Closing out the consolidation

[chrisl72]

So I wanted to update you on consolidation. I’ve been running 30 minutes for my last several runs, which had the potential to get a bit boring not least because the weather prevented swapping up the route very much. There are only so many permutations of pavement runs in our village!

So the challenge I set was teaching myself to run slower and easier and that started to show some fruit and gave me something to concentrate on.

Final c25k runs we’re at a pace where I was breathing in for 5 steps then out for 5 steps and that seemed a reasonable metric to play with, absent a sports watch or any means of measuring heart rate.

Over the first three consolidation runs I got my pace down to 8 steps in 8 steps out. It was very challenging at first and took some concentration!

The next run I decided to keep to 8 in 8 out for the first 10 minutes and then gradually ramp back up to in for 5 out for 5 in the final 10. That worked quite well.

For these runs I had been ably guided by Coach Bennet on the NRC app.

Today I intended to start the same then more quickly revert to in for 5 out for 5 for the final 20 minutes and get a ‘stake in the ground’ to compare my pace/distance with week 9 where I had not paid attention so much to my breathing.

Unfortunately the guided run didn’t go quite to plan! This one didn’t have time call-outs apart from 15 minutes half way. I hadn’t noted the time on my watch when I started so when the (different) coach said 5 minutes remaining I didn’t register that it was so soon after half way. When coach gave the countdown I ran through it to the next lamppost and started walking. Stopped Strava and began walking home.

Then coach said other stuff that made me think, "that wasn’t 30 minutes!" I checked Strava and it was only 25.

Infuriated I said to myself, “I'll be darned, I’m going to have those 5 minutes.” (Or something a little bit like that…)

So I set Strava going again and off I went. Realising I hadn’t looked at my watch or set a timer, I figured I’d better decide a short route to keep it tight. So I did a figure 8 of the estate. I kept the breathing steady at in for 5 out for 5 but kinda got the sense that I was getting more miles per gallon on this stretch. Finished the route and stopped Strava only to learn that it turned out to be an 11 minute “5 minute” run.

So thanks to a misleading coach I don’t have a comparator run, but I did bag PB times for 400 metres, half mile, 1k and 1 mile in those 11 minutes, which goes some way to softening the blow.

But I think that well and truly ended the consolidation runs!

[Mothmoss Graduate]

Thanks for your updates - finding them really helpful. I graduated about three weeks ago and then pushed it after doing a few consolidation runs and overstretched a muscle in my hip area that I didn't even know existed. I read you did a similar thing but got away with it.... This then put me off for a while and when I got back to running, I thought I'd try jeffing, but found it really endless - stop start and didn't feel I was getting any fitter. I have a small op in a couple of weeks which will put me out of action for four weeks, but then I'll start up again on week 4ish and build up to 30 minutes and then maybe try what you are doing. I agree that 30 minutes each time without the C25K program gets boring, but when I tried to do more (as all the posts advise you not to!!!!) I put myself out of action. Hmmm!!! Thought I'd maybe get an exercise bike too, so that if I get bored on a run, I can mix it up a bit with the cycling before I run again without losing fitness!!

Please keep posting as I can follow your posts while I am not running and see how you get on 😁

[chrisl72 Graduate in reply to Mothmoss]

I'll see what I can do! Thank you for your reply and sorry to hear you've had to take a break. All the best for your operation.

I'm looking to get solid at 5k now, around 35 mins for me, before moving to Bridge to 5k, but I'll keep posting here too.

[Mothmoss Graduate in reply to chrisl72]

Great, but no pressure 😁- I'm on bridge to 5K too, so I'll see any posts on there if you do post. It's just interesting to see where you take it next.