It's been ages since I posted on this forum we call....er......the forum? Anyway, I thought I'd just mention that I am still enjoying my running since my BIG DECISION a couple of weeks ago. That decision was to jettison my plans for a half marathon. I realised that it really isn;t my thing - long distances I mean. The training was making me exhausted and I even started to dread my running! I know! QUEL DAMAGE!!!
I decided to knock the idea on the head and go back to my usual jaunts along the river, at my own pace and when I wanted. I regularly do 8Ks which seems a lovely distance for me - enough to test you, but not so far that you wish you could get back home and lie in the bath for an hour! 10K will still be my "race" distance which I know I can do in under and hour so for the time being I am content. I do feel like entering another 10K soon as my next official race is not until next year at The London Winter Run. I'll poke about on Mr Google and see what it offers up.
To all new C25K'ers I say WELCOME! I hope you are finding this plan extremely fabulous, as I and many others on here have found. Which ever week you are on, it's not that long until the 9 weeks is up and you're a fully graduated, proper running machine! Don't forget to repeat weeks if you feel you're not ready to progress - a repeated week is sometimes a brilliant thing to do as it tells your brain that you WILL progress on to the next weeks run with confidence.
If you ever run along the Thames between Isleworth and Richmond / Ham and you see a chap covered from head to toe in lycra - it'll be me! So say hello!
Right, time for tea I think. Oohh... and a slice of apple pie....slurp!
Yer pal
Dan.
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danzargo
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Hello - for starters - apple pie - yum yum yum, very jealous!!
Now on to the serious stuff - good for you on making your decision. Running should be about making us happy and fit
Interesting for me though as I have been pondering if I'll ever do a half marathon. I've only ever ran 10k on three occasions but without particularly planning it I have realised that I am comfortably running an 8k every week, some of them on hilly terrain. Thus, why am I so daunted by the 10k?????? I still have some targets / challenges I have set myself which will allow me to steadily increase my distance over the winter. I think I'll make a decision when I've been running at least a year
With respect to 10k runs - what about Movember?????
I think the progression from 8K to 10K is easier as it's a smaller mental step. 10K is only another 12-15 minutes (depending on your pace) on top of 8 and that's mentally do'able I think. I did a ten mile run a while ago and realised that to get to full HM distance it was "only" a park run on top of that! Well sod that for a game of soldiers! I was physically / mentally knackered at the end of 16K and I couldn't even have run 10 paces let alone another 5K!!! It is psychological this running lark and some of us are stronger / weaker than others.
You will get to your 10K. But plan it. Run it in your head the night before. I guarantee you'll do it next day.
Hiya Dan, glad to hear your still doing the winter run, me too next year. I have amended my training plan to suit me, I realise that I need a slow steady approach to my running, so I totally agree with scuppering plans that really don't seem to fit in and if it is turning you off running then it just has to go. I am doing the west london 10km on November the 15 (moved from oct 4), i am taking the training and back to running at my own pace and having fun with it, as it should be. Happy running.
Dan I think your decision is spot on. We're all different and while some people love ever longer distances, others get their kicks from speed or hills (crazy!). We shouldn't forget that running should be fun and that once it stops being fun we lose something from it.
I know what you mean though. The only time I didn't really enjoy my running was when I was sticking to an Asics training plan!
Keep running and posting. You have fans to think of!
What a lovely post! It's got to be enjoyable hasn't it, and I'd say being able to run regular 8ks is pretty impressive anyway. Good that you can recognise what's right for you. Don't think I'll ever be a 10k girl myself, but I do know that now I've discovered it again, I will always keep running, evening if it peaks at 5k!!
Good for you Sandra. I've only been running 2 1/2 years and it took me ages to progress from 5K to longer distances. I was one of those peeps that said with utter confidence - "I will never be able to run 10K"!!
I just did one this morning along the river in the sunshine. It was blissful.
Keep at it. Took me a year to get to 10K, so you have to do things in your own time. Good luck!
I think there's nothing wrong with that plan at all. Keep fit, keep running without killing yourself, burning the calories but not burning yourself out. It should be fun not torture. I think the plans can be exhausting. By the time that race day arrives you're pretty much pooped or so sick of training that it takes the enthusiasm out of it.
You might review the situation though, and if one crops up and you feel like you're up for it, never say never.
It's good just to be able to get out there and run and enjoy it. Long may it continue Dan
That speedy bloke who raced past you in lycra tights and bright yellow top with a bottom like a peach WAS ME!! The Thames path is a most beautiful place to run. Is that your route?
Top decision Dan. Nothing like over-training to kill the lurve. Just you keep strutting your stuff in your top to toe Lycra. The good people of Richmond and Isleworth need their eye candy. Happy running, Sweetie
Sensible fellow! You've got to stick with what you enjoy. Life is too short to force yourself to do things you dread. 8k runs are pretty impressive by anyone's standards!
Thanks UR. Yes you're right - gotta do what feels comfortable.
Hey dan, good to see you are still out and about very valid point about running , yeah all the stats and distance are great but when we all graduated it was the pure joy of just being able to run and important thing not to forget
Since returning from injury I am beginning to think along the same lines and being far more relaxed about how far or how fast or slow I run
I know what you mean. I've seen a few folks on here get the running bug and go crazy, thinking they can conquer the world in just 5 minutes! Injuries always follow "over enthusiasm" I believe. It's really best to be sensible I think and listen to your body. We can't all be Mo!!
I have my hand right up in the air along side Rob's. We started C25K at roughly the same time, and over enthusiasm brought us down at almost the same time I think ^^
Yay London Winter Run! I'm in! Good decision Dan, its no good keeping on doing anything that gets you down. This running has got to be enjoyable and its easy to sneak in a cheeky 10k without it taking over your life, so happy googling! x
Good decision Mr Dan. You are absolutely right. No point running so far that it becomes a chore. You are all ready running further than is necessary to remain fit, so you should just run how far you feel like running
How far you feel like running will no doubt go up and down over a period of time as your health and fitness naturally fluctuates.
My own distances have been lower since the ankle thing in march, but I'm still running regularly, and that's all that matters really
The ankle is just fine now thanks Mr Dan Naturally I now watch out for any similar feeling in the ankles, and would end my run if I felt the same again, rather than running through it as I did in March.
Trouble is, I guess there are lots of other tell tale injury signs that I have not had the misfortune to encounter
Hi Dan, that is a very sensible decision, especially if your love of running was suffering. However, I would say that it is not the distances that are causing you problems ( I remember the joy of your hard won ten miler with TT flooding off the page) rather the training plans.
I believe that most training plans are based on those employed by pros and put way too much pressure on a relatively new runner to fit in a shed load of runs, which, while they may deliver the optimum performance, tie you up in their vice like hold, making you think you have failed if you miss a run, when all you want to do is run the distance on the day.
I am hoping to do first HM distance run very shortly, having built up the mileage gradually with my own fluid timetable and I am still getting pleasure from those longer runs. My HM will be a solitary affair, when the conditions are correct for me, rather than a fixed date decided by somebody else. I know what you mean about a 10k run. It is long enough to be satisfying, but doesn't require much in the way of planning. having had some glorious cross country runs this summer away from home, I still want to push the distance, doing a 10 mile run once a fortnight, just so that I know I can take advantage of the beautiful British countryside when the opportunities arise.
Yes, you're most likely right I.T. I think those training regimes are a bit punishing and if I was younger I'd probably relish the challenge. Thing is you reach an age where one's own stubborness comes to the fore and says "F**k this!" However, my first ten miles with TT was fabulous - but it did make me question if I really wanted to do it ever again! I did - twice - and I found them overly hard to do and not at all enjoyable by the end. I was fine until 13K, then......ugh.......brain went to mush!
But I may take a leaf out of your book and one day do my own secret HM..... (which will immediately become public as I yell it from the roof tops that I've done it!!!!)
Glad you are happy with your decision. Having run 2 half marathons I too have decided they are not for me. I absolutely hated the training. I got to the stage where I didn't even want to leave the house to go for a run.
I know you will enjoy running again now. Good luck with everything.
Ps having some probs with GC atm.. Trying to resolve..
Keep posting. I love reading them!!! I am just about to start week five and never thought I'd actually be enjoying this running lark! Do we get a photo of the top to toe lycra for all those who don't live near you but are now living with an image in their head?? ??!
I'm so happy for you Dan, that you're enjoying your running again. 8K is indeed a respectable distance, and you have a lovely place to run. It's hard sometimes not to "join in" with all the races and stuff that people seem to love, but it's not for everyone is it? Happy running xxx
I am thinking that it is the focus on the number that may be most of the problem rather than 'Where would I like to go? What would I like to see/hear/smell/feel?' which might at any given point happen to be a longer distance. You very clearly have a profound ability to get the most from the running experience - it is wonderful to read your reports of your runs and I am so glad to hear you've 'found your way' again.
Well done for the decision! Sometimes it's hard to admit that we're not gonna achieve a goal we set but that's the joy of running - there's no set rules you can do whatever you want....so I appalled you xxxx or maybe I appauld you 😂
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very valid point about running , yeah all the stats and distance are great but when we all graduated it was the pure joy of just being able to run and important thing not to forget 
Note to self
My first year of running
'Twas a year ago today.....
Thanks all.
To all C25Kers, Race for Lifers, 5kers, 10kers etc..........
