Escape to exercise Quest week 3 - Feel free to join.

[Realfoodieclub]

Hi.

Welcome to week 3 of Quest, it seems nice and cool out there today, I am looking forward to a run in a bit of a breeze later. 😀

The C25K Quest which has been up and running, ( pardon the pun) for a couple of months now, is proving to be very useful...but it would be great to see a few more new C25K Graduates joining in.

This is a great place to think about where you want to move forward to...

It is apparent from many of the posts which we reply to, that folk may feel a little lost after Graduation. It is tempting to move on too quickly after Graduation and quite a few folk feel that they take backward steps or are doing something wrong when things don't progress as they think they should.

This is a terrific place to find the advice you need, read other folks' goals, and to encourage each other as you move on to the next running adventure. Listen to some of the seasoned Graduate too, they are a bit further on in their adventures and may be able to give you more in-depth information

So please feel free to join in if you have graduated. We will be running these Quests every month, updating weekly, so don’t worry you can join in any time after Graduation, it doesn’t matter when it is even if it is just for the last week.

Also please join if you have graduated and are on the IC, We have found reading and supporting other runners when we are on the IC helps to keep motivation up and helps to still feel part of this community so if you are on the IC put your name down, we will support you all the way back to your first recovery run.

Here is the explanation of what the Quest is.

WHAT THE QUEST IS:

The Quest lasts for a calendar month

You can join any time within that time.

The main aim of the Quest is to help you find a focus or goal that you would like to achieve by the end of the Quest period.

We ask that you are a GRADUATE.

The main reason we ask this is that while you are doing the programme your plan is very structured, so we wouldn't want the Quest to interfere with that.

Most popular goals are:-

To run three times a week

To slowly increase distance

To train, ultimately, for a specific race

To add In Stretch and strength exercises

As you can see they are personal to yourself and it's totally your own choice.

Every week I will pin a new post where all the members of the Quest can talk about how things are going.

Our advice to you, is to make your goals achievable, as it is very easy to get discouraged if you aim too high. It is better to aim a little lower and feel great at the end of the Quest and add some more in for the next Quest. Motivation is at its best when you feel a sense of achievement through something you are trying to do.

OUR OTHER FORUMS

Please don’t forget that all the forums are here for your benefit. They are set up to help with questions and queries as your progress on your running journey. Feel free to join any or all. You will find different levels of help on each forum, so well worth a look around.

We have the Bridge to 10K - this forum is for runners who need a little bit more technical advice than that, offered on the C25K.

healthunlocked.com/bridgeto10k

We have the Marathon Running and Race support.

Again this is another step up in the type of advice that is offered and it is there if you should ever need it.

healthunlocked.com/marathon...

We have the Strength and Flex forum, which is set up to help you with the NHS stretches and strength workouts. Squats, lunges and the like are all in these programs.

healthunlocked.com/strength...

We also have the Active 10 which used to be called Walking for Health. It is a great forum for sharing your walks on your days off or if you are on the Injury Couch.

healthunlocked.com/active10

Please feel free to have a look round all the forums but also keep in mind we need YOUR help for new runners, so you can support and encourage them on the C25K forum as they learn to run, so they can come and join us on these Quests once they have graduated.

So, please do come and join the Quest...Your Forum Needs You!

Happy running to you all... stay safe and stay running

Oldfloss, Realfoodieclub, & Roseabi. X.

Reply Like (1)

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[Realfoodieclub Graduate]

This week is a big week for me this week. I am marshalling the London 10km at the end of the week, my first time for marshalling. I went for a briefing on Thursday and got told what I am doing, my main job is to support and encourage all the runners as they go past, all 12,000 of them. so I think I have experience in doing that 😀. Have a great week everyone. Rfc x

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate in reply to Realfoodieclub]

What a brilliant thing to do Rfc! I hope you enjoy it, you are well qualified in encouragement and support you do it everyday on here!😊xx

Haveca great week.

[GoogleMe Graduate]

Not a good week for my physical fitness goals. If you only have half the normal quota of energy you can't have everything and I connected with family and feel culturally enriched and have done a substantial chunk of volunteering.

I recorded 52 active minutes rather than 150+ This is a little bit annoying as some time I might have spent on this goal was lost in hanging about for other people. I needed recovery time from other activities too. But I am pleased to say I couldn't resist a little running motion for a very small bit of that, perhaps encouraged by the similar pace of some ultramarathoners whose refreshment station I was near. And Google got a swim, even if I didn't.

I knuckled down a bit better with the yoga 5/7 days, pleased with that, one online class and the rest personal practice.

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to GoogleMe]

You are doing really well with your yoga at the moment, that is great. I am finding that I have to really think about recovery a bit more as I try to add more things in, I think it should be counted as a sport as well as it is just as important. Good luck with this week. Rfc x

[Hidden]

I'm not a graduate yet, I am about to finish week 7, so thank you for this post, as it is very helpful what to do when I graduate. What do I have to do for joining it when I graduate? Thank rfc

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to Hidden]

When you have graduated just put a reply post under the current quest. It will always be pinned, and you can join 😀. Look forward to seeing you on the quests. Rfc x

[Zanzib Graduate]

Okay, I've managed 10+k twice but both times I did the second half on the flat, avoiding all but the smallest inclines. My goal, if I choose to accept it! Is to try and get some hill running in. Maybe do short runs with lots of hills. Oh I hate hills, I really struggle with my breathing, so slow build up seems like an idea.

Good luck to everyone with their goals and thank you to the admin, rfc, for constant motivation. Ps, as a lurked on this site, my second goal is to get involved more. 😄

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to Zanzib]

Great goals, and we look forward to hearing more from you too 😀. Hills are a strange one, I have always had to get used to hills as I where I live they are everywhere out my door nearly, if it is more than 3 km a hill is involved. Because I live in London I have been known to do my longer runs and organise it so I get the bus back home for anything over a12km I really don’t want to finish on a hill after that . Good luck with your quest. Rfc x

[Sarigne Graduate]

Well, since graduating I've been doing the Garmin Coach programme, with the eventual goal to do 5k in 35 minutes. I've had two big 'yay me!' moments this week while following the plan. Sunday last weekend I ran (like a tortoise!) up a hill for 30 minutes, a hill that used to get me out of puff walking up it, and then today I ran for 4.5 miles, not including warm up and cool down - on a much more flat route! I didn't realise just how cool that was though until I told my rather astonished mum, and then I really saw it in perspective, especially when you think about how the early weeks of C25K felt, and now I can manage over 7k! Crazy. Loving the Garmin Coach programme, it gives me just the right level of challenge.

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to Sarigne]

Well done for you “Yay” moments, it sounds like you are doing really well. The Garmin coach program? That is a new one on me does it come through your watch? I have never looked at their training. Glad it is going so well for you, happy running. Rfc x

[daz1874 Graduate]

After graduating I consolidated by doing week 9 again 3 times and had no idea of the time it was taking. Yesterday I did my first park run in horrible wet conditions and was delighted to see my time come in at 29 minutes. This week I will aim for slightly longer runs and work on trying to quicken the pace at the end. Up to now I’ve just been happy to run for 30 minutes and couldn’t find a burst of speed for the last minute if my life depended on it.

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to daz1874]

Well done, that must of been such a nice feeling when you got your Parkrun stats. 😀, slow and steady with the increases and the end bursts will come with time, not all runs should be flat out, it is great time to teach yourself the slow run and then you can have the spurt at the ends. Happy running.

[JaoJao]

I am still running 3 times a week but have fallen down on the strengthening exercises I promised to do! I will do some this morning x

At Parkrun yesterday I didn’t achieve a PB (I’ve had 5 in a row until yesterday) and I was disheartened that I ran slower, maybe I was tired, maybe it was the weather. I need to read the post c25k faq post again for all the helpful advice I seem to have forgotten.

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to JaoJao]

Not every run can be a Pb, we have to eventually plateaux out, well done for keeping up with the running three times a week. Rfc x

[JaoJao in reply to Realfoodieclub]

I know but I feel I will have many more PBs to come as my running journey has only just started, over the months and years I will get stronger won’t I, and my performance should improve naturally as a result. I had a wake up call yesterday though, something wasn’t quite right and the beauty of this forum is I have a place to come and get support x Without it I would be so lost!

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to JaoJao]

So many more pb’s😀🥇, we do need some slow runs too as they are as much part of the building up as the fast ones and a combination of slow and faster runs will help to keep you injury free. It took me three years to learn to master the slow run, it is actually quite a hard one to do. Rfc x

[Jell6 Graduate in reply to Realfoodieclub]

I'm with you there RFC !

I prefer it, and I think it has made my running sustainable 🤩