From Couch to 5k to...who knows?
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Tinkerboo · 08-09-2014, 10:23 AM

When: Fri 8th August, 7.00pm
Where: Beach road
How far: 2.21 miles
How long: 30:52
Average Pace: 13:56 m/m

Holy <insert your choice of word here> - that one who started this thread off then disappeared is back..!

Well, I simply couldn't let it get to a full month with no running - it would have been the complete death of any traces of mojo I had left. My last run was July 12th, and with August 12th getting ever closer I decided that I'd take my stuff to work on Friday and go on the way home (I know that if I go home first, the dog will pull his sad 'why are you leaving me?' face when I try to go out without him - it's easier to bypass that altogether). It's still warm here but not the 25+ degrees that it has been, which is a huge relief. I can't say I wasn't apprehensive, because I was, as I assumed that any semblance of fitness I'd built up would have ebbed away and I'd be back at the stage of 60 seconds being an impossibility.

I've got an interval timer app now and decided to run 4 mins/walk 1, 6 times, thereby moving constantly for 30 minutes. I know I'd said that I wanted to focus on improving my single mile (around our park), and I will do that too I think, but I don't like going to the park on my own in the evening as Young People hang out there and I really didn't need the extra stress of potentially being laughed at or heckled (paranoid? me?). So I went back to our good old semi-private road by the beach as I knew there'd be a lot less people there (and I was right).

I warmed up by power walking to a couple of songs on my 'The 5k' playlist, which is exactly 45 minutes long - the aim being that as I improve I can knock songs off until it's just 30 minutes long or less (she says optimistically) - that way I'll know that if the music ends I was too slow that time.

Foolishly, despite having worried about a backtrack in fitness, I forgot everything I'd learnt and went off too fast on the first 4 minutes

- I managed to keep it up, but boy did I need that 1m walk! Consequently, I didn't feel in the best of shape for the rest of the session - my legs were aching above my knees (quads, right?) and my breathing got increasingly heavy/hard. I've been reading about 'mindfulness' so I tried to just 'be in the moment' and observe all the different sensations I was feeling, but when one of them is 'laboured panting', that gets quite difficult.

As usual, my inner critic was in full mental negotiation mode: "you could just do 4 reps and stop after 20 minutes, it won't matter, it's only the first time out after a while, nobody will mind, etc" but I tried not to listen and just plodded on. Some time after halfway (I know because MapMyRun had already told me I'd done 18 minutes at some point earlier) my resolve began to crumble and I did take the phone out to look at how long was left, with a view to maybe stopping early. But it turned out there was only one more 4/1 rep left to do so I thought "HA!" and put the phone away. I'd like to tell you that I upped my pace to really finish strong, but it'd be a lie...I just carried on shuffling along and trying to breathe away the stitch that is permanently attached to my right side. However when the app told me to 'rest' (which translates to 'walk' for my purposes) I did actually carry on running for that final minute just to see if I could, and I did.

So out of the whole 30 minutes, I was running/jogging (rugging?) for 25 of them, which I'm not at all displeased with. If I hadn't gone off at Usain Bolt speed for the first 4 minutes I'd have probably felt a lot better throughout: PATIENCE, TOYAH, PATIENCE!!

And I covered over 2 miles (3.5k), which was also quite heartening. Looks like I haven't lost it as much as I had feared!

**Fortissimo** · 08-09-2014, 10:28 PM

Great job! It always surprises me after a break that I haven't lost as much as I thought I would. Just think, next run will be even easier!

Tim Sullivan · 08-17-2014, 06:38 PM

It really is good you were able to get back out there...even if you only get out for one run a week, that can be enough to keep your fitness up, and keep you motivated to keep driving forward.

I also wouldn't worry too much about the yobbos at the park, just make sure your headphones are jammed extra tight in your ears, and ignore what they might say. Heck, you never know, maybe the kids will surprise you and won't bother paying you any attention. I can count on one hand how many times I've had anyone say/shout anything at me (that wasn't positive that is) and that's after YEARS of running.

Keep up the great work!!!

Tim

Tinkerboo · 08-18-2014, 04:08 PM

Thanks - I really do want to do at least one session a week. However the Year of Unseasonable Weather continues and we are currently being battered by winds...I could barely walk straight with the dog and I just can't face running in it! There is a 5k on September 6th that looks tempting though... b

Tinkerboo · 09-06-2014, 11:54 AM

When: Fri 5th September, 7.00pm
Where: Beach road
How far: 5.02km (3.12 miles)
How long: 46:42
Average Pace: 9:18km/m

Yes! It's me again, checking in after my monthly run!

I'd signed up to a virtual race called 'Heat of the Summer 5k', which I was meant to have done between August 10-16. However, it just never happened, and then I somehow cricked my neck while sleeping and that took two full weeks to get back to feeling normal again. We also had terrible weather throughout August (gales, rain, etc) which would have made a race with this name somewhat ironic! Now September has come though, it has snapped back to nice warm sunshine again...I've given up trying to understand our weather!

As almost a month had gone by - yet again - since my last outing, I talked myself into going straight after work on Friday. Andy is very much in a 'meh' state about it at the moment, but was working anyway, so it was down to me to get myself motivated. Although it had been sunny all day, by the time I got to the beach road it was very misty and grey (though still warm)...and by the time I finished it was dusk, winter is coming!!

I didn't have a specific plan, I just wanted to see how I could do, with the hope that I might be able to do 5k (which would mean I could count it as having done the virtual run), so there were no timers or anything. Remembering last time and how I ended my write-up with "PATIENCE TOYAH!", I took it really slow. Like, really slow. Total pootling turtle mode. It went pretty well - I managed to get to 2k before I felt a stitch forming, whereupon I walked for 0.5k breathing it away and jamming my fingers under my ribcage in the hope it would help. You can see this on the purple pace graph on the photo!

Instead of going up and down the road as I used to, I carried on past the end of it onto the cycle path which runs right next to the sea. It would have been beautiful if it had been sunny! When I got to 2.5k I figured that as that's half of 5k I would turn around and try to run all the way back. There was a couple of occasions where I did feel a little stronger but I didn't want to push and go too fast in case it meant I had to stop and walk again, so I just kept turtling on. Somewhere between 3 and 3.5 I saw two bunnies right by the side of the path, which was nice and took my mind off the aching in my quads. I got to where the path joins the road with about 1k to go (I think) and this is where it started to feel a bit like I might not get there - that road looks so long when you're looking down it!

But then I thought of Lorie and imagined her cheering me on, and although it was hard, I did make it all the way to the 5k point.

I was so chuffed with myself!

It was so close to dark by the time I got back to the car that I didn't hang around to stretch, I jumped in and went home...but then of course the dog was super-excited to see me (he'd been alone about 4 hours), I had to do his tea, and it wasn't till I was in the shower that I remembered about stretching. I did a couple while I was in there but was too tired to do the whole repertoire. Luckily I don't feel any ill effects today of skipping this ('of course not,' you think, 'you weren't running fast enough to generate any aches!'). But it looks like 7pm might be starting to be too late to run alone, as the nights draw in, so I may have to come up with a plan B for winter...

**OhToodles!** · 09-06-2014, 03:20 PM

Great to hear from you! Glad you got back out there!

Tinkerboo · 09-06-2014, 05:35 PM

Thanks

How is your running going? Are you still having to contend with those super-hot temperatures?!

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk

**OhToodles!** · 09-06-2014, 09:55 PM

I've been out for about a month now - did go once in the last month. It has been super hot the past few weeks (with heat index we had several days of 100+ temps) and then I had kicked a door frame by accident and it took 2 weeks just to walk 'normal'. It was cooler today though because a storm came through last night, but kids have been sick and the weekends are BUSY! I hope to start back up on Monday! Thanks for asking!

Tim Sullivan · 09-06-2014, 10:17 PM

The fact that you got out is great, doesn't really matter how fast you did it!

Trying to find the time to run can be hard when the light starts fading....I'm lucky enough that I start work late enough in the day (and I'm on salary, so if I'm running a bit behind...not the end of the world) but I think I'm investing in a treadmill.... or possibly joining the gym at the Uni in town that has an indoor track so I can have a bit more flexibility in my running options

Tim

Tinkerboo · 09-07-2014, 07:58 AM

Alas, we have zero space available for a treadmill and zero funds for joining a gym...I guess I will just have to bully Andy into coming with me when it's dark.

Tinkerboo · 09-13-2014, 03:59 PM

When: Sat 13th September, 6.00pm
Where: Beach road, with Andy walking the dog
How far: 5.01km (3.1 miles)
How long: 42:27
Average Pace: 8:28km/m

Just to say: I RAN THE WHOLE 5K!!!

It's only the second time I've managed this! I almost can't believe it! This week I managed to get to over 3k (3.5k I think) before any stitch feelings kicked in, which I guess must mean I was breathing better (or just getting fitter?). It did get hard from that point - my stomach felt like it was getting tenser and tighter all the way to the end but I just breathed as slowly and deeply as I could and concentrated on the music and when I got to within sight of the end point I really pushed. The moment I dropped to walking my stomach felt better, which was a relief!

Who knows - next time sub-40 minutes maybe?

**OhToodles!** · 09-13-2014, 06:44 PM

Great job! Keep up the great work!

disney_duke · 09-13-2014, 08:43 PM

Nice work!!

Tim Sullivan · 09-14-2014, 12:15 PM

That's awesome! I love when you break through milestones... I can remember the first time I did 5km without any walk breaks...what a feeling of accomplishment eh? I just hit a new PR in both my 5 and 10km in the past week, so know exactly the feeling again!

Now that you're doing that, you are exactly laying out your next goals....going sub 40...then you've got sub 35 as the next...then joining the sub-30 club......or you could go LONGER...see if you can stretch that to 6km...then 8....then 10......

Oh the possibilities

Tim