Forgive me friends..for I have sinned...

[katee1958]

After graduating at the parkrun last Saturday, I managed to let life, work, apathy and the weather stop me having a run this week!!

I kicked myself this morning and got going, I did my first post grad run by returning to week 1 run 1 of the C25K again, what I did was the 5 min warm up walk, then on the 60 sec runs I went at a fast running speed (that is fast for me I might add) and then on the 90 sec recovery I did my usual slower jog and continued throughout, but instead of the warm down walk at the end, just continued with the slow jog. It felt good.

My aims are not to increase my distance but to try and increase my speed so I can get up to eventually do 5 K in 30 mins, my current park run 5K PB is 42:40 so there is obviously a long way to go!!

I retire in 12 days time and plan to spend extended periods of time over in Spain, so will have to do my own parkruns when I am over there, but hopefully, with no work commitments, will be able to get into a regular running pattern.

I am thinking of looking at the ?runkeeper apps to see if I can keep track of my distance and progress, but not very technical minded and not sure how they work, any suggestions gratefully recieved.

Happy running everyone

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

I think your idea of starting again is brilliant and I am sure that it will help you develop your speed. It is a really great way to stick with something familiar which you know works for you. I just wonder how you will cope with the 20 mins sprint in week 5!

I have used Endomondo and Runkeeper android apps and both have their advantages. Endomondo picks out your best distances 1k, 5k etc as PBs, from wherever they happen on your run, which can be quite motivating. Runkeeper only tells you the time for each kilometre run, ie. splits, but does have the advantage of being able to programme in your own intervals and notifications of time and distance. Both seem to be about the same for accuracy, ie not brilliant. Runkeeper does tell me what my pace was for the kilometre that I have just finished and then throws in a current pace time that seems random. This morning my "current pace" varied between 3.46/k to 8.40/k while the average pace for the entire run worked out at 6.13/k, which may seem like a reasonable average but I know for sure that I was never running 3.46/k!

When they pick up the satellites they are great as a guide(!) and I used Runkeeper today to make sure that I ran over my target of 8k. Mapmyrun is another popular app. None of them are as accurate as the dedicated GPS systems such as Garmins, Nike+ etc.

Enjoy your retirement and Spain and your running. Good luck.

[katee1958 Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Hi Lannoda, I hadn't even thought of that far!!! but then again my sprint speed is probably some one elses slow run speed, so I would hope that I would perhaps manage a faster speed for 20 mins by then?? will try to keep you posted as to if I am succesful...or not.

I will have to look at the apps you mention, and get my son to give me some help if I don't understand them LOL x

[Scipio Graduate]

Hi katee, I'm going to be doing the same thing as you by going back through the C25K weeks at a jog/run instead of a walk/jog. Only done one session of this so far, but it was great & I swear it's already helped to increase my stamina/speed.

Good luck with your retirement - you'll have lots more time for running!

[katee1958 Graduate in reply to Scipio]

Hi Scipio, I think I may well start with the slow jog for 5 mins, intead of the warm up walk next time as well. It made me realise how improved I actually am now, remembering how hard week one was first time around and dying for the walk bits to come

Will watch out for any progress reports from you.

[Scipio Graduate in reply to katee1958]

I'll be checking out how you are doing too!

[waletta Graduate in reply to Scipio]

I was wondering how this was going. Keep us informed. I'm a little way off still. Well perhaps more than a little but I am going to get there.

[katee1958 Graduate in reply to waletta]

keep going waletta, graduation is only just around the corner

[waletta Graduate in reply to katee1958]

Thanks katee feeling much more positive today.

[katee1958 Graduate in reply to waletta]

thats good x

[Twizzle53 Graduate]

Hi Katee, I may take a leaf out of your book and do the same thing. I graduated just under two weeks ago and tried a 5k improver run this morning - 100m walk, 300m run, 100m walk over 5k and found it hard!

I've been using the Strava app to log my runs, tells you distance, pace, time, cals burned. personal best etc. It also maps your run so you can add segments. It is generally quite accurate but depends on gps signal.

Enjoy your retirement, Spain and the running.

[katee1958 Graduate in reply to Twizzle53]

HI Twizzle53, I will look up the Strava app as well and see which I fancy. I certainly enjoyed my week 1 run 1 version 2

[Maria211081 Graduate]

What a great idea! I'm three weeks from graduating still, but will keep this in mind. I bet it's fun hearing the Week 1 podcast again and thinking about how hard it was the first time around! Enjoy!

[Realfoodieclub Graduate]

I am a few weeks from graduating too.m I like the idea of going back and building stamina. I'm not sure what my 5k time would be but I know it is no where near 30 min as it takes me 20 min to do 3.1 km. I use runtastic pro (on android) with an additional heart rate monitor. It seems pretty good. Good wishes for your retirement and move.

[katee1958 Graduate in reply to Realfoodieclub]

I would recommend you doing a parkrun if you have one locally. I started my C25K journey on week 1 run 1 with a parkrun, the 5K took me 48 mins. After the podcast finished, I walked until I got my breath back and then just ran and walked as my body allowed until the finish line. It is a good way to have a timed 5K run throughout your journey. It is nice to see how your times gradually improve as well. good luck with graduation x