Now for some speed.........

[zippyfeet]

Hmm...so I turn up at my local park run event in my swanky Ronhill gear, my Rab jacket and my fancy mizuno wavekarrier3 trail shoes looking like a proper runner. I've graduated from couch to 5km and I'm kitted out in my best togs. I'd never heard of any of these brands before I started running only 12 weeks ago but suddenly my kit is being cooed over by other runners I'd never met before. I felt a warm glow of belonging and I must say I looked the part.

In my heart though I knew what was to come and I felt fear ....oh yes I'd got the clobber but oh the shame of it ..... your grannie could run faster!! What a fraud they must think me I thought to myself as I watched them disappearing over the hill. 5km in 43 minutes!!! Couch to 5km in 30 minutes is for me aspirational, not a reality. 43 minutes!! But boy it was hilly and I'm carrying the equivalent of my 4 year old son and my cocker spaniel in excess body weight so what do I expect?

Actually the park runners are such a fantastic family that it doesn't matter how fast or slow you are - the fact that you get up early on a saturday morning to run your socks off is enough and the encouragement I got was amazing. But still....I want to go faster. I need speed.

So I did the C25K+ speed podcast this morning. Crikey it was like going back to week one. I was exhausted but I felt good at the end of it and I took 3 minutes off my time and did 5km in 40 minutes which is a start (and it was hilly and snowy).

The thing about all this is that it gets me up and out. I'm now competing against myself to get quicker and I'm standing outside in the snow gasping for breath and I feel alive. In the end I know it doesn't matter how fast I'm going as I know I'm going faster than I was on the couch but I am enjoying the challenge, the way I feel now that I'm fitter and the fact that excess weight I've had for 10 years is melting off.

So - I'm aiming for couch to 5km in 30 minutes - that's my target and by heck I'm going to do it. Watch this space.

Lxxx

[Oldgirl Graduate]

Well done zippyfeet. Your just one of many who don't manage the 5K in 30 minutes, the name is a bit misleading, the idea is to get you running for 30 minutes non-stop which you are doing. You are also running 5K albeit in 40 minutes which I might add is a pretty good resepectable time. Now you can do as I have been doing and try and skim a bit of time off that PB. Parkrun is a wonderful place to do this and to be on a Saturday morning, you have set your PB with their official clock so now you can try and improve on that, you against your last PB thats what its all about.

Hills will slow the best of us down so Speed and Stamina will help to build strength and stamina which will help better your time. Keep at it, set yourself a mini goal something like, 'reduce your time by 1 minute each month' its achieveable and gives you a goal to aim for.

Wishing you all the best, get back to Parkrun as soon as possible, the first one is past and from now on in they will get better, honestly.

[Maisiemugwump Graduate]

Well done you Are doing fantastic and it's hard to keep motivated but the fact that you are still striving to improve is inspirational keep going you will get there

[greenlegs Graduate]

Your parkrun time was faster than me anyway! Cutting 3 minutes off your 5k time is really good in one go. As oldgirl says, maybe don't expect to keep cutting that much off each time you run, or you'll be overtraining and wearing yourself out.

Do some slower runs as well to keep things ticking over without over-stressing everything. But most of all, keep on 'feeling alive' and enjoying the challenge!

[zippyfeet Graduate]

Thanks everyone - so great to get such feedback. I'll try not to aim to high too fast. xx

[zippyfeet Graduate]

ps how do you get your green graduate badges?

[julieg21]

Zippy feet, after my horrible run this morning in zero degrees! Reading your blog has given me inspiration again, I will look out for further blogs of yours and wish you well on your 5k in 30 mins quest. Bring it on! Julie

[zippyfeet Graduate in reply to julieg21]

Haha - well done for getting out there today brrrr... Glad I've motivated you - I find this forum really good at motivating me. I can't believe how much I love this running business I feel almost evangelical about it. Good luck with your running plan - b/w Zip

[greenlegs Graduate]

Grad badges - click on the Directory button, then 'Admin' and find NHS Editor and send a message saying you've graduated.

Have you seen the Question thread couchto5k.healthunlocked.co...

[zippyfeet Graduate in reply to greenlegs]

thanks

[Fingalo Graduate]

Note to self. Read this blog next time you feel like quitting.

[zippyfeet Graduate in reply to Fingalo]

yay thanks - nooo don't quit, never surrender to the COUCH - we're all in it together....

[Jane-M]

Well done zippyfeet. I finished c25k last summer doing 42 min 5K and feeling good. Then I (well the dog actually) injured my knee and I stopped running. I am back on the C25K again and back up to week 5 in only 3 weeks - I too am aspiring to the 30min 5K by the end of April. But I have this silly thing in my head that tells me I won't be able to do it. How do we get over these internal gremlins that try to sabotage our best efforts?

[greenlegs Graduate]

Perhaps those are actually helpful gremlins, that want to protect your legs?! Maybe worth considering an interim target? If your 5k last year took 42 minutes, aiming for 30 minutes this time is a very big ask. Only a handful of graduates get that fast by week 9 - it's not impossible, but aiming for too fast in a short period has a higher risk of injury. (About half of all graduates reach less than 4k in 30 minutes, and most of them are pushing as hard as they possibly can!)

I suspect I'll be one of those that may never get to 5k in 30 minutes, but I'm not all that bothered - it would be nice, perhaps, but I'd rather just gradually compete against myself to get a little bit faster. And sometimes go slowly, just to enjoy it the scenery, and getting fitter.

Distance running training only uses small amounts of high effort running, with lots of 'easy' running too - bodies need time to build and rest!

Hope you'll enjoy the 5x50 - make sure you don't overwork and have to take a rest break for recovery from injury! Is the dog allowed to run with you now?!