5K re-graduation and pacing to reach 10K

[Friso72]

Hi fellow runners, just so happy to share that I've re-graduated Sep 30 and finally discovered the importance of pacing!

So, I started running again after 5 months of hardly any activity. I went back to W6R1 and worked my way up again in 4 weeks, just in time for our annual city run here on Oct 2. Signed up for the 5km on that. During W9 I discovered I had to extend the 30mins to 42mins to run an actual 5km.

The city run went well, and I experienced the phenomenon where a group actually makes you run faster. My time was 38:20. That's 3 minutes faster than my regular runs and I felt tired afterwards.

A fellow runner then heard about me wanting to lose weight and advised me to slow down to stay in the 'aerobic zone' with a relatively slow heartbeat. In order to stay that slow, I installed an app called PaceDJ (there are other similar apps) that basically re-times any music to a set tempo. It allowed me to really slow down - and what a revelation that was! Running with the music locked at 137 BPM results in 8:50-9:00mins/km and keeps my heart rate at 150 or so. I simply don't get tired! Amazing. My breathing doesn't even quicken anymore, it only gets deeper.

As an experiment, I decided to keep going for as long as I could. To my surprise, I could run 11km and only had to stop because it got dark. Now I realise this was probably hard on my knees so I took 2 days rest after, but I was okay. Since then I've done 7km and another 10km. My body is holding up fine. So now I'll slowly up the tempo and see where that gets me.

This has really inspired me to keep going, so I just wanted to share it here. Has anyone had a similar experience?

[dorarunning Graduate]

Congratulations on graduating for a second time and the successful 5K!

Thanks so much for sharing information on that pacing app, I will definitely give it a try after I finish C25K (again)

I graduated from C25K in May 2020, after falling out of a routine I have decided to go right back to the beginning and currently on week 4.

Best of luck in your future runs, keep us updated on how the pacing works out!

[Friso72 Graduate in reply to dorarunning]

Thanks Dora! Good to see more re-graduates, I’m sure you’ll get there again. Do you find it to be easier the 2nd time round? I did. Laura almost feels like a friend by now, haha. I’ll do more research on pacing apps and post it here. Looking forward to seeing you re-graduate!

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

You have made the discovery that many never make.

Slowing down to the recommended easy conversational pace makes it more achievable and for most, more enjoyable.

Counterintuitively, it is easy conversational pace running that builds your stamina and endurance, not fast running. Elite athletes can spend as much as 80% of their running time at an easy conversational pace.

You may find browsing through the FAQ Posts useful as they cover a range of running related topics healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

Keep running, keep smiling.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

... and so say, all? of us x

[Friso72 Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Thank you. You are so right about that ‘easy conversational pace’. Now I can even sing a bit to some tunes while running… Many probably feel a bit silly running so slow, I know I did. Also, I tend to run alone and that means you never even notice that you can’t hold a conversation at the pace you’re running at. And the joy… I’m still amazed that I can do these distances. Yesterday I did 9km. Big smile every time. It really brought the joy back for me. For me, pacing turned out to be the ‘bridge to 10K’.