4 days in, New Year's resolutions holding

[Yesletsgo]

After a delightful Sunday evening looking at Half Marathon training programs on NRC and Garmin I decided to sign up for both 😂

Monday morning was the Garmin Benchmark Run. I didn't enjoy it at all, no time to warm up properly so although it was short, only 9 minutes, it was all within the Toxic 10. I didn't like having my watch buzzing at me telling me what to do either. Not my idea of fun.

Spent another evening thinking about training. Decided I'd try NRC's plan instead, even though it's 5 times a week not 3. As the long run this first week is 5km I'd like to incorporate my Parkrun on Saturday (if I get up early enough) so I skipped the first run, a recovery run, on the basis I'd already done an easy run and a brisk 3.44 km walk yesterday .

This morning dawned just about dry, if not quite sunny. I had a parcel delivery due at 10 am so left the house before 9 and started the First Interval Run (which I've done before). Husband got fed up with me telling him what to do and ran off ahead, leaving me and Coach Cory to get on with it. Apart from a minor glitch when I missed my footpath (husband has a way better sense of direction and called me to follow him but of course I didn't, which slowed me down a bit) it was all done and dusted and by the time the parcel arrived I'd stretched and had my breakfast.

I think I'll delete the Garmin plan and see how I get on with NRC. Tomorrow is a 25 minute recovery run, then a Fartlek on Friday and my 5k on Saturday. I'm a bit nervous at running up to 5 times a week but am hoping that by now, as long as I don't go bonkers on the effort, I might be ok. Or do you think I should just do 3 times a week - maybe long run gradually increasing distance, recovery run and speed/Fartlek/interval plus some yoga/strength/core work on my rest days?

My number one resolution is NOT TO HURT MYSELF and as the only person I'm trying to impress is me there is no time pressure or any other sort of pressure to achieve my goals.

[LouiseA Graduate10]

Hi there! I followed the NRC plan last year but only did 3/4 runs a week, in any order really, and managed to complete a few half marathons in the spring and summer. I didn’t want to injure myself either, and found the fartlek runs to be particularly fun and gave me a good feeling of achievement each week 😀 I think the five runs a week are wonderful for some people but I wanted to enjoy myself whilst getting there, and think working on core strength (I did a lot of squats…so many squats) on rest days sounds like a terrific plan. Good luck with getting to half marathon distance 🏃🏻‍♀️

[Yesletsgo Graduate10 in reply to LouiseA]

Thank you, good to know the plan can work I’ve done a Fartlek before and like you I really enjoyed it so I’m looking forward to that bit, maybe I’ll just do the runs I like the look of!

[LouiseA Graduate10 in reply to Yesletsgo]

Lol, that’s pretty much what I did, and it worked 😂 In fact, after reading your post I’m thinking about doing it again to get back up to HM distance in a few weeks, just pick and choose the runs I fancy on the day! You can do it 💫

[GailXrunning]

Didn’t you joke on Quest about keeping your ambitions low in January? What happened there?! 😉😂 Or was that someone else?

You can definitely amend NRC’s plan (it says so in the faqs) to fit with your life and requirements. It’s flexible. If you want 3xpw, just design to keep a balance between the different run types. I’m following this plan and enjoying it immensely. I’m only able to run 2-3xpw. Apart from my recent glitch in progress, I’ve generally taken 10-14 days for each stage/‘week’, but am ticking off all the recommended runs, and occasionally adding some of my own ‘stepping stones’ if needed. This is similar to how Frizzbomb67 got to 16k and I got the idea from her. Hope you enjoy the plan too. So much better having the funny coach in the ear than a buzzer on the wrist, imo. I didn’t ever think I’d respond to a virtual coach as well as I have. I do my best to please them and follow instructions… no slacking!!🤣 However, I think I needed a real coach to slow me down on that first speed session with Coach Cory; I nearly annihilated myself.

Oh, I laughed in total recognition at the kind of minor tiff that ensues when one runner channels Coach Cory (or whoever) to their running buddy. That’s such familiar territory!

[Yesletsgo Graduate10 in reply to GailXrunning]

My January ambitions are low, this is about my New Year resolutions lol.This time a year ago I couldn't run, didn't want to run etc. For some reason I decided to do c25k in March and am truly amazed at what I've achieved. My longest run so far was 7km, I just like the idea of getting to 10k by my runniversary. If I can do 10km why not go for the half marathon? I just hope I don't end up being tempted by ultramarathons 😂

The one time my husband heard a bit of Coach Bennett I could tell from his face that he didn't find him as compelling as I do lol! I'm surprised how 'real' the coaches all seem. Nobody else compliments my running nearly as much as they do!

[Mormor1 Graduate10 in reply to Yesletsgo]

I went from 10k to10 miles over a few months ...and then ruled our the hm! Maybe I'll give the training another go. My biggest mistake was to do the 10 miles in June....far too hot.

[Yesletsgo Graduate10 in reply to Mormor1]

Oh, the British weather! Too hot for three months, too cold for six months, too rainy for eleven months and too windy the rest of the time 😂

[damienair Administrator]

Well done. I'm not making any New Years resolutions this year. But I have made a promise to myself to get fitter, shift the Extra pounds and be able to comfortably run a parkrun in under 28 minutes by the middle of the summer. Best of luck on your half marathon training, great to have a goal.

[Yesletsgo Graduate10 in reply to damienair]

Your promises sound like you’ll need a bit of resolve to keep them! I’d quite like to get to under 35 minutes for Parkrun, who knows, I thought 40 minutes was over ambitious when I did my first one! Good luck and let us know when you succeed 😀

[damienair Administrator in reply to Yesletsgo]

Before the first lock down I was able to run 5K in under 28 minutes. I'd even managed to get down to a PB of 25:36. But I'm a long long way away from that now. I'm currently running 5K in around 33-35 minutes. But I've done it before and know what I need to do. Basically I need to put in a lot of hard work. Long slow runs and fast interval sessions.

[nowster Graduate10]

These blasted parcel deliveries!

I had one yesterday (whilst I was out running which they delivered to behind next door's wheelie bins) and one today (which I had to wait in for as Royal Mail don't abandon parcels like Amazon's folk do).

[Hidden]

That is one heck of a resolution to get to HM distance! It sounds tempting to follow a plan like you are doing, but I just fear I will push myself mentally too far again (like I did with the 10 miles) and end up not running again (like I am doing now). Also, I am probably too slow for the plan. While it thinks I am at 10K, I am only at 7K or so and it gets fluked up. But mostly I fear I'd push myself too hard mentally.

Good luck with the plan, will be looking out for your progress posts!

[Yesletsgo Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks BlackScorpion. Part of posting this on here is to motivate myself into trying a bit harder.... BUT avoiding injury is the main thing

[linda9389 Graduate10]

The NRC plan is very popular and the guided runs are great fun. You definitely don't need to do all five runs each week. For a first half marathon 3 runs a week should be plenty - always do the long run and then pick two others (ideally one speed or hillwork and one easy or recovery run).Maybe consider joing the Marathon and Race support sister forum here - it's not as scary as it sounds, honestly; it's a great place for information and to share your experience with others training for their first half.

Have fun with your training, a half is a fabulous thing to achieve 😊

[Yesletsgo Graduate10 in reply to linda9389]

The Marathon and Race Support sounds a bit intimidating!!! I have a bit of imposter syndrome already due to not having managed 10k (maybe I'll sneak a look....) 😂

[linda9389 Graduate10 in reply to Yesletsgo]

The most intimidating thing about yhe forum is it's name!!!! I was a fully paid up member of the Imposter Syndrome Club when I joined 🤣. You can always 'lurk' rather than post if you prefer

[Blackberrypie Graduate10]

I like the NRC plan, the guided runs really work for me. I never did 5 runs a week though. I found 4 a week worked for me: I'd always do the "x weeks to go" run either on a walk somewhere or as a warm up to one of the other recovery runs - it's useful to listen to so you know what's coming up but definitely not essential. Good luck either way.

[Yesletsgo Graduate10 in reply to Blackberrypie]

Good tip about the 'x weeks to go'! Thanks

[Readandrun Graduate10]

All the best with the NRC plan, will look forward to reading how you get on. I did the first half last year after Bridge to 10K (at the rate of 10-14 days to cover each week of the plan) and really enjoyed the structure and the variety but then found the increases in the long runs were too ambitious for me. (Probably at my slow speed I wasn't accumulating enough weekly distance to support the increase.) However, I kept on with the other runs and a shorter "long run" until the app developed a glitch. It certainly helped with speed and endurance. Enjoy and every success!

[Yesletsgo Graduate10 in reply to Readandrun]

Thanks for the encouragement! At the end of the day I'm doing this for myself so as long as I enjoy it, don't hurt myself and maybe improve my overall fitness I'm happy