What has happened to me?! I got promoted at work today and instead of celebrating with beer and pizza, I did my first 10k run. This can't be right. It was painfully slow - painful being the operative word since the route was basically through fields of stinging nettles - but I *ran* the whole way!
My husband thinks it's weird that I'm more excited about my run than my huge promotion - but the running still feels like more of a challenge 😂
That's great Gabby. Have you worked up to it though? Plenty of advice on here about not doing too much too soon (in order to avoid the dreaded I C) 😐
Well done Gabby, on both accounts.
I see from your previous posts that you only graduated a couple of weeks ago. To move to 10k quite so quickly is a risky strategy.
The normal pattern is to continue to run three times per week and increase one of those runs as your long run, by no more than 10% of your weekly total distance. If you are young and fit and used to this level of physical exercise you may well be fine, but the 10% rule is a sensible guideline to prevent all that post graduation enthusiasm being dampened by ending up not running at all because of injury.
Those of us who are a bit long in the tooth and have been on here a while are cautious, for the most part, because of our own experiences of injury, which can nearly always be traced back to doing too much too soon.
Thank you for the advice. I'll start trying out the 10 percent rule. Is there a simple way to calculate your routes so that they end up being the distance you intended? I'm new to the area where I live and have so far struggled with routes. Is there an app or website to help with this?
I'm 36 so possibly younger than many on here and I swim, cycle and play football at least once a week so I'd like to think I'm relatively fit. One of the reasons I started running was in the hope of being able to do a triathlon one day as it was the only one of the three I couldn't do! That said, running for extended periods of time is still new to me and I certainly don't want to risk injury.
Simplest way is to just use Google Maps - just measure the distance between one point and another and then double it for an "out and back" run . You can do this using your home as a starting point - with different other points around you as a turning point
Google Earth allows you to draw tracks and you can see the distance.
Maverick is an Android app which can show you a whole range of maps, including Ordnance Survey Explorer maps. These have footpaths marked and also a useful 1k grid, so estimating distances is relatively easy. It can also track you and you can save/import/export the tracks as .gpx files.
As an alternative on a computer I use BikeHike bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php. It allows me to choose my map source and shows the route on 2 alternative maps at the same time (e.g. OS and OpenStreetMap). Just remember to unclick the "follow road" option when laying out your route. If you end up on the home page and are faced with a mountain of text, click the course creator tab at the top of the page to get to the useful maps page instead. There are lots of other alternative web mapping tools as well (e.g. gpsies.com) if you don't like bikehike.
Well done. I'm sure stinging nettles have got more painful.
Mapmyrun has routes on but not always the easiest to navigate. Running is a great way to discover a new area
This is a secret - only known by some members of the Intelligence Community. Some graduates of C25K are visited by the Martians during the night and their bodies are stolen and replaced. These new bodies behave in ways that their families and friends cannot understand or comprehend!! Most people don't believe this - but those of us who have the experience know it to be true!
Schmeezoo krepto ploonsjat, Bazza.
I agree!!
Yay! Congratulations with the promotion Gabby, that is wonderful to hear, I'm sure it is well deserved.
And what better way to celebrate than with an exhausting long run through nettles? I still don't understand why people think we runners are weird lol
Congratulations on the promotion 
I use MapMyRun to virtually run a new route and I've a friend who does their routes in Endomondo. I've just discovered MapOmeter which gives gradients of hills which I quite like... though its better to look at the gradients after running up the hill rather than before.
I've tried Endomondo but I'm having terrible trouble with it dropping out mid-run so I might try MapMyRun instead.
I use goodrunguide. I like their little running man figure 😃 You can toggle him between footpath and satellite view. He represents you obviously 🏃♀️ I use it to plot my routes. It measures everything too
Well done and congrats on both events!
My first ever 10k!! Cardiff Bay 10k
My first post in Bridge to 10k
Ran my first 10k by accident...!
My first race - Yateley 10k
Yey hey! My first 10k!!!!
