How do I stop treading water?

[Stellarun]

Graduated C25K and was all up for park run when lock down happened. Since then have done 3x5k each week. Started at 40 minutes and rapidly got down to 37/38 but can’t budge it any more. Feel fitter than ever (I’m 65) and am hooked on running, albeit slowly. Very fortunate to have loads of woodland paths and footpaths to run on. Never really ran before C25K and not sure how to progress. Speed or distance? Would like to join some sort of old giffers running club when this rubbish is over but for now, any suggestions gratefully received.🏃🏾‍♂️😀

[Womangolfer Graduate10]

Well done on getting this far. I wouldn’t worry too much about your pace. 37/38 minutes for 5k seems a reasonable pace. I would take a few weeks to consolidate 5k before progressing. Look at JuJu’s bridge to 10k if you want to run further.

[Stellarun Graduate10 in reply to Womangolfer]

Thank you. Good advice.

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10]

I started 2 years ago aged 66, so I know what you mean. First point, 5k after 5k trying to run a bit faster each time is plain boring and you will have limited success in terms of increasing pace. Worse, you might get so bored that you lose motivation. Building up distance and speed are separate exercises, especially at my age!

Post C25k I decided that building up distance rather than pace was more likely to be achievable for me. So I embarked on Ju-Ju's 10 k plan which you will find in this site. I got to 10 k 7 months after starting the C25k and on to HM (through following a plan on the Marathon site) within the next 9 months.

The basic pattern is similar; a short faster run or intervals , a 5k (ish) and then one longer stamina building slow run each week, with the longer run increasing in length week by week. Last August I started Park Run and found that I had built up to a point where I could run a bit faster....and the magic sub 30 minute 5k appeared. I am still slowly building up pace.

I do make mistakes though! The recent 1k speed challenge proved to be a bit too much for me and I have missed a couple of weeks with a knee problem. It feels ok this morning, but will give it another couple of days before starting running again.....slowly and gradually building it up again. Like snakes and ladders!!!

I hope that helps 👍

[Stellarun Graduate10 in reply to Beachcomber66]

Thanks. Good pointers.

[cheekychipmunks Graduate10]

I’m going to echo Beachcomber66 (except for the injury part *touch wood*!

I run because I enjoy it, and if I run fast I don’t. Simple as that. However I can run for 3 hours plus (the first time I did HM distance I proved that to myself, but it reduced substantially 2nd time round!)

So unless you have a yearning to be a gazelle I wouldn’t worry about your speed, at least for now. When you’re ready you could try intervals, sprints, all sorts of ways to get quicker. And if that’s not your bag, no worries. Run for yourself, however you want to. 👍

[Stellarun Graduate10]

Cheers. You are right. Guess this lockdown has just put a damper on doing things like park runs and I need a bit of a plan😀

[Buddy34 Graduate10]

All great advice from the above posts. I always thought I wanted to be faster then I discovered longer the distance runs and I love them. If you're interested this is the plan that lots of people used to go further. Good luck 😊😊

healthunlocked.com/bridgeto...

[Stellarun Graduate10 in reply to Buddy34]

Cheers. Good advice.

[Grannyhugs Graduate10]

Brilliant effort and these are great 5k times. You've knocked a few minutes off this early I your running journey, fantastic. Now have a look at ju Ju's 10k plan, it mixes the distances up while progressing you to 60mins or 10k - the choice is yours, you get a lovely new badge for each. Happy running 🤗

[Stellarun Graduate10]

👍thanks will do

[Coddfish Graduate10]

It’s worth mixing it up a bit. Some longer runs, some interval running, mix of trail and firm surface. Vary routes, basically something to make each run different.

I am sorry you didn’t get to try parkrun before this happened, hopefully we will get back to being able to do that eventually. It’s certainly been a central and very important part of my running, that I really miss now.

[Stellarun Graduate10 in reply to Coddfish]

Thanks👍

[Edward_H]

Speed and distance are both good, but not on the same run. I do two 5k runs a week and gradually try to increase my speed. I do one distance run a week increasing the distance by 1k each week. I started at 6k and on Wednesday achieved 13k. If you try to run too fast on the distance runs you run the risk of exhaustion and injury.

[Stellarun Graduate10]

👍thanks