Couch to 5 miles

Micilin Muc

After several attempts at taking up running seriously, I'm sick of the frustration of being too busy to train properly. So I've started this log to track my progress from couch to 5 miles.

In the past 5 years I have ran 20 miles of a DCM with very little training (I walked the other 6 miles), and have ran a 10km race in 55 mins (again with very little training).

Why do I think I'll succeed this time? - I'm not planning to run any marathon or half-marathon until I know that I've trained properly. I've read that if I do too much too soon, I'll increase my chances of injuring myself.

So I started off 4 weeks ago with a 7-minute run. Last week I ran two runs of 5km each, one in under 28 mins. My 5 mile race is in November so I'll be slowly building up the mileage each week until then and have a goal of running it in under 45 mins.

Micilin Muc

Day 1

After last week's mileage of 16 km (over four runs), I plan to run a mileage of 17km this week (over three runs).

I haven't planned how I'll run the sessions, but will be reading up about hill training, LSRs, tempo runs, simple fartlek, and other methods of training.

The plan for this afternoon's session: 5.5km

Mr Magners

Micilin Muc wrote: »

Day 1

After last week's mileage of 16 km (over four runs), I plan to run a mileage of 17km this week (over three runs).

I haven't planned how I'll run the sessions, but will be reading up about hill training, LSRs, tempo runs, simple fartlek, and other methods of training.

The plan for this afternoon's session: 5.5km

Where are you getting the training plans from? Hal Higdon seems to be the one that most people use but it's very intensive.

I started back running last week and did 3.5k 4 times so I'd be hoping to increase my distance gradually over the weeks.

Feeling very unfit at the mo. I'm not training for anything specific, this yaer anyway. I'll keep an eye on your progress, good luck.

plodder

Good luck with the training and the log!

Micilin Muc

Mr Magners wrote: »

Where are you getting the training plans from? Hal Higdon seems to be the one that most people use but it's very intensive.

I started back running last week and did 3.5k 4 times so I'd be hoping to increase my distance gradually over the weeks.

I'm not following any training plan as of yet. I'm only increasing my mileage by a maximum of 10% each week. I'll check out Hal Higdon so, thanks for the recommendation!

Mr Magners wrote: »

Feeling very unfit at the mo. I'm not training for anything specific, this yaer anyway. I'll keep an eye on your progress, good luck.

My previous failures were as a result of not having any specific goal (apart from getting fit). I'm making a weekend away of my 5 mile race (in Conamara) so I'll have something else to look forward to! Thanks for the encouragement.

Micilin Muc

I ran something just over 5km today (GPS crashed!).

Today's was definitely slower than last week's runs, probably due to eating too long beforehand (5 hours). Maybe I'll need to take an extra day of rest too as I have been running every second day for about two weeks.

Next session: Friday, 2.5 miles.

ronanmac

Best of luck with the training, Micilín Muc! A race as a goal, regardless of distance, is the best way to stay motivated about training, I find. That said, the Dublin marathon is my current goal and my cup is not exactly overflowing with motivation!

Micilin Muc wrote: »

My previous failures were as a result of not having any specific goal (apart from getting fit). I'm making a weekend away of my 5 mile race (in Conamara) so I'll have something else to look forward to! Thanks for the encouragement.

Where in Conamara is the 5 mile race?

Go n-eirí an bóthar leat féin agus le do chuid traenála!

Micilin Muc

ronanmac wrote: »

Best of luck with the training, Micilín Muc! A race as a goal, regardless of distance, is the best way to stay motivated about training, I find. That said, the Dublin marathon is my current goal and my cup is not exactly overflowing with motivation!



Where in Conamara is the 5 mile race?

Go n-eirí an bóthar leat féin agus le do chuid traenála!

Go raibh maith agat! Beidh sé ar siúl sa Líonán, fíor-Chonamara! 21 Samhain. Cén áit a dtéann tú féin ag traenáil? Is minic a bhím sa Spidéal ach níl aon pháirc mhór féir ar nós Pháirc an Fhionnuisce thart. Ní maith liom rith ar bhóithre.

It'll be on in Leenane, 21st November.

ronanmac

Micilin Muc wrote: »

Go raibh maith agat! Beidh sé ar siúl sa Líonán, fíor-Chonamara! 21 Samhain. Cén áit a dtéann tú féin ag traenáil? Is minic a bhím sa Spidéal ach níl aon pháirc mhór féir ar nós Pháirc an Fhionnuisce thart. Ní maith liom rith ar bhóithre.

It'll be on in Leenane, 21st November.

Ar an gCeathrú Rua a thosaíonn mé amach. Braitheann fad an rith ar cá gcríochnaíonn mé! Bóthar den chuid is mó, cladach ó am go chéile agus an pháirc peile don stuif gearr, sciopaithe. Bhí leath-shuim agam tabhairt faoin rás sin sa Líonán... b'fhéidir go bhfeicfidh mé ann tú!

Micilin Muc

Well, I took an extra day of rest and ran 6km today instead. Lovely run up by the bog road behind An Spidéal in Galway. Plenty of small hills, but it was my first time not running on grass.

36 minutes for 6km, a little behind my goal of 45 minutes for the 5 mile race, but I feel great now.

Plan for next session: 6.5km in Phoenix Park on Monday afternoon.

Micilin Muc

I pulled the calf muscle in my sleep last night. I couldn't scream in pain as I was staying with my girlfriend's family, in a room that I shouldn't

I'm rubbing Deep Heat in now and reading up about proper stretching!

ronanmac

Micilin Muc wrote: »

I pulled the calf muscle in my sleep last night. I couldn't scream in pain as I was staying with my girlfriend's family, in a room that I shouldn't

Pulled a calf muscle in your sleep, eh?!;)

Micilin Muc

ronanmac wrote: »

Pulled a calf muscle in your sleep, eh?!;)

No, seriously!

My warm-up is usually a 5km cycle to the Phoenix Park but yesterday I just ran straight out the door and up a hill!

I'll be using this stretching routine from now on, once my leg recovers!

Micilin Muc

Just back from the Phoenix Park having done 5km in 28:42. (a 5:44min/km pace).

My pulled muscle seems to have recovered with only a slight niggle for a minute or two during the run.

Plan for Wednesday: another 5km to match or better today's pace.

Micilin Muc

Was too busy yesterday to run, unfortunately, but I ran 6km this morning to make up for it. I ran a pace of 5:47km/min without any major difficulty. The last 2km were ran with a 5:32km/min pace.

Very happy with my progress overall, but am most happy about losing some weight. The scales tell me this morning that I've lost 3kg in 6 weeks , the first bit of weight I've lost in 4 years!

Plan for Saturday morning: 6km again

Micilin Muc

Muscles felt very tight Friday and Saturday so I skipped yesterday's run and ran 4km this morning.

I'm very wary of doing too much too soon so I'll be following Hal Higdon's 8k novice plan from now until the race. I'll have a lower weekly mileage, but hopefully it will pay off. Today's run was the Sunday Long Run of Week 2 and I'll be proceeding from there.

Micilin Muc

Tuesday

Did 4km in the Phoenix Park this morning. 15 Acres and surrounding areas closed off for deer cull so I ran up and down Chesterfield Avenue.

Distance: 4km
Pace: 5:55min/km

Micilin Muc

Thursday

Had an easy 3.5km this morning. Decided to make it a little bit harder by running up the dreaded Kyber Road. Not as bad as it is made out to be, but then again I only did 3.5km, not a half marathon!

Distance: 3.5km
Pace: 6:05min/km

Micilin Muc

Sunday

Had my 'long' slow run of 5km today. Finished in just over 30 mins. I always start my slow runs quite slowly but end up building up and building up and running faster towards the end. I don't know if it's going against the idea of an LSR or not but at least I'm not finishing going slower than what I start at.

Distance: 5km
Pace: 6:02min/km

Micilin Muc

Monday

Stretch & Strength Day

This is my first time doing an S & S day from Hal Higdon's plans. The weights exercises were easy enough but the abdominal crunches kill me! I hope I won't be too sore for tomorrow's run!

Micilin Muc

Tuesday

Well it's the pecs that hurt today, not the abs! Maybe that'll be tomorrow.

Did a 4km run this morning with only a banana in my belly. I reckon the Leenane 5 mile will be hilly :rolleyes: so I did some hill training today: ran up Khyber Road twice. Lovely morning, looks like it will be a great day today.

Distance: 4km
Pace: 5:48min/km

Micilin Muc

Thursday

Missed my morning run in the Phoenix Park this morning due to work, but managed to run my 3.5km this evening on the footpaths of Dublin 6 - not as enjoyable! Did my stretch and strength again too. Abs never hurt me since Monday, but my thighs were quite sore yesterday.

Can't wait for my long run on Sunday :-)

Distance: 3.5km
Pace: 5:46min/km

Micilin Muc

Sunday

Very few runners in the Phoenix Park today. I must be the only one not running the marathon! Beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. I really enjoyed today's run, and refrained from speeding up.

Distance: 5.5km
Pace: 6:23min/km

Micilin Muc

Monday

Missed my Stretch & Strength as I was cycling around the marathon route supporting a friend. Got plenty of exercise though.

Tuesday
Found out that the Leenane 5 Mile has a "savage", "dog of a hill" in the middle, so I'll have to prepare for that. Decided to run Knockmaroon Hill, twice, today! For anybody who doesn't know it, it's a short hill of a 30% incline just beside the Phoenix Park.

Felt great afterwards but was scared ****less of running on the footpath through the Park with no lights in the dark. I only realised I was going by a stag when I was 5 metres away from it. I don't know who was more scared, me or him!

Distance: 5.25km
Pace: 6:10min/km

Mr Magners

Micilin, I'm following your thread with interest, make sure to keep posting.

Keep it up.

moonshadow

Me too,great stuff,keep her lit!!

Micilin Muc

Mr Magners wrote: »

Micilin, I'm following your thread with interest, make sure to keep posting.

Keep it up.

moonshadow wrote: »

Me too,great stuff,keep her lit!!

Thanks guys, I find a log and the comments are a great motivation to keep running!

AntiVirus

I'm following your thread too, 5 miles is a good distance to run

Keep up the good work!

Micilin Muc

Thursday

Woke up with a very sore Achilles tendon on my right foot. Decided to cycle to the Park to see how I was and then decide to run or not. Went for it and it was sore for the first kilometre or so. After a while the pain went away and managed to finish my 3.5km run strongly. I'll be stretching religiously from now on!

Distance: 3.5km
Pace: 5:35min/km

Plan for Sunday: 6.5km in the Wicklow Mountains with a running partner![FONT=Arial, sans-serif]
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Micilin Muc

Sunday

Did my LSR on hills today on MTB trails in Rathmichael Woods & the Lead Mines - A lot harder than Knockmaroon Hill! The run overall took 47 mins which is longer than my 45 min target for the 5 miler My legs were literally steaming by the end of the run!

Distance: 6.73km
Pace: 7:03min/km (on steep hills)

Micilin Muc

Tuesday

Still feeling stiff from Sunday's LSR but went to the Park and did my 5km anyhow. It wasn't the most enjoyable of runs because of the muddy trails and stiff muscles, but very happy with my time of 28:30.

Distance: 5km
Pace: 5:42min/km

AntiVirus

If you have a newish phone you might be able to install endomondo on it. It's great for keeping track of all your runs, check out the download section to see if your phone is supported. It's great for motivation :-)

http://www.endomondo.com/download

Micilin Muc

Thanks AntiVirus. I have Endomondo installed but I've been using Sports Tracker so far. My phone crashed halfway through my last run so maybe I'll give Endomondo a try.

I use the Endomondo website to plan my runs. It's a lot easier to use than Google Maps.

Micilin Muc

Thursday

Wet and windy run in the Park today. Enjoyed it a lot more than a sunny day! GPS crashed, no idea of pace but I wasn't slow!

Distance: 3.5km
Pace: N/A

Micilin Muc

Sunday

Did my LSR on hills again this week. From Killiney Beach to Killiney Hill and back this time but it wasn't as difficult as last week's run around Rathmichael Wood. Fantastic day for a run and the view from the obelisk was great.

Distance: 7.42km
Pace: 6:30min/km
Climb: 0m-153m over 4.3km

2 weeks to the Leenane 5 mile

Slogger Jogger

Good luck with your training. Leenane is a great location for a race. Enjoy.

Micilin Muc

Tuesday

Did Knockmaroon Hill three times today plus a small hill or two along Lower Glen Road in the Phoenix Park. Very tough!

I'm beginning to hate cycling to the Park as I'm usually soaked and freezing by the time I get to start running. My incentive is that I'll be able to run from home to the Park in the New Year when I increase my mileage

Distance: 5km
Pace: 5:40min/km

Here's a link to the Google Streetview image of Knockmaroon Hill.

Micilin Muc

Wednesday

I've neglected the Stretch & Strength routine for the past two weeks so I gave it a go again today. The hill training must be doing something positive as I found it a lot easier than the last time.

Currently doing:

• 3* 15 reps of 6.6kg bench press & biceps curl
• 3* 15 reps of lunges with 4.4kg barbell
• 3* 15 reps of crunches

Micilin Muc

Thursday

I managed to convince myself to run this afternoon despite the gale force winds. I even cycled to the Phoenix Park but of course I got soaked before I got there

I'm feeling great but am not too sure if I'll manage the 5 miles in 45 mins on Sunday week. That'll take a 5:35min/km pace and so far I've only ran 5 runs under that pace and they were all under 5km distance.

Distance: 3.22km (2 miles)
Pace: 5:42min/km (1st half with a severe headwind, 2nd half with a severe tailwind!)

ronanmac

Micilin Muc wrote: »

Thursday

I'm feeling great but am not too sure if I'll manage the 5 miles in 45 mins on Sunday week. That'll take a 5:35min/km pace and so far I've only ran 5 runs under that pace and they were all under 5km distance.

You'll have no bother on the day, Micilín Muc. You'll run faster than you normally do as you'll be in a race. I predict that a mixture of adrenalin and your "race head" will have you running the five miles faster than you've ever run before! (that might change if you're running into a force 9 gale, of course :eek:)

Micilin Muc

Go raibh maith agat a Rónáin!

I think this morning's run gave me more confidence.

Sunday

I've been suffering with a stuffed-up nose for the past few two days and didn't sleep much last night (4 hours or so).

Got up at 7.15, cycled up to Taylor's Lane in Rathfarnham and ran 4.5 miles up Edmonstown Road, across by Mount Venus Road, down Stocking Lane, left at Scholarstown Road and around by Ballyboden St. Enda's.

It was by far my most enjoyable run so far, not a sinner on the road except for a few friendly cyclists. Got a few pictures of the early-morning sun over the city.

Pace was good, I feel I can go quicker next Sunday.

Distance: 7.23km (4.5 miles)
Pace: 5.52min/km

Here's a link to the GPS mapping of the run on Sports-Tracker (pictures included).

maria74

Well done! Great to get one of those confidence building runs in before the big one. This morning was lovely weather for a run.

Micilin Muc

Tuesday

My head is still feeling very stuffed up and I'm taking slightly more UniFlu than recommended. It didn't stop me from going out early this morning.

Went out at a good pace, not too fast, did Knockmaroon Hill three times again, and got a 3 mile PB of 27:02 So much for taking it easy before the race on Sunday!

Distance: 4.82km (3 miles)
Pace: 5:24min/km

Micilin Muc

Thursday

Went out for an easy 2 miles in the Phoenix Park this afternoon. I didn't push myself hard at all. Will be taking it easy before the big day on Sunday. Can't wait

Distance: 2 Miles
Pace: 5:35min/km

shoegal!

Best of luck for Sunday! Leenane is such a beautiful place, be sure and enjoy! Hope it goes well for you!

Micilin Muc

Thanks shoegal! Unfortunately the village seems to be more or less closed to tourists over the winter so I won't be spending much time in Leenane - 15 mins before and 30 mins after the race!

Next time I'll be there will be for the Connemara Half Marathon so tomorrow I'll scope out the 2 mile hill at the start of that race route :-)

Micilin Muc

Sunday, 5 Mile Race Day

I was in a bit of panic to get to Leenane in time but got there 10 mins before the race to collect my number and jog down to the start.

I started off quite fast, in fact the first mile was my quickest (7:40min/mile), and I realised at the 1st mile marker that I'd have to slow down in preparation for the hills. The hills at the second mile weren't too bad, definitely not as bad as the hills I did in training.

From mile 3-4 I struggled with a bad cramp in my shoulder from which I used to suffer before. I ran through it by reigning in my breathing and by the time I got to the final downhill I felt in flying form. I really appreciated the support from the crowd around the finish line and came in at 41:43, way ahead of my 45 min goal

shazkea

Excellent, well done on a great time and smashing your goal

maria74

WELL DONE! Thats great...excellent way to celebrate all the hard work over last few months.

Micilin Muc

Thanks guys! The support from Boards has helped me big-time

Here's the 10 lessons I learned from Couch to 5 Miles:

1. Avoid trying too much too soon by using a training program such as Hal Higdon’s.
2. Use an interesting, upcoming race as a goal.
3. Make the training interesting by running different routes or by running (occasionally) with a partner, especially in a park or in the mountains where the boredom of running laps can be avoided.
4. Run hills.
5. Don’t let the weather upset your training plan, no matter how bad it is (well, maybe except for ice!).
6. Keep a strict stretching regime.
7. Try to avoid starting your run with a cold body - warm up!
8. Don’t dismiss cross training.
9. Start a training log on Boards.
10. Enjoy your runs and stay positive!

shoegal!

Congrats on the great race performance! And those tips look good as well