Hello!! 👋👋👋 I hope I’m not arriving here prematurely. I’ve only very recently realised that B210k is a forum rather than a training programme (...don’t ask). I now understand where some of you who have helped me on c25k are posting; and where fellow consolidators were disappearing to. My ‘big’ friends are moving here (they’re a couple of weeks ahead of me in CRs). I’m toddling along in their wake, like the pre-schooler who doesn’t want to be left behind when older siblings head off for playgrounds new. It was CR6 this morning.
I (mostly) run with partner M, to whom I channel all things running (Laura on c25k, other coaches on guided-runs, the insights gleaned from these forums, or from my reading).
We’re consolidating and experimenting at this point - just enjoying ourselves, and growing a little more accustomed to our new-found status as ‘runners’. (Admittedly, even ‘baby runners’ still seems a stretch!) The plan is to stay in this relaxed mode for a further couple of weeks or so. Then we plan to build up our distance to 5k. I’ve even ‘expressed interest’ in the Hackney 5k. On 30-minute timed runs we’re reaching about 4k. We’re comfortable and feeling confident about extending the duration of the runs. (Oh, I hope I don’t rue the day I wrote those words!) I’m also becoming especially interested in ‘form’ and ‘mindful’ aspects of running, which have helped ‘bring something extra’ to each run.
Anyway, baby steps....
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GailXrunning
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Keeping it mindful really gets you in the zone! Like a little world of your own. This forum is great - no need to aim for 10k yet, but gradually increasing the length of your runs will get you to 5k and beyond, however fast or slow that is. Nothing like a meditative long run in my book!
Welcome GailXrunning and your running friend M! I'm like you in the sense that I was a bit nervous about my first post to this forum but everyone is just lovely. It's a very similar vibe to the c25k forum as everyone is super supportive and ready with advice for the 'newbies'. It's also lovely that everyone is just doing their own thing as there is such a mix of running aims/motivations. You're going to love it. By the way, it sounds like you're both spot on with how you're approaching consolidation runs and experimenting with them and the fact you're both enjoying them is absolutely the main thing! 🙂
Thank you for the lovely warm welcome! I’m so excited about this running journey. I still don’t quite know how I (let alone M) tumbled into it... a bit of an accident from a day of experimentation with the Active10 app in early September. Within an hour I’d started c25k!
Welcome! Stick around. I was at the stage you're at now this time last year. I had a proper meltdown just after Christmas when I hadn't run for 10 days and felt like a great big alcohol and chocolate filled blob! The 29th December 2019 was the day I decided to put my big-girl pants on and commit to being a runner. I've never once regretted it. What a difference a year makes. This year I'm contemplating running a half marathon on Christmas day just to take my mind off not seeing my family.
Thank you. That’s such super encouragement. And what amazing achievements since the blob-moment! I’m secretly hatching a plan for Xmas morning. (Sshhh🤫, though; M isn’t in on this idea just yet... but with a bit of patience, he’ll propose it himself.)
I'll continue to post my run commentaries in C25K until I extend beyond 6km. Then I'll switch to writing them up here. I've been contributing here since August, but don't feel like I've properly finished consolidating yet.
You are just in the right place post c25k graduation. I played pooh sticks on the bridge for a few months before I started ju-ju’s plan to get to 10k. You will know when the time is right to move on. In the meantime, just enjoy the fact that you are a runner.
Playing pooh sticks on the Bridge! What a brilliant way to see it. I so love that image! Far better than ‘lurking’, which is what I described myself as doing for the first half of c25k and how I’d imagined myself here (and, when combined with ‘bridge’, has the downside of bringing trolls to mind.)
I took a sneaky peek at JuJu’s magic plan and liked that there were 2 ways to do it.
Thank you, Blackberrypie. I listened to/ ran with the first one of these quite recently(or what I assume is the first in the series). Really enjoyed it and am looking forward to trying out the others. The emphasis on patience in the first part of the run has really stuck with me.
I’d also listened to a podcast by Steve Hobbs midway through c25k - playing it alongside Laura. It was geared for a longer run than I was doing, and to more experienced runners, but I just spread it over two sessions and learned some useful stuff. I think that was also my ‘breakthrough’ moment and helped set my direction.
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If you like mindful running you might enjoy the Nike run club guided runs with Headspace. 
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