couch to 5k - a little bit faster

PhoenixParker

So decided to get myself a training log.
I've never yet managed to keep a diary, ever, so it'll be interesting to see how this goes, but I reckon it's worth the shot.

Started running in January, got to 5k in March. Ran the St. Brigids 5k on the 19th, in 32mins or thereabouts. Pushed on and decided to run the GIR in April, did 10k a few times in training, race itself was a bit of a disaster but got around in 1hr 13ish. Set myself a target of 20k a week, including 1 10k run and I've been pretty much sticking to that since. Ran the mini-marathon at the weekend and the official time is 1:12:43, but I reckon I ran an extra km or so dodging people, so I'm going to estimate my 10k race time as being 1hr 5mins currently.

and I've gone and signed myself up for the race series - 5mile/10mile/half marathon. Now the 5 mile doesn't bother me, but I've yet to run further than 10k so the other two do. I'd also like to be a bit faster. Hence the training plan.

I've read around alot, and taken massive consideration of my own laziness and love of the easy route, so here is the plan:

During the week, I'm going to do the couch to 5k plan, except jogging and running it instead of walking it and jogging. I haven't fully decided about repeating weeks or moving straight through yet, I'm going to play that by ear as I go.

At the weekend, I'll do a long run. My current long run distance is 10km, so I'll start to push that out longer by about 1km a week or second week to get me up to the 16k and 21k marks.

For the C25k I've picked the NHS one, the music is the least annoying.
(Can't use an app and my ipod, because if I do that I can't use mapmyrun)

So far I've done the week 1 session twice.
5min walk - (1min run/90sec walk)*8 - 5 min walk

First time 4.58km in 32.45min, average speed 7:09min/km
Second time 4.56km in 31.23min, average speed 6:53min/km

First time I tried I had to stop a bit because I got a very nasty stitch on the 6th repeat. Walked jogged the 7th and was back to normal on the 8th.
Second time out was this morning and much more comfortable overall.

Current plan is to do that again tomorrow and then decide next week whether to move up a week or not.

ILOVERED

Good luck with your log and training plan.

Good idea to re-use the C25k plan.

Will be checking into see how your getting on: I too want to get faster.

PhoenixParker

Thanks ilovered. You seen to be running similar times to myself.
the good thing is lots of room for improvement!

I havent seen anyone else adopt a similar repeat c25k approach, which is one of the reasons I thought id give it a try. The fact that it's ridiculously easy to follow and it stops me second guessing myself are added bonuses.

Anyway this mornings run:
4.64 km, 31:31, average 6:42/km
So each run has been slightlybetter than the last so far.

Away for a few days now. Prob be Tuesday before I get out again.

PhoenixParker

So week 2 day 1 this morning.

Ugh, just ugh.
Tired from being away and eating bucket loads of very tasty but very bad food. If it hadn't been for the voice in my ear I would have turned around and gone home after five minutes, which is kinda the reason I'm trying this repeat the couch to 5k thing in the first place.

5min jog - (90sec run, 2 min jog)*6 - 5 min jog

4.31km in 31mins 40 seconds.
7.21 min/km

Like I said, just ugh, but at least it's done.

RayCun

3 run/jog/run sessions a week is pretty tough, you might want to concentrate on doing one of those sessions well. Plus one longer, slower run, and one or two easy runs.

ILOVERED

Well done! you got out and done it even if was ugh!

Keep it up

yungwan

Good luck with your log!

PhoenixParker

RayCun wrote: »

3 run/jog/run sessions a week is pretty tough, you might want to concentrate on doing one of those sessions well. Plus one longer, slower run, and one or two easy runs.

I've considered it, but for now I don't agree.
What you've described is roughly what I was doing before and I didn't feel I was making progress. I'm kind of enjoying the "this is the tin, do exactly what it says on it" aspect. No thinking means no overanalysing whether I'm pushing myself or being a wimp. The jog/run/jog sessions are under 5k and last less than half an hour. This week and next only includes 9 mins of actual running. I'll review it as I move up the plan, but for now it doesn't feel too tough. I am including one LSR at weekends both to get the total distance up and because I enjoy them.

Tuesdays session was ugh because I'd spent the previous four days eating a diet that mostly consisted of ham, cheese and bread. I also seem to run better when I do two days back to back, so the gap to the previous Thursday didn't help.

Today's run W2/D2 was nicer.
4.53km in 31.46
Average pace 7:06 min/km
Much more enjoyable.

tsoparno

going to start c25k 2morro.have been running on and off for a few wks now on a 5k route but feel i need the direction of the plan.one question for ya does your route take in any hills as my route has 2 serious inclines dont know how this will affect my run.

PhoenixParker

I avoided hills until about a month ago, so I'm afraid I'm not much help on the C25k + hills thing. My main route for this is up and down chesterfield road in the Phoenix Park.

But, since you're already running, and the C25k is designed for people who can't, at a guess I'd say you should be fairly ok. The main thing I would say is to just keep running when it says to, no matter how slow you're going, slow down as much as you need to but keep running. If you feel you're struggling too much with it, find a different route and come back to the hills in 8 weeks time.

Today's run - 4.58km in 31:35, 6:54 min/km
Paced it better today than yesterday, enjoyed it in spite of the drizzle.

tsoparno

went for that run this morning,enjoyed it but defo think i'm a little further on than the first wk plan.i jogged the warm up instead of a brisk walk just didnt feel right walking.
incorperated the hills as you said hopefully they'll increase leg power quicker than running on the flat.
one question for ya when your running is it a sprint or would you be at 90% or 80% or what would you consider it to be.

krankykitty

Reading your plan/log with interest - good way of using the Couch to 5k program in a different format! I know what you mean about how having an app/podcast to let you know when you've to go faster does help. Anyway, just wanted to wish you all the best with it.

PhoenixParker

tsoparno wrote: »

went for that run this morning,enjoyed it but defo think i'm a little further on than the first wk plan.i jogged the warm up instead of a brisk walk just didnt feel right walking.
incorperated the hills as you said hopefully they'll increase leg power quicker than running on the flat.
one question for ya when your running is it a sprint or would you be at 90% or 80% or what would you consider it to be.

60% - 70% on the first interval and 80% - 90% by the last one.
The main thing is to get through the interval, not to break any records. Learning to pace yourself, and to get comfortable running at a pace where after 5 mins you're not out of breath is about half the goal of the 5k plan.
Sounds like you're a bit further on alright, but for the sake of a week or two, I'd stick with it and do the whole thing.

krankykitty wrote: »

Reading your plan/log with interest - good way of using the Couch to 5k program in a different format! I know what you mean about how having an app/podcast to let you know when you've to go faster does help. Anyway, just wanted to wish you all the best with it.

Thanks, it's nice to have interest.

Did 12k in 1hr 36mins on Saturday, 8:05min/km so super super slow.
There were a few hills involved (Basically the route of the National Lottery 5miler with a few extra legs thrown in) The earlier, (flatter) kilometres were faster. It was a very nice morning for it.

This weeks plan is roughly, very light 3kish done nice and slow tonight, 8k Docklands run tomorrow, and then a break and I'll do 2 days of week three on Thursday/Friday/Saturday.

PhoenixParker

Hmmm, well eh . . .
That 3k never happened, the rain was bucketing down and I couldn't motivate myself to head out in it. Dublin Docklands 8k went well. Started out too fast, couldn't believe it when I saw the 2k marker, I had myself convinced I was 4k in at that stage. Slowed down, but the 3k marker sapped all my keep running motivation and I started walking.
Luckily the first water station appeared at that point, and the brief stop there got my breath back, my head together*, and I started running again.

Overall don't think I lost any time from it, went through the 4k mark in about 25.30 and finished in 50.42 overall. It's a PB (obviously it's the only 8k I've ever run), but it also beats my 5k and 10k times according to McMillan, and it gives me a benchmark to work off, which the last two 10ks haven't. 6.13/km is the average speed, and I was fit to die by the end of it, so I'm confident I couldn't have gone faster.

This weeks C25k program is
5min jog - 2* (90sec run, 90sec jog, 3 min run, 3 min jog)
Was all set to head out on Thursday, but couldn't find my earphones, so put it off til Friday. Friday I headed out and started W3D1, and completely misjudged the second run. Went too fast and stopped half way through the 3min run, just after the voice in my ear said I had 90 whole seconds left. Did 1.61km in 10:38, walked/jogged another bit but didn't record it.

Disheartened I went out today planning to do a W2D4, but at the last minute said feck it and did W3D1.1 and completed it. Yay!
3.85km in 26:18 so 6.50/km, it looks faster than the earlier ones because there's less jogging in it, but a quick calculation suggests I'm running at roughly the same pace over the 3min stints as I was for the 90secs last week. (5:50min/km) The overall aim is to be fairly comfortable running 6min/km by the end of this, so I'm happy with that.

Roll on next week!

*I knew I'd read somewhere to walk through water stations, granted it applies to marathons not 8ks but as a mind game it worked

PhoenixParker

Sun - W3D2
5min jog - 2* (90sec run, 90sec jog, 3min run, 3min jog)

tough enough, but doable. The 90seconds are now very comfortable, the first 3mins wasn't too bad, but the second 3mins retains that aura of kill me now about it.

Did 4.01km in 26:11 so faster than yesterday.
Kept jogging up to the 31:15 mark to see how I was comparing to previous weeks, that was at 4.71. The length of time it took me to do that 0.7km suggests the jogging section is slower than I thought, which also means the running section is faster than I thought.

I may note a few more interval times next time I'm out to see.

Monday - just a run
Haven't just gone out for a run in a while so took the opportunity today.
Lovely, lovely evening for it, nice to just listen to music instead of stupid podcast stuff, nice to run at a comfortable pace, all over just lovely.
Except for the blisters. Started a twinge of a blister on my right foot at about 3k, then the left one started up at about 6k, they weren't too bad though so I kept going. At just over 7k the right one started to be stabby, so I just started walking. No point getting a blister that won't heal for a few days for the sake of a km or two.

Anyway 7.36km in 48:44 or 6.38min/km.
That's much faster than my long runs have been to date, and it felt extremely comfortable. Maybe a touch above my "I could keep this pace up forever" pace, but not far, certainly no sense of pushing the speed about it.

PhoenixParker

Thursday
Ended up going on a walk on Thursday that lasted about 14km so skipped the run.

Friday - W3 D3
Nice evening for a quick run. Week 3, Day 3 was pretty uneventful. Very similar to day 2, last 3 minutes were tough, others not so bad. The podcast is extremely irritating though, so glad to be done with it. 4.57km in 30:29 seconds and covered 4.01km in the 26:21 seconds of the actual podcast.

Sunday-LSR
13.6km in 1hr 42mins. Very long, very slow and very warm.
Enjoyed it thoroughly, knackered now though.
Need to sort out some way of drinking water en route. Guess I'll just start to bring a bottle with me.

liamog

PhoenixParker wrote: »

Thursday
Ended up going on a walk on Thursday that lasted about 14km so skipped the run.

Friday - W3 D3
Nice evening for a quick run. Week 3, Day 3 was pretty uneventful. Very similar to day 2, last 3 minutes were tough, others not so bad. The podcast is extremely irritating though, so glad to be done with it. 4.57km in 30:29 seconds and covered 4.01km in the 26:21 seconds of the actual podcast.

Sunday-LSR
13.6km in 1hr 42mins. Very long, very slow and very warm.
Enjoyed it thoroughly, knackered now though.
Need to sort out some way of drinking water en route. Guess I'll just start to bring a bottle with me.

I did a 1:40:00 long run last Sunday. I have one of the Adidas sports belts with 3 water bottles. I find it good for running as it is well balanced and doesn't get in the way too much. Nice work on the runs and keep it up.

Just wondering do you have any races lined up? I find knowing I have entered something really keeps me on track with the training.

PhoenixParker

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm going to go and try on a few in the next month or three, so I'll keep an eye out for it. In the mean time, I think I've (with the help of the boardsies!) found a shop that'll do the job half way around my usual route.

I'm doing the 5, 10 and half marathon runs in the Phoenix Park, the half marathon terrifies me, so that's my main motivation at the moment. The five mile should be fine, I did an 8k not too long ago. 10 mile is a push but doable I think, and the 13, well y'argh! At least it's a good while away.

I wouldn't mind finding a 5k at some point too, just because I'd like a new 5k time.

Monday - W4 D1
Knew going out I should just leave it, but it was a nice evening for a run, so I thought I'd give it a shot.
Got to 3 and a half minutes in the 5 minute run, and decided to cut my losses. Walked 5k total instead.

Wednesday - W3 D4
Because I'm still struggling on the 3 minute runs with that "will this ever end" feeling, I decided to give W3 another day or two, attempting to slow down slightly so that I can keep the faster speed up for longer.

4.61km in 31:32 but definitely more comfortable than it was at the start of last week.

PhoenixParker

Right so, I moved on to W4 again.
Managing it this time, the key (as always with the couch to 5k) is to pace myself. Seem to have gotten a (slightly better grip on it this time.
Anyway

Saturday - W4D1
A bit of a mixed bag this one.
I was fine until right at the end when just before the end of the second 5 minutes I had to stop because I was about to throw up. It wasn't from being in the "please let this pain end now" zone though. I think it had more to do with the vodka's the night before. I'm counting it as a completed session because there were only 4 seconds left of the 5 minutes when I hit stop. I walked out the five minute warm down.

25:26 minutes, 4.08km, average speed 6:14min/km

Monday - W4 D2
Did the whole session this time.
31:34 minutes, 5.02km and 6:17 min/km
Definitely more doable and more enjoyable.

Week 4 involved 16 minutes of fast running to W2 and W3's 9.
I have to say I'm pretty happy with progress. 5k in just under 32mins is my current PB time, and very similar to what I did in the 8k docklands race 3 weeks ago. Getting to a point where I'm comfortable running 6min/km is a goal of mine, and I think I'm nearly there.

PhoenixParker

I think I've started to notice a change, and I think this program is actually really working.

I've switched to using runkeeper from using map my run, which helps to track progress a little better, but the difference is quite noticeable.

First Tuesdays run:

Tuesday W4 D3
4.84km in 31:33
Less than the day before, but it was hillier route.
The big thing was that the 3 minutes and 5minute fast are no longer quite so torturous. I speed up, I hold the pace reasonably well and most of the time I'm not counting seconds waiting for it to be over.

and then today's five mile race

Five mile race, Phoenix Park
Official times aren't out yet, but my phone says 48:57 for the five miles.
I ran the race on the basis of 3 minutes steady, 5 minutes fast on and off throughout the race. The aim with the faster was to still remain in the comfortable zone. It worked very well for the first 5k, and not so much when the hills kicked in but that was to be expected. I felt comfortable the whole way around, except when I got a stitch on the Kyber.

The first 5k I competed in 29:30 seconds, I've never gone below 30minutes on a 5k in training or otherwise before, and I felt completely comfortable.

Comparing the time to the Docklands run just a few weeks ago, 50:42 versus 48:57 for pretty much the same distance, and one race that felt like torture for about 80% of it (the Docklands) vs one that was just a fairly comfortable run in the park.

So yeah, onwards and upwards!

captain P

Well done today:) PhoenixParker!

Caprica

Well done Phoenixparker on a very good run today. Nice improvement from the docklands race, it shows your training is working.

PhoenixParker

Thanks guys, I really think it is.

I remember from the first time I did the Couch25k that the 5 minutes was the key distance.
Once you could do 5 minutes fairly comfortably, the rest all fell into place.
Seems like I've just about hit that point now.

It's a great feeling.