Back to Back 5ks

[bugdoctor]

After graduating 2 weeks ago, I decided to go out of my comfort zone and do back to back 5Ks over the weekend. I live in the Middle East and there aren't many running friendly locations accessible easily. I usually run in my residential compound along the road.

There is an abandoned runway in the city where I live and loads of running enthusiasts gather there by the night to run, train and compete. For the first time, I was confident to go out and run with a colleague. We did 6k in 37mins. My feet were numb after 5k mark but having company of a colleague really pushed my limits. It was tiring but I enjoyed it.

Next evening, I took it out on the treadmill and ran 5k in 32"18'. Treadmill allowed better management of pace. The run was a mixture of steady jog with bouts of sprints. My shins hurt real bad today but I am proud to have managed 2 back-to-back 5Ks.

[AncientMum Graduate]

Congratulations on your 2 back to back runs but do be careful. So many of us on here have picked up injuries after graduating, from over enthusiastic training -too much too soon! Having said that, your times are great and you're so right about the joys and benefits of running with a friend.

Btw, love your username. Are you an entomologist, a microbiologist, or do you heal poorly cockroaches?

[bugdoctor Graduate in reply to AncientMum]

Thanks. I was curious to test my limits and hence ran back to back. Since doing my first 5k, I had slipped back in the comfort zone and wasn't running for more than 15-20mins every other day. It seemed like I would not be able to do 5k again and hence ran back-to-back. Also, I am facing numbness in my feet after 4k. While the suggestions of loosening the laces on the shoes and trading cotton socks for a pair of thin microfiber socks helped, the numbness didn't go away. While I run, I feel like I can run more but the numbness shackles me.

I heal bugs, sometimes, but the no poor buggers in the toilets. The bugs they sent to me are more scary ones, and are usually hidden in thousands of lines of codes.

[AncientMum Graduate in reply to bugdoctor]

Sorry to hear about your numbness problem. There are loads of ways of lacing up your shoes to prevent problems like numbness, rubbing, heel slip etc., not just loosening them. The following link may help. But there are loads of better, more comprehensive information out there if you do a bit of digging.

nydailynews.com/sports/more...

Good luck, and happy code scrutinising

[ju-ju- Graduate]

Well done...but go careful, the body needs its rest days in between in the early days, then you can build up to running on consecutive days.... Avoiding injury...