Since then I have done a few runs, some of 30 minutes (using the app) and some at random times.
I nailed my first 5k at around 40 minutes last week.
Since then, I did a 34 minute run and a 22 minute run. I am kind of enjoying doing runs that have no particular goal. I stop when it feels right to stop or when a route puts me back at where I started.
Thing is, I started this to get fitter. I wanted to be able to improve my stamina for hiking (climbing slopes without stopping very few meters) and to get my heart & lungs in better condition just in case I get this Covid doo-dah.
Considering that I was puffed by the 90 second runs near the start of all this, I have come a long way.
However, I have no inclination to run for hours at a time doing marathons and the like. Not even sure I want to run for over an hour doing 10k. Neither do I want to become injury prone by constantly trying to increase pace.
My first question is, will maintaining this and running 2 or 3 times a week build my fitness at all beyond what it is now?
My second question is - Is this actually enough to become "fit"?
Written by
BarryR
Graduate
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You can be a fit runner but no good at weight lifting.........fitness across the board requires effort in many disciplines.
Running three times per week is probably optimal for a new runner to continue developing their running body. Cross training with other exercises will benefit your running and general fitness. Running twice per week will maintain your level fairly adequately.
To further develop your body you need to push it further, but use structured programmes to achieve this, not random running.
I believe you are better off running regularly and for fun at whatever level you aspire to, rather than pushing hard to hit some arbitrary target.............I know several "runners" who just stopped running after they achieved their target of running a marathon..........
You've touched an interesting point. People doing things in order to tick boxes. Karate black belt who quits after 'graduation' because he got the belt. Stopping running after a marathon. Doing a bungee jump. Becoming a premier concert violinist and then quitting (ok, maybe not that one).
My friend is like that. On his list he's missing running the country and flying to the moon.
I don't have time for that. Karate black belt who quits will be a karate yellow belt in two years time of no practice. A 'marathoner' who stopped after that maiden race will gasp for air very soon again.
It's about discovery and continuous journey. At times about inner craft. You strive to achieve and hone your skills for as long as you can, for me that's the point. I'll never quit and stop discovering music and running, those journeys constantly evolve and bring freshness. But then again, what do I know....😉
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So much for consolidation 
W8R2 Coming up this afternoon. Plan for increasing speed after W9R3.
Graduates - how long before 30 mins is 'easy'
Week 6 run 3 - was it a fail?? 
