My first post-grad week.

[karlotta]

After graduating last Sunday I've been having a fine old time with my running. Went out on my newest favourite route on Tuesday and shaved off another minute off my 5K time and ran a 34.25 (exciting to get under 35mins) and again on Thursday (34.39). I tried to go out slower with the intention of going further, but on hearing my first 1km split time I'd clearly failed miserably to do that so pushed on instead!

So I set out today around the roads instead as I think I'd got used to running at a set pace on the other route so thought I'd mix it up a bit. I made a proper effort to go out slower aiming to be running without being out of breath at all and I even turned off all the time and distance audio cues in Runkeeper and just ran. After a while I whipped my phone out of my SPIbelt and had a quick peek while running and I'd covered 7.5km! I felt pretty good so carried on for a little while longer to get to 8km. I really think I could have carried on longer and think I could have done 10km. I didn't want to push it too early though and am aware I shouldn't be increasing distance too quickly! I did 8.02km in 59mins which was about the pace I was running 5km about 10 days ago - plus my breathing was even and easy. Not too shabby!

[Miles_Yonder Graduate]

Not too shabby?! That's great, well done! Glad to hear your running is still going well post-graduation! It's astonishing how quickly fitness and stamina builds, isn't it?

[karlotta Graduate in reply to Miles_Yonder]

It's amazing really! Only a few weeks ago I found running for just a few minutes to be really difficult and now I'm running non stop for nearly an hour!

[Rockette]

Very well done but word of caution don't get too carried away , it's a mistake I made when I graduated & it ended in tears resulting in a Achilles injury & couldn't run for nine weeks . Now I'm not saying that will happen to you , because I think I'm a lot older than you , just be carefull

[karlotta Graduate in reply to Rockette]

Thanks Rockette. I'm sorry to hear about your injury - I'm definitely going to try and take it easy!

[AncientMum Graduate]

Wow, I'm impressed! You sure you're not related to Miles_Yonder?

[aliboo70]

Wow thats really impressive! well done I've not got past 6.2k yet!

[danzargo Graduate]

Now hear this......YOU have done brilliantly, but be careful of your enthusiasm sending you to distances which might injure you! 5K is a MASSIVE distance to cover and you should get used to doing varying times on that distance before nudging forward to further distances. I know I may sound like a killjoy - - - but I am only making sure that you don't go too fast too soon. Give yourself at least a month's worth of 5K as a new graduate before increasing distance. But you know what> You WILL get to 10K pretty soon, but make sure your BODY is ready for it. It IS a very long distance to run for and you MUST be prepared for it.

End of lecture!

[karlotta Graduate in reply to danzargo]

Understood sir! I was cautious of always running at capacity at 5km and figured running easier for a bit longer might build stamina better. What's the best option? Keeping to 5K and just varying how hard I push?

[danzargo Graduate in reply to karlotta]

If I were you, I would do about 5 or 6 %K runs and measure them - using your watch or ENDOMONDO or whatever app turns you on. It's only by getting to know your body and comparing it with stats, that you will know how and when you can advance your time and efforts.

I bet you increase your 5K time within a month!

[karlotta Graduate]

That seems reasonable... think I'll scale it back a bit for now - but nice to know it's there for the future. Thanks for the advice!