The last run on our week 4 of Garmin 10k plan and we don’t know how we feel
There was a guy running our track in the opposite direction, he was fast, focussed, didn’t nod smile or acknowledge anyone on his way round and boy he was fast
We had decided running slow and trying to speed up wasn’t working so set of faster today, we’ve been running so gently we’ve forgotten what it feels like to breathe hard and feel it in the legs, first kilometre in just over 8 minutes and the disappointment set in, we’ve run faster in the past
Sometimes i’m a bit of an idiot sometimes, I have a heel raise in my left shoe of just under 2 inches and when changing my insoles this morning i seem to have forgotten to put it in, Willow said let’s go back I said no so My right leg didn’t straighten and my left heel never touched the ground and I ran a bit crooked but it was ok, the chiropractor would have kittens if he knew 😂
Anyway the run, we finished it and I went for a walk round the lake b cause 3.22k isn’t quite long enough and we were a bit disappointed
We got home Willow moaning that we aren’t faster me saying we really need to lose the quit smoking weight we both put on even though only one of us quit
The weather was perfect blue sky puffy clouds cool and fresh,
Looking back through the plan we just ran our fastest 3.22k run even though I walked the .22 because I’d had enough and my legs aches
We will give this plan one more week because i can see we are speeding up a little over the weeks and see what happens next,
Happy running everyone I’ve added a photo because it’s a bit of a depressing post
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SueAppleRun
Graduate10
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You two are doing brilliantly. Keep thinking of all the positives 😊🤗. I’m yet to see my weight shift any and I don’t have the quit smoking excuse. I really should have left my scales in the back of the airing cupboard 🥺.
As for the speed machine guy who didn’t acknowledge you, well! Perhaps he was on a mission, but I think he’s the one who has missed out by not giving you two a cheery “good morning”.
Thanks Delly-dot 😀oh the weight is so annoying, I do great for a day or two and then out comes the chocolate 🍫
Scales are terrible things, during this run I did have a brief flash back to a january sitting in the hospital with an oxygen thing up my nose wondering if i would ever run again and grin because we’ve run 4 times a week for four weeks now and still improving
We have been plodding though and pushed ourselves today and had forgotten what that felt like
Thank you Floss, we walked by the river the other day and the tide was high it’s was lovely
I know we should be elated I think one week no nicotine patches might have something to do with it, not sure what Willows excuse is 🤣🤣🤣
I have been running slower and slower lately and feeling as if it’s not much effort so it came as a bit of a shock to puff my way around and the lopsided gait was odd but then every bad workman blames their tools so that’s no excuse
I think you should write a list of all your achievements since starting C25K, pin it up & read it every time you feel disappointed!! 😄 - You are doing brilliantly, never forget that. 😄👍🏻👏👏
Have you tried the post C25K + podcasts? I have just tried a couple of them in the last two weeks included within some of my runs. - It’s interesting to try something different & it certainly made me speed up - I was in a lather. 😂
I have come to the conclusion that I am going to work on building up distance & duration of runs & watch with interest over the next 6 months to see what happens to speed - but I will keep using the C25K + podcasts at least once a week to try to have a faster cadence habit. 😄
Wow what a view! You're very lucky..it's raining stair rods here today. Even my dog refused to go further this morning and turned to come home.
As said above... Look how far you've come and how much you inspire and support others like me starting out on the forum.
I'm trying to get to grips with the fact that getting faster is going to be a long term goal and that gains will be minimal. As for the weight I think it's the running that has reduced the gains during lockdown. You're battling on two fronts here, lockdown and quitting.🤯
Be kind to yourself and stay positive. Accept the run for what it is and look forward to the next.
Thank you, and I can’t blame lock down as go to work most days still
It's a real and raw post which makes it resonate more.
I don't really feel able to give advice as I've not done this plan or really consistently ran 4x a week which must be taxing with how busy you are.
Ultimately the goal is 10k which I feel you can do. It's like a cake really, how you bake it (three runs/four runs, tempo, cadence etc) differs but the cake will be 10k. Don't worry or be afraid to adapt or change if you need to because you need to find a way that will fit around you and that will keep you going. You are working hard and deserve the cake and the cherries. However no need to feel flat. Are you running? Are you out there? Are you consistent? Yes to all of these. Someday it will all align and you'll get where you want to go. Blimey one day you could probably just go for it and do it!! Walk a bit if you needed but if you really had to, you could do it.
Thank you, I have run 8k so yes i probably could but Willow not which is why we are following this plan because it’s boring for him sitting in the car waiting for me to finish 😀
It just came as a shock pushing ourselves instead of plodding along chatting and singing
There seems to be a lot going on here Sola! You didn’t have your heel raise in so you ran crooked- which is enough to make me wince! I hope there aren’t any repercussions! You were trying to run a bit faster than you usually do, so that was different . You struggled. a bit with your quit smoking weight (I love that description!) . You thought it was slow then found it was your fasted 3.2k and you had to walk a bit. And to cap it off you met a runner who didn’t say hi . But, hey, you said it was a perfect morning and you know that most runners are lovely folk who wave, smile or say hi so I say forget about those who don’t! Don’t give up on your plan - you’ve got this far and you know deep down that you can do it! Have a great weekend.
Thank you so much, yes the crooked running was a bit strange to start with,
I’d like to continue the plan because it means we are running more together
Oh i get cross with my weight, I’m not overweight as such but none of my before i quit jeans do up now, and when my legs ache running o always blame the extra weight i am carrying
I think it was because he was just so fast that got to us both a bit
I’m so pleased to have got rid of the patches though, they are quite expensive and i missed out on getting them on prescription because covid shut down the smoking cessation clinic just before my first appointment
We are pretty chuffed really most the time just because we still get out there and run
Weight is a royal pain in the ....! We struggle so hard to lose it, yet still our clothes refuse to acknowledge it and one look at the biscuit tin and we’re right back where we started! You’re not alone in that, it’s been a feature of my life for as long as I can remember! I’m so slow that I always assume I’m going to be passed by a speedy gazelle - I look on enviously and then come back to earth! Happy running!
Well I loved your post. You might think you're not going faster but remember when you started c25k and how tough those 60 seconds were and look at you now. You are both doing great irrelevant of speed etc.
Don't worry about the weight gain that will go eventually. When i stopped I put on over 4 stone , I also blame the chocolate 🤣🤣 . But I've lost all that now and even more.
Strava is a bit scary, i had a look and it said i was with someone so i clicked it, found him!! the fast runner, he did 10k and about 5.15 per k I had a sneaky look at his profile pic and reckon he’s about 20 years younger than us so now I feel a bit like a pervy stalker 👀
Hello WillowandSola I can see that getting up and getting out here is a real joy and tonic (not G&T although that can be)! If I have learnt anything since starting C25K nearly 12 months ago it’s the determination and consistency of running every week with a plan and that’s exactly what you are doing plus keeping us all updated with your great posts. Keep going, every small step and every second on the clock gets us to where we want to be, as for the miserable so and so he needs to lift his head and look at the world and the people around him, he’s missing out big style. Stay with your plan! 🏃🏻♀️
Thank you, I saw him on strava and he was doing a planned run and over 10k so he was probably concentrating, I found it a bit scary when strava said i was with somebody and when i clicked it to see who there he was
Maybe you are trying to do too much at the same time W&S. The advice on here is that you shouldn’t increase speed and distance, so maybe be kind to yourselves and run at an easy pace, especially as you are running 4 days a week. Choose one of your short runs to do speed intervals but take the rest real slow. Your main aim at the moment is to get to 10k so don’t lose that focus. The rest will fall into place as a result.
I also lost speed since my time on the IC in March, so I know how you feel. But it was by being in a hurry to get back to previous distance and speeds That I then ended up Back on the IC. I’d say just listen to your body and don’t over analyse it all. Sometimes I think our tech makes life more difficult by giving us too much information.
Thank you Dexy, i think it was just a bit of a shock to work at it a bit, we’ve been lazy and just plodded along singing along to our music, thinking back to last year C25k was way harder and we mostly limped home gasping for breath and that was several minutes slower than we are now so we have come a long way
We well remember when we thought how wonderful we would feel if we managed to run a kilometre in under 11 minutes and there we are moaning because we can’t quite get under 8
Well I think firstly you deserve 3 cheers for quiting smoking 🎉💐 Although I'm not a smoker I've friends who were /are and I know from them the real struggle it is to stop. As for weight I've put on weight since running ☹️, probably not runnings fault more like lockdown boredom 😂
And as for the running as everyone else has said sometimes we need to remember how far we've come since starting this running obsession. And you are getting out there FOUR times a week! I can only manage 2.
If you'd read your post written by one of us I know your reply would be full of positivity and inspiration 😊
Thank you, I sometimes think maybe quitting cold turkey would have got it over and done with quicker but needed the patches and gum in the beginning, now though i don’t have to worry about whether i’ve got enough patches or if it’s fallen off, one floated away in the sea and it was a real mission to catch it but couldn’t leave it to pollute the sea, one flew off as i ran home into a busy road and to m shame i left it there, i didn’t want to risk getting run over
Oh dear, you don’t sound like you are enjoying either the plan or the runs as much as you used to. You need to boost your confidence in both the plan and your abilities, surely the improvement in time for today’s run should do that. A note on fast runners - my son-in-law can run a 4min km, however he’s only run 4 times in August, and actually only 4 times in July also. He only does runs up to 5k. So that’s a maximum of 20k a month. He may be fit but who are the ones with the stamina and determination to run for long periods of time numerous times every week? Take heart. Happy running 🤗
Having followed one of these Garmin plans already, I thought I wasn’t really improving but at about week 8 I suddenly knocked nearly 2 mins off my 5k PB. It was as if everything had clicked into place.
I don’t always stop when my workout is complete either. Most of the time I hit the lap button and carry on to round it up to a full Km, so if I’d done 3.4, I’d carry on running to get to 4.
I think the key is to be flexible, if the negative splits aren’t working just do the run but at your pace.
You also have to remember how far you have come since January!
Thank you so much, i think it’s partly because most of these runs are either 3.22 or 4.85 and until we started I was gently running a couple of 5k’s a week but it’s taking time to get used to running 4 times a week and hard to fit round work
Ah WillowandSola it’s not depressing 🤗 it’s just testing and actually, it’s just today’s test too. Maybe you weren’t intending to do a ‘benchmark’ run, but that’s what it sounds like to me.
You just ran your fastest 3K!! I repeat....you just ran your fastest 3K!! That’s a success to me!! Somehow it didn’t feel as pleasing, but No run is depressing, because the run was run!!
What I can say is you may both be much more happy runners than the focused runner who didn’t have a moment to say hi. I know which one I’d want to be!! Hands down!! AND WELL DONE too!! 🤗🤗❤️
You are right Fabulous, and there was a rather large lady in a disabled buggy who cheered me on, she was going in the opposite direction and on the last lap i asked her for a lift which gave us both a laugh
Actually it might be, we go from adur rec over the bridge and turn left, it’s nice and smooth most of the way to the bridge then either cross and back the other side or back the way you came, hopefully you won’t be in the wheelchair for much longer
That’s very true, We walk the circuit as it’s about 3k and walk rather than run although have run sometimes, they are doing something to the bank on that side so go along the airport road
We walked part way along the road then were able to get up onto the bank and go the rest of the way, i think i may explore further when we can just go for a run and not be following the plan
Hi willow and sola !! I’ve got my Garmin !! Woo hoo! And looking forward to starting the 10K plan - I’ve selected the one with coach Greg, because it’s 3x a week. But I have a question - does the coach talk to you ?? I did the ‘benchmark’ run this morning and missed having the dulcet tones of anyone telling me what to do ! I run without glasses and can’t see the text on the screen without so I’m hoping in the actual runs I get some guidance. Your posts suggest the runs are quite varied and interesting so I’m looking forward to getting going. Ps very happy to discover that my fitness levels are 3 years younger than my actual age !! 😃
You will so enjoy your garmin, they don’t talk to you but it does buzz when you have to change pace or at the end, i keep an eye on mine but couldn’t without glasses, i didn’t know there was a 3 times a week one
8mins😮 I'm green with envy, still trying to get below 10mins 🤣 but I managed 10k like that and so will you. My weight is 13 1/2 stone and I'm 5'2".
What Im trying to say is its all relative, to me you would be like speedy man as you both passed me,,,, and enough puff to sing at the same time!!!! GO BOTH OF YOU SPEEDY PEEPS🤗
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