Advice needed please about Ju-Ju’s magic plan

[Dendev75]

Hi, I’m on the final week of the 8 week magic plan and I’ve managed to get the longest run done tonight (60 mins) so I’m feeling really chuffed with myself and towards the end of the run I felt quite nostalgic as I realised I have ran for double the amount of time when I graduated from ct5k! Unbelievable really. Anyway, as I’ve been following the timed runs and not the distances - I am still quite a way off reaching 10k. I managed to get to 8.6k in 60 mins tonight. I want to know at this point should I consolidate like I did with ct5k as I feel like as I’ve been increasing time every week for 8 weeks I should repeat the final week a few weeks so I’m not continuing to put pressure on myself? I will then probably increase my longest time by 10% each week until I do manage to reach 10k, does this sound like a sensible plan? What did others do from this point? Any help would be much appreciated and you all know I do listen to you 👂🏼 ☺️

[CBDB Graduate]

Many runners start on the timed version and then jump to the distance version once they get to 60 min.

So you could jump to week 5 of the distance version now, if you feel strong enough.

Also, definitely don’t forget to get your 60 min badge over on the bridge forum, see healthunlocked.com/bridgeto...

But the badge will only appear on the Bridge forum, but over there you might find more likeminded runners going through the Magic Plan, as they usually mingle over on the Bridge forum!

Well done!!! Huge congrats!

[Dendev75 Graduate in reply to CBDB]

Thank you ☺️ I might give it a couple of weeks repeating the final week and see if I feel strong enough to switch over to the distance plan, week 5 sounds a good place to start 👍🏻

Ooh I didn’t know I get a 60 min badge - I thought I had to wait until I hit 10k for my next one 🤗

[CBDB Graduate in reply to Dendev75]

😀👍🏽📣💪

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate]

What you absolutely should do now is celebrate! What a massive achievement. You’ve done amazingly to hit 60 minutes! 🏅

Pretty much as soon as I finished the magic plan, I started on a half marathon plan! That worked nicely for me because the early weeks of that were a bit less than I had been doing and I appreciated knocking it back a bit before starting increasing the longer runs again. I’m not sure that’s necessarily the way to go though!

How are you feeling about carrying on increasing your run time? Do you want to keep going or do you want to take a breath and consolidate where you are?

Your plan to increase the longest run by a few minutes each time sounds really sensible to me. There’s absolutely no rush to push on though if you’d rather take your time.

Again, well done on today’s epic run.

[Wawacito Graduate in reply to MissUnderstanding]

Which half marathon plan have you been using?

I finished JuJu*s plan in March, first the timed version and two runs later (repeated week 8) the 10k. Done 10k three times, but since then I have lost the mojo completely. I had hoped to be running a half marathon by Octobe (-->now), but really couldn't get myself to run much. As if completing JuJu's plan put a stop into the entire running issue. Back on JuJu's plan once again, it is week 5 right now.

I be so happy if you could recommend a half marathon plan. Thank you.

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate in reply to Wawacito]

Much as I enjoyed the magic plan, I found it quite hard going from the commentary on c25k to just running with music. In some ways it was great but I missed feeling like someone was coaching me along. I saw the Nike Running Club app mentioned on here and decided to give it a go (it’s free so nothing to lose!) and loved it. Easily the best thing for my running since c25k. I used their HM plan. There are five runs each week but you can either just choose three or make a week last longer than an actual week! I really enjoyed the variety. Recovery runs are like the final weeks of c25k-steady runs at a comfortable pace. Long runs are pretty much the same but longer! The speed runs are brilliant fun with a bit of running fast up hills, for intervals or for a longer time where you’re on the point of feeling uncomfortable. You can adapt it to suit you. When I got close enough to my HM to need to choose three runs, I always did the long run and the short recovery run, plus a speed run or recovery run depending on how I was feeling.

It’s a bit marmite. Some of the coaching is a bit cheesy. It can be a bit buggy with playing music underneath. I find the distance measuring is often dodgy.

You could use some of the guided runs as part of the magic plans-pick easy/recovery runs that match roughly the right distance/time you’re running for.

Really good luck!

[Dendev75 Graduate]

Thank you, you’re right I should celebrate…… by buying more funky running gear 😜😂👍🏻

You have inspired me to go down the route of a half marathon but I think my body is telling me to just consolidate for a couple of weeks then maybe try increasing a bit each week until I hit that next goal.

I’ve a got a 10k in December so hoping to get up to that by then 🤞🏻

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate in reply to Dendev75]

That sounds like a super sensible plan of action. Especially the buying new running kit!!!

If you’re at 8.6km now, you’re absolutely going to be able to do 10k on race day in December, even if you maintained what you’re doing now. If you decided to just keep going at the end of your 60 minutes you’d most likely get to 10k in another ten minutes or so if you carried on at the same pace. It’s only two weeks more if you increased by five minutes a week. You really are close!

[Dendev75 Graduate in reply to MissUnderstanding]

That sounds doable 👍🏻 It’s weird but I was playing over all the advice in my head that I’ve received on here while I was running and it kept me going ☺️

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate in reply to Dendev75]

That’s so nice to read! ❤️

[TimeInNature Graduate]

First of all, congratulations!

I got to about the same distance in the time as you, so as CBDB suggests below, I swapped on to week 5 of the 10k plan and have been making good steady progress.

[Dendev75 Graduate in reply to TimeInNature]

Thank you ☺️ Yes that sounds doable, and well done to you too.

[Brixcos Graduate]

Well done, Dendev! You are truly inspirational! I've decided to start the magic plan in the spring when I can run first thing in the mornings regularly again.

Go celebrate with a few new pairs of jazzy leggings or whatever - you absolutely deserve them 🥳🎉🏃‍♀️🥰

[Dendev75 Graduate in reply to Brixcos]

thanks so much ☺️ It’s always good to have a plan isn’t it? Good luck with your journey. Ooh a leggings spree, I’m thinking autumnal/Xmas ones 😂

[Liono Graduate]

No advice but I am so impressed, well done! 🙂

[Dendev75 Graduate in reply to Liono]

thanks so much, that means a lot 🤗

[Chinkoflight]

Fantastic, doing 8.6 is brilliant, CBDB offers a different strategy, but all the advice I have seen from mentors is that speed and distance comes with time training and significant improvements take time. Steady as she goes and I think for once from me is, it has to feel right for you is the best advice. What do you want to achieve most?

[Dendev75 Graduate in reply to Chinkoflight]

thanks, I’ve been aiming to get from 5k to 10k but I chose the timed magic plan as it was similar to ct5k, now I’ve hit the 60 minute time I’m keen to get to 10k but sensibly - I don’t want to push my luck.