Right from the start. Unable to run for a minute ----> To a Marathon.

Pacing Mule

This is my first training log (with thanks to Bammbaata for suggesting it to me) This is a little unusual for the forum here as most training logs are from established runners documenting their progress to marathons etc This is one right from the start and I'm hoping in a few months time may serve as inspiration for other total beginners.

A little about me for those who do end up reading this thread.

I'm about 6 weeks into a training program called "get running" which I have downloaded on my iphone. It's a couch to 5k app which takes you from the most humblest of beginnings and brings you to a point where you can hopefully run 5k in approx 30 minutes. I had a brief flirtation with running a couple of years ago but once stopped fitness levels plummeted and weight piled on.

I'm coming at this from being overweight (was at 16 stone 6 weeks ago) and struggling to run for 1 minute at a time.

My Goal

Short term - I have set a modest target of running the 5 mile race in the phoenix park at the end of June. I want to run this in less than 40 minutes and would be very happy with 38 or lower. In the medium term I want to shed some weight (have lost 10 lbs so far) and maybe stretch to a 10 mile or half marathon at some stage.

The last 6 weeks in summary ..

I already feel like I have made huge progress. Each week consists of 3 runs

Week 1
Each run was made up of 8 x 1 minute runs with 1.5 minutes rest between each.

Week 2
This time 6 x 1.5 minute runs with 2 minutes rest between each.

Week 3
2 X Run 1.5 min, walk 1.5 min, run 3 min and walk 3 min.

Week 4
2 X run 3 min, walk 1.5 min, run 5 min, walk 2.5 min

Week 5
Run 1 - 3 X Run 5 min, Walk 3 min between each.
Run 2 - Run 8 min, Walk 5 min, Run 8 Min
Run 3 - Run 20 minutes - no walking

Week 6 -
Run 1 - Run 5 min, walk 3 min, run 8 min, walk 3 min, Run 5 min
Run 2 - Run 10 min - Walk 3 min - Run 10 Min
Run 3 - Run 25 Min

When I started week 1 I struggled. I genuinely struggled to run 1 minute at a time !!! but I stuck to the program laid out above. If I started getting tired I slowed my pace down, on a couple of occasions I needed to stop for a few seconds rest before continuing. Over the weeks I could see and feel progress being made with every run.

On Friday I ran 25 minutes at 9.5 kmph without stopping and I was absolutey delighted with myself. I had to dig very deep for the last few minutes but I did get there. Compared to 6 weeks ago when I could hardly manage 1 minute this felt like completing a marathon

Next Up

Tomorrow begins week 7 - which is another 3 x 25 min runs before it steps up to 28 min for week 8 and finally 30 min on week 9 (where the app expects me to have covered 5k in the 30 minutes) From there I will be planning to run for longer and at a faster speed to eventually hit 8k (5 miles) in sub 40 minutes.

The point I'd like to finish this first post with is to anyone thinking of starting running - get out there and do it. No matter how unfit you think you are, how bad you think you will be - it's all in your head. You can go from nothing to a 25 minute run in 6 weeks. (And I'm going to show you that you can get to a sub 40 min 5 mile run in 6 months)

Thanks for reading !

ray lanigan

5 years ago i ran 3miles for the first time(felt like dying,but stuck in there)then 3.5months later i ran a marathon on a treadmill,6 months after that a ultra marathon,just keep at it and injoy the ride,good luck with the future:)

shazkea

Welcome to the logs and best of luck with the goals

Pacing Mule

Today I began week 7 of the program. A 25 minute run which I ran at a very slight increase of 9.6. It pushed me at the end but i wanted a bit more progress than the .1 speed increase. I had a 3 minute walk and then I ran until I hit 5 k with an overall time of 32 min.

My issue here is that the part of me pushed was my legs - breathing was ok so I have decided to do some weight training to help build stamina in my legs.

laura2011

This sounds good, im going to try this , i am terribly unfit and could badly do with improving, i have some weight to lose but nothing unmanageable, its my fitness that bothers me

Pacing Mule

Can't say today felt very good !

Program calls for another 25 minute run. I started off a little too fast for my current fitness level to sustain (10.5 kmph) and went up to 11.5 after 5 minutes. I had in my mind that I could start doing 1 min at a faster pace every 5 minutes. This was a bit optimistic and I ended up dropping back to 9.5 half way through and had to drop back to 9 for the last 7 minutes or so. Really struggled for the last few minutes and was annoyed at myself for going off too fast at the start.

A long recovery walk followed at which point I got back on the horse and ran until the clock hit 38 minutes having covered 5.3 km in total. Ultimately I am aiming for 8km in the same time period so my strategy from now on will be to run (or run / walk / run) for 38 minutes at least in each session and try and bridge the gap to the 8km distance.

Pacing Mule

laura2011 wrote: »

This sounds good, im going to try this , i am terribly unfit and could badly do with improving, i have some weight to lose but nothing unmanageable, its my fitness that bothers me

The couch to 5k app (get running is the one I use) is brilliant for what you want. Let us know how you get on.

Pacing Mule

Shame on me for not updating this sooner

So Friday the 9th March came along and I found things a little bit easier. It was the last run of the week and I actually ran for 26 minutes (1 more than the app demanded) had a walk and then a light jog towards 38 minutes with 5.5km covered in total.

Monday just gone was the first of a new week - this weeks target from the app is 28 minutes of a run. I am pleased to say that I hit the 28 minute target but was too tired to do much more than that.

Wednesday was a great day and I am still buzzing from it. The app calls for a 28 minute run. Concious of the fact that by the end of next week I am ideally expected to be running 5k in 30 minutes I set off at pace of 10kmph. I lasted 15 minutes at this before hitting a brick wall and having to drop back the pace to 8.5 to get a drink into me.8.5 actually felt like a struggle because it was too slow if that makes any sense. Anyway after a couple of minutes I settled down into it.

The 20 minute mark passed and I realised I was very comfortable and would have no problems hitting the 28min target. I was tempted to increase the pace but I decided there and then that I would keep going at the comfortable pace after 28 and head for 30 minutes. Then when I was approaching the 30 minutes I had a glance down and I had already ran 4.5km so I decided that I would finish it out and run to 5km distance which I ended up doing in a time of 32 and a half minutes.

Milestones Achieved:

Over 30 minutes of continuous running in one session.
5km distance covered in one continuous run.


(Again I am concious of how minor these things are in a forum filled with marathon runners and triathletes - But 8 weeks ago I couldn't run for 1 minute at a time so for me personally and for anyone else starting off their own journeys these are milestones to be proud of )

Overall Scheme Of Things:

Fitness is most definitely increasing and weight is continuing to fall off which of course makes running easier.

That pace for the 5k is well off the pace I need to be at for a 38 minute 8k but I have plenty of time to increase the distance and pace. My next steps therefore are to get to a stage where I can run for 38 minutes non stop - even if it is at a slower pace and then work on increasing the speed.

LarMan

Well done, I was in a similar position to you, did the C25K and then graduated to the B210K (app made by the same company as the C25K) now I'm getting ready to do a half Marathon in a week. So far it has taken me about 7 months to get to this stage. As you pointed out a lot of the logs are from seasoned runners, but as someone pointed out to me there are people out there who started just like us and who are now running marathons in times I can only dream about.

The moral is all good things come to those who wait - and who do the training. Good luck and I hope the running and weight loss progresses well for you.

Pacing Mule

Thanks for the replay LarMan - really appreciate the encouragement.

I titled this entry You lose some - You win some as it's an appropriate summary for the last two runs.

The Loss
I started my run on Friday feeling good about what was in front of me. I was still buzzing from the last run and expecting to progress from there. Boy was I wrong. 10 minutes is all I lasted (at 10kmpg) before having to slow to a walking pace. There simply wasn't anything in the tank. I ended up covering 5k in a mixture of walking and light jogging in a time of 37 minutes. Although proud to have stuck with it I did feel a bit deflated.

The Win
I had an indulgent Paddys Day and Mothers day - had a few beers (first time in months) ate a barbecue and a chinese and basically abandoned all good eating habits for the weekend. Bearing in mind my last run was not too good I wasn't expecting anything great from this run. I did however decide on the way in that I was going to cover the entire 5 miles for the first time no matter how much walking was required to do it.

I started off at 8.8kmph - a little faster than I had previously fallen back to (when starting at a higher pace) figuring it would give me more of a chance to last a bit longer time wise before walking. Delighted to report I jogged at this pace for 6km and 41 minutes in total. After a bit of a rest / walk I went on to finish off the rest of the 8k (5 miles) at 8kmph with a total time of 56 min 50 seconds. A Win for me.

Milestones Achieved:

Over 40 minutes of continuous running in one session.
6km distance covered in one continuous run.

Pacing Mule

So sticking with my previous training patterns I ran on Mon, Wed and Fri again.

This was the final week of the couch to 5k app I was following which called for 3 x 30 minute runs. The app targets you to cover 5k in 30 minutes which means you should be running at 10.00 kmph.

That said I found myself experimenting with some intervals on Monday and Wednesday - passing the 5k distance each time but taking longer than the targeted 30 minutes to pass that 5k distance. On both days I covered 8k in 55 - 56 minutes

Going into Fridays run I didn't feel 100% ready / able to cover 5k in 30 minutes (running at 10kpmh) so I went out at 9.5 - I just about made 30 minutes, was physically shattered by the end and headed for a shower thereafter.

Pacing Mule

I also copped over the weekend that I had made a slight error when I assumed that 5 miles was 8 kilometres (I took the standard 5/8 ths conversion as being literal) which is a bit of a pisser. I had been congratulating myself on covering 5 miles over the past few workouts but it turns out I only ran 4.97 miles :mad::(:mad:

So my more accurate calculations show me that:

In order to cover 5 miles in less than 40 minutes I need to be able to run at 12.07 kmph or 7.5 mph to do this.

I am currently capable of running for 30 minutes at 9.5 kmph so there is a little bit of work left to do.

I also am having niggly thoughts at this stage of aiming for a half marathon run in September with a view to a full marathon next year. Not sure if this is realistic or not but am logging it now here as the first time I have seriously considered going long distance !

ellie_sun

Finding your log really interesting, I'm in a similar situation to you. Well worse, I'm only in my second week! Its great to see how much progress you've made, hope I can do the same!

Good luck with your training

Pacing Mule

Thanks for that.

It's nice to know other people are reading this rather than this being akin to a personal diary. It does give it an extra dimension

Best of luck - on my second week I was doing 6 x 1.5 minute runs with 2 minutes rest between each and the last couple of 1.5 minute runs were tough. It's amazing that 8 weeks later I'm covering 5 miles in less than an hour. It's that kind of progress that gives me faith that I will get that time down under 40 minutes.

BobMac104

Great log here well done keep it up!

Pacing Mule

Yesterday I covered the full 5 miles for the first time (after previous minor miscalculation) in 57 minutes 10 seconds.

I started off at 10 kmph and lasted 22 minutes before having to drop back to a mixture of walking / running for the rest. It was extremely hot in the gym yesterday and I felt it impacted on my performance.

That said the chap beside me was also running at 10.00 and had been for an hour before I got there and finished after he ran 15km so can't blame the heat too much :pac::pac::pac:

scriba

Well done Pageant Messiah, some great work there. Take your time with regard to your pacing. It's much more important to do the distance, at a steady or easy pace, rather than attempt to go faster every time. Keep up the good work.

Pacing Mule

Good run today - taking a bit on board from scriba I went for a "let's see how far it goes" run at 9 kmph.

I broke 2 personal records.

1) I ran for 45 minutes non stop.
2) I covered 6.7 kilometres non stop.

Happy with those.

It hurt at the end and I had to dig deep for the last 5 minutes but it wasn't too bad overall. I'm confident of hitting a 5 mile distance non stop in the next couple of weeks. After that it will be a case of working on increasing the speed.

Pacing Mule

Last friday I was under pressure time wise and only had 30 minutes to squeeze in a run. I went for a faster pace knowing that I only had 30 minutes to cover and ended up covering 5k. Was happy enough with that.

This morning I had my first run (with a bit of walking along the way!) outdoors and I really enjoyed it. I found a great location to run - beechfield park, just behind Clonsilla train station. There is a path around the park which measures very close to exactly 1 kilometre per lap (it's a fraction more than 1km but only just) As such it's a great spot to run laps around and with the car park being in the middle you're never too far from the car if at any point you needed to call it a day. It's also relatively flat - a small incline and decline on each circuit but you don't feel like you're running up mountains.

There's certainly some difference between running on a threadmill in the gym versus the outdoors and I wonder if others found the same ?

• I found myself running at a faster pace than on the threadmill but being more comfortable doing so. I couldn't believe how fast I covered the first lap and how comfortable it was to do so.
• I wasn't as thirsty - In the gym my throat goes very dry and I constantly need to take in water whereas this morning despite leaving a drink on the bonnet of the car which I passed 8 times in total doing my circuit I didn't actually need a drink at all.
• You tend to run a bit longer when you don't have to do an action of leaning forward to adjust speed on the threadmill. It's like because you have the ability to ease off slightly in pace and keep going whereas on a threadmill when your finger is on the downward button you keep it there !
• The bit of downhill / uphill certainly makes a difference to pace - even the minor incline slows you right down.
• What seems so much easier and comfortable at the start turns out to hurt more by the end. My ankles, knees and muscles are a lot sorer now 8 hours later than when I'm in the gym.

With all that in mind I covered 5 miles in 52 minutes 19 seconds which was the guts of 5 minutes off my best time so far for the 5 miles. I'm very happy with that and it does tell me that certainly for shorter runs (short compared to marathons etc) there is a positive effect to running outdoors for me.

Pacing Mule

Recovery time for a run on concrete is so much longer !!!

2 days on and with it being time for my normal Wednesday run I still had sore knees, ankles, calf muscles - everywhere was hurting. I was under a bit of time pressure again work wise so only had a quick 30 min run in the gym varying between a fast (for me) 11.5kmph speed and a gentler 8.5 with a couple of min walk along the way. All in all and despite niggly pains from Mondays run I covered 5k in the 30 minutes.

On the positive side of things weight has now dropped to 14st 7 lb meaning a stone and a half has come off since January.

Pacing Mule

5 Miles covered in 52 minutes - a 19 second improvement on Monday. Little steps all add up ! Hoping to smash past 50 minutes next week.

tenreds

Great log,I'm doing c25k (on w3d3 ) and it's great to read someone's log and see how far you've got.Keep us updated and it might give us all something to aim for

Pacing Mule

tenreds wrote: »

Great log,I'm doing c25k (on w3d3 ) and it's great to read someone's log and see how far you've got.Keep us updated and it might give us all something to aim for

That's my plan ! best of luck with your own journey. The hardest part is starting off and getting past that mental block of "I can't run" You're well on the way now. Let me know how you're getting on from time to time.

Pacing Mule

A rather strange thing happened today. Normally I run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays but I was lying in bed this morning and I had an urge to run. I had a couple of beers and some crisps last night and I think my body was telling me that it needed to excercise them off. I just couldn't wait until Monday. The urge was with me all day in work and even though I only got in at 7pm I just had to get out and run !

And run I did - I had pre programmed a 5 mile course around the area I live in. It's quite hilly especially at the start but I figured the ups would be balanced off with the downs.

So I arrived home 5 miles later, 51 minutes and 4 seconds later, having ran non stop for the entire route. I was a little disapointed not to break 50 mins considering I had ran non stop but I'm happy with the non stop element - especially given the hilly terrain.

Milestones Achieved:
Ran for over 50 minutes non stop.
Ran for 5 miles non stop.
Shaved another minute or so off my best 5 mile time.

scriba

Well done Pageant Messiah. You're hooked now, there's no escape!

Pacing Mule

Not a great day at all today. I needed to be in work a bit earlier than normal so I actually set an alarm to get up out of bed early and hit the gym. I was so confident going today off the back of my previous record breaking run which was outdoors and hilly versus the flat and smooth threadmill - coupled with the sheer positivity of getting up early to train etc that I was genuinely expecting to be on here logging my first sub 50 5 mile.

Didn't quite work out that way at all :mad::pac:

Started off at 10kmph on the threadmill figuring that I could have a 2 minute walk / break half way through and run at 10 again for the second half coming in under the 50min. First part of the plan went ok - Was capable of running at 10 up to the halfway point of 4.03 kilometers. However after the 2 minute walk I was in bits trying to run again the other side. My legs ached - it was like they seized up with the walk and thought we were finished ! I was pushing through the pain until the muscle to the front of my left leg running down the shin started to get more and more painful. Not wanting to risk a long term injury pushing it too far I had to call a halt with only 5k covered.

A bit disappointed tbh but lesson learned that recovery time from concrete is a lot longer than threadmill.

Pacing Mule

Well after my disapointing last run I'm happy to log that progress was made tonight.

Running the same route as Monday I ran the 5 miles in 49:34 - a new PB and 1 and a half minutes off the last time.

Finally broke 50 min !

Pacing Mule

So the title of the log says to go from being unable to run for a minute to doing a 5 mile run. Mission accomplished here.

First post mentions though my goal time of 40 min This has not been achieved - yet I am aiming to hit this for the end of June's 5 mile Irish runner race.

I had been looking at the 10k night time city centre race a few weeks ago not thinking at all that it would be something I would be capable of doing so quickly. With renewed confidence from my 5 mile achievement I have gone ahead and entered the race. This takes place in less than 2 weeks. This morning so will be my first attempt to run 10k !

BobMac104

Well done pageant great determination.

Pacing Mule

Went very well !

10k route in the phoenix park - starting at the popes cross, down the kyber and back up to the main road through the bends and past the ordnance survey building. Right hand turn - down as far as the Zoo roundabout and then a final km back up the main boulevard. The section from the bottom of the kyber up to ordnance survey is cruel !!!

Anyway the great news is 64 minutes for a non stop 10k. The samsung night race allows 80 minutes to complete before roads reopen and you get bumped off so I am very happy with that time and am looking forward to the event.

Milestones Achieved:
Ran over an hour non stop.
Ran 10k non stop.

Pacing Mule

Bad day today. Went to gym but didn't really feel for want of a better term ready or motivated to run. Figured I would be fine once up and running. Ran 2k at 10.33 kmph felt fine. Increased speed to 12 and 1 min later from out nowhere I had a mini black out and found myself about to topple over side of the machine ! Slowed right down to a walk but again could feel dizziness in the background. I listened to my body and stopped the session. Hopefully just a temp bit of sickness.

Pacing Mule

Just back from the docs - they suspect I have picked up a viral infection which has not been shifted due to my newly undertaken fitness efforts. (Ironically the old me - pre losing 1 and a half stone and starting to get fit would most likely have shifted it within a couple of days but that my current training was putting pressure on my body leaving it to fight two fights at once) 4 tubes of blood taken and under orders not to train for a few days.

Plan now is to lay off training until Tuesday, have a light run then. Have a larger run on Thursday and then lay off things until the 10k night race on the Sunday night. Just hoping that the lack of training wont screw things up.

maupat

Hi Pageant Messiah - hope the viral infection clears up soon.

I find your log very interesting. I only started out running at the beginning of this year and I'm happy to say that I completed my first 4km race in a time of 23.44 last Saturday and I'm so happy ;-) Having done some research online and thanks to many boardsie's suggestions I incorporated some elements of the C25k plan. As time progressed I leaned more towards a combination of how I was feeling personally while increasing my distance at my own pace. That's not to say that I haven't had my bad days too - days when I just couldn't take off so to speak! I also cycle and swim from time to time and this has certainly helped too.

My next target is 5km, then 8 km with the final aim being a 10km race.

As one other poster said, many of these logs are for seasoned runners but we all had to start somewhere and it's great to see a log that details your journey front he point of view of the beginner runner up to 10km

Pacing Mule

So 1st run in the guts of a week today. I figured I would go for a relatively short 5k run to ease back into things and not wanting to go too flat out with Sundays 10k in mind.

Unfortunately my body gave up running after 3 kilometres. I say my body because my mind was having none of it yet suddenly I was stopped ! A throwback to the early days I ended up walking a full kilometre before running out the last 1k

Times were:

1 - 5.26
2 - 5.50
3 - 6.31 (you can see the gradual slow to a stop kicking in)
4 - 9.08 (walked this)
5 - 5.27

Total time of 32:22

I didn't feel overly bad (felt a little light headed but nothing like last week) after the 5th kilometre and the overall time wasn't so bad so I will consider the run a success. Kind of wish I had more time before Sunday. I don't think I am fully over the presumed viral infection but they won't postpone the race for me. :rolleyes::p

Pacing Mule

maupat wrote: »

Hi Pageant Messiah - hope the viral infection clears up soon.

I find your log very interesting. I only started out running at the beginning of this year and I'm happy to say that I completed my first 4km race in a time of 23.44 last Saturday and I'm so happy ;-) Having done some research online and thanks to many boardsie's suggestions I incorporated some elements of the C25k plan. As time progressed I leaned more towards a combination of how I was feeling personally while increasing my distance at my own pace. That's not to say that I haven't had my bad days too - days when I just couldn't take off so to speak! I also cycle and swim from time to time and this has certainly helped too.

My next target is 5km, then 8 km with the final aim being a 10km race.

As one other poster said, many of these logs are for seasoned runners but we all had to start somewhere and it's great to see a log that details your journey front he point of view of the beginner runner up to 10km

Hi manupat

Thanks for the input

I felt the same towards the end of the couch to 5k. You do feel like tailoring it to what your own body can do once you get past the regimented walk,run,walk,run,walk,run parts.

That's a super time for a 4k from a beginners perspective. My best 4k according to Endomondo is 24:26 (which btw is a brilliant app for anyone with an iphone or android phone) This was done in the context of an 8km run so I'm sure my time could come down a bit if pushing for the last km in a 4km.

If you're capable of covering 4k in 23 minutes I guarantee you that you could slow that down slightly, easily do 5k and most likely leap up to 8k very quickly.

Looking back at it I went from my first ever 5k in one go to 8k in 2 weeks and another 2 weeks later hit 10k. In each scenario I had ran the previous distance (5k when running 8k for first time, 8k when running 10k) in a slower time which gave me enough energy / reserves to keep going when I reached the previous longest distance)

All that said when I first done 5k I don't think I would have covered the 4k in the time you did so I'd be even more confident you could head out tonight and hit 5k no bother.

Pacing Mule

Again a not very encouraging run today. Ran in the gym as the weather was atrocious. I couldn't sustain the run for anything more than 1-2 km at a time before needing to walk for a while and ended up covering 6.5k in 43 minutes. This is well below what I was capable of prior to the bout of illness (having ran 10k non stop in 64 min) and now I have a dilemna.

Do I try another run tomorrow or saturday and see if things have improved or do I lay off now until the race on Sunday night. As things stand I don't feel very confident that I can make a 10k run but am aware that doing too much in the next couple of days could prove to be a negative influence.

Pacing Mule

After posting yesterday I posted a thread in the main forum looking for the thoughts of the more experienced runners on whether or not to train and what to do if I did.

I decided to do a 5k run this morning and then to rest up until Sunday. Results were mixed if not a bit confusing too I had felt a bit better but still required a few walking breaks along the way. My splits were

1 - 5.02
2 - 5.37
3 - 6.14
4 - 6.51
5 - 6.23

Total time of 30:06

Now here's the interesting thing. A couple of weeks ago when I ran 10k non stop I covered the first 5k in 30:18

1 - 5.25
2 - 5.50
3 - 5.46
4 - 6.32
5 - 6.46

So my run-walk-run-walk-run etc actually beat my non stop slower running.

huskerdu

Good luck on Sunday.
If you are aiming to run the race in 64 minutes, that means over 6 min per km.

I would suggest starting at that pace. Don't run the first few kms fast and tail off.

If you run at a constant pace, you should have more in the tank at the end.

The buzz of the race will keep you going. Enjoy it and report back.

Pacing Mule

My 6 year old informed me today that she is making me a special medal for when I win my race tomorrow. After explaining to her that Daddy probably wouldn't be winning the race as it was his first one she then declared that I could still have my medal BUT only if I didn't stop at all during the race.

Therefore my tactic tomorrow will be very much slow and steady !

maupat

Pageant Messiah wrote: »

So 1st run in the guts of a week today. I figured I would go for a relatively short 5k run to ease back into things and not wanting to go too flat out with Sundays 10k in mind.

Unfortunately my body gave up running after 3 kilometres. I say my body because my mind was having none of it yet suddenly I was stopped ! A throwback to the early days I ended up walking a full kilometre before running out the last 1k

Times were:

1 - 5.26
2 - 5.50
3 - 6.31 (you can see the gradual slow to a stop kicking in)
4 - 9.08 (walked this)
5 - 5.27

Total time of 32:22

I didn't feel overly bad (felt a little light headed but nothing like last week) after the 5th kilometre and the overall time wasn't so bad so I will consider the run a success. Kind of wish I had more time before Sunday. I don't think I am fully over the presumed viral infection but they won't postpone the race for me. :rolleyes::p

Pageant Messiah,

Firstly, how did the 10K go yesterday?

I had a similar experience to the one you described (above) yesterday morning. Just couldn't seem to take off. After a gentle 5 min walk to warm up I managed to run 2.5km non-stop. After that it was a case of stopping and starting (and stopping and starting) finally managing to complete 5km (approx.). As Van said there are "days like this". Hard to understand - wasn't particularly tired or full-up after eating too late etc. Just goes like this sometimes (which is frustrating). So, I decided to take a break from running and I cycled from Clontarf to Howth at a nice easy pace the next day (50 mins round trip as it was quite windy). Hope to have a more successful run next time. I have registed for a 5k road race next month so this will serve to motivate me

Incidentally, I have downloaded the Endomondo app - liking it so far

Pacing Mule

Was just coming on to update this as you posted.

The weather last night was truly awful - cold, very windy and rainy for the entire 10k. I was frozen solid waiting around for the start. From what I can see 20% of the field didn't bother to show up at all - which is an indicator of how bad conditions were.

Running in such a large group is a very different experience to running alone. On one hand you're inspired by and carried along by the group buzz. On the other hand you have to watch out - other runners cutting you off, going around slower runners and being passed out by other runners is quite off putting at first. I just tried to keep my head down and run at a pace that I would be comfortable keeping up to do the 10k without stopping. It's amazing the power that a 6 year old has over you.

I managed to run the entire course without stopping in 68 min. 2-3 weeks ago I would have been aiming for a 60 min finish so 8 min outside my original goal time is slightly disapointing. However given the illness and weather conditions I'm happy enough with the time. It's certainly something that can be greatly improved upon next time ! I think I could have pushed it a little more but I really didn't want to risk blowing up, having to walk or worse still having to stop.

I learnt a few things from this and this would be relevant to anyone starting off and using an app like Endomondo or any GPS run tracker like it. My app showed that I ran a distance of 10.37km - when I looked at the map of my run on the app this morning it's clear that the GPS wasn't 100% accurate. (Either that or I jumped over some very tall buildings and walked on water on a number of occasions!) I had been pacing myself according to the app but I wasn't as far along the course as the app thought I was. It's something to be aware of - don't blindly trust the distance information being fed to you as it can be quite disheartening to realise you're not as close to the end as you think.

maupat

Pageant Messiah

If you were prepared to hazard such conditions it's clear you're serious about your comeback

As it happens, I was in town last night I can definitely vouch for the truly, torrential conditions. Actually saw some rain-soaked runners returning from the race.

While the time may be disappointing to you, it is a good time considering your previous illness and the awful conditions. Chances are you will do better in your next challenge as surely the weather will not be as bad (although I say this with some trepidation as we do live in Ireland after all!)

I've duly noted your comments re: Endomondo.

Pacing Mule

I've been in a reflective mood over the past couple of days. I took Monday off as a rest day after the efforts of Sunday night. I'm happy that I have gotten myself to a position where I can run 10k non stop and whilst I do harbour ambitions to take that distance further I also want to increase the speed that I am capable of running at.

The OP of this log stated a goal of running a 5 mile race at the end of June in 40 min or under. My 5 mile split last Sunday was 52 minutes. Average pace overall for the 10k being 6:38 min per kilometre when it needs to be at 5:00 min per kilometre to hit my targets. I was hoping that there would have been a clear path / training program to lay out for beginners like me how to increase my speed but found that there was a wealth of mixed advice out there. I posted this question in the main forum :

I've been reading up a lot on various methods on increasing running speed (including other threads in this forum) and I'm not sure what the best way forward for me is as a relative beginner.

Background: I started running in January and at this have just gotten myself to the point where I am capable of running a 10km non stop - however my time is very slow - in fact the 10k distance has been more of an endurance feat for me than anything else. I ran the 10k Samsung night race in 68min (having once before managed it in 64min in the run up to it)

Whilst pleased to have finished without stopping it's clear that my time is quite slow in the overall scheme of things and has a lot of room for improvement. A lot of the reading I have done is aimed at people cutting a few minutes at a time off their 10k PB's whereas I'm looking to knock out 18-20 min off mine - and I do have the room to do this based on a 68min time - a 50 min 10k would not be considered unobtainable at all whereas cutting a 50 min pace to a 30 min 10k would be reserved for elite athletes only.

So from what I can gather there are a few schools of thought and I would appreciate any advice / thoughts. What I have noted so far is:

1) Obvious starting point is to lose weight - the more that comes off the quicker you run. I am 14.5 Stone at moment (coming down from 16 Stone in January) and I know that as more weight comes off it will help the time.

2) Have a look at my stride - I observed other runners during the race and most runners ran with a longer stride than me even though I'm 6ft+ I think I shuffle / turnover paces too fast and increasing the length of my stride would be an improvement.

3) Run longer distances. If I were to regularly run 15k distances then running a 10k becomes relatively easier - at which point speed can increase.

4) Run shorter distance. Run shorter distances at faster speeds. A comfortable enough 10k pace can be increased for shorter distances which can become longer as time goes on.

5) Run the same distance more often. As it gets easier to run the distance this leaves room to naturally increase the pace.

6) Interval training - This seems to involve a wide range of theories and methods and perhaps what I need most advice about. Intersperse faster running sections within the run and hopefully over time these sew together to form a new faster base pace (be that the faster interval becomes the base or the base speed increases due to the time spent running at higher pace)

7) Start a couch to 5k program again. Similar to interval training but taking a 9 week couch to 5k program but running the "running" segments at a lot higher a pace than first time round.

I suspect that the best way forward for me is actually a combination of all points above. I would though appreciate the thoughts of the more experienced members of the community here. I am entering the Irish runner 5 mile at the end of June and the Fingal 10k on the 22nd of July and I think I can significantly improve my time here. My medium term goal will be a 40 min 5 mile / 50 min 5k and I understand that this may not be achievable in 3 months. However I'd like to try and would appreciate any pointers towards how to get there - in particular on how to approach interval training for this kind of goal.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

I had missed out in that post about strength training / weights to help muscle development so in reality there were 8 suggestions there. The overwhelming response though from the more experienced runners here was simply to run more and run more varied distances (points 3,4 and 5) and let the time take care of itself. This is what I will be doing !

Pacing Mule

Monday: As mentioned above I took Monday off to recharge the batteries from Sundays race.

Tuesday: First day back running and went for a very gentle session in the gym, mixing up running at my usual pace, running at a faster pace and walking - covering 5k in total. I viewed this simply as easing back into it and stretching out those sore muscles from Sunday.

Today: I decided today to do a shorter 3k run at the fastest speed I could muster up - knowing that I would be stopping after it and not requiring to save energy to complete a few more kilometres afterwards. I covered 3k in 16 minutes and 1 Second.

1 - 4:42
2 - 5:28
3 - 5:51

Total - 16:01

I went off way too fast to sustain even for 3k but even at that wasn't too far under my goal pace of 5 min per kilometre which was a bit of an eye opener ! I am going to repeat this 3k dash on a regular basis and see how times improve.

Pacing Mule

Have only had a couple of runs over the past few days.

On Friday I had a 4k run down the length of the Phoenix Park in a fairly fast for me 22:25. A bit too fast I think as motivation to jog back up the park was close to non existant and it was more of a walk than anything else back to the car.

1 - 5:29
2 - 5:36
3 - 5:33
4 - 5:47

Scheduled run yesterday had to be cancelled at short notice.

However I got out for a gentler 5k run this morning clocking 31:02

1 - 5:57
2 - 6:17
3 - 6:12
4 - 6:30
5 - 6:08

As can be seen compared to the 4k run this was a lot slower (by choice)

I am seriously considering entering this years Dublin Marathon. If I do I will be asking the mods to edit the thread title to reflect the new end goal. This mornings run was part of a LSR (Long Slow Run) which marathon training requires. This 5k distance increases on a weekly basis so don't be confused about the relatively short "long" run

I will make a final decision on this in a few weeks time but in the mean time I will be following a training plan gearing up for the marathon. (In other words I will see if I can stick to the increasing distances and bail out if I can't )

Pacing Mule

Short evening run after work. Little over 4k covered a circuit in my local area which is quite hilly. Time for 4k 23:28

1 - 5:39
2 - 5:31
3 - 6:05 (Horrible hill in middle of this)
4 - 6:14

Quite surprised at the last km being slower than K3. I felt I had ran it at the same pace as K1 and K2.

Now the slightly painful bit is that in order to do the 5 mile race in sub 40 minutes the pace required is sub 5:00 per kilometre. 7 weeks to go to race day and truth be known I am a little concerned about my target not being reached. That said 7 weeks is a long time for a beginners progress. I went from being unable to run for a minute to being able to run for 25 minutes in the first 7 weeks of this journey so I will not be panicking just yet !

scriba

Hey Pageant Messiah, well done on the 10k race last week. Have you decided on a training plan for your 8k target yet? And have you considered maybe incorporating some intervals into your training? They'll get you gradually used to running at your desired pace. They made me confident that I could run at my desired pace (which was 5 mins/km) for a period of time, but also gave me a target. Plus, you get to slow right down in between them

Great work and attitude, keep it up!

Pacing Mule

scriba wrote: »

Hey Pageant Messiah, well done on the 10k race last week. Have you decided on a training plan for your 8k target yet? And have you considered maybe incorporating some intervals into your training? They'll get you gradually used to running at your desired pace. They made me confident that I could run at my desired pace (which was 5 mins/km) for a period of time, but also gave me a target. Plus, you get to slow right down in between them

Great work and attitude, keep it up!

Hi Scriba

Thanks for stopping by

In regards to training plans for 8k / speed work the short answer is no !

The longer answer ...

My head has been slightly turned with the thoughts of running this years marathon and the only training plan I have even looked at is geared up towards the marathon. (Hal Higdons novice plan 1 preceded by the tail end of his spring novice training) It is a simple distance plan basically designed towards endurance / increasing mileage and doesn't have any speed work at all. As I posted earlier in the thread the consensus from the more experienced runners here when I asked for advice on increasing speed was run more often and run more variety of distances and times will naturally come down. That said I don't feel that a sub 40 5 mile will be achieved naturally in the time frames involved so I may have to look at some sort of interval training to boost the time.

scriba

That's good advice, more running and mileage should naturally bring you over time into that desired pace range over 5k, 8k and 10k.

You can always incorporate some speed work in later on in the plan, just to test out how you're improving. Miles and base fitness are the key to everything, I suppose. In my experience (3 months or so :rolleyes:), the longer distances have helped me push the pace when I've felt like doing so, and made me more confident in my own fitness. You can always throw in a quick 250m, 500m or even 1km into your runs every once in a while to see how it feels.

Pacing Mule

Yes let's move the goalposts

Well as anyone subscribed to the thread may notice that the ending of the title has changed from "----> To a 5 Mile Run" to "----> To a Marathon" Thanks a million to Woddle for doing that for me.

What started off as documenting my progress from an absolute beginner to a 5 mile run has now evolved into a slightly longer term goal of a Marathon.

The marathon in question is this years Dublin City Marathon - this means this log will be tracking a beginners progress from being unable to run for a minute right through to running a marathon in 10 months. Along the way I will still be running the originally referred to in the OP 5 mile race - however it will be part of a longer term training plan to prepare for a marathon.

So to the obvious starting questions.

Why ?
A few reasons - firstly when I started this journey to be honest with you and myself I didn't think I would be capable of running a marathon this year (not that I am at the moment mind you! ) but my progress so far has been fantastic and I now truly believe I am capable of doing it this year and probably more importantly am realistically capable without endangering my health trying to get there !

I also have a couple of charitable causes that I wish to help / fund raise for. These I will post about in a couple of weeks time as I want to organise / get clearance first before publically announcing this. Both are very close to my heart and one in particular is a relatively new organisation that could do with all the help / support they could get.

Lastly I'm enjoying the change I have seen in myself over the past months. I'm losing weight, getting fitter and feeling good about myself. I enjoy running (not always at the time!) and I want to continue this journey well past a 5 mile race. It would be a massive personal achievement for me to run a marathon.

What Time ?
No time for the moment - my goal is simply to finish the marathon. Closer to marathon day I will have an idea of prospective finishing times but considering my recent fairly slow 10k run we're more than likely looking at a time heading towards 5 hours.

How am I going to do it ? What's the training plan ?
I am going to be utilising the help and support of the forum here - in particular the mentored novices thread. This is a fantastic idea and a credit to the community here. I've alreadly learned a great deal from this thread and it is a source of great confidence and encouragment for any beginner. I will be tweaking the training plan laid out for the novices in that thread to suit my own personal work / life patterns and to accomodate the other races in this years Race Series. I will post that training plan up shortly.

Pacing Mule

This is my second draft of the training plan I intend to follow - amended after advice given in the mentored novices thread. There may be other revisions along the way too but for the moment this is the plan:



This plan is based on Hal Higdons novice marathon plan (starting 25th June with the few weeks in the mean time being filled in with the tail end of his novice runner program) As things stand I could quite comfortably handle the week beginning 25th June but I intend to follow the earlier program with a view to increasing speed for the 5 mile run in June.

Few things to note:

The race series races are highlighted in Red.

Each week there is a LSR (Long Short Run) which gradually builds distance wise towards the marathon goal. Midweek there are 3 shorter runs back to back (also gradually increasing in distance) to simulate to the body running on tired / sore muscles. There is also a day of cross training (anything other than running to keep up fitness levels whilst giving running muscles a break) There is further information / discssion on this in the novices thread linked to in my last post and it is well worth a read for beginners thinking about running a marathon. My work life means I am busier at weekends so my LSR will be on Mondays. Most people will do this on Saturday or Sunday but it suits me better on Mondays.

I have flipped the long run / cross train day around. (Original plan had these the other way around) My long run has to be on Mondays as its my only day off work wise and Saturday needs to be a non running day. The only way to stick with the 3 short runs back to back which is essential to the plan means the cross train day has to be before the long run. (This also means that if I do have to miss a day due to work commitments it will be the cross train day)