From Couch 25k To Where Ever

Ososlo

It'll be exciting to see how you'll go after this plan. Big improvements I'd imagine.

Keep on enjoying it and stay safe :+)

The Muppet

Ososlo wrote: »

It'll be exciting to see how you'll go after this plan. Big improvements I'd imagine.

Keep on enjoying it and stay safe :+)

Tomorrow is the end of week 6 of a 15 week plan , it will be around Christmas before I do the park run.

I always enjoy the runs and I will warm up properly in future.

Do you know if any of the parkruns around north Dublin use pacers?

Ososlo

The Muppet wrote: »

Do you know if any of the parkruns around north Dublin use pacers?

Good question. I've only ever heard of them in St. Anne's and even then I don't think it's necessarily every week and I'm not sure what times they have covered.
Killerz is the man to ask there. I'm fairly sure he's the Race Director.

You could ask in the Parkrun thread if you don't get anyone popping in here with an answer. Firedance or Bungy Girl might know.

Maximus Alexander

The Muppet wrote: »

Tomorrow is the end of week 6 of a 15 week plan , it will be around Christmas before I do the park run.

I always enjoy the runs and I will warm up properly in future.

Do you know if any of the parkruns around north Dublin use pacers?

Could you not incorporate a park run into the plan? Maybe there's a run on a Saturday somewhere that you could replace?

I say this for purely selfish reasons because I want to read the report. :cool:

Ososlo

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

Could you not incorporate a park run into the plan? Maybe there's a run on a Saturday somewhere that you could replace?

I say this for purely selfish reasons because I want to read the report. :cool:

that's actually a good idea. Use it as a tune-up race for your target race at the end of the plan.
And I too want to read the report:cool:

The Muppet

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

Could you not incorporate a park run into the plan? Maybe there's a run on a Saturday somewhere that you could replace?

I say this for purely selfish reasons because I want to read the report. :cool:

Fridays are all tempo Sessions and Saturdays are all easy runs on the plan and i do my lsrs on a wednesday night so I would have to do a bit of juggling to fit in a park run and give it my best. I am quite disciplined about sticking to whatever plan I'm on , possibly too much so but thats just my nature.

That said I feel I'm improving and I would love to run another group run to see how i'd do, I have only done 2 to date a timed mile and a parkrun.

The Muppet

Ososlo wrote: »

that's actually a good idea. Use it as a tune-up race for your target race at the end of the plan.
And I too want to read the report:cool:

ooh I don't actually have a target race, perhaps i should get one. I just enjoy the structure of running to a plan and I want to improve my times. At the moment I'm really only interested in beating myself that might change if my times improve as I am quite competitive normally. Anytime I've not ran to a plan i have reduced mileage or stopped running all together.

The Muppet

Ososlo wrote: »

that's actually a good idea. Use it as a tune-up race for your target race at the end of the plan.
And I too want to read the report:cool:

ooh I don't actually have a target race:o, perhaps i should get one. I just enjoy the structure of running to a plan and I want to improve my times. At the moment I'm really only interested in beating myself that might change if my times improve as I am quite competitive normally. Anytime I've not ran to a plan i have reduced mileage or stopped running all together.

Ososlo

The Muppet wrote: »

ooh I don't actually have a target race, perhaps i should get one. I just enjoy the structure of running to a plan and I want to improve my times. At the moment I'm really only interested in beating myself that might change if my times improve as I am quite competitive normally. Anytime I've not ran to a plan i have reduced mileage or stopped running all together.

Jingle Bells in Phoenix Park is on first week of December I think. It'd be a great one as your target race as there's a big field of runners and it's a nice course.

We definitely don't want you to stop running so stick with the plan to ensure you stick with the running!!!

You could do a Parkrun before that instead of one of your tempo runs (run it at tempo effort if you wanted) and tweak the days a bit to gain some race practice prior to the target race.

The Muppet

Ososlo wrote: »

Jingle Bells in Phoenix Park is on first week of December I think. It'd be a great one as your target race as there's a big field of runners and it's a nice course.

We definitely don't want you to stop running so stick with the plan to ensure you stick with the running!!!

You could do a Parkrun before that instead of one of your tempo runs (run it at tempo effort if you wanted) and tweak the days a bit to gain some race practice prior to the target race.

Ok I have a stepback week in week 10 I could do a parkrun then without messing with the plan too much. I think/hope I've moved on from the not running tbh , I enjoy it too much.

Jingle Bells sound interesting, do I get to war a santa hat?

Ososlo

The Muppet wrote: »

Ok I have a stepback week in week 10 I could do a parkrun then without messing with the plan too much. I think/hope I've moved on from the not running tbh , I enjoy it too much.

Jingle Bells sound interesting, do I get to war a santa hat?

totally!!!
sounds like you have yourself a target race!

Bungy Girl

Ososlo wrote: »

Good question. I've only ever heard of them in St. Anne's and even then I don't think it's necessarily every week and I'm not sure what times they have covered.
Killerz is the man to ask there. I'm fairly sure he's the Race Director.

You could ask in the Parkrun thread if you don't get anyone popping in here with an answer. Firedance or Bungy Girl might know.

They do have pacers in St.Anne's on occasion but not every week and the times paced would be dependent on the volunteers. I do know of one super enthusiastic pacer-in-training so I'll send her in here

Jingle Bells is a brilliant race, possibly the fastest 5K around, with a lovely atmosphere. Definitely a good target race.

aquinn

Morning, how can I help?

The Muppet

Bungy Girl wrote: »

They do have pacers in St.Anne's on occasion but not every week and the times paced would be dependent on the volunteers. I do know of one super enthusiastic pacer-in-training so I'll send her in here

Jingle Bells is a brilliant race, possibly the fastest 5K around, with a lovely atmosphere. Definitely a good target race.

Thanks , Fastest course I assume, hoping most of it is down Chesterfield avenue from the Castleknock gate and not the other way around?

aquinn wrote: »

Morning, how can I help?

assuming you are a "super enthusiastic pacer in training" I was just enquiring if any of the parkruns used pacers for those of us unable to judge our pace for ourselves?

Maximus Alexander

Jingle Bells is my goal race too. Not sure what date it's on yet but last year it was 6th December. Hopefully we'll both be clapping ourselves on the back afterwards before quickly deciding that we want to go faster.

The Muppet

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

Jingle Bells is my goal race too. Not sure what date it's on yet but last year it was 6th December. Hopefully we'll both be clapping ourselves on the back afterwards before quickly deciding that we want to go faster.

Sounds like plan , I hope you'll wait for me on the finish line if you make that 22 minute 5k.

Maximus Alexander

The Muppet wrote: »

Sounds like plan , I hope you'll wait for me on the finish line if you make that 22 minute 5k.

Ah I think I'm being way too ambitious with that, but I have to have a target, so why not make it a ridiculous one? I'd say you're ahead of me, you're doing good work here.

The Muppet

Today the plan called for 50 minutes easy. It was nippy enough in my short sleeve running top so I ran it on the quick side of easy. I forgot to turn on the auto lap on my watch so I don't have any split times but I kept pace pretty constant I think.

That's week 6 of the plan completed, week 7 starts tomorrow with another 50 minutes easy and Monday is 60 second hill sprints :eek: think I'll have to find a new hill , stay tuned for that one it could be interesting.

Stats for today.

4.97 miles in 50:25 @ 10.09 average pace

Average Heart Rate 137

The Muppet

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

Ah I think I'm being way too ambitious with that, but I have to have a target, so why not make it a ridiculous one? I'd say you're ahead of me, you're doing good work here.

If only I had a grasp on metric I'd have a better idea on making a comparison. Your 5k time is a little better than mine , your doing good work yourself.

I haven't really given any thought to having a target up to now except to beat my own times. TBH I never expected to be where I am at now . I used to follow logs here like Vitani's and Ossoslo's and Pacing Mules all graduates of the couch to 5k and be in awe of the progress they had made but never though I could make the type of progression had. I still have a way to go but I now believe I have the ability to run quicker than I have to date.

Have you figured out whether you're running or jogging yet?:o

Maximus Alexander

I'm a sucker for metric, I know I really should switch to miles because it seems to be the done thing around here, but I've never used miles for anything in my life so it just feel wrong to me. I wouldn't say my 5k time is faster than yours - I don't actually have one! - you have a confirmed 26:xx, but mine is only speculative. And I reckon you could knock a bit off that already.

I know what you mean about seeing other people's progress, I find it hard to believe that I'll ever get much better than I am now, which is why I started the log. I bet if I had logged right from the start I'd be feeling better about the progress I've made.

I'll call it running once I've actually done a race I think - I haven't earned it yet.

The Muppet

The way I see it is if I'm not walking I'm running.

Don't underestimate the difference running in a race will make over your training times . My fastest mile in traininf was 8.40. In the race I did the 7.22 .
I'm looking foward to jingle bells now roll on December.

The Muppet

Up and out early for my 50 minutes easy this morning. Its a nice cool morning , ideal running weather. I took the same route as last sunday through the local ward river (jacko) park, as I ran I was thinking about the escapades I used to have there as a child.

The first 2.5 miles are reasonable up hill and then its.5 of a mile flat to airside and another two miles down hill to home. Its a nice route.

I took it nice and easy today, my legs felt a little tired and heavy so I had little option other than to do that. I still have not turned on the auto lap on my watch so no splits again .

4.68 miles in 52.06 @11.08 pave Average heartrate 134


Week 7
Day|Run|Notes
Sunday|50 minutes easy|
Monday|6 x 60 seconds Hills with recovery|
Tuesday|50 minutes easy|
Wednesday|100 minutes easy|
Thursday| Rest|
Friday|66 Minutes with 22 minutes @tempo|9.12 pace
Saturday|50 minutes easy


I'm a little apprehensive about Mondays hill sprints, I tend to run these as fast as I can, that last session were 8 x 30 seconds hills, that was 3 weeks ago and I hadn't much left on the last one . 6 x 60 tomorrow is going to be challenging I think . My usual hill is too short for these but I have another one in mind I think it's a little steeper than mu usual one but it is long enough to get the 60 seconds on.

The Muppet

Well I was right about finding the 60 second hill sprints challenging tonight.

I did a nice easy 12 minute warm up at 10.49 minute mile pace which got me to my hill. The hill rises gradually for about 20 meters and then gets steeper and the flattens out a little near the end.


For the first repeat I kept an eye on my watch to see when my 60 seconds were up, for the rest of repeats I just ran to where my first repeat ended.

This was the toughest session I have done to date. After each repeat I was out of breath and the legs were going nearing the end of each , I walked back between repeats but was fully recovered to do my next one when I got to the bottom.

I had a bit of an issue on repeat 4 and 6 with my watch, I was sure I hit the lap button but the lap didn't start but there wouldn't be much difference to the time or pace to the others .

I did a mile cool down then and I felt really good during that.

warm up

1.08 miles in 11:43 @ 10:49 pace
repeat 1 0.17 miles in 60 seconds @5.58 pace
repeat 2 0.16 in 60 seconds @ 6.10 pace
repeat 3 .015 in 62 seconds @ 6.43 pace
repeat 4 lap did not start on watch (fastest pace 6.14)
repeat 5 0.16 in 59 seconds @ 6:12 pace
repeat 6 lap did not start (fastest pace 5.39)

Cool down .90 @11.38 pace

I did feel my last repeat was my quickest repeat,

I'm delighted to have completed this as I knew I was going to find it tough going.

Firedance

Well done! Bet you felt great afterwards:)

The Muppet

Firedance wrote: »

Well done! Bet you felt great afterwards:)

How Much? lol

Seriously though I do feel good after it , I felt really good on the cool down which was funny as I was near dead after the last repeat

The Muppet

50 minutes easy tonight @ 10.30 pace Avg heartrate 138

Cool enough out there apart from that nothing really to report .

The Muppet

100 minutes easy tonight @10.40 pace .

Legs felt quite tired tonight though I finished strong (for me) the last few miles were under 10 minute pace . There was a good wind at my back from clontarf to kilbarrick road , Glad I wasnt running into it.

I'm noticing an improvement in my stamina . I.'m quite comfortable running and maintaining my pace on tired legs before I would struggle when tired and more than likely have to slow down or stop.


Rest day tomorrow \○/

The Muppet

Friday is tempo session day on the plan. Todays session was 66 minutes with 22 minutes at tempo which is 9:12 for me.

Headed down to the cycle track on the howth road for this, it's a nice surface to on and there's always a breeze in off the sea and its a couple of miles long.

6.6 miles in 66:23avg pace 10.03, AVG HR 144

Splits
1 warm up 1.66 miles in 18:05 @10:42 pace
2 tempo 2.55 miles in 22:03 @8:35 pace
3 cool down 2.38 in 26:16 @11:02 pace


I will edit later to include the paces when I upload to Garmin

The Muppet

5.06 miles in 52:18 @10.20 pace Average HR 136

Nice run and I am happy with the pace. its on the fast side of my easy. My legs felt a little tired today , I don't know if that was just the weeks running taking its toll or the result of my poor diet yesterday (snack box for dinner on the move) and poor sleep last night .

That's week 7 of the plan completed, the weeks are flying in. 6 runs and 34 miles in total this week.

on the cool down from yesterdays run I felt a little soreness in the top and front of my right leg (quad?) , It was minor and I didn't pay much heed to it but near the end of todays run I felt it again, again it was minor but something I have not felt before so Its something I may have to watch. I ve been very luck with injuries since I started to run, ive had nothing more than a few run of the mill niggles, achilles stiffness that heel drops put right and sore knees that up to no have sorted themselves out with a little rest.

I'm half way through the plan now and I'm feeling quite good on my runs. Week 8 starts tomorrow with another 50 minutes easy.

The Muppet

Very easy 50 minutes this morning in Newbridge park. It really is a beautiful location to run in with tarmac paths to run on. This morning I saw squirrels rabbits and deer as well as the farm animals . It was lovely.

I decided I was going to take it really easy this morning as I have been running on the fast side of easy lately and with a little niggle in my quad I want to try let it recover . I did feel the quad again it's a little sore nearing the end of runs .


4.24 miles in 50:23 @11:53 pace

Average Heart rate 128