🏃‍♀️🏅👨‍🎓Graduates Chat : November fireworks - get your run journey off with a bang! 👩‍🎓🏅🏃‍♀️

[MissUnderstanding]

Welcome to the latest chat thread for graduates! It’s November so it’s time for fireworks! Let’s set your run journey off with a bang!

If you’ve finished Couch to 5k for the first or the fiftieth time, come and say hi! This is the place for you to share how your runs are going and to get inspiration and encouragement from others.

⭐️First and foremost: How’s it going?⭐️

How has your running been this week? What sorts of runs have you been doing? Have you had any triumphs or challenges? What are your plans for next week?

I’ve been a bit flat lately. Work has been crazy busy so consistency has been hard to find. Last week I only ran once and that’s super low for me. I definitely feel best when I’m running regularly so I really want to get back to that place where I’m out pretty much every other day. This week is going to be a reset for me so I’m planning on rerunning week 9 with my mate Denise Lewis and I’m hoping that will help me get back on track. I might even have a little re-graduation celebration again at the end of this week!

What are you all up to?

⭐️ This week’s challenge: Rerun a couch to 5k week!⭐️

I’m going to be rerunning week 9 this week. Why not pick a favourite week and rerun the whole thing? Let we know what you’re planning below and come back with how it’s gone. I wonder if you’ll notice any differences this time around!

So come and chat! I love talking about all things running and can’t wait to hear from you all…

MissU and the Couch Team xx

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A bit about consolidation and running as a new Graduate…

As we’re still new, I’ll post this again and at some point it’ll migrate into a pinned post and a summary! You’ll almost certainly have heard people talking about taking some time to “consolidate” after graduation. This isn’t compulsory but it’s a really good idea. When you have increased your running distance or duration over a few weeks, it is good to pause and consolidate for a short period, bedding in all that effort and getting ready for whatever comes next. That just means not continuing to build the distance or setting out to get faster for a little while.

It’s a brilliant time to just enjoy your running. Without having to increase duration week on week, you can take the pressure off and have some fun! You can run somewhere beautiful and new. Forget about pace! Mix up your run times. Go up a hill! While you are consolidating you are also helping to establish the habit of running in your life. It is said to take twelve weeks of changed behaviour to create a new habit, so a three-week consolidation will get you there!

Running as a graduate will look different for everyone which is why we really hope people will share what they’ve been doing. We can pinch ideas and take inspiration from each other. The key thing is to keep it steady and remember you’ve got a whole lifetime of running ahead of you. Keeping to 30 minutes max as a rough rule of thumb is a generally good idea and we’d encourage you to be really sensible about running for longer. It’s widely recommended not to increase the length of any of your runs by more than 10% each week because of the risk of injury. Think about how Couch to 5k gradually builds up. The last thing anyone wants is to spend time on the injury couch just after finishing!

Photo credit to unsplash.com/@erwanhesry

[MissUnderstanding]

Just a little shout out to everyone who has graduated in the last week!

Congratulations to Hidden CecilyNeville Bubulrap Koala679 Bikafella Primes_clavier soulitos ChrisP81 CitizenZed Fishflipper

[Koala679 Graduate in reply to MissUnderstanding]

Thanks very much! It feels great that I actually did it

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate]

How's it going for me MissUnderstanding,? very well, on Saturday I completed my 100th parkrun, went nowhere except for a short 1K walk with Holly the dog on Sunday afternoon, on Monday I went without Holly a 7K walk and on Tuesday afternoon I ran 🏃🏾 /walked 10 miles in brilliant sunshine, that run/walk took just over two and a quarter hours, I did it on Tuesday afternoon because the weather forecast for Wednesday morning was rain, they were correct, it's been raining all morning, due to go off around 1pm so hopefully I'll get a walk with Holly about two o'clock.

[MissUnderstanding in reply to AlMorr]

Congratulations on that 100th parkrun! What a milestone. You’ve been really active with those walks too. Lovely to read!

We’ve got torrential wind and rain here so the plan for an early run today got postponed until it’s a bit nicer. I’m looking forward to getting out…hopefully not too long!

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate in reply to MissUnderstanding]

Thanks MissUnderstanding, I have cycled and gone long walks for decades, the longer walks have been mainly during the winter months, the cycleing during the summer, however, when I cut down the cycleing from 4 weeks to 1 about 5 years ago I thought I would give running a chance, it was then I began C25K.

Where I live in Central Scotland we have missed that wild weather associated with Storm Ciara, this morning I went a 4K walk with my Thursday morning walking group, after the walk we all go into the local leisure centre and have coffee and cake.

[RunBrianRun Graduate in reply to AlMorr]

Congratulations Al 👍👏

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate in reply to RunBrianRun]

Thanks Brian ✔️👍

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Hello... I am here, saying hello... re running C25K again ! On week 6 Run 3 this week... I am hoping to re Graduate in Wales in three weeks time!!!

I think a run here today or tomorrow might be more like a damp squib... but hey ho... on we go x

[MissUnderstanding in reply to Oldfloss]

Your rerun is going brilliantly! The weather is a big of a challenge at the moment. Let’s hope we can both have some nice Couch to 5k nostalgia runs without too much dampness soon!!

[Hobbitfan Graduate]

I've just started Ju Ju's magic plan to build up to 10k as I have signed up for a half marathon in April next year! I might be mad, but it is in aid of a charity which is very close to my heart (Cancer Research UK). 5k last night and 5.5k on Friday for me. The fun part is trying to find somewhere to run which isn't ankle deep in water or mud as all of my routes take me off road at some point!

[MissUnderstanding in reply to Hobbitfan]

That’s a great plan-I followed it to get to 10k. The weather is creating some challenges at the moment. Here’s hoping you can find a suitable route that doesn’t require a boat!

[AndyG59]

I completed week 9 on the 19th of October. I couldn’t believe that on the 1st of June 2023 I could barely run for 60 seconds and now I can run for 30/40 minutes continuously. What a journey. I repeated week 5 twice and had to restart week 9, 3 times. Battled through COVID and missed a fortnight because of holidays… I followed up week 9 with 3 consecutive 5k runs… increasing my running time from 30 minutes to 43. I’m now concentrating on increasing distance and time with the goal to be 10k by the end of January 2024. I feel incredible, I think my legs have just gotten used to the mileage and I have luckily had no injuries apart from a couple of falls, actually very elegantly executed with a proper paratrooper roll to finish. I have found a new lease of life and energy that I haven’t felt for years… my mental health has massively improved and my weight has really stabilised after losing 4.5 stone/29kg over the last 18 months. Thank you to everyone here for supportive comments and encouragement. I wish I could tell Jo Whiley how grateful I am for her part in my journey… I couldn’t have completed C25K without her…

[MissUnderstanding in reply to AndyG59]

Apologies, I didn’t get a notification for your post-the site has been really hit and miss with them lately.

This is so wonderful to read. You’ve got so many achievements to look back and feel proud about. You’ve got so many to look forward to in the future! You can set big, exciting goals knowing you’ve got it in you to get there. Massive congratulations to you-what an inspiration! ❤️💪🏃‍♀️

Have you got a plan for getting to 10k? You might like to pop over to Bridge to 10k…

healthunlocked.com/bridgeto10k

You’ll see many faces you recognise! Come and say hi!

[RunningJ123 Graduate]

I just did a 20 minute run... I've been having sore calves the last few runs, so was looking at different exercises and running techniques to try to help... So today I tried running with what they call "heel kiss"... It felt a bit odd, and I found it hard to coordinate, as if your foot is going backwards instead of forwards!! And I think I maybe did heel strike some of it.. Will have to work on it more until I get the knack 😕Somehow my speed was unintentionally quicker, but my calves feel fine... I deliberately just went 20 min though, and had taken several days to recover since the last run in case it was muscular. So... We shall see...

[MissUnderstanding in reply to RunningJ123]

I love a twenty minute run! My favourite time. Long enough to warm up and feel like you’ve done something worthwhile but still doesn’t take too much time.

I would be really cautious about making changes to your gait. Everything I’ve read suggests it’s best done really slowly so you don’t end up replacing one problem with another! My physio talked about the importance of a high cadence (how quickly the legs turns over) as a way of helping your gait without really trying. Lots of short, quick steps means it’s much harder to overstride. That can feel very unnatural to start with!

There’s a nice article here that talks about foot strike and explains better about how increasing cadence can be a good change to make.

runnersworld.com/health-inj...

There’s also a video here from James Dunne about increasing cadence…

m.youtube.com/watch?v=UCC2p...(Not working as expected?)

Good luck with finding what works for you!

[RunningJ123 Graduate in reply to MissUnderstanding]

Thank you.. Those are very interesting! I have been a forefoot striker but what I read said that was bad for your calves, so that's why I was trying the heel kiss thing... Maybe if I could be more midfoot it'd be a better balance

[Flybe Graduate]

my day hasn’t been too bad. I’ve been running 5k 3 times a week but not loving it. Over the weekend I worked out the part of my run that messed with my head every time. Today I turned back before I got there and ran further the other way and slower which was better for some reason 🤷‍♀️. I’m now running 5k three times a week but my head does tell me I can’t do it. 3 times a week I’m walking 6 miles and once a week I do a weights class. I’m hoping the running will be better if I keep this up.

[MissUnderstanding in reply to Flybe]

Perhaps it’s time to try mixing things up? I’ve realised my least favourite run is a thirty minute/5k ish chilled run. I’d always prefer to go shorter or longer, or do a speedy one instead! Have you thought about a changing your pattern so you do (for example) a twenty minute run, a 5k and a slightly longer run? The magic plan over on bridge is what I did next after couch to 5k and I loved that. I used to feel like only a thirty minute, continuous run “counted” and that’s a load of nonsense. It’s all about finding what you enjoy. Nike running club guided runs were a game changer too in terms of settling what a proper run was and freshening up my runs.

You’re doing brilliantly with your activities to support the runs too. Hope it’s a great week for you.

Here’s the link to the magic plan in case that’s of interest…

healthunlocked.com/bridgeto...

[Thejogger Graduate]

On my last two runs of c25k can’t believe it. Glad to have got this far. I’ll continue to do the runs over next few weeks see if I can keep this positive change going hope so good luck to you all keep going we’re ever you are on the programme.