🏃‍♀️🏅👨‍🎓Graduates Chat : November week 3 and 4- Runs on pause? 👩‍🎓🏅🏃‍♀️

[MissUnderstanding]

Welcome to the latest chat thread for graduates!

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 had a stinker of a cold and I haven’t run at all. I know in my head that’s the sensible thing to do-recovery is important but I can’t help feeling like I’m behind on my runs and my fitness is draining out through my (let’s be polite and go with) feet as I sit on the sofa!

It happens to us all. Life gets in the way. We get ill.. Our mad keen motivation to run goes awol for a while. The good news is your fitness hangs around for much longer than you might think. You can apparently not run for a fortnight without losing any at all, and after that it’s only a slow decline. Mentally, it can be harder to get started though. I like the “comeback run” on the Nike Run Club app to help get me through. That’s a fifteen minute easy run, and I always feel better for having done it. What’s your go to after a little break? Any top tips?

Have a great week running or resting if you’ve got the lurgy too! Looking forward to hearing about what you’ve been up to and what you’ve got planned.

⭐️ This week’s challenge: Spot something fun on your run!⭐️

The photo challenge is still open. . Can you find something interesting on your next run? Anything photo worthy can count! I loved seeing  Annieapple ’s birds last week!

You can post them below or as a new post. Tag me if you can and I’ll give you a cheer!

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…

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!

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate]

Special shout out to this week’s new graduates….

Massive congratulations to Small_Fry Bintang and Gardenforlife ! You are all awesome! 🏃‍♀️🎉👩‍🎓🏅❤️

[Annieapple Administrator Graduate]

🍏 Thanks for hosting MissU … I hope all our new graduates find their way over to your lovely post! Sorry to hear about your cold and hope you feel better soon.

I have had to make several comebacks.. any really long ones, I just pick up again on our trusted C25K program on one of the early weeks. On the shorter setbacks I do exactly as you find a short guided run on NRC. They have lots of easy ones from 10 mins or longer with fun names too… I don’t wanna run, run … etc You can scroll through until you find a time or distance you want.

Our lovely holiday is coming to an end & soon we will be home 🏡 so here’s another photo while the going is good… from my run on Wednesday!

Deer

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate in reply to Annieapple]

That deer is gorgeous! 😍. I love deer. We get a lot around here but they’re not usually very cooperative at being photographed. Your holiday sounds like it’s been totally wonderful. Canada is still my favourite every holiday and a country I’d happily emigrate to. Enjoy the rest of your time away. You’ve certainly made the most of it!

I’d forgotten about the “I don’t want to run” run. That’s one of my favourites-Coach B is just so helpful in his commentary on that one. Today it’s only been a week and it was one of those nice comebacks where I felt like the rest had done me good and the cold gave me permission mentally to go extra slow so I realised enjoyed it!

[IRunning]

Hi. Hope you’re recovering now! I wasn’t ill but the weather over the last couple of weeks has made it hard to get out and run regularly and I was really surprised with how frustrated I got! I then finally just went out in the wind and rain and didn’t find it that terrible, which has made me feel less dependant on the weather to be good enough to run. Went out for a half hour run this morning, pulled up after 5 mins as my thing hurt a lot, walked for 5 then carried on with the run and it was fine. Very strange. Anyway I’m gonna try and do a more scenic run at the weekend and see if I can get a decent picture to share. Have a good one all!

[IRunning in reply to IRunning]

This was meant to read “thigh” not thing!!

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate in reply to IRunning]

I’m queen of the typo! My best was telling someone that running shops can look at your hair and tell you what sorts of trainers will suit best. That should have said gait! 😂😂😂

I’m feeling much better today after some good night’s sleep. I got halfway through writing a reply saying I was going to go for a walk when I realised I’d miss the light if I stayed on the sofa. I ended up doing a lovely 30 minute brisk walk followed by a lovely 30 minute run and a 5 minute cool down walk. Not what I’d planned but it’s nice to feel unexpectedly good!

You’ve got some great plans for next week. Scenic runs are the best. I might join you in travelling a little further than my usual well worn fields and trails to a local lake or reservoir. Looking forward to the pics!