About a year ago, I was contemplating what to do to get myself fit. I was in my fifty-first year and had been following a vague plan for the previous year or two to get myself "fit by fifty". The realisation that we're mortgaged until I'm 69 and the desire to carry some modicum of health and fitness into my eventual retirement was the main impetus behind this objective.
That life-marker had passed and I was walking a fair bit each day - 3 dogs see to that - and I'd been doing daily 5BX exercises. These include some running on the spot, for which I had some £17 Amazon trainers. But while I wasn't too clear on what "fit" meant to me, I was fairly sure I wasn't it.
I'd toyed with running "properly" outdoors for a little while and been fiddling with the Couch to 5k NHS app on my phone for a fair while, before deciding that was the route I would take. Encouragement from a friend the day before my first run helped - and they introduced me to Strava so all my runs have been recorded too.
So on Sunday 15 January, off I went in my £17 trainers, jogging bottoms, t shirt and fleece, and ran for 1 minute 8 times with a walking rest between each minute. Then I did it again a couple of days later, and then again. Week 1 ticked off; more running than I'd done in over 30 years.
Surprising myself, I stuck with it. And found the good people in this forum who encouraged me some more. There is something about sharing progress and getting encouragement from those a few weeks or more down the road. Never be afraid to share what feels like a mundane success - there are people here who will genuinely encourage you.
It started to get serious with the longer sustained runs, first 20 minutes, then 25, 28 and finally 30. All of those runs seemed like a huge deal (they are…); could I do it? Yes I could!
I was hooked and decided that I wanted to see how far I could run. I got myself some proper running gear: gait analysis and decent trainers, shorts, t-shirts etc. Next came consolidation - a couple of weeks keeping to that ceiling of 30 minutes. I found it frustrating and cheated a bit, extending a run to reach the magic 5k a bit before I should have. (No, I didn't graduate with 5k within 30 minutes, most people don't. That came much much later for me.)
Consolidation done, the question is, what next? For some of you, 30 minutes will be enough. And that's ok! Being able to run for 30 minutes without stopping, even more so doing it regularly, is a big deal and a huge achievement! Most of the population can't do that!
However, I did carry on, and joined the Bridge to 10k forum, following the "Magic Plan" to 10k. The basic gist is you add 5 minutes to one of your runs per week spread over another 8-9 weeks to get you to 60 minutes then 10k. (No, my first 10k wasn't within 60 minutes either.)
But if you decided not to go for longer distances, let me encourage you to stretch one of your weekly runs to 40 minutes. On the Magic Plan you run a 20 minute run, a 30 minute run and one that gradually gets longer. I think 20/30/40 is just about the ideal running week if one isn't working towards a particular goal. There's enough variety there to keep it interesting, and lots of folk make one of the shorter runs a "speed" run to add even more variety.
So I reached the 10k goal in June and realised I needed another goal to focus on. I wasn't too concerned at this point about pace, but I did want some structure to my running without having to think too much about it. I'd been tinkering with the NRC app guided runs for a while and it was an easy choice to sign up for the Half-Marathon plan. I wasn't sure if I'd take the plan all the way to the full distance, but it provided much needed structure.
Each plan week consists of two easy/recovery runs, two speed runs and a long run. Following the good advice to not run two days consecutively this early into my running career, I spread the 5 runs over two weeks, and gradually made my way through the plan. At two weeks per plan week it took a while, but I was enjoying the speed workouts and there were some interim goals along the way. My 5K and 10K times started to come down a little.
15k/10 miles was reached in November. Then in December all the unspoken goals came together. A 5K under 30 minutes for the first time, the first half-marathon distance, then a 10K under 60 minutes all in the same month. All those weeks of consistently completing the plan came to fruition. All the steady recovery runs building a solid base, all the long runs building increasing endurance, and all the speed runs getting some pace into my legs.
There was something else alongside all the running that was very important to these successes - strength and flexibility - for which there is another whole forum! Right from the start, I was very strict about always warming up properly and stretching after a run, no matter how short the run. If you have Strava, look up their Recovery app, there are excellent warm up and cool down exercises to follow, with videos to demonstrate the movements.
I've also experimented a bit with body-weight exercises like Pilates. Currently I follow a Pilates-like exercise routine a couple of times every week that works my legs, core and shoulders. I credit these habits with keeping me injury free this year and I've no doubt they support stronger running. They also provide a positive alternative if the weather precludes running.
I don't know what 2024 holds distance-wise - I'm not sure if I have the desire to go much more than 13 miles. But I know it holds a lot more running, new PBs to smash, more Parkruns and maybe my first race. And I do accept that I now qualify as physically fit!
I hope my story provides some encouragement to you. You don't have to emulate my goals, but I do encourage you to have some post Couch to 5K goals to look forward to. I started contemplating mine several weeks before I graduated! Your goals could be distance-based, speed-based, running trails, different routes and locations, regular Parkruns, running with others, running alone, a combination of those or something else.
Whatever you choose, do share your progress here or on one of the graduation forums - Bridge to 10K or Fun Beyond 10K & Race Support.
First full month of running 🙂
Break from running/ New running goals!
1st runniversary, what a year!
My First Race!
Sunny Sunday morning run and my first 5k. Woohoo!
