Podium back under the stairs. Now what?

[Slookie]

Well, that was c25k then. Completed lap of honour, have done seek and destroy (ahem) all chocolate in the house as a teensy reward, put the podium back under the stairs and the medal is in the fruit bowl. Now what? B210K, that's what!

Found link (thanks ever so Bazza) to B210K and just did run one (gone off you Bazza). Whew! That was harder than week 1 run 1 those 9 weeks ago AND I cheated and walked for 3 mins in between for the last two sets.

Will be using EJBirdy's 'F' word a lot over the next few weeks! F-ocus not F-ail

[misswobble Graduate]

Congrats on the Graduation !!!!! Well done

Bridge to 10 k is tough so do take great care.

[Slookie Graduate in reply to misswobble]

Thanks MWN, I begin to see the B210k is a bit serious! At my age I should be doing something more sedentary like rock climbing or something ...

[Maysie1 Graduate]

Oooh!

I thought the next step was the c25k+, which was what I was about to started doing.

Does anyone have any experience of both the c25k+ and the b210k programmes and could offer some advice on how the two compare?

Apologies for the thread hijack. Hope you don't mind!

[Slookie Graduate in reply to Maysie1]

Hijack away Maysie. I am also interested.

I found c25k very do-able and had the odd off day but managed to get through it without conking out in the 9 weeks. After the first session of B210K I was just beginning to feel a bit demoralised near to the end but gave myself a good talking to and managed to finish at a pace any snail would be embarrassed by!

I lengthened the walk gaps in the 2nd half too (mainly because my heart rate had shot up to 192bpm and I'm not sure how good or bad that is, so rather encouraging death, thought I would step it down in my first week). I did go off too quickly I suppose, so will have to watch that for the next time. Let me know if you try it, it would be good to have a virtual running buddy!

[Maysie1 Graduate in reply to Slookie]

Hi Slookie.

I think I will stick with the c25k+ for the time being as I don't want to encourage an injury. Happy to be a virtual running partner. I am MrMaysie on Garmin Connect. Same avatar as here.

[Vixchile Graduate]

Oh I have done both and I feel I should have done stepping stones for a little bit then be confident in running at 40minutes then did b210k. As it nearly killed me the first week, my knee hurt, I could run any pace. Some very wise person on here suggested that I do b210km,speed or stanima podcast and another run of my choice (I.e hills etc)

This has helped my perfectly and now will be doing 10km this week.

Having said that people have managed to do b210km straight after too.

[Slookie Graduate in reply to Vixchile]

Thanks VC, mixing it up a bit sounds like a good idea and would make it more varied. I really want to do the 10k in order to improve my 5k rather than to progress to longer and longer distances, so not in any particular hurry (as anyone would have guessed if they had seen me hurffing at the end this morning).

[Ejbirdy Graduate]

Woohoo - glad it's taking off !

[Slookie Graduate in reply to Ejbirdy]

I think it's addictive. Laura didn't warn us about that at the beginning!

[paul2014 Graduate]

Congratulations on completing your c25k. Fantastic achievement Good luck with B210k

[Slookie Graduate]

Thanks Paul. Gonna need luck and a bigger battery pack for this B210K!

[Maysie1 Graduate]

That sounds very sensible.

Thanks for the advice and tips. I think I will stick with the c25k+ for the time being and increase the distance gradually.

Hijack over....

[Slookie Graduate]

Thanks KK007, this sounds v. sensible and it would be quite encouraging to do a 5k once a week just to see if things are improving while mixing it up with 1 interval and 1 distance increase.

Not in a rush and, being a wimp, absolutely no wish to make best friends with pain and injury!

[AncientMum Graduate in reply to Slookie]

Cannot recommend KittyKat's comments on b210k highly enough. Unless you are very young, very fit and very strong to start off with, then b210k is just not sensible. As KK said, some people have managed it, but an awful lot more haven't and have had spells on the Injury Couch for their trouble. The combination of runs KK set out is, IMO the best and safest way to build of your c25k success. Good luck with what ever you decide to do next.

[Slookie Graduate in reply to AncientMum]

Thanks AM, sound advice, as ever! I am certainly not young or very fit, but am very (to the point of being the world's most accomplished hypochondriac) alert to changes and twinges and not ignoring them. Years of getting horses fit and having to be ultra-careful with their joints/tendons/ligaments etc. also helps the focus on those little early signs.

Off-topic warning! Horse shoes can be directly related to our trainers: if the hoof is not in perfect balance when the shoe goes on then even just a couple of mm in either direction side to side can cause damage to tendons and ligaments. I never underestimate the value of those gait assessments no matter what level we are running at.

Right, back on piste now

[misswobble Graduate]

Steppings Stones podcasts come first (eg C25k+) and then the Bridge to 10 k. I liked Sami's B210K but I did get stuck, but hung in there and finally finished it but it took longer than 5 weeks. No worry about that though. I loved the music and really enjoyed running to the podcasts. I did them out on the country trails. The music is tailored to the running and it had me laughing out loud a lot!

Sedentary and running are not really compatible Slookie so I think you gotta choose one or the other. How old are you by the way if I may make so bold?

[Slookie Graduate in reply to misswobble]

I had thought the B210K would be similar to the stepping stones podcast but it's a relief to know there is, well, a stepping stone!

I've never been a sedentary sort of a gal but have not done any aerobic exercise for about 4.5 years - new job, house renovation, no time, etc. but ... new job became old job and I now have the luxury of time to get this ole (early-50s) bod back into some sort of shape. That's not to say it isn't in a shape at the moment, just not a shape anyone would want to emulate.

[misswobble Graduate]

Ha ha. I can identify with being a fifty sommat, being one myself. Well nearer 60 but we won't go there

I renovated quite a few houses, doing one now as it happens, but you have to escape it sometimes and I found I like running as you can leave it behind for a bit. It does help burn the calories too in a way that a lot of other exercise doesn't, which is why I like it.

[Slookie Graduate in reply to misswobble]

But the effort required to run for 30 mins must surely deserve more than c.350 calories. Not that I'm not grateful you understand for anything which justifies the odd illegal calorie, but afterwards I could eat my own horse between 2 scabby mattresses so the appetite enhancement:calorie burn ratio is all out of kilter if you ask me anything.

P.S. no pets were eaten during the writing of this post.

[Hidden]

Very timely advice for me, thanks KittyKat. I've recently graduated, and have been looking around for something to take my running further. Somebody kindly sent me the itinerary of B210K just this morning... I've made a note of it but probably wouldn't feel ready for that for a while! The plan you outline is roughly what I'm doing, (or at least would be if my back wasn't playing up) I'm a bit limited for routes around here, so one longish run and one shorter one with a a bit of speed work on the third is pretty much where I am. I was just interested in B210K for later on... much later on probably!