So, I've just finished week 1 of the magic 10k plan and thought I'd compare notes with the hive mind.
Firstly, the short runs - I get that the long runs should be nice and slow, but is the short run also meant to be slow or should I be using it for something different? This week I tried the JogRunSprint app which was a pleasant change from the norm. Should I be doing this on all the short runs? Should I run the short runs at race pace or am I still meant to be going slow?
Secondly, run planning - now I don't have Laura to guide me, I'm finding myself spending much more time faffing with apps. I really liked the fact my phone stayed in my pocket for the whole run on C25K, I'm trying to achieve this too for my progression to 10K and really all my future running. At the moment I go on footpath or plotaroute to make a running route that's 1.1km longer than my planned run for the day (so I have 5 mins walking to warm up and cool down), then when it's time to leave I start my music, then activity tracking on my watch (Withings Steel HR) followed by the phone app, so it tracks my route. If I need directions for the route then I also start the Footpath app (quite likely when my run durations are changing every day). Then when I've completed my warm up walk I start Nike Run Club on a custom run of the right length for the day so it gives me audio prompts throughout and tells me when I can return to walking. This isn't terrible, but it's not slick either and I'm definitely in that danger zone where my phone just kills off one of the apps to free up memory.
So, what's everyone else doing?
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Impetuous
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1. Walk the kids to school/walk back, do a bit of stretching/change and get ready for the run i.e.
2. Ready endomondo (calls out every km for you but I don't really need that like you I have a route planned/measured) /ready music player (with playlist if I can be bothered)
3. Start music, start EM - run - to 2,5k or whatever, .... endure/turn round and go home ...turn off EM, walk around and stretch for 5 mins, turn off music, shower ........simple.
Not sure where all the complication came in - that said I wasn't sure on the 3k run - today I did it quite fast for me but didn't know if that was right or not?
Oh my goodness, that sounds so complicated, not "Impetuous" at all! (Sorry).
My watch beeps every km and having decided how far, or how long I want to run, I take it from there. Doesn't always work, but it is as much as I can do, not being good with all the technology!
I am toying with doing more out and back routes, especially as my distances get longer. I'd much rather get all the way to a neighbouring village and then return the same route than run in a big local circle.
To be honest I'm a bit of a data junkie, so like the insights from heart rate monitoring, route tracking, etc. I don't really want to know any of that when I run though, running should be about enjoying the music, clear-headed thinking and checking out the local scenery.
Oh my that seems a lot of faffing. I've worked out distances by running loops from a central point so can kind of guess what to add on but I'm luck as to where I run. Since graduation I've run naked. Press start on garmin then stop. You then just run. You will get used to your local routes and know instinctively where to go. Good luck
I use the Nike guided runs quite a lot, but yet it’s a little inconvenient as it doesn’t have the warmup what we are used to. What I do is set the countdown to 9 seconds, giving me enough time to lock my phone, and secure it in my arm strap before the coach starts talking... I start running as soon as the phone is away... and the advantage of doing a guided run on there is that it pauses automatically at the end, so I don’t have to grab my phone quickly. Hopefully they will soon have added even more distance based runs for me to do this exactly right all of the time, for now I tend to go for a duration based one instead, and use my watch to measure the distance.
There’s no pace requirements for the plan. We are all different as we go into it, and some will use the short run for a speed workout, some may even use the 5k for this. All that we recommend is sticking to 75% or more of your running being at a comfortable pace as this will bring better results. If I was doing the plan from a 5k base I’d use the short run for a speed workout, but I think only every other week.
I'm exactly the same as you with route planning. I faff around on mapometer and I've made an excel grid so that I can personalise the plan making it like a diary. I've saved all my different length routes on mapometer so that I can see which one I should be doing. I colour code each square green when a run is done. I have to confess I'm not very good with Excel, so I badgered Mr marmalademonster into making it for me.
I'm trying not to make all the treat boxes food-related, but apparently there's a vegan Galaxy coming out on Monday, so next week's treat is definitely going to be one of those! I'm also running quite steadily for all my runs - I'm definitely not a sprinter yet, but that's okay by me! The worst thing for me is having to run in the evening. I'm definitely a morning runner!
Yeah, I definitely can’t run in the evening. I like the whole efficiency of running before my morning shower and then getting on with my day. Evenings are always a drama (I’m a parent).
I’d completely forgotten about the whole treat thing! I must revisit that....
Last few months I searched "running music 2019" and came up with a few albums. They are mixed, some just pumping music and some lyrics. Thought I would hate the "pumping type" but tbh it works well as it gets you in the rhythm and helps your pacing without being too fast.
I only have a phone, not a watch or anything, so I put on Spotify for music, then do a warm up walk then put on Viewranger as I have OS maps in there (have found some excellent new trails through that) and you can get it to record your route, time, distance, speed graphs etc. Then I run, but not looking at it and then look what I did once I have done the route, but then I know my local area well enough to guess what the rough distances will be so that might not be helpful! E.g. if I run in a rough circle I can go round on a further path or cut across it to vary the distance!
What I did to start with was to use the NHS C25K+ podcasts with Laura. I found that "Stepping Stones" was a bit slow paced for my natural pace, but "Speed" and "Stamina" were quite good. However, as the "short" run gets longer (starts at 2.5k goes up to 4k) that "Speed" wasn't long enough. "Stamina" gives you a 35 minute run which should allow you to do the 5k runs (unless you choose to do Parkrun).
I've experimented (once) with Jog-Run-Sprint, and will try it again.
I found a good Spotify playlist "Runner's Club 160 bpm" where all the songs (and there are some good classic songs) are between 158 and 170 bpm, which allows quite a relaxed pace for the long runs. It's great fun running in time to the beat - since your foot falls in time with the rhythm, you sort of feel part of the music, and it takes your mind off the exertions of running (and I think I've read that it lowers the level of perceived effort). I got the habit of doing this via the C25K+ podcasts - though the music they have is ghastly manufactured stuff.
I use onthegomap.com to plan out my routes for the different distances.
Yes, the playlist is good and helps sustain effort - but the bpm varies slightly from song to song. On my Garmin app you can actually see where it changes to a different song from the running cadence plot!
Also I'm looking to up my cadence rate - not necessarily to get faster, but I've read it's a way to avoid injury because your foot is in contact with the ground for a shorter time. So I shall be hunting out songs that are 170-180 bpm - but not yet found any that I like as much! You could also use the Metronome Beats app, but a dry metronome isn't as motivational as music!
I'm definitely going to be investigating and experimenting with some of the methods/suggestions people have spoke about.
As everyone has already stated, your hundred apps and running routine does seem very complicated. I got lost trying to follow it!🤣 But, we're all different so we've all just got to find what works for us.
The C25K plan helped me learn how far my 5min warm up walk will take me, so I don't think to much about that anymore, I just start running when I get there. I then use my watch (Amazfit Bip) to track the run and get all the data I want which then uploads to Strava when I've finished. I can set it to buzz at custom km intervals but they have to be whole numbers so I'm likely to run 3km today instead of 2.5km. You'll see from my previous post that it doesn't always work as planned 🙈
I carry my phone for music as I can't run without it, but Im still experimenting on my preferred playlist. The C25K podcasts were awesome and I'm trying to find something similar which has music and encouragement from Laura.
I'm also desperately trying to save up to buy a new GPS watch with music storage/Spotify streaming and a set of Bluetooth earphones so I can leave my phone at home, but my bank manager is putting a stop to this at the moment. Fingers crossed Santa has me on his good list!
Good luck with the rest of the plan, and hope you manage to simplify your runs
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A breakthrough at last...🎼Goodbye Laura, hello Samantha🎵🎶
Sunday long run...…..longest in a long, long while :)
