A belated catch up!

[Davidnotarunner]

Haven’t posted for a while, mainly because my experience of consolidation has been…. Well…. Horrible?

Kind of.

I completed C25K some weeks ago (5?) and since then began my consolidation weeks… however -

First run - moved to Zombie Run, missed Laura App. Struggled to find a reason. Sluggish and irritated. Dehydrated. Had been eating badly. Gave up after 17 minutes. Walked home depressed.

Run Two - skipped it.

Run Three - back to Laura. Repeated week 9 run 1. Made good distance and felt wonderful again!

Weekend Break.

Run 4 - Week 9 run 1 repeat. No problems.

Run 5 - skipped it

Run 6 - week 9 run 1 repeat but dreaded injury. I seem to suffer from a tendinitis in my left hip. Pain level 4/10. Completed the run.

Weekend break.

Run 7 - skipped it. Hip pain excuse.

Run 8 - skipped it. Hip pain excuse 2.

Then the change occurred. As you can see my head gremlins were winning. And I needed to do something quick! All the way through C25K I have been running after work. 6 pm ish? But it’s getting dark and cold, and I’m getting good at creating excuses over the course of the day. However, I’m an early riser… so let’s try it.

6:30am and I’m out with the C25K app in my ears. What a difference! One week later and when Laura says “well done that’s 30 minutes” I keep running. Ending my run at the seafront wall, birds chirping and the sun slowly rising! And that’s 5K. Haha. I’ve done it!

This morning I ran 5K in 30.56 minutes. What an achievement.

Please don’t think I’m telling you this for any other reason than to say, some of us are not natural runners. Some of us have very loud Gremlins that can make up wonderful excuses. Some of us have bad days, and even bad weeks. But never give up. Just get back on the horse.

When I started C25K I couldn’t run for the 60 seconds. Now my worst day is 17 minutes. But my good day is a sub ten minute mile and close to 30 minute 5k.

Keep going everyone. It really is life changing. Even at your worst. 😊

[roseabi]

Amazing!! Well done xx

[Hidden]

Fantastic post and really motivational. Its good to know that lots of folk have good runs, bad runs, good weeks and not so good weeks.

Its also great to beat those gremlins with a sudden change. Well done.

[Instructor57 Graduate]

Wasen't sure where this post was going at first BUT ended well I'm pleased to hear !It's not uncommon to loose focus just after graduation, and this is why we have the 'Consolidation club' (in pinned posts)

It's a great place for new graduates to talk about these things and get suggestions and advice and chat to other new graduates.

Many do as you did and go back to running week 9 run 3 on the app .

I'm happy to hear you are back on track !

And fending off those Gremlins !

Well done !

Why not pay us a visit at the 'Bridge to 10K' forum (as well as posting here !)

Happy running !

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Well done on perseverance.

I get the impression that you may be pushing too hard on most of your runs, simply because you seem to equate a good run with distance covered.

To continue to build your stamina, strength and endurance, and ultimately speed, you need to spend 80%of your running time at a nice easy conversational pace.

Checkout the FAQ Posts healthunlocked.com/couchto5... especially the one about getting faster.

Running in the morning is always favourite for me. Nothing beats a sunrise run.

[BS44 Graduate]

Well done on your run and beating the gremlins. 👏🏻

I found the gremlins harder to beat than the actual run sometimes but the more you run the easier it gets to beat them 👍🏻

[John_W Graduate]

Well done for thinking through your difficulty and finding a solution that works for you.

There's no stopping you now!

[nowster Graduate]

It sounds like you're getting out before the gremlins have woken up. 👍

[Hidden in reply to nowster]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Top shout 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Aerialgazelle Graduate]

A good read. Comforting to know it's not just me that finds consolidation a bit tough.