Course completed, surprisingly ahead of schedule

[Ady66]

Today did not go as I planned it.

Given my being over a week ahead of the schedule, as I had been running for slightly longer than required, and so skipped week 7, mainly due to wanting to get to the end of the road each time I ran week 6 I decided that today I would go for the full 5km. My last run WK7R3 was 4.5km and just over 31 mins.

I had hoped to achieve the 5km if all went well today, this in 35 mins. In case I could not get there I decided to only run using WK8R3, but decided if I felt good I would not do the cool down until I had achieved my goal.

Before I get moaned at I know this is not what you are supposed to do, but my belief is if you feel you can do it, go for it.

I drove to the seafront with my wife who has been encouraged to do the course as I have managed it. She is on week 2. She started her run and I started mine but after about 1.5k I realised that I had forgotten to start the training app so I stopped.

That was it, after two further short runs as I could not get into it as I was so annoyed with myself I gave up and ran back with to my wife to run with her.

Overall I had only run about 1.7km"s.

On the way back home I kept seeing people running. it was as if they had all come out of their homes to rub it in. I was fuming.

I was so annoyed that once home I decided I was not going to be beaten and off I went again. Oh it was hard. By the end of 2km's I was getting tired. The earlier run had been in a very cold 3degrees. However, I dug deeper than I ever have on anything, and trust me I have faced a good few difficult things in my life, but I actually ran 5km"s. The last 500mtrs seemed like the first 4.5km's. I was then amazed to see I had achieved it in well under the 35mins I wanted to do it in the first time. I actually managed it in 33mins 12 seconds. Not sure how, but I trust my new Garmin watch. That cheered me up a lot.

So overall I had run for nearly 7km's so I was quite pleased with myself but I'd rather it had all gone to plan. Hopefully next time it will go more smoothly!!!

But that was not the end of it. When Garmin uploaded to Strava, which many of my overseas members of my family use I noticed it had converted from KM on my watch, to Miles in the Garmin Connect App, to KM's again in Strava. Somewhere in this process Strava stole .1 of a KM from me. So now it was only reporting I had done 4.9km. I was furious.

I then spent an hour and a half trying to work out how to change the Garmin Connect application to use KM's. After that I had to work out how to delete the feed from Strava and then get it copied back again from my watch to the Garmin app and back to Strava. Finally I had done.

I sat down last night all relaxed, looking at my Garmin information, carefully seeing how I had improved over the last few weeks. Then it hit me. The bloody Garmin app, said 33mins 12 seconds, as per my watch, but Strava was now saying I had taken a minute longer. At that point I gave up and went to bed. I have no idea why this would happen, it never has before but it seems obvious that I was paying the price for leaping ahead.

I have therefore left Wk 9 as untouched and intend doing all 3, but continuing past 30mins until I reach 5 km again.

The point in my mind is that I set out to achieve 5km and I have done it. I never thought I could do it. So if any of you have bothered to read this far, trust me when I say if I can do it so can you. You will need to dig deep, as I still have to do every time I run, but it is possible. Just remember how many thousands of people before you who thought it was unattainable but who have achieved it after following the program. I just hope I will now have the strength and determination to keep going.

I'm off to Australia for 10 weeks next week and so plan on keeping that distance as minimum distance I run 3 times a week. There is a lovely lake not far away from where I will be that is 3.5km around. My next goal is to see if during that time I can increase my distance to enable me to complete 2 laps of it. Who knows, anything is possible.

[Millsie-J Graduate]

Week 7 in the programme.... run for 25 mins.

Your week 7 ... run 31 mins cover 4.5 k

Week 8 on the programme run 28mins

Your week 8, run 7 k.

Lets forget time running, as you have clearly decided not to follow the programme.

But, what you actually did was increase distance by over 50%. A good route to the injury couch.

Personally I wouldn’t recommend this approach to others.

[Ady66 in reply to Millsie-J]

I cant help the speed I run at. For me it was jogging. At any given point I only ran 3 mins more than the program wanted and that was week 7 onwards. You say I increased distance. I don't think the program sets distance at any point, it merely sets times which I exceed by a small percentage of the total so not sure where the 50% came from. Thanks for the advice though.

[Millsie-J Graduate in reply to Ady66]

The 7k minus 4.5k previous run= increase of 2.5k.

2.25k would be 50% increase on the 4.5k, so actually you did more than that. I just did a very basic calculation as Im sure if you are interested to know you will work exact percentage increase yourself.

[Ady66 in reply to Millsie-J]

Oh I see. Thanks for the lesson but I'm not really sure why you felt the need to criticise. Most people simply give each other praise and motivational comments. At the end of the day it's all my choice and I don't need someone who knows nothing about me criticising.

[Millsie-J Graduate in reply to Ady66]

I am not sure where I criticised? I merely pointed out the increase in distance and potential for injury. As Iannoda states below, no more than 10% increase a week is advised for new runners.

It is most certainly your own choice. I wish you well in your journey.

[misswobble Graduate]

Well done! Do try and take your time though! If you’re new to running its so easy to push too hard and get hurt. It’s not about chasing times, or it shouldn’t be at this stage

“Furious” don’t be. It’s running, not life and death 🙂

Enjoy your holiday. Running in pastures new is refreshing Have a fab time 😃

[Ady66 in reply to misswobble]

Rest assured I only had a time in my head on the very last run, and that was after seeing my natural times for over 20 runs previously. Getting to 5k was the goal. I was very shocked at the time as it was a lot quicker than previously and not something I eas trying for.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Please read about how long it takes for a runner to develop their body (many months) and don't believe that because you feel good you are not going to get injured. Injury often comes without warning but can be traced to the body being asked to do more than it is conditioned or designed to do.

Read this healthunlocked.com/couchto5....

The calls to be cautious are because most of us who have been running for some time have suffered injury even when complying with sensible training plans. It is not a nice place to be. The history of new graduates believing that they are somehow immune to injury and then doing too much is sadly long.

Take care.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Experienced runners train at 20% fast, 80% easy running pace and do not exceed the previous week's total mileage by more than 10%.