Hi everyone, my name is Julia and I'm running the Bridge to 10K programme following Ju-Ju's Magic Plan (distance edition). I've decided to log my progress during the course of the programme and I'm hoping to provide a motivating read for the other members of this community. I do all my runs on a treadmill and I use a neat little game called Zwift to supplement my training.
This week was tough and I started it in a tough fashion. On Monday I went to a PT to perform a lactate threshold test which included cycling on an ergometer and pushing myself to the very limit on the treadmill. The test properly knackered me but I learned very useful things about my body and how I should train! Interestingly, my max HR is 179 and NOT 194 like the 'one size fits all' formula says! 😅
On Tuesday I joined a group ride on Zwift in which I pushed a little too hard to stay with the peloton and ended up treating the whole thing as a race! I managed to upgrade my FTP to 195 Watts, but I definitely pushed myself too hard. Oops.
Bridge to 10K Week 3 Day 1
On Wednesday I finally did an actual run. As it was the short run of the week, I decided to go for some intervals. However, I was in no shape to run! I had to fight back the urge to puke and I overall felt very miserable. I managed to complete the run, so I'm happy for that!
Week 3 Day 1 on Zwift: zwift.com/eu/activity/87468...
Week 3 Day 1 on Strava: strava.com/activities/57438...
Bridge to 10K Week 3 Day 2
I took Friday off and forced myself not to sneak in even a little recovery ride on the bike. On Saturday I was feeling fresh for this week's 5K and I joined a group run on Zwift. There were hardly anyone present, but I was hunting for the event shirt anyway (love unlocking stuff in games) I felt really good and was eager to push the pace for that elusive sub-30 5K. My legs were willing, my sides were not. Side stitch! I had to stop for a while to recover and jog the rest of the way at a sensible pace. Oops! I did get an achievement for running 100 miles in total on Zwift, which is nice. 😊
Week 3 Day 2 on Zwift: zwift.com/eu/activity/87607...
Week 3 Day 2 on Strava: strava.com/activities/57536...
Bridge to 10K Week 3 Day 3
As this week had gone so terribly I was nervous for today's 7K. We had performed some maintenance on the treadmill as the engine block made a screeching noise (turns out the culprit was a power transfer belt that had misaligned itself) and the running belt was a bit loose because of that. Nevertheless, I started my 7K on Zwift's runners only "That's Amore" route, which is 6.3km long. I kept a steady 7:30 min/km pace and reminded myself NOT to increase my pace under any circumstances. And presto, I ran a 7K without any side stitches and bagged myself a new shiny route badge! My partner was cycling at the same time and unfortunately my HR monitor was poached. 😅 (STILL waiting for that ANT+ dongle I ordered a month ago, Amazon...)
Week 3 Day 3 on Zwift: zwift.com/eu/activity/87689...
Week 3 Day 3 on Strava: strava.com/activities/57603...
This week's lesson: DO NOT push yourself too hard. You'll get a painful reminder if you do. I'm taking next week much easier and I'll stop chasing a sub-30 5K for now.
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week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
