Three times before I have done the magic plan, slowly, slowly but I have done it. So why am I here again? Maybe I just love it! Well I do love it but I have also been having a bit of a bumpy ride of late!
When I finished c25k in April 2019 my one ambition was to run 5k. I was way off that and in 30 minutes I could just about manage 3.5k. In June 2019 I ran my first 5k at a parkrun. Slowly, slowly I kept improving and somehow in the autumn of that year I found myself agreeing to run the Chester 10k with my husband. Half a bottle of wine may have been involved. It took me so long to build up to it, running the magic plan first to time and then to distance. In fact by the time I ran that first 10k race in March 2020 I still hadn't achieved a 10k run in training but I did it and I loved it. Then came lockdown. I kept on running but much more patchily. In February of this year we moved house. That didn't help matters. I tried to keep up my running but my distances came down and down and my speed stayed snail like. In May this year I started the magic plan again because I was running the Chester 10k in July.
Again I managed to do 10k on the day but it was very hot and very hard and then immediately after the race I was ill with abdominal pain so my running took a big hit. Looking at my strava I see I have run only seven times since July 18th when I did the Chester 10k so just a bit less than one run a week. But at least I didn't give up! But now, one colonoscopy and some treatment and a holiday later, I am feeling much better and I'm ready to get serious again! Serious for me is still slow but I like being able to run three times a week and I like the sensation you get when 5k is easy and comfortable and longer distances are within reach. That feels a way off at the moment but the great thing about coming round again with the magic plan is that I know it works!
I don't post here very often although I read every day as part of my morning routine and I love to see the support and encouragement which keep people going. I am not sure I would still be here without this forum which has often lifted my up when I have felt like giving up and inspired me with its stories of persistence and achievement. So I am posting here to make myself accountable. I will run three times a week and I will use the structure of the magic plan to get me back to the comfortable running which I love. Run one of week one done!
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Gwenllian1
Graduate10
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Well done you! I agree that the Magic plan is just that! Enjoy.I have been fortunate enough to have an easier time than you since I started on c25k during the first lockdown with good health to date and only the normal work and Gremlins getting in the way but still feel , like you, that without the support of this forum I would not still be out plodding around the streets of my little town 2-4 times per week. It's a revelation.
Thank you! I sort of knew this about myself in terms of being persistent, but the whole running thing has revealed to me that I really am reluctant to give up!
👏🏼🎉👍 There seem to be a lot of us redoing some plan or other just at the moment. Well done with your resolution! A plan is such a help, especially when experience tells you that it works. 🏃🏼♀️👍 I am redoing C2-5K after a long break and much reorganisation of Life. All being well, I will eventually trundle after you across the magic bridge. Go Repeaters Go 🎉.
You are so right about a plan! The structure really helps. Without it I would just be floundering about. Yes, respect to all those just cheerily going round again, whether it’s c25k or whatever!
You’re running regularly! How good is that! So I wouldn’t be too hard on myself and if a week only takes two runs, or even one at times, as long as you’re enjoying that, that’s brilliant in my book!
Redoing the plans I find is also part of the joy of running! I still have to get comfortable with the 10k distance but am also very slowly getting there. After I reached my first 10k, I enjoyed shorter runs for a while and then expanded to 10k along a different route again. I came up with that great idea of having four 10k routes in all directions from my house, and that each exploration of one route would be another magic-plan kind of journey.
It was a great idea 😂😂😂 but nature had a different one, and threw weeds, nettles, over growing of fields paths in the way! So I now have to consider the seasons in relation to the routes as well.
And all that makes it a long exploration of one’s own physique vs the natural environment. I really have fallen in love with that process, probably as all runners have in some way. The seasons are so interesting as well, how my stamina, and with it, the chosen lengths of runs waxes and wanes.
So I’d say, enjoy your next phase of your running journey. And re-attempting a plan is actually doing that thing that is running, exploring another boundary.
Really interesting post and wish you a delightful next phase of your running journey!
I love your comment about learning about your physique and how it interacts with the natural environment. That’s really interesting. I too am interested to see if I can get comfortable with 10k as a distance in the same way as I have grown comfortable with 5. Well to be honest I was comfortable with 5. I’m really not at the moment. I need to regain that first! I’ve also done some weights today for the first time and it will be interesting to see if that helps with running or weight loss or both, or I suppose neither!
Brill! And just in case you haven’t discovered yet, we have a sister Strength and Flex forum with all sorts of workouts in our archives.
So feel free to pop over and have a look. I think we don’t have many workouts with weights, but there are some in the archives: healthunlocked.com/strength...
Good luck with the comeback! Lots of us doing that at the moment. I'm teetering around the 8k mark trying to get back to the magic 10 too. We had the determination to do it before - so we'll do it again!!!
It's funny isn't it? I have a bit if a mental block about breaking 8k. I've noticed before that we are sometimes doing the same things. It's quite nice to feel that there are other people out there on the same road! Best of luck with your journey on to 10k!
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