Satchel out, new uniform out, new pens - all done in readiness for my first run post graduation (still can't believe that bit though). Actually all that I really did was download a new interval timer app and give myself a new set of reminders to keep running. This now is the closest I get to Mr Smooth.
Mmm what to do? The grown ups are waiting, there's the stepping stone podcast, now talk of negative splits, interval timings, Tabata - what the heck is Tabata?
So I decide to take advice from our mentors. IannodaTruffe has posted links previously about the 10% increment rule on distances and how to avoid burning out so soon after graduating. So I kind of adapted it, in truth I've never managed to really know what distance I've actually run - the run and walk combo has been about 5.5 - 6 kms. So I thought I'd do 10% increments on W9 but in timing not km. So today was 33 minutes running, and I thought I'd do that all week, see what distance that works out at and take it from there.
Out on the slope of hope, all quiet today, the wind has changed, the tourists are going home and we are reverting to sleepy normality. Up the hill that kills, to Lover's Lane, I pass Anouska and Albino, can't stop its only 10 minutes in. Then back down Lover's Lane and to the hill that kills, but instead of doing the usual route I decided to be brave and change, back onto the slope of hope and then to the bendy, scary road.
It is bendy and very scary, the traffic roars past and a thundering lorry means I jump onto the verge. No-one expects the Spanish Inquisition or in this case a podista running. My weapons are a Monarch red face, a raspberry bellini running top and quite clearly an element of surprise. I wimp out as the lorry is bigger than me and turn back to the slope of hope, which is only hopeful because in the mornings I walk down it. On this run I have to run up it, aha flaw in my plan. Slope of hope has become slope of no hope.
I think I have the new challenge sorted, first off get up to 5K, secondly actually run up the slope of hope in its entirety.
Thanks to all the lovely people who congratulated me on graduation and very nicely said I should continue posting. If it's okay with you, I thought I'd pop up from time to time, not every run though, as this space is really for those on their C25K journey.
I'm really interested in hearing how new graduates proceed without the programme. I am not at all interested in measuring my progress to be honest (maybe that will come in time) - for now I am happy just to be out in the open air and enjoying the process, so I can't really imagine myself doing the serious stuff post-graduation, but at the same time I'd certainly not want to lose that sense of direction and achievement that C25k gives. I like the simplicity of this programme but can't imagine myself bogged down in the minutiae of anything more specialised.
Obviously I still have a way to go before graduating so I shouldn't really get ahead of myself - I may be entirely wrong about all this.
No me too this is more about the doing than anything else for me. The 5K I should be able to do. All joking apart, I did miss Mr Smooth and the help that milestones and encouraging words give. My distance today I think was actually shorter than my graduation run. But I have read many stories of graduates overcooking it in enthusiasm on speed and distance and then getting injured. I want to avoid the injury couch if at all possible (when I was first on here I thought IC was Intensive Care!)
My explanation of mine; I decided to keep a selfie photo log with pic taken after every run and in my first I just looked horrific! So it was appropriate! (Still is - just did run 49 last night!)
So I thought Rignold sounded like a Viking warrior and was absolutely convinced in my JCR world that I was correct. How wrong can you be - the name is from Hugo Rignold conductor of the Birmingham orchestra. But sweatyfaced , okay it's exactly like that wood preserver, it does what it says it does on the can. ... there's loads of really interesting ones. Like slinky-malinki why?
Totally agree with your post. I didn't start this running malarkey to be a serious runner. Just happy to be fitter and enjoy the fresh Bournemouth/ Kefalonian air and in the winter the treadmill. So I run 4-5K 2-3 times a week , dog walk/ Pilates in between It takes me 40-45 minutes ( that's as technical as it gets) I enjoy listening to my music and just plodding along with my thoughts. Sometimes with a daughter mostly very happily on my own . I hope to continue this for the foreseeable future.
And you know we are a broad church us runners, room for every one of us. Whether the super fit, serious ones, or at the other end of the scale, like me running for fun... it's glorious whichever route
Totally agree with you ! I am just totally and absolutely thankful that I can run/jog/shuffle 5K at the age of 60. The younger folk of course have the energy and technology skills to take it forward and rightly so . We are indeed a broad church. I will miss your posts they have been massively motavational so please pop in occasionally. I still enjoy reading how everyone's journey is going 😉
Very true. Knowing how I am, I wouldn't be surprised if eventually I were to be seduced by all the technical malarky! I am a horror for monitoring, planning and list-making. But for now I'm just taking this as it comes and enjoying the simplicity.
New challenges, new ideas, new goals, old us It is C25K forum, but your posts are so inspirational for all on the journey that you should just keep posting regardless of your running journey point. You've been in our shoes and you know how much we struggle sometimes
Slope of hope - hopefully you will run all the way up?
With monarch red face you should win with the lorry! Just do the crazy bull thing - run
10% increase is a good and safe way to do it. Your plan sound surprisingly reasonable, go girl!
Thanks Iga Mr JCR told me he has the strava details on the slope of no hope for distance and gradients. That way I will really know whether it can be done soon enough!
That's good enough I potted around doing the occasion run until I had Knee pain and then stopped during the winter months lazy old me and finally got going again when the days lengthened and had no intention of going upstairs but one went for a run and ended up doing 10k so had to stick to 5's and 4's and the odd 6k
I figured it was better to be safe than sorry and not get hyped up by the G word. Still have to work out this pesky technology though so that I am tracking actual running rather than both the run and walk, not for any reason than I'd like to know I've done 5k. Time immaterial at the moment. I have in mind doing proper 10k runs, I did run 10k a couple of years back, but realised it was always downhill... This time around actually scrub that last phrase, in my new consistent running life, I want to do 10k up and downhill. There's a 10k challenge here each August 'Through the olives and vines' - it is brutal, but I thought one year away, it should be doable....
Sounds like a good plan and quite a nice long lead time to do it they do a 10k in my village in June but I want to get a few more 10's done before I have a go at that.
Well done on your 1st day at big girls school 👏👏 you have to stick around and continue with your fabulous posts, we all love to hear your news and advice, good luck to all your future runs 😀
Ah but we all love your posts. Funny, insightful and always inspiring. You now sound like you have included the obstacle race into your running, which must give you extra points. You are doing so well Hidden , keep it up. And keep posting as often as you like, as I know we all look forward to your escapades.
Well todays the day for me, will be quite late this evening but the running shoes will be on and away I go and then a little like you wander off into the wilderness graduation trying to sort out where I go from here
Good luck for tonight, but you know you won't need it, as your pace and distance has been brilliant. Chunky monkey and I are waiting for you patiently today. and you have a better idea than me because of your 5K run coming up. I am just random running around Italian lanes frightening lorries... Big virtual runner hug from Italy. Forze Signor....
Good luck Hidden , keep us informed how you're getting on as I'm in the same boat myself. Thinking of just repeating Week 9 for a couple of weeks so I have a solid base and then hopefully increasing distance up to 5K and, who knows, maybe even beyond.
I thought about doing the stepping stone podcasts but wasn't as keen on the music, my taste is a bit 'unique' (aka naff). Might give them another listen. Also going to look into some new places to run as I enjoyed running in different areas on holiday and I'm going to get easily bored doing the field every day. I also need to add in some slopes of hopes but maybe not hills that kill yet. East Anglia is a bit flat!
Yes looked at stepping stones and I didn't like the look of them just yet.. my new bit is the scary bendy road minus the juggernauts. Still we can see what the first month of the new school term brings!
Might not be possible but if the slope of hope is resisting your slow and small steps, and it's safe enough to go up and down, you could try the back-stitch method (I used it to beat my own nemesis into submission). If it's feasible all you do 😉 Is pick a spot ahead (preferably a non-moving object, lamp posts ideal but I guess probably not available to you) run to it, then turn back to start and then run past your marker to another one, turn and run down one, back up two, down one, up two etc until you get to the top. The down gives you a bit of recovery time and the whole thing adds to your distance.
That is a very clever method, i might have to mentally tag certain olive trees, but yes that seems doable. Okay Sunday involves tree tagging... thanks so much for that one. Definitely worth a go, especially as the first part of the gradient is 15%....
JCR - your first outing as a qualified runner 👩🏻🎓🏃🏻♀️ Fantastic. And after the celebrations as well... 🍷. I see your medal gleaming in the sun ☀️. Don't go getting squashed by lorries after your hard work!! So you are still dating Mr Smooth? Mr JCR is an understanding man.... I hope you do keep posting and keep keeping us entertained & motivated. Maybe a weekly wag, a bi-weekly blog, or at least a monthly memo!! Happy running 😊🐒
Okay chunky, decided 2/3 times a month would be okay and keep me off any restraining orders! Mr Smooth is now a writing only affair, I am trying to see if I can break his podcast down and reuse him for the next few weeks. But I think reluctantly I should let go... love the alliteration too.... oh and isn't it fab that rolysmate is with us too?
I've been starting my Fitbit as I set it for my warm up walk. Been thinking about that and maybe I shouldn't really be starting it until I start to run? My run walk combo has been about 4.5km and I worked out that my 25 min run is about 3.5km so a way to go yet. I think this morning I'll press start at the run and see how I go.
Yes, funnily enough just got back from my 2nd grown up run and I set map my run off with a 5 minute delay (to allow for the warm up) - today was supposed to be a 33 minute run, but because MMR was monitoring my km when the 33 minutes came up on my interval buzzer, I carried on running because I thought I'd done just over 4km. So today I actually did a run of 5km and it took me 37 minutes. Trouble was I focussed on the distance, and as a result didn't manage my route so ended up walking 3.2 kms back home again!
So now I know in the current temperatures what 5km is timewise as a pure run.
With your statty head on, just so you know Mr JCR did the Strava thing on the slope of hope, for me to run up it. It is a 600m stretch, rising 30m, but the very first part of the gradient is 15%. So that part of my challenge waits for another day!
I will keep posting, just not quite as often... thanks for the support
That's amazing!!! Well done. Well you've made my mind up. I'll start my Fitbit run at the end of the warm up and stop at the cool down. After all the target is to run 5km without stopping eventually. I do need to tweak my route today as my 25 minutes ran out right outside my house on Friday and I had to them do a loop around the estate to get my cool down walk in. Just been discussing with my husband about a different one but it has a steep uphill right at the start. But then a nice gradual down hill for the rest of the run. Decisions decisions. X
I wasn't at all bothered about the distance until I hit the podium and then thought I genuinely had no idea what my running distance was as opposed to the running time. And so for me to do 5K I needed some proper calibration. But the hills, I share your pain... if you go up then you have to come down, and if you go down a long way for sure the run back is hellish. Have a good one, looking forward to the report!
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It is C25K forum, but your posts are so inspirational for all on the journey that you should just keep posting regardless of your running journey point. You've been in our shoes and you know how much we struggle sometimes 
New Year's Day Park Run
New month - new lease of life! :)
Nearly at the Big Day
im a big brave girl !!! 
