C25K graduate - run/swim/strength & flex routine?

[smca80]

Hi

I graduated on Sunday from C25K. I plan for 3 weeks of consolidation runs, and as I haven't quite managed to hit the 5 km mark (last 30 min run = 4.16 km), I plan to follow this by the Bridge to 5K plan:

healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

Throughout the C25K plan I also swam twice a week on my active 'rest' days, swimming for approx 30 min, covering around 1 km.

I now plan to add in 2 to 3 strength and flexibility sessions per week. I've been looking at the 5 week Strength and Flex plan. Has anyone completed this while consolidating/bridging to 5km, alongside a regular swimming routine?

I don't want to push myself too much, but at the same time I would like to try and re-introduce strength and flexibility sessions to my weekly run/swim plan.

Could I do the strength & flex sessions on the same day as my swims eg strength & flex A.M then swim P.M?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[CBDB Administrator Graduate Gold]

First of all: huge congrats!!!!

In terms of how much cross training, I have a feeling that the answer will be very personal to each runner.

It sounds like your plan will work well, as you still give your running muscles a day to recover and swimming is excellent cross training.

I did do the Strength & Flex program together with running in my consolidation period. And I simply alternated between the two, almost always skipping a rest day. So I actually seldom had a rest day with no running nor workout. but it still worked well. But I wouldn’t have been able to do more, that just felt about enough.

Now, 18 months in, I do Yoga or Pilates everyday, even on run days, and row sometimes in my off days or do a focus workout for knee strength or such.

So, brilliant! Sounds great, but also listen to your body and pull back if you feel exhausted. And having read a lot of forum posts, I have a feeling that sometimes when we say our runs feel tired, it might be that we exhausted ourselves a bit too much through daily training and insufficient recovery or rest days.

Happy running, swimming and working out!

[Over60sRunner]

I too am consolidating at the moment (and I'm MUCH slower than you with just 3.2k under my belt in my now 31 minute section of running!).

I run and do S&F on alternate days, then swim once a week on a Sunday as a "day off" (I'm not doing huge numbers of lengths, just poodling up and down) irrespective of what else I might be doing that day and that's quite enough for me.

I agree with CBDB it is a very individual thing. I am 21 years older than you and probably A LOT fatter, so that's all I want to/can do. Definitely a toroise, but moving along and that's all that matters to me. Listen to your body and it you are getting really tired or achy then cut back a bit, after all you definitely don't want to pick up an injury after such a great start.

Good luck on your journey - onwards and upwards😀🏃‍♀️💪😀