Consolidation Run 9 -- Inaugural Weekly Virtual 5K

[MontyMooDog]

Back to my local parkrun venue to run my first Weekly Virtual 5K. Thanks to those runners who have contributed so far. It's hoped that we all benefit from this exercise so please keep your entries and ideas coming in.

I've formulated a plan for my weekly 3 run personal training over the next month or so and thought I'd share it with you maybe to help those through Consolidation who are wondering what to do next.🤔

Run 1 is purely and simply this Virtual 5K - no more, no less

Run 2 is a long slow run in the aerobic zone 3 ( for me maybe 7k in 60 mins)

Run 3 is maybe SPEED podcast or hill work or Fartlek

Today I'm basing my Virtual 5K on the STEPPING STONES podcast to try to get some consistency in my pacing over these runs for the next month.

10 minutes at 150spm (steps per minute)

15 minutes at 155spm

5 minutes at 160spm

I realised I'm not going to hit 5K in the duration of the podcast so continued to run at 160spm to the finish line. I found the session quite challenging but once it gets easier I'll switch to the STAMINA podcast which is similar but at a bit higher tempo.

Missed using my own music but for now am using this structured approach to help me lock onto the pace.

Overall was pleased with my run. The STEPPING STONES podcast certainly pulled me along over and above my normal running pace. It's not to everyone's taste but nice to hear Laura again after these 3 weeks of Consolidation.

Have a great week everyone 😀

[PhoenixRise Graduate]

Great time/distance and pace! 💪 It looks like Laura & Stepping Stones is really working out for you!

How do you find the 150/155SPM? I really struggle with them and end up using all my fuel up by the time I reach the 160SPM (my fav pace). I know I couldn’t maintain the latter pace for the full run though so I’m trusting the podcast - for now ...

Liking your plan for your weekly runs. I’m doing a similar pattern:

Run 1 - Stepping Stone

Run 2 - Speed (Short)

Run 3 - Stamina

(?) Run 4 - Free run (own music)

With the aim to join Ju-Ju’s September plan for bridge to 10K at the beginning of Sept. 😱

I start Week 3 of consolidation runs next week and then I might attempt Week 1 of Ju-Ju’s old plan to see how I fair ahead of her new plan for the last week of August:

2.5KM - 15mins

5KM - 30mins

5.5KM - 35mins

💪

[MontyMooDog Graduate in reply to PhoenixRise]

That looks like a good plan you've got there too. Yes I find the 150/155 challenging but feel the podcast helps me maintain my cadence rather than music. When I came to the end of w9r3 I graduated to "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John. A great song but not the ideal tempo to set a 5k benchmark!! The trouble with shuffle play is it mixes songs up at random but will maybe use this in Fartlek sessions to try and vary my pace to match the music beat🤔👍

[PhoenixRise Graduate in reply to MontyMooDog]

Maybe I find 150/155 harder because I’m only short ... to stick to that beat I have to do a longer stride or practically fly between steps! I’ll figure it out ...

🤣 Love the Tiny Dancer graduation song!

So true with shuffle play! Have you tried the Rock My Run app? You can enter your favourite genres and it suggest fully mixed playlists for you. You can select the tempo so the BPM doesn’t change between songs. Pretty sure there’s a 70’s genre so Tiny Dancer may be included 🤷‍♂️

[MontyMooDog Graduate in reply to PhoenixRise]

No not tried that but used Spotify. I did C25K using a playlist of songs that I play with my 2 sons. Mainly classic rock songs but somehow Tiny Dancer and a few others got added to the playlist over time😂😂

[nowster Graduate in reply to MontyMooDog]

This morning's shuffle brought up "He was Beautiful" (Cavatina, Theme from the Deer Hunter) by Iris(h) Williams. Very slow tempo. I'm finding that my natural cadence of about 160/min happens whatever I'm listening to. Except I do "lock on" to something that has a similar bpm.

(Thanks to Terry Wogan for his mispronunciation of her name.)

[Hareshaw-Granny Graduate]

Very organised plan, impressive.

[MontyMooDog Graduate in reply to Hareshaw-Granny]

I need some sort of schedule 😂👍