Lockdown challenge

[RunBrianRun]

I’ve decided to give myself a target for this lockdown rather than just ambling through each week. I’m going to have a go at the runners world improve your 5k time 4 week challenge.

It works I think as the longest run is only 10 k and the rest is shorter runs or intervals. Meaning I won’t stray too far from home. It doesn’t have to be a PB run.

The idea is to improve your base speed over any course of 5k so it doesn’t necessarily have to be a flat course.

runnersworld.com/training/a...

Anyway it will give me some focus and hopefully a distraction during this awful time we are all having.

Edit: If you fancy having a go at this too it would be great to share our progress and results. Doesn’t matter how “fast” or “slow” you are as it’s all about improving your baseline time.

[Decker Ultramarathon]

Sounds like a solid plan Brian. Best of luck!

[RunBrianRun Half Marathon in reply to Decker]

Thank you Decker . It will help keep my mind off other stuff at least for a while 🤞👍

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon]

What a great idea Brian! I hope you’ll report on your progress? 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

[RunBrianRun Half Marathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Sure thing cheekychipmunks I’ll let you all know how I get on. It’ll be an interesting exercise.

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

This is a great idea, Brian!!

[RunBrianRun Half Marathon in reply to roseabi]

I think so 😊 I’m intrigued to see if it works.

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

Taking control. Great idea. Surely you can't get any faster though ... 🤣

[RunBrianRun Half Marathon in reply to linda9389]

That’s the plan Linda 😂😅 It’ll be interesting for sure. No idea if it’ll work as there are a lot of variables at work at my age 🤣

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon]

Great plan; will look out for updates. I have gone for a less ambitious plan. The trails are a hopeless mess at present, so I am trying out as many different road routes as I can; I am not starting off with a route in mind, just going where my feet take me. None of it is as testing as trails though.

[RunBrianRun Half Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

I’ve just completed the first run which was quite easy tbh. Maybe I should have run faster on the hill sprints after the 5k?

I’m slowly beginning to appreciate trail running but I’m not there yet. 😅 When I do them it’s always hard work, usually on a long run, so I’m less inclined to enjoy the scenery 😂Good luck with your plan beachcomber it sounds very sensible to me.

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to RunBrianRun]

Conditions underfoot make a big difference on trails; much easier in summer.

[RunBrianRun Half Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

Yes absolutely. 👍 It’s not a great time to be out on them as you say.

[triumph-tiger Half Marathon]

Sounds like a good plan 😊 I'm doing something similar, though I've decided to start a Garmin Coach5k plan to try and improve my pace a bit. This one is a bit of a longer (goes into March), but so far has been good to give me some motivation to get out in the cold!

[RunBrianRun Half Marathon in reply to triumph-tiger]

That’s great and I hope you smash your PB 🤩 I too need structure and something to aim for and the plan will really help as I’m on my own or caring for my mum at the moment and it can get quite lonely. This gets me out the door and motivated. Luckily my brother is giving it a go too which is amazing considering he is not long out of radio therapy.

[RunBrianRun Half Marathon]

Update: I’ve completed the baseline run today. Decided to run the Parkrun course as it’s familiar and I can benchmark more easily as I’ve run it a few times, I gave it everything I had as there’s no point otherwise.

I ended up with a 22.14 but I had to stop as my brother pulled up a lap too soon. I lost 30 seconds there so the total run was 22.42. I’m going to go with 22.14 though as I think that’s a fair target and I like a challenge.

Next run is a 10k on Saturday and then into week 2 where the intervals are stepped up a few notches.

Loving it so far 😀