Welcome to Week 1 of Ju-Ju's Magic Running Plan! We will be working together through an 8 week training plan with the goal of running 10 km, OR for a total time of 60 minutes!!!!
β YOU CAN START THE PLAN AT ANY TIME - please comment below if you would like to join in the fun!
I hope you're all feeling excited about the next 8 weeks - it's going to be great πππ
π₯ I will be posting each Monday, and will include a link to a pinned post containing all the MAGIC PLAN INFORMATION:
I hope you will join in the discussion each week with your questions, advice, and support - and keep one another accountable π
Let's get right to it π
π₯ This week's runs:
Distance runs ( to be completed in any length of time, and in any order you wish)
β 2.5k
β 5k
β 5.5k
Timed runs ( for those not yet ready to do the distances in the 10k Plan. Can be run in any order)
β 15 minutes
β 30 minutes
β 35 minutes
π₯ This week's STRENGTH EXERCISE:
Each week (except for Week 5, where we will take a well-earned break!), I will introduce a new strength workout for you to try. These are optional, but I strongly recommend you give them a try!!! Including regular strength work in your routine will help you become a better and healthier runner.
π₯ This week's exercise is... THE PLANK!!!
I suggest you give planks a try this week! The plank is an amazing exercise that works the whole body, but particularly the core - including the back.
Planks are not easy, so if you are new to them I suggest you start small and build them up as you get stronger.
β When should I plank?
I suggest that you do your planks as soon as you get home from your run - you'll be nice and warmed up, and dressed appropriately, and when you've finished you can have your shower and feel really awesome πππ
In later weeks, as we have gone through the other exercises, I am going to provide options for putting them all together into a more extensive strength workout, which you may wish to do on a non-running day.
β How do I plank?
You'll need a stopwatch of some sort (I'm sure there's an app for that!), and I recommend you get something soft to put under your elbows. Working on a yoga mat is a good idea if you have one, but I find I manage fine just on the carpet with a thin cushion for my elbows.
I have put together a simple plank workout with illustrations that can be viewed here:
β TRY TO HOLD EACH PLANK POSITION FOR 30 SECONDS. IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING TO DO THIS, SHORTEN THE TIME UNTIL YOU FEEL STRONGER β
π₯ A word from Ju-Ju- about the Magic Plan, Plankety-Planks, and treats π
For any of you who don't know her, Ju-Ju is the admin who started the Magic Running Plan. She is currently taking some time away from Health Unlocked due to work commitments, and I am looking after the Magic Plan until her return.
I will share one of her lovely videos each week - regarding this one I'd like to add that Ju has upped her planking game considerably in the months since she posted this π
π€£ I know from Pilates but I have a no cheating rule for this plan. I will folliw the instructions to the letter. If I let one area slip the rest soon follows π€¦ββοΈ
I may not get the full 30 seconds to start with but i may surprise myself π
Modifying with knees down is suggested as an option, but if you are struggling to maintain the correct position for 30 seconds set a shorter time to start with xx
I donβt consider the half plank to be cheating. I canβt manage a full plank quite yet but I can manage a half. I plan to use the half plank as a stepping stone to the full plank
Sorry hon was not suggesting it's a cheat for anyone else π we are all at different stages, shapes, sizes and abilities. I know I can do full plank (not for very long) I just don't because I'm fundamentally lazy and don't like doing things that require effort on my part. How I ever got bitten by this running bug is a complete mystery to me!
I may be better at the full one this way as itβs using forearms. I struggle with it in yoga as it tends to be with hands n my right wrist just canβt cope. Iβm up to 50 seconds of half plank so when I get to 60 Iβll try a 30 second full n see what happens
Thanks. Can the main thread be pinned to the top of the forum each week? Otherwise it will vanish below all the newer threads.
Most other forums seem to work in such a way that any new post brings a topic to the top of the list, but this one is ranked by first post rather than latest post β although it's very possible that I'm just viewing the forum wrongly...
It has been pinned, but where you will see it depends upon which device you are using - it may be in the RIGHT (edited!) sidebar or down near the bottom of the page.
Hi Roseabi - thanks for this - love JuJuβs motivational video! Is there a βprescribedβ amount of time/reps for the planks? I couldnβt see this anywhere, but mightβve missed it... x
It is 30 seconds per plank (left column in the document). I have also suggested that you may increase the time as you feel, but in reality it is much better to do a shorter amount of time maintaining the correct position.
To challenge yourself more, you may also like to try taking a five minute break and then going through them all again π
Also, and I'll be talking about this next week, you can include the planks as part of a more comprehensive strength routine.
Can see the centre and right hand columns thank you - and can see all three when I log on via laptop. And no, on my iPhone and iPad I canβt move the doc with my fingers - the left hand column is literally invisible (I tried holding devices portrait and landscape) and if I try and move the page it simply snaps back to its original position.
(Going forward, I can just look on laptop anyway... and besides, all this faffing is helpfully putting off the inevitable - which is actually DOING the darned planks!!) x
I've started!! I opted to do the longest run first off and then work in reverse order so hoping after a shorter final week 1 run my legs will be in good shape for week 2 and the next longer run at the weekend (if that makes sense!)
I was planning to start tomorrow but seeing this has got me enthused so I might start with the short one today! Hoping to make it through to the end in the eight weeks this time π€
Silly question alert, pollen permitting, I am trying to transition from treadmill to outside. Doing some reading on the web I found suggestions of doing part of the run outside to gradually allow muscle groups to get used to the difference (which would have been gradual if I could have done the c25k outside, but would now be a sudden change).
If I set my treadmill ready before I go is this doable while following the plan until I get the whole run outside. Like do 1k outside and run in the house and hop on the treadmill to finish it off ?
I did 500m outside yesterday, and it was ok-ish, I felt the difference in my legs, and I don't want to get injured by suddenly doing 5k outside.
I feel like a wimp.for asking but better to be safe than sorry
Good morning all!.. Iβm in the middle of packing my house up and up to my π in itπ... but I got up early and off I went... intending to run 2.5k but felt good so completed the 5k run π. Moving day is tomorrow so that can be my rest dayπ€£π€£π€£ and I should be good to run 2.5k on Tuesday, happy running πββοΈ folksπ
I fear that I have already messed up. Forgot I was supposed to be starting this today, headed out for a 30 minute run, struggled in the heat and gave up after 3km. Realised when I got home and looked at my calendar that I SHOULD have been doing my 2.5km run today anyway. Can I count this as my 2.5k? Even though it was a bit over? Am feeling very cross with myself! π
Phew, thank you! I'm giving the distance plan a go and if it all gets too much (am slow), I will switch to time instead. Now to get my head around planks... π
Did my 15 minute run today. Not sure why but it was horrible, I wanted to stop after 10 minutes n thatβs never happened before. Pushed through n did the full 15 but I think I mustβve looked like I was coming to the end of a marathon by then, my form was non-existent ππ Taking at least 2 rest days before I do my next one
Not been brave enough to try the side planks yet but managed 55 seconds of half plank (have been planking for a couple of weeks now). Maybe next time.... π€ππ
I thought my last run was hard work, this was beyond anything Iβve experienced before. So glad it was only 15 minutes πππ Ah well, itβs done now xx
I did the 5k run today but I got a horrid pain in my upper abdomen in the middle,it didnβt feel like a stitch(which amazingly I havenβt had at all when running) so I just wondered if you had any advice on how to stop this?
It's hard to say, because we don't know what it is, and we're not doctors of course π
Could be an acid stomach, in which case you should consider the timing of your run with food, and/or taking an antacid. Could be abdominal cramp - strengthening exercises may help with this, or possibly salts (jury's out on that one), or even pickle juice! Time to experiment. But I hope it doesn't happen again, sounds nasty xxx
Because I'm totally out of sync with everyone, having started the old plan a few weeks back, I've just done the W4R3 8k run (in 1:01). So that's 59.5k done, 72k still to run...
Resting up tomorrow and then it's on with W5.
Anyway, Good luck to everyone setting out on this journey.
OK, so I plan to do distance and went out with my new running club to do 5k tonight.
Wow it was a good turn out with lots of people in each ability group. 14 people in my 5k group and I managed to largely stay in centre of group, and even looped back with the front runners to rejoin the back of the group.
Hence I actually did just over 5.5k. I am delighted, especially when I can say I really enjoyed it (thatβs a first during a run π).
That leaves a short 2.5k mid week then 5k on parkrun on Saturday. Iβve also done my planks, 30secs face down but only managed 15secs on the sides; they are tough π³π₯΅.
Good luck fellow magic VRBs, we can do this πββοΈπββοΈ
5.5k run this evening and planks. Nor an easy run. It was warm today and also tired after the weekend park run and bike ride yesterday - but I did the long run to kick off week 1 π
Rest day tomorrow with some more planks and stretches.
2.5 run done yesterday yay! Shockingly busy day at work, thought Iβd never get a run in then realised that it was βonlyβ 2.5. Iβve always thought itβs got to be at least 5k to make it worth my while. This plan has got me thinking already! Glad to have got started and looking forward to the longer runs later in the week ππ»ββοΈππ»ββοΈππ»ββοΈ
Have just started a series of personal training sessions with this plan incorporated as the straight cardio sessions. So first gym session Monday, 5k Tuesday, more gym Wednesday (planks included), 2.5k intervals on treadmill Thursday, rest day Friday, gym session Saturday and 5.5k Sunday. Phew! πͺ
My PT is a runner so the gym exercises are intended to supplement the running and hopefully all will go well.
Oh and I also have Achilles stretches and foot mobility/strengthening exercises to do each day.
All I can say is - lucky I'm retired or I'd never fit it all in!!
Planks... π Yesterday was awful, I could hardly manage 10 seconds of each. Today an improvement at least, I managed on my final go to hold the downward one for 30 seconds. The sideways ones were still terribly short though! Two twin pregnancies have left me with no muscle or core strength at all, clearly! Oh well, the only way is up I guess!
Thanks, it was torture! π Are we supposed to be doing the planks every day for the whole 8 weeks? Or do we stop when the next strengthening exercise comes along?
If we're doing distance, do we do a 5 min warm up walk and cool down walk that we don't include in the distance, or do we include that in the distance? Or do we not do a warm up walk, just jog gently to start with? Thanks
We recommend that runners continue throughout this plan with the 5 minute brisk wu/cd walk, not included in the distance, and also to ease into the run gently. As you become more experienced you may use your own judgement about this.
If you are going to be running speed intervals, or fast runs, a longer and more thorough warm up should be done by any runner. We'll be getting into the subject of intervals next week.
Very excited to be getting underway this week! Have ticked off and enjoyed the 2.5k and 5k... now to push on to the 5.5k tomorrow. Big step for me!! I may progress through this a little slower than most, I think! But I'll try to keep up
Hi, started my plan on Monday morning. Iβve now completed my 15 and 30 minute run with the 35 minute to do on Friday morning. Iβve even managed to dodge the rain. ππππββοΈπββοΈπββοΈπππ
Because we don't know what you are doing after finishing C25K, but we assume around 3x 30 minutes = 90 minutes per week as a base. So for the first week of the Magic Plan you run 80 minutes including a 35 minute run which is longer than your longest ever run. After that you continue to increase your weekly running time but for a couple of cut-back weeks.
For a little more intensity, the short run may be used to include a few speed intervals, particularly when it increases to 20 minutes in Week 4. See next week for more chat about intervals πππ
W1R2 . A nice 5.5k. When 4K came and I was getting a bit tired , I had this terrifying thought: one day when I am running 8k, 4K will only be half of the run. How will I ever manage? π±π₯΅π€¬
I did a 5k βraceβ run on Sunday and did my best 5k time- Iβve started the Ju-ju plan and done the first two runs but Iβm so much slower than my race and the running is feeling more wooden! Maybe I overdid it at the weekend! Anyone else had this after a βraceβ run?
Iβm up and off! Only just started the plan today but Iβm feeling more determined than ever and am making a promise to myself to stick with it! πͺπΌ
Currently in Hong Kong - mid 30's & epic humidity, so did 35 min on treadmill in hotel gym today. Don't really enjoy treadmills but needs must. Back in Blighty next week pounding the prom at Brighton & Hove. Looking forward to some cool.
Week 1 done. Great to have a new challenge and something to work towards. Was planning to do on distance but think I'll go on time as not quite there distance yet but know it will come. First experience of planks and my body was not a fan but guess that means it must be working πͺ
A week behind... but got the go ahead yesterday, from the lovely Physio, for a slow and steady run... did 4K..? I have no idea why 4K.... 32 minutes... no twinges ...just a bit of an ache from running with the orthotic inserts... Not sure how this will pan out as I probably won't be able to get another run in before Thursday...But I am back running.. so hooray!
A bit late to the party but I graduated from C25K today and am looking to take the next step. This programme looks fab and I'm looking forward to joining you all. π
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it all adds up
Enjoyed Week 2 of Ju-Ju's Magic Running Plan :-)
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