I've graduated twice. I had some concerns with back pain but after reassurance and exercises from a physio I was ok and pain free.I'm 66 and I haven't run since my school days (and occasionally when I was late for a work meeting).
Since the second graduation I've run 5k in 35 minutes and 5.8k in 40 minutes. I'm not sure what I want to set as my next goal apart from keep running - I love it! I'm a solo runner and not sure if I'd enjoy group running (introverts are us). Any suggestions?
You’ve done brilliantly! Congratulations and great to see you here!
Regarding goals, it’s very personal. What would you like to do? It’s common (but absolutely not compulsory!) to continue building distance. We’ve actually got a group 10k going at the moment. There are details here with links to all the posts so far(we’re only just starting week 3 today and week 4 will start on Jan 29th because of the bad weather!). You’d be welcome to join and can give you some tips. It sounds like you’ve run something similar to week 1 and 2 of the time based magic plan….
healthunlocked.com/bridgeto...
It might be that you’d like to try varying your route by running new places or adding hills. You might fancy a parkrun or training for an event. You might just want to keep going in the same way you’ve been doing! All those things are valid. It’s good to take care about increasing gradually-that’s the main thing to remember.
Why not take some time on your next run to have a think about what your dream goals might be. There’ll be people here to share their experience and point you in the right direction when you’ve got some ideas!
I've joined Bridge to 10k as suggested and yesterday tried my first unguided run with the Nike Run app - went well, less interruptions to my music.
I'll see where this takes me without breaking any records. I see Nursey next week (annual check-up) so it will be interesting what feedback I get from the medical world.
I have been planning to have walking days in between the run days - I thought it would be useful to find new routes.
Thanks for the advice and guidance.
I found solely trying to become faster at a particular distance was unproductive and led towards injury.
I'm also a mostly solo runner, having only done one paid-for organised run event, but I do parkrun most weeks.
What I did instead was to gradually extend the time and distance I was running, eventually finding that the half marathon is a good distance for me. At my peak (a couple of years ago) I was doing a run of that distance at least once a month.
I can still do those sort of distances, but I'm increasingly finding it difficult to find the time to do those longer runs.
This is a really good point! Going longer before going faster is usually a much better plan.
Hope you can find some time for your runs…send some my way if you do! It’s hard when life is busy!
I’m mainly a solo runner. I did C25K about 8 years ago and I have been running since. For me personally what has kept me going is parkrun. It’s free, you can walk it, jog it or run it. You get an official finish time after you cross the finish line and it takes place every Saturday morning. I train during the week and every now and then I try to improve my finish time at parkrun, but mostly I just turn up and take part. I know that you prefer to run alone, but it’s nice to run in a crowd. You could just turn up, do the run and split straight afterwards if you didn’t fell like talking to anyone. You should give it a go.
Also newer Garmin running watches have training programs built into them. I got a Garmin Forerunner 165 towards the end of November. I’m 7 weeks into a training plan to break my parkrun PB and run a sub 25 minute 5K. I’ve set a race date for 22nd of March. So this is keeping me focused and motivated to keep getting out the door 4 times per week.
Your only commitments to parkrun are:
- Turn up about ten minutes before it starts (9am in England and Wales, 9.30am in Scotland and Ireland).
- Have your barcode with you if you want to appear on the official results board and get the time it took you. (No barcode, no time.)
I prefer the quieter events, preferably under 100 participants, though I will compromise that to do a new venue if I'm in the area.
My running story shares several aspects in common with your own. Although I'm a solo runner too, I DO go to Parkrun every week as a sort of goal/benchmarking* of progress (if any!!). *Everyone's results are age-graded and for me this is the most important metric.
The advantage of being a solo runner is that you can go when you're good and ready, but the corollary is that it is easier to 'cancel on yourself' too!
Parkrun is free, non-competitive, genuinely supportive and full of folk like us - the 'just get round' brigade - although your 35 min 5k is creditable so kudos for doing it (my time is similar currently, I'm 69). So, if you've got one near you I can't recommend it highly enough. If you go, don't forget to sign up and take your barcode along which you require to get the results sent to you. Good luck!
There is a local Parkrun but at this time of year the route is not great due to the flooding of the normal route. I might give it a go once the ground's a bit more solid.
I nearly did a 5k event in the autumn but when the organiser said the slowest runners did it in 39 minutes I got cold feet. I might try it next time.
Thanks for the kudos 😁😇
I hope that you do give it a go when conditions are suitable. Remember - Parkrun isn't a race - there'll be some Young Turks go haring off inevitably, but the vast majority of us plod round and some folk walk the entire course, which is great to see; we all have to start somewhere and Parkrun is there for that reason👍.
Edited to remove an erroneous bracket😀.
1st Post since Graduating C25K
Rainy runs
Woo hoo! 5k personal worst, but so excited🎉
A Double First! And a Double 5k 🚶♀️🏃♀️
5K 😺
