: 8.5km walk

Totals for the week: run: 12.5km, walk: 36.5km

Plan for next week: 3.5, 4 & 5km run

mel.b

A hat- trick? Trifecta? Triple? Treble? Whatever three in a row is called in running, i just got confirmation of my 3rd in a row PB for the parkrun...36:22...delighted! Will post more later when i not on the phone.

mel.b

So last night i had a dream my feet got stuck in concrete...thankfully that wasn't an omen for todays run! I was really hoping i could do another PB today, but didn't see how it was possible, and i was strangely nervous leaving home this morning. There was a small group of about 30 at the Park run in Ennis and we soon set off. I passed one girl quite soon and somwhow managed to resist the temptation for the rest of the run to look over my shoulder to see if i could see her. There was another lady in front if me who was running/walking. In the initial part i managed to pass her, but when she started running she was quick and soon passed me and then manged to stay ahead of me and finished about 25sec ahead. She then told me i was pushing her along so that was nice but it would be so good to actually one day be able to stay in front of the people who are doing a mixture of walking & running! As per usual i got passed by a couple of the fast guys and i'm going to make that another goal - not to get lapped by them! One day... At my last park run my phone tracker was out quite a bit so i wasn't sure how much to trust it today. I'm getting to know the route better though and had an inkling that i was in for a chance for a PB on the last lap. The legs felt ok, but the breathing is terrible - so noisy...i hope that as i get fitter that will improve.

Crossed the line at 5.03km in 36:23 according to my phone and the got the offical result of 36:22 a couple of hours later So the phone was pretty accurate today and has my splits as:
6:56
7:13
7:27
7:22
7:13
(6:03) for 5 to 5.03km

Delighted and now the challenge is to try go better again next week

Firedance

Well done!

mel.b

Overall i'm really happy with how i got on this week.

Monday 27th: nothing...you would have had to be mad to go outside!

Tuesday 28th : 3.5km run + 4.5km walk. This is my route that includes a long steep hill. The last two runs on this route have been hard work. It's still hard work, but i managed a PB by 46sec, i felt so proud of myself. 3.5km, 29:22 Avg pace 8:22 km/min

Wed 29th: 8km walk

Thurs 30th: 4km run + 4km walk. This is a route that has lots of little ups and downs and i found it tough on Thurs. I was intended to take it slow and easy and Cooper made it even slower. For some reason he really acted up during the first 2km which meant i was either dragging him along, trying to pull him away from things he wanted to sniff or trying to stop him from jumping up on me. Then we got caught in the rain - damm met eireann and thier inaacurate radars radars! Fortunatly we were at a tree at the time and stopped to take shelter. The break seemed to do Cooper good as he was better behaved when we restarted. didn't bother to stop the app on my phone while we were stopped so i have 4.12km in 37:22 @ 9:04 km/min.

Fri 31st: 6km walk

Sat 1st Aug: 5km Park run in 36:22 a PB and then 7km walk

Sun 2nd: 10km walk

I'm starting to stretch more, although not everyday or after every run. It's better than i was doing a few weeks ago so i just need to keep working it into a routine. My right hip especially needs stretching.

Plan for next week.5km, 5km, 5km

Totals for the week: run: 12.5km. Walk: 47km

mel.b

Another good week with another PB

Monday 3rd Aug: 3.52km run, 8:42 min/km, 30:38 total. My normally hilly Monday run. Although not a PB on this route (i think i would have come close if i had an autopause feature for every time Cooper stopped!), the legs felt good and it is starting to feel easier. Finished with a 6km walk, total 9.5km for the day.

Tues 4th: 6km walk

Wed 5th: did anyone do anything on Wed? If so, you have my full admiration...it was hideous here in the West, more like December day.

Thurs 6th: 5km run, 8:37min/km 43:18 total. 3km walk, total 8km

Fri 7th: 7.5km walk

Sat 8th: Ennis Parkrun 5km 35:15 total, 7:03min/km. After last week i didn't know how i was going to go faster this week, even though i really wanted to do another PB! Small crowd of about 25 for the Parkrun and we were soon off. I noticed that i seemed to be closer to a lot of the other runners for longer in the 1st and then i get my first split - 6:44...whoa! Unsurprisingly i paid for that and the second split was 7:13min/km. Theree had been someone on my tail for quite a while and she finally overtook me on a short sharp hill during the 3rd km and ended up finishing about 1min ahead of me. 4th km and i'm really starting to feel tired but i can hear someone else right behind me. For some reason i thought it was this girl who passed me in the first km - she obviously was late for the start and came flying past me, so i kept expecting her to pass me. I resisted the temptation to look back and when we came to the little hill where i was passed in the last lap i fully expected to be overtaken here. But no! I was still infront, hearing that breathing almost in my ear. It was enough to spur me onwards, even though i still expected to be passed at any moment. Still resisting the temptation to look behind me, we make the turn back onto the main track for the final little climb before hitting the final stretch. At the top of the hill, expecting to be overtaken at any second, i pump my arms and legs as much as i can to put a sprint on and i stay infront all the way to the finish line. At the finish i turn and discover that it wasn't this girl at all, but my next door neighbour who i go to the park runs with! Still nice to finish infront of her, but i'm pretty sure she was being nice to me! And like last week where i can't imagine going any faster, somehow next week i'd really love to go to 34:59. I've offered to volunteer either next week or the week after for the parkrun, so it might be two weeks before i get to try. Later went out for a 7.5km walk with Cooper

Sun 8th: 8.5km walk through the woods with Cooper

Totals for the week: Run: 13.5km, Walk:38.5km

Plan for next week: 3.5km, 6km & 5km run.

Firedance

well done! great to volunteer too and no harm to take a break every now and then from racing and just take it nice n easy

annapr

It's a great boost to your confidence to see your times coming down every week. As you start to increase the amount of running you do, you will see even more progress.

mel.b

And another week done

Mon 10th: 3.5km run, 30:24, 8:39 min/km. My usual Monday evening, run up the big hill route. A few seconds faster than last week so happy enough with that. 4.5km walk to finish it off.

Tues 11th:8km walk

Wed 12th: 6km run. 48:28, 8:04min/km. Longest run to date and really happy with this one - it just felt really comfortable and felt like I could keep going. Cooper also really settled down from about km 3 and run really nicely infront of me - makes it so much easier instead of trying to pull him away from things. The other thing I was happy with was my splits as for the first time they were pretty even (for me anyway - 8;28, 8:25, 8;02, 7:58, 8:07, 7:24 - Km's 3 & 4 did have more downhill and I'm not sure I believe km 6 as it didn't feel that fast). 2km to finish off

Thurs 32th: 7.5km walk

Fri 14th: Didn't actually make it out - got caught up in jobs at home after work.

Sat 15th: Ennis Park run - no PB today If the splits on my phone are to be believed I just ran the first km way to fast for me (6:33) so I really felt it all the way around. Ended up doing it in 36:38 which is over a minute slower than last week. Last week it obviouslyhelped having someone right behind me too as it spurred me on and kept me going, however I think I also remember how much it hurt and I wasn't quite ready to push myself again. Next week I'm volunteering and then I'm on holidays for a few weeks so probably won't get another parkrun in until Oct which is no harm to give myself a little break from it I think. Finished the day with a 8km walk with Cooper.

Sun 16th: 10km walk.

Weekly total:Run 14.5km, Walk: 40km

Plan for next week: 3.5km, 7km, 5km

mel.b

I wasn't able to get onto boards properly yesterday to do my weekly update, so here it is, just a little late.

Mon 17th Aug 3.68km run, 30:59, 8:25min/km & 3km walk. I didn't do my normal Monday night hill as as I was getting home I saw a neighbour out walking their dog without any lead. Cooper and this dog DO NOT get along, so to avoid a confrontation as we would have had to pass them, we jumped into the car and headed up to the nature reserve instead.

Tues 18th 7km walk

Wed 19th: 7.22km run, 58:47, 8:08min/km. Longest run to date and I now need to find a longer route as well Happy with consistency of the splits also (other than first few km, but that's Cooper's fault, not mine!) 8:06, 8:52, 8:31, 7:49, 7:54, 7:49, 7:58, 8:05

Thurs 20th: 9km walk

Fri 21st:8.6km walk

Sat 22nd: I was on Parkrun volunteer duties this morning. Big responsibilites to start & stop the stopwatch Then headed off with my neighbour for a 5km run. We did some of the parkrun route, but also mixed it up and it was nice to get the variation. The sun was absolutely splitting rocks during our run and less than an hour later the rain was pouring down! We ended up running 5.72km in 40:23, 7:03 min/km. Splits were pretty even again, 6:50, 6:57, 7:02, 7:18, 7:07, 7:04. My pace per minute was only 1 second slower than my parkrun PB a few weeks ago, however it felt much easier today. I don't know if it's because we changed up the route, that I paced it better (didn't go out too fast at the start) or that I'm just getting fitter...probably a combination of all three! Later did a 6km walk with Cooper

Sun 22nd:9km walk

Totals for the week: Run:16.5km, Walk: 42.6km

Plan for this week: 3.5km, 8km & 5km run.

mel.b

I missed a week posting and have been travelling for the past 8 days. I'm trying to keep to a schedule as much as possible with a short run, a 5km and the a longer run. I got the shorter two runs done and today did my 8km run in one of the most spectacular cities...Prague! I should get one more run in here as we are here until Friday before heading to Germany. I did 8.35 km in 1:05, avg pace 7:51 min/km.

I tried to upload a few pics but on the ipad & phone and its not cooperating ��

mel.b

Still travelling, trying to get runs in where i can, and also climbing every possible bell tower, viewing platform etc that i can find!

11th Sept 4.5km in 33:35, avg pace 7:26, in Prague

15th Sept 5km in 38:18, avg pace 7:39, in Nuremberg

17th Sept 5km in 38:40, avg pace 7:38 in Innsbruck. This was meant to be a longer run but it was so hot & windy at 7am and i was way overdressed, i called it quits after the 5km.

19th Sept 9km in 1:09:10' avg pace 7:40. Really happy with splits, were pretty consistent - 7:25, 7:40, 7:36, 7:35, 7:43, 7:43, 7:38, 7:53, 7:47. Also my longest run so far in Meersburg, lake constance.

All my runs have been alongside rivers/lakes and have been flat, flat, flat...it's going to be a shock to the system when i get home to Ireland later next week!

Firedance

very jealous of your running routes there Mel

mel.b

Woohooo, first 10k down today at the GalwayBay 10k event ��. Since my last post i've found it hard to get back into a routine niw i'm home again (but still on holidays!) and as a result had only done one 3.5km run since the 19th, so wasn't sure how i'd get on.

I decided to get up extra early this morning to give myself more time to drive to Galway in case it was foggy like the past few mornings. After a breakfast a wholegrain toast & vegemite and a bowl of crunchy nut porridge, i hit the road. Fortunatley it was clear so made good time to Galway, arriving around 8am to pick up my number. I'm not overally familiar with Galway so i parked where i knew - the multistory near the station...oh my, parking in Galway is expensive �� my mum just told me that meant i had to run faster ��.

After a toilet stop at Mcdonalds i headed down the start area. The over 4.30 marathon runners were already out and going so i watched & encouraged them on for a bit and then the official start to the marathon. After another quick toilet stop and a warm up, it was time to head to Nemo's Pier for the start.

Km 1: i tried to keep running as straight as possible and not weave in & out. I felt like i was going slowly but the first split was just under 7:00min/km so delighted with that.

Km 2: really enjoying having similiar paced runners around me. The park run i do is small so i'm by myself and near the end. Today, with so many people around me i didn't feel so slow. Split was faster than the previous and still feeling like i was going slower than that, so happy days.

Km 3: Somewhere between km 2 & 3 the fastest runners of the 10k had doubled back and went past me with only a couple of k's to go! I couldn't believe it, i had only done 2.5 and they were almost finished! I'm liking the Elverys motivational quotes along the way and the keep me going when i start to think 10k is a long way.

Km 4: some small undulations in the road now which were appreciated. Somewhere around here i picked up a bottle of water and carried it with me until km 9. I think i only had 3-4 tiny mouthfuls though - i'm not used used to drinking on my runs.

Km 5: halfway point, small incline and into a great surface near the gold course. Still feeling ok and splits seem to be good.

Km 6: feeling like i'm going to get a cramp in my calf but thankfully it passes. Thought i could see the finish line but discover a coupke of k's later it was just a white van ��

Km 7: tightness in my calf passes, but i'm starting to feel tired, push myself to keep going and not stop to walk. A lot of people around me and walking then running a bit, but i keep running. I see a guy in a bear costume running the marathon, looking like he was flying. Tell myself if he can run in that, i can keep going.

Km 8: my socks are starting to annoy me on the seams...must invest in some good running ones, getting closer now, know i can finish without stoppping.

Km 9: down & around pier and then into the home stretch. Manage to pick up the pace for the last 100m or so and then i've done it. Chip time of 1hr 12min, 25sec, so i was really happy with that, avg pace of 7:07 so really happy with that ��

Felt very wrecked after it though, not immediately but within 30min -1hr. Much more so than when i had done the 9km a few weeks ago, but that was a lot slower. It also seemed to play havoc with me bowels afterwards (sorry, TMI ����). Not sure if this is normal, or maybe because of the milk i had with my porridge in the morning.

Below are my splits but they are from my phone app which has me at 1hr 11min 37 sec for the 10km
6:51, 6:46, 6:58, 7:07, 6:57, 7:07, 7:17, 7:25, 7:26, 7:23. I'm pretty happy with these, but it's obvious i need to keep working on my fitness and endurance.

So, where to now? Fitness and endurance are what i want to focus on, not worried about speed. How should i structure my weeks? Currently i'm running 3days a week - what's the best way to add in another day as well? Should i be looking at one long run - how long? And three shorter ones, say a short one of 3-4km and then a couple of longer 5-6km ones? Or something different?

FIFA2004

Congratulations on the 10km!!!! Great time!

annapr

Well done on the 10k! You're making great progress.

There are lots of good plans out there. Sometimes it's helpful to target a race, e.g. another 10k in 10-12 weeks and work towards that. Halhigdon.com has lots of plans to build up to various distances... From novice to advanced. The novice ones are easy to follow and quite flexible (you decide how many days a week you run). If you follow a plan like that, you will be amazed how your race times come down.

Also, there's the famous "Clearlier Plan" -- developed for last year's marathon novices as a 'restart' plan after the marathon. It focuses on gradually building up time running -- starting with 30 mins, for example, building up to 55. It includes a 'long' run at the weekend and a midweek 'session' with fun stuff like intervals. The variety keeps you fresh and learning all the time. I'll see if I can find the link for you.

annapr

Here's a link to the Clearlier Plan, not sure it will work because I'm on the phone. You can find lots of info on it if you search the 'DCM graduate' 2014 thread.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0Ar6olCTLXB5ndFcta1g0aGVhZmtRczdEWkZwV0VmTWc&f=true&noheader=false&gid=1

Firedance

annapr wrote: »

Here's a link to the Clearlier Plan, not sure it will work because I'm on the phone. You can find lots of info on it if you search the 'DCM graduate' 2014 thread.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0Ar6olCTLXB5ndFcta1g0aGVhZmtRczdEWkZwV0VmTWc&f=true&noheader=false&gid=1

Really well done on your race!!!

that is a super plan but clearier told me it was created for people who had just come off a marathon training cycle so if you are going to follow it maybe do the lowest mileage and you don't run all the days either. I think I'd be more inclined to do a hal higdon plan or something similar. The basic rule for increasing your miles is no more than 10% extra per week so if you're adding an extra day, reduce the miles on the other days initially so your overall mileage isn't more than 10%. Use the same rule with your daily runs and remember to keep the easy days easy and the hard days hard

As anna said, find another race and use that as your focus.

look forward to seeing your progress as the weeks and months go on

mel.b

Thanks Annapr and Firedance I had a look at the clearlier plan and it's way too advanced for me at the moment. I also think the HH Intermediate plan is also too advanced for where I'm at currently. I did some googling and managed to find this plan from Women's Health

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/sites/womenshealthmag.com/files/pdfs/intermediate-10K-plan.pdf

What do you think of that? I think it's much more realistic of where I'm at at the moment. It's only 7 weeks long but I could double up on some of the weeks. I'll have to try and play around with the days a little as I'd like to keep supporting my local park run on a Saturday and there is a running group that go out on a Tues evening so if I could start to join them that would be great and it would also help me meet new people.

Now to just find another event to target

Firedance

mel.b wrote: »

Thanks Annapr and Firedance I had a look at the clearlier plan and it's way too advanced for me at the moment. I also think the HH Intermediate plan is also too advanced for where I'm at currently. I did some googling and managed to find this plan from Women's Health

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/sites/womenshealthmag.com/files/pdfs/intermediate-10K-plan.pdf

What do you think of that? I think it's much more realistic of where I'm at at the moment. It's only 7 weeks long but I could double up on some of the weeks. I'll have to try and play around with the days a little as I'd like to keep supporting my local park run on a Saturday and there is a running group that go out on a Tues evening so if I could start to join them that would be great and it would also help me meet new people.

Now to just find another event to target

it looks good mel although just to say I have zero coaching experience but I think it its nice & simple, it includes some speed training and has you running 4 days a week. If you have time on one or more of the other days you could include some basic strength exercises, there are a couple of routines used by a lot of people on here & will supplement your running.

Myrtl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GLrKr54yA0
30 day challenge http://athletictimemachine.com/2014/08/30/starting-the-kinetic-revolution-30-day-challenge/

mel.b

I did a 5km easy run on Monday, getting back into my routine of taking on the big hill. As part of the 5km I did a PB for the first 3.5km, up the hill to my turn around point so I was delighted with that. The other 1.5km were downhill so that was nice and easy

Tonight I had my first go at doing intervals. The plan says 2 x 1mile @ 10k pace. Other than the 10k on the weekend I really have no idea what my 10k pace is. My average pace for that was 11:28 mins/mile, but I started out faster and gradually got slower as the race progressed. So I just tried to run faster than the warm up, but at a pace I thought I'd be able maintain. The first mile I did in 12:02 and the second in 11:30. The second was better than the first because I was running with Cooper and he always runs better when he's running towards home! The first mile I was doing a lot of pulling him along and also trying to get him to stop jumping, whereas for the second mile he was almost perfect running out in front of me. Should I keep aiming for this pace (around 11:30 min/mile) or a bit faster when I do the next lot of 1 mile intervals?

In total I did 8km tonight - 2km walk, 3.2km with the intervals, 1km each for warm up/cool down and around 800m between interal 1 - 2 and also 2 - cooldown.

aquinn

A 10km, well done to you. Great to see improvement and keenness to continue. That's super.
When I was looking for my first plan I'd entered the Great Ireland Run and on their site you can enter a target race or date, on schedule or create your own. Tell them how many days a week you run and what you are running at the moment. It turned out I didn't have enough time to actually train for the race but I found it a nice simple plan and you can enter in all your sessions so good motivation. Maybe worth a look?

http://www.greatrun.org/training

mel.b

Back into a routine now, first time with 4 runs in the week and my first back to back runs also last week.

Mon: 5km as above

Tues 6th: walking Cooper, not sure of distance as my phone is in for repair and I can't remember what we did.

Wed 7th: Intervals as above, 6km in total inc warm up & cool down

Thurs 8th: 6km walk with Cooper in the am and a strength / core class in the evening.

Fri 9th: 7km walk with Cooper.

Sat 10th: 5km run

Sun 11th: 5km run

This week I plan to go out with the running group tomorrow night, so that will be about 7km I think. Wed I'll have a go at the intervals again and Thurs is the strength / core class. Sat / Sun I'll aiming for runs again. I know it's not ideal having the two back to back runs and I'd rather space them out, but with the running group on a Tues and the class on a Thurs it's the only way I think. I'm a bit nervous about going out with the group because I'm so slow but I'll give it a go.

Firedance

great idea to give the group a go, running with others is a lot of fun and will make the miles tick by faster