Sheep in Wolf's clothing - AKA Oh yes, I'm the great pretender ...

[Amerynthe]

I feel so guilty even posting in the Bridge forum! I graduated C25K just before Christmas and was very keep to build up to 10k but I've been finding it hard to even keep doing 30 min non-stop. I've got a real hang-up about inclines and my local Park Run has several, so I feel defeated before I even start (although I have shaved 10 minutes off my time since my first outing). I think/know I need to spend several weeks consolidating my C25K ability but I also need a new goal that is less daunting that the full 10k ... Any ideas?

[Equi-geek Graduate10]

Hiya! If you feel fatigued before you even get to the inclines then you are going to lose the mental battle these already seem to hold in your mind. There are technicians on here that could probably answer better than I can, but the first thing to say is that some people love incline/decline and hate the flat. The declines allow you to get your breath back and use different muscles to the incline - so arguably muscle fatigue isn’t as bad and the risks of tendon injury reduce.

As a new runner I changed the way I ran. There have been some great posts here about landing with hips over the foot, avoiding heel striking and so so. When you flick the ground out behind you and tip forwards into the stride gravity helps draw you forward and you’ll discover a way of running that relies less on your thigh/quads and more on your glutes and hamstrings.

The next thing to do is maintain the same high cadence (160 steps a minute) whatever the slope, and adjust your stride length instead of slowing the pace. Shorter steps uphil, longer steps downhill.

Finally your turbo-boost up hills are your glutes - basically squeeze your bum muscles on the supporting leg when the hill gets steeper.

Core strength and stability exercises will really help too.

Finally, find some steeper inclines and practice them when you are fresh. Forget distance - just do a ‘hills session’. Practice on something steeper, and get a bit of confidence in your ability, and your Parkrun inclines will seem like nothing.

Good luck!

[Oldfloss Administrator 60minGraduate]

Hi..the more inclines you do, the stronger you get.. they really pay dividends...

Don't worry about time for your runs... try new routes, try short runs .,,medium distance runs.. lots of 30 minutes and a , longer, see where you get to run each week.

The lovely long slow runs are the ones that build up stamina and strength and eventually speed...Work on those for your immediate goals and then ...

The Magic 10 plan on here is so structured and steady and with the extra exercises thrown in.. it works wonderfully...

[GoogleMe Graduate10]

I found myself in a similar slump (and I already had hit 10k in the past) I found what worked for me was to sign up for a virtual event medal for a 5K. It seemed a bit daft when I knew perfectly well I can do 5k but the fact was that I hadn't done a 5k for ages. There are loads of websites to choose from.

[Amerynthe]

Thanks, everyone, it's all good advice and I will take it I've got a run scheduled for today so instead of my usual route, I'm going to mix it up a bit and add in a hill and see how far up I get before I slow to a walk - my normal approach on hills is to not even attempt them at a jog/run, I just automatically stop running and start walking. And I'll start the Magic 10 again and this time I'll stick with it!

[cheekychipmunks Graduate10]

Another advocate for hills. I’ve run a flat parkrun on 3 occasions, and whereas I was expecting to blitz my PB compared to my normal hilly parkrun courses, I really didn’t. It didn’t even feel much easier either!

So basically, as the others have already said, go out and find some hills. Have a go, maybe even tech free, and see how you get on. Bet the feeling after you’ve done one a couple of times will be epic! Good luck! 😀👍

[Katiepops Graduate10]

My local Parkrun is 1.5 miles downhill and then 1.5 back up. Some of it is really steep. I've done it 20 times now. I’ve run the steep hills twice. What I learned was that if I walk up the big hill, I get a PB! If I try to run it, I flake and can barely finish!

Last week I ran it with an ultra marathoner. She walked the hill and she’s done a centurion 50 mile run!

I think what I’m saying is, don’t worry about running hills, walk them and don’t try to be the best in a group run. That’ll come in time!

Do you run alone or with a club? I found that joining a running club gave me motivation to go out. My club has organised it’s training runs into ‘ability’ groups. So I’m with people who aren’t too much better than me or about the same. It really has encouraged me to go out, but having a running buddy even not in a club may help you.

Don’t give upon the 10k thing. If you’ve done c25k you can do it. Don’t be hard on yourself, you’ve done so well. 🏃‍♀️😊x

[Amerynthe in reply to Katiepops]

Thanks Katiepops! I'm gradually increasing my overall fitness so hopefully the hills will seem less of a challenge in the future! I go out 3 times a week to run - once on my own, once with a friend is who doing C25K and nearly at graduation, and then once for Park Run, so I do a real mixture. I think I've got a bit of a hang-up now about my local Park Run, so I might try some different Park Runs to see if that makes a difference to my head!

[UnfitNoMore Graduate10]

The plan here is great. Maybe start it and target 5miles as a goal, then there’s 2k to go to the full 10. 5miles plus will give you much more endurance to take on those parkrun hills.