Get back with the programme Kate 🙄

[lightweightkate]

So, you spend months working your way through C25K and then you graduate and it's amazing (really, really amazing) and then you start planning the next steps...

Should I concentrate on speed, stamina, distance? After all I am a runner now and it's all about improvement, competition blah, blah. I've read loads of posts where people struggle with the post grad time and I really have - what should I be doing? Tried speed and big no-no so thought try stamina but wasn't sure. Mrs Decisive suddenly went very indecisive 😂and felt a bit lost

Irish-John wrote a perfectly timed post for me last night - well not FOR me you understand but you get where I'm coming from 🙄 reminding us about running for fun and sheer enjoyment.

I set off this morning back on the programme with Laura's week 9 podcast on, determined to ignore speed and distance and time and just gently run around my new circuit.

It was cool and I ran over boardwalks amongst the grasses, up the new short but really steep hill, onto the flat to meet my old track and there after about 10 minutes I found a really nice pace and rhythm.

I felt tired after 15 minutes and told myself that once I reached the bottom of the big hill I could stop but not until then. I concentrated on my breathing and used my arms to help me along. By the time I got to the bottom of the hill, Laura was telling me I had 10 minutes left so I kept running up to the top and then down under the trees and then Laura said time to stop. I didn't want to as I felt really good and I had a great hill to run down so I just kept going.

Down the hill under the canopy of trees and then down onto the flat again heading back to my start point and I was still running - wow!

Finally stopped after 40 minutes and it was great. It's been my first post grad run where I have run continuously again without any stops and I did 4.4k which is my furthest distance by a long way - I know, I know! I am meant to be ignoring distance but I couldn't help a quick peek 😂

So, lessons for me are keep it slow, try and enjoy myself, don't burden myself with any challenges for the moment and just do more of what I did today, which was about just going out for a run - simple as that

Great, great run - feeling very chuffed 😀

[Jingle_berry]

Great post - bottle that feeling and send me a crate😊. Very well done xxx

[lightweightkate Graduate in reply to Jingle_berry]

On it's way 😀

[Ullyrunner Graduate]

And that, Kate, is what it should all be about!

So glad you rekindled the enjoyment.

[lightweightkate Graduate in reply to Ullyrunner]

Great feeling today - just got to relax about it all a bit really!

[Lavender1962 Graduate]

Lovely post. Sounds like a great run.

[Irish-John Graduate]

Yep! Let's keep the fun in the run

[lightweightkate Graduate in reply to Irish-John]

Definitely John 😀 Your advice paid off

[jamsammich Graduate]

Well done! I always tell myself 'you can walk at such and such' so if I really need to I can but I don't really want to lose momentum by then so I usually don't have to lol

[lightweightkate Graduate in reply to jamsammich]

I know - it's almost like a double bluff to yourself 😀

[Dusky-Chicken Graduate]

I tried the stepping stones on the 5K+ and I've found it enjoyable. It just concentrates on running to the beat and I can ignore time and distance again for a while. Enjoyment has got to be important.

[lightweightkate Graduate in reply to Dusky-Chicken]

is that different to stamina and speed podcasts Dusky-Chicken

[Dusky-Chicken Graduate in reply to lightweightkate]

yes it's just a 30 min run to the beat. I haven't tried the other two yet

[sparky66 Graduate]

Great Kate! Smashing run and just what your journey forward needed.. refreshes the love of being out enjoying the joys of being able.. all our work through graduation was for more than just getting us off the' couch' it wakens our lust for life

Enjoy the journey to your 5k it will come soon , enjoy

[lightweightkate Graduate in reply to sparky66]

It sure does - been aching all day so probably overdid it but a couple of days rest and I'll be out for some fun again!!😀

[Hidden]

Well done ! Main thing is feeling chuffed with yourself.

[lightweightkate Graduate in reply to Hidden]

it is a good feeling when you come back satisfied 😀

[RunaroundSue]

Well, the terrain was different, but that I could have filed almost the same report for my first post holiday run! Except that I did keep on to get to 5k. I lost track ofthe time but think the running was about 38 minutes.

I considered doing a Park Run on Saturday but had a late Friday night and didn't want to rush to get there in time, not that I had actually decided which one to do! I have a choice of 3 or maybe 4

[RunaroundSue in reply to RunaroundSue]

I plan to redo the three 5k+ podcasts, in no particular order just for a bit of structure for my runs.

[lightweightkate Graduate in reply to RunaroundSue]

Does help I found

[lightweightkate Graduate in reply to RunaroundSue]

Awesome Sue

[Jmiss Graduate]

Well done....I need to follow your tips too. Have you done the Coopers test, I was told about it on the park run I did. You run for 12 minutes, need to track on gps, write down how far you run and then do it again about 4 weeks later or whenever you want to, could be 3 months, and you can see how much you have improved. I will do my second one in about 2 weeks if I am back to regular runs by then. It will be interesting to see how much further I can run, if I can run further by then that is...Keep motivated and you will motivate me and others too....