Week 7! You're nearly done with the programme then. How often/far are you going to run after the C25K programme? Any idea? I'm probably going to do a 10/15 k once a week, a shorter run or two, then add some interval stuff or hill / stair work when I am in better shape.
Well bear in mind I'm usually repeating each week at least once so I'm still a month or so from the end. Although at this stage it's just adding minutes to a straight run. After that I'm going to keep my steady, fairly low-key, Monday run (I like that start to the week). Turn my Wednesday run into a sprint/interval session at my local sports field (no hills or stairs near me). And then my Saturday run will be a timed 5k (as near as I can measure it) with an eye to trying to get my time down rather than adding any distance. I'm aiming to do a regular Saturday "park run" where they time you so will use that as an ongoing barometer because I know that'll be accurate.
I'd like to do those park runs, I don't think they do them here though. Seems like a good way to test yourself but not really "compete". All the runs here I can find are a little more serious, except for an extreme run they have a couple of times a year. As for measuring your 5k...isn't it about time you got a fancy phone? Tons of good running and exercise apps...and the kids will think you're alright!
Nah, don't get the fancy phone use an online measuring tool like http://gb.mapometer.com/ or http://www.mapmyrun.com/ That's what I do - my phone is prehistoric!
The anoying thing is that I have local woods I run round but I can't work out a good 5k route around them. If I go round once (like I did this morning) I can do it in 25 mins and at my pace that's not 5k (and measuring it confirms that). But if I go round the circular bit twice it ends up being well over 5k. There's not a good stop start point where I can start and finish a 5k without adding in some tarmac running and roads. So I either have to back track or turn around at in some convoluted way or maybe just accept it's less that 5k and just run it for time and improve on that over that distance.
Just mapped my run and my pace is awful. I mean the paths are horrible in places (loads of twigs across the face and very rutted) but still. A 5k runner it appears I am not.
I'll have a look at them myself later. One thing I like about the apps is you can set them up to give you signals at whatever time or distant. I find it helped me if I needed a bit of a push or I could slow down the speed if I was doing ok for time. But I was working up to half marathon so I wanted to know how I was doing on each run. The interval trainer apps were good for HIIT etc. Running with the phone is a bit annoying though.
And you are saying that after how many weeks? Trail running is a lot slower and both physically and mentally harder than running on the road. You're probably way better than you think.
Weakness doesn't exist in this dojo! I'd like to do the parkrun at some point but I do have some ego so don't wanna be coming in last. Start one! They are all run by volunteers so it might be something you can look at starting? Once it's up and running other volunteers might join up and take some of the work off.
The Cambridge Parkrun, in Milton County Park is a mindbogling route. Lucky I am way off the leading pace as I'd need to follow someone just to know where is the next turn. On the map it involves two clockwise loops and a counter clockwise alternate loop to the finish, made no sense until I was running it. Sometimes paths and pavements are good, with a decent running technique and proper shoes.
Wednesday 12/06/13 Week7/Run2 C25k. Pretty good run overall. Felt ploddy at first (as always) but do you know there were a couple of minutes in the middle where I actually felt like a runner! Good rhythm, breathing regular, stride nice and flowing. Of course the slight incline 2 thirds of the way round put pay to that feeling and then it was back to plodding again. But at least I had a slight glimpse of what being fit might actually feel like.
Don't worry. At most ParkRuns there's at least one really fat bird who walks round. (Apologies to any really fat birds reading this, no offence meant.) What I'm trying to say is that you won't finish last. Probably. Seconded. New ParkRuns are starting up all the time, by people like you who thought: "I wish there was a ParkRun near me!"
Sat 15/6/13 Week 7/run 3 C25k. Really bad run. Ankles ached. Slow pace. A real plodder. Couldn't wait for it to be over. Managed the 25 minutes but it was a chore. Think I'm harbouring some sort of lergy. Sun 16/6/13 Half an hour peddling a dragon shaped pedalo around Peasholm park lake in Scarborough. That's exercise right?
Had a week off exercise this week. Had some sort of bug, achey joints. Getting some rest and recovery in.
Monday 24/06/13 Went for a run. Couldn't find my i-pod so borrowed my wife's. As such I didn't have the C25K podcast to listen to in order to time my run. So I did my regular route that I know takes me about 25 mins to run (what the week 7 runs are meant to be). I'm repeating week 7 after a week lay off with a bug and achey legs. It took me 24 minutes and felt pretty easy. I'm still very much a plodder but felt good all the way through and sprinted the last 100/150 metres. Well I say sprinted. I sped up. Whether a "sprint" was actually achieved is neither here nor there. SO good to have some decent music rather than the awful C25K soundtrack. Today was "The best of dubstep". BOOM! Wildlife = Swallows zipping past about a foot from the floor catching insect over a newly cut field.
Saturday 29/06/13 The MAP meet! 4-5 hours of training. Starting with some Judo groundwork (trying to armbar Bassai counts as exercise as far as I'm concerned). Then some MMA ground work. Working sprawls and transitioning to the back. Some Iaido after lunch. Hard on the legs as it was mainly from seiza. Finally some DART self defence padwork and drills. Monday 02/07/13 C25K week 7/run 1. Repeating this week again. Running regularly has slipped due to work and stuff. 25 mins straight through. Niggling ankle pain on the left. Dunno what that is. Also went over badly on the right foot about 200 yds from the end. No lingering effects though so it seemed worse than it was. Still feel like a plodder.
Wednesday 03/07/13 Run 3 week 7 of C25K. Simple run 25 mins. Got some annoying niggles. Left big toe gets a shooting nervey pain from time to time. Right achilles hurts where it inserts into the heel. Left ankle aches at the front. My shin splints have stayed in the background which I'm really pleased about as that was my main worry. I think this is just my feet taking a battering now. 5 minutes into the run everything feel OK. Saturday 06/07/13 Run 3 week 7 of C25K. 25 mins again. No real issues. Things are growing so quickly in the nice weather there are brambles and nettles whipping me as I run past all along my route. Very annoying. And midges in the mouth. Little buggers are hard to see especially at dusk. Monday 08/07/13 Week 8/run 1 of C25K. 28 minutes for these runs. Think I'll do weeks 8 and 9 back to back and "graduate" next week. Get the C25K over and then I can start adding in sprints for more foot speed and get on the weights. 28 minutes is no real difference to 25 mins. Once I'm at my running pace I could probably go the full 30mins/5k as of now. Drillz and Skillz have dropped off as I'm working like a dog.
