W4: Wind, aches and a hot Californian Pilates teacher...

W4R1

The alarm went off at 5:20am, the wind had been howling all night and hadn’t subsided. For a split second I did question if I should venture out after seeing the bamboos in the garden bent over at a 90 degree angle. But got myself sorted and left. It was blowing a gale outside and I was heading directly into it, it did slow me down though which seemed like a good thing for the start of week 4. I was surprised when Laura announced we’d only reached the halfway mark of the first five minute run …It had genuinely felt like more! The wind took my breath away as I ran onto the road before the beach, I could taste the sea salt on the wind. the second half of the run was much easier and I picked up a good pace with the wind on my back, the last five minute run was much more enjoyable and I knew what to expect this time. I was amazed at how much farther on my route I’d traveled with the 16 minutes of running!

W4R2

The wind was up again today but not quite as strong. I’ve been experiencing some slight tightness in my right calf since the last run and It was there throughout my warm up walk and first run. I took it really slowly and the stiffness wore off just in time for the five minute run. I could hear the waves crashing as I ran up the beach road. There’s a perfect path that runs all the way alongside the beach for miles, but I’m going to save it… and enjoy it for the very first time on my graduation run, It will be my prize at the end of C25K! The rest of the run went really well and I was pleased with how I handled it. I may just need to work out an extended route for the next run... my original lap has now become way too small!

I’ve decided to start doing some pilates on my rest days. Hopefully It should start loosening me up a bit and strengthening my core etc. I was watching my hot new Californian pilates teacher ‘Amy’ (from YouTube) effortlessly gliding through the various moves.

Easy, I thought. Won’t even break a sweat I thought. She’s just wiggling her arms and legs around…. OK… maybe I’m going to need to practice this a bit more before I get the graceful effortless (…non grunting) vibe that Amy’s got going on…! .

youtu.be/ywJe6ZJhyA0(Not working as expected?)

W4R3

My right leg felt a bit tight again when I woke up today so I Started with some ‘dynamic’ warm up exercises as prescribed by Coach Brian:

youtu.be/4jCDjnzI6W0(Not working as expected?)

This definitely loosened me up so I’ll add this to my morning routine. I’d planned a longer route for today and it was a nice mild start with no wind! The first ten minutes felt pretty clunky, but no aches. The new route mixed things up a bit and worked out perfectly from door to door. It feels like I’ve got these five minute runs now especially the last one strangely, I really feel like I’m in the groove on that run - everything just works.

Now onwards and upwards to the infamous week five!!!

⚡ThunderSloth⚡out.

[Mayanow]

I like your logbook! You are doing really well, incorporating other exercise into it. That will help you with the future weeks!! I'm very "jealous" of your prize run by the sea!! What an amazing treat...

[Hidden in reply to Mayanow]

Thanks Mayanow. Yes, I’ll get myself strong and keep my eyes on the prize! It sounds like you’re doing great with your 5k now that’s brilliant! I hope you have a great run tomorrow... it is tomorrow isn’t it?

[Mayanow in reply to Hidden]

Thank you YES! TOMORROW !! I am stressing a little- just came back with my number,tshirt etc. It's all very real now. But tomorrow i will be ready! #IcanDoThis!!!😁

[Hidden in reply to Mayanow]

You can totally do it don’t stress - you have already done it Mayanow! Let us know how it goes we’re all rooting for you - the finish line is waiting for you 🏁

[Mayanow in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much!

I will come back tomorrow and tell you how it went!

[Elfe5 Graduate]

You are doing really well😃- and yes Pilates is really good to put with running- great for core strength.

Running by the sea is wonderful- I love the celebration run you have planned. 😀

[Hidden in reply to Elfe5]

Thank you 😊 yes, I’ve only just discovered Pilates I think it’s just whet I need... it highlights how inflexible and weak my muscles are!!! If I get half as bendy as ‘Amy’ I’ll be very happy 😆 the celebration run will be great hopefully we’ll get some nice weather towards the end of October 🤞

[Elfe5 Graduate in reply to Hidden]

I go to a weekly Pilates class and it has made a big difference to my core strength and flexibility. The grumbling joints that I had 10 years ago are a thing of the past. Good luck with the bendiness and that beach run- I’ll be watching out for it! 😃

[Hidden in reply to Elfe5]

Thanks Elfe5 I’m looking forward to seeing how the Pilates goes and may consider classes if it works for me thanks for your kind words 😃

[steviej99 Graduate]

Lovely writing ThunderSloth and you sound like your enjoying it so much. I'm 4 runs behind you and hope I enjoy it as much as you. Views not so good from the treadmill though 😊

[Hidden in reply to steviej99]

Cheers steviej 👍 yes I am really loving it. Getting some fitness back in my life has really put a spring in my step. Aah! but you’ll be laughing from your treadmill in the temperature controlled gym when it’s 4 degrees outside and sleeting! ...I’ll be tapping you up for your guest pass 😉

[Mayanow in reply to steviej99]

Get OUT! 😁🏃‍♀️Nothing like being outdoors and seeing how far you're going! Let alone the distraction of interchanging scenery.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Good week... eventful and now you approach the half way stage of this getting stronger by the day. Great job.

[Hidden in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Absolutely, thank you. I’ve got to say your insight and advice has been very valuable on this journey, many thanks 🙏

[ArthurJG Graduate]

Week five is not ‘infamous’ if you base your judgment on posts by people who have actually done it. If you analyse it, most of the posts claiming it’s too hard are written by people who haven’t attempted it yet. If you’ve done week 4 you can do week 5. Week 4 has 48 minutes of running (3 x16) , week 5 has 51minutes (15, 16, 20). So a total of three more minutes with a whole week’s extra training to prepare. You’ll be fine.

[Hidden in reply to ArthurJG]

Thank you Arthur. Yes, you’re absolutely right. To be completely honest I’m looking forward to W5R3 in particular with eager anticipation. Just creating a bit of drama at the end there 😄

[ArthurJG Graduate in reply to Hidden]

The purpose of week 5 is to wean you off walking breaks. Actually the runs that trip more people up are the first two runs of week 6 when the walking breaks re-appear before vanishing permanently from W6R3. Your legs no longer need the running breaks but your brain still thinks you do, so to avoid too much of a shock to your grey matter the walks reduce gradually during week 5 - instead of three breaks in week four its two breaks in W5R1, one break in W5R2 and then none in W5R3. The other thing to note is that most people find the first ten minutes of a run the hardest. Your brain will try to tell you that if the first ten minutes was hard the next ten will be impossible: remind yourself at that point that you've beaten the 'toxic ten' and it will actually be easier for the rest of the run, as long as you don't go too fast of course.

[Hidden in reply to ArthurJG]

Great advice Arthur, this is clearly coming from experience. I’ll watch out for these. The psychological barrier is very interesting and something that I’ll take great pleasure in trying to overcome many thanks for your insight.

[ArthurJG Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Only a little experience of mine, and a lot of reading of other people's experience on here. I'm a newbie too, I only started in May and graduated in August. Most of what I know I learned from other people on this forum.

[AngryFlower Graduate]

Hi ThunderSloth! great progress and I’m very jealous of your seaside runs being here in the centre of the country. I recently added Pilates into my ‘programme of events’ although it’s early days, I think it always helps (lots of things) to be a bit more flexible. Don’t worry about week 5, I did and shouldn’t have, you’ll be absolutely fine.

[Hidden in reply to AngryFlower]

Hi AngryFlower - I hope you’re ok 👍 Yes we are very lucky to have the sea so close. I grew up in landlocked Bletchley but my boys are growing up with the pebble beach as their playground - the problem is I’d only ever want to move closer now...! 😬

I’ve done two half hour sessions of the Pilates now and you can really feel it working your core - I think it’ll do some good. What else do you do in you program of events out of interest? I guess these fit in around your runs during the rest days?

[AngryFlower Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Monday is pure weightlifting, Wednesday is body pump followed by Pilates and Friday is a 30minute CrossFit circuit followed by boxing (heavy bag type) and yes running I fit in in between. It certainly keeps me busy

[Hidden in reply to AngryFlower]

WOW 😲 fairly busy then!!! That’s amazing!

Some upper body workouts are the next thing on my to-do list once I get to grips with the Pilates and running. The body pump and cross fit sound interesting I guess you’re going to a gym to do them, I’ll look them up to find out more - thanks! Good work on your run today sounds like you had a bit of a ‘mare so must feel good to get through it 👍

[AngryFlower Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Yes today’s run-meh!