From Couch 25k To Where Ever

The Muppet

I've been toying with the idea of starting a log here for quite some time now and today's the day. I hope it will help keep me motivated and help gauge progression. if anyone else starting to run can take anything from it that would be great too. We all run for different reasons some for competition some for fun and others for the health benefits.

About me. I'm 51 year old type 2 diabetic. About 2.5 years ago I was obese , had a zero level of fitness and without going into too many details my illness was out of control. I had two Grandchildren then and my desire to see them grow up inspired me to make changes.

In February 2013 I started the Couch 25k (c25k) program. I used to go out early in the morning so that no body would see me struggle to run. I used to look ahead to the schedule for the next week and just laugh and think there's no way I will be able to do that but I did successfully completed the program in april 2013 without missing a run . Eureka I could run slowly, 2.5 k in 30 minutes non stop .

From April to September 2013 I ran a few miles a couple of times a week but I really missed the structure of the plan, In October 2013 I stopped running, I didn't make a conscious decision to stop I just started putting it of until the next day , that became a week and then the next month. I was out for 4 months.

In Febuary 2014 I started to notice that the benefits I had gained from running were starting to reverse , I really didn't want to go back there so I started up again. I found I could only run for 10 minutes at a time so I started on week 4 of the program and completed it again.

When I finished the program I knew I needed a plan to continued to run so I set a target to run 10k by my 50th Birthday I ran 3 or 4 times a week and ran the 10k with a couple of weeks to spare.

I then started the Hal Higdon intermediate half marathon plan and successfully completed that distance in November 2015 in a time of 2 hours 22 mins.

I lost focus again then and ran very little until April 2015. I started back then I have been running every week since. I am running 5 days a week an average of 26 miles a week . One long Run (8 to 14 miles), One Hill sprint session, and a 4 or 5 mile run three times a week.

Up to this week all my runs were solo efforts, I did the paced mile the other night and I really enjoyed the event. So now I feel I am ready to go to the next level which will involve more events, park runs, 10,ks , Half Marathon and hopefully the full Marathon in 2016 , that's the plan and I know I need a plan so I will see how that goes. I will be using this log to track my progress.

Clearlier posted a plan here following the 2014 Dublin City Marathon , I intent to follow that plan over the next few months to see where that takes me and then next year all being well I will follow the Boards Marathon Training plan.

My PBs to date

1 mile 7:22 Chip Timing Aug 2015
5k 29.14
10 k 1:04:20
13.1 Miles 2:22:00

With the exception of the mile all these times are from solo training runs and timed on my Garmin watch.

My Weigh Loss to date is 4.5 stone

My Diabetes is under control

Apologies for the long winded introduction but its been a bit of a roller coaster to date. Constructive criticism and advice will always be taken on board and appreciated.

Oh Re The Username: It seemed as good as any when I signed up to boards many moons ago for the crack on the soccer forum (*), I'm stuck with it now and as the saying goes I am not my username .

*(I don't even watch soccer these days I'd much rather go for a run.)

Thanks for reading

Ed Mc

Well done on the weight loss, massive achievement and the lifestyle change.
Good luck with the log.

Murph_D

Fair play, you're doing well. Do you have a local parkrun? Ideal for a bit of weekly social, semi competitive or competitive running depending on your mood, not to mention a good place to meet other runners.

The Muppet

Murph_D wrote: »

Fair play, you're doing well. Do you have a local parkrun? Ideal for a bit of weekly social, semi competitive or competitive running depending on your mood, not to mention a good place to meet other runners.

Thanks, Im in Swords so Malahide and St. Annes are close plus Donabate is starting up soon. Im definitely going to start parkruns soon.

The Muppet

I bit the bullet this morning and did my first ever Parkrun , my time 26:51. I really enjoyed running with the group it's nice to focus on someone and try hang on.

That's a new A new 5k pb

1 mile 7:22 Chip Timing Aug 2015
5k 26:51 Parkrun time
10 k 1:04:20
13.1 Miles 2:22:00

FIFA2004

Congrats on the how far you've come!!! I done my first parkrun in malahide this morning too, albeit 15mins behind you. Started couch to 5k a while ago so I'll be looking at your log for inspiration seen as you've come so far from there!

The Muppet

FIFA2004 wrote: »

Congrats on the how far you've come!!! I done my first parkrun in malahide this morning too, albeit 15mins behind you. Started couch to 5k a while ago so I'll be looking at your log for inspiration seen as you've come so far from there!

Cool.well done on your own achievement . I ran in malahide too . Well done on going to a parkrun so soon I should have gone ages ago but didn't . I'll be a regular from now on I think . Great turn out this morning nearly 300 runners

The Muppet

Just in from an 8 mile slow run in the rain, my favourite running conditions. I suffered little from chaffing due to running in a wet top, Its not nice but lesson learned . This is the first time it has happened to me an I have often ran in similar conditions, I wore a new running top today perhaps that was it. I see Slow Runner mention on the running in the rain thread that he/she was going to wear a compression top today to prevent chaffing because of the rain, I shall be doing likewise from now on.

I've had a most enjoyable week, My mileage was down a little and I didn't do my usual hill sprint session due to my participation in two events , the pace mile at Morton stadium and a park run yesterday. I hadn't ran any events up to this week.

Tuesday 4 miles 3 easy 1 @7.22 min/mile (pace mile chip timing.
Wednesday 4.6 miles @11.08 min/mile
Thursday 5 miles @ 10.55 min/mile
Saturday 3.01 (5k) @8.39Min/Mile (26.52 parkrun timing)
Sunday 8.01@11.26 min/mile

Total Mileage for the week 24.62


Using the times from my events in the vdot calculator (thanks to dubgal72 for the link) that gives me my proper training paces. I will be trying to stick to those paces in my training plan from
now on rather than just go out and run at the same pace every run. I will be using a new plan shortly any suggestions for this from those of you who know about such things would be appreciated, I am think of using cleariers plan for the post DCM2014 runners.


Type Pace/Mi Pace/Km 400 200
Easy 10:52 - 11:30 06:45 - 07:09 -- --
Marathon 09:43 06:02 -- --
Threshold 09:06 05:39 02:16 01:08
Interval 08:23 05:13 02:05 01:03
Repetition 07:59 04:58 01:59 01:00

tailgunner

Well done on your progress so far, will be following this with interest!

The Muppet

I'm off work this week so get to run earlier than usual. I decided to do my hill sprint session this morning . I actually like this session it's tough but i always get a buzz from it.

1 mile warm up
7 x 15 second Hill sprints (walk back cool down until heart rate drops to 122 between sprints)
1 x 25 second Hill sprint
1 mile cool down

Total Milage 2.67 miles


Now I can watch some athletics on the tv.

The Muppet

6.2 mile @9.43 min/mile today . Set out to do 5 easy after 3 miles I was enjoying the run and decided to make a detour I had never run before which took the run to 6.2 miles 10k.

Splits
Mile 1 warm up 10:40
Mile 2 10:03
Miles 3 9:59
Mile 4 9:47
Mile 5 9:33
Mile 6 8:36
.2 to make 10k 1:34
60:00:11 is a new pb for 10 k for me . I just love running in the rain .

After my chaffing in my last run I wore a compression top and all was well . I also used one of the mini backpacks instead of my usual phone holder which chafed my arm on my last run . I found the back pac brilliant . I didn't really notice it was on at all and it held my phone , keys, emergency money just in case and my reading glasses

annapr

Hi there, just came across your log... really enjoyed reading your story and your progress. Fair play to you.

I can highly recommend the Clearlier graduate plan for base building (as a 2014 graduate). Several of us did it... it worked really well as a HM training plan too. The beauty of it is running by time instead of mileage reduces the pressure to hit mileage targets, but you get there anyway. Also, for me it was the first time I did 'speed'/interval sessions and I loved them... they really gave me a boost -- challenging but fun and they bring you on loads.

Best of luck with it anyway, will follow with interest.

The Muppet

Thank you its nice to hear an opinion from someone who has used the plan .

I intend to start the plan next week I will need to move days around on it to fit in with my work schedule . I intend to do the lsrs on a Wednesday evening, hill sprints on a Monday and I would like to do more parkrun .

The Muppet

Did my long slow run tonight 11.33 miles @10.49 pace . Nice cool evening for it . I used a high 5 tablet in my water for the first time .took a sip every mile or so and I think it made a difference, my legs were still tired at the end but I still had plenty of energy left.

chickey2

Well done on your progress so far. I'm another graduate of clearliers plan and I found it great. Make sure and read the posts he put in the graduate thread too. I kind of miss my short hill repeats now! Are you monitoring your heart rate? I found it helpful for figuring out what speed I should be going at.
Best of luck!

The Muppet

Hi thanks for the advice . I do use heart rate monitor on my runs . My heartrate was something I really needed to keep an eye on when I stated out given the low level of fitness I had .

I did read most of that thread at the time it was active. I have the plan and some notes from posts that were made at the time but I will go over it again in the next few days .

I have being doing a hill sprints session for a few months now I took that from cleariers plan, they are tough but I enjoy them . I'm really looking foward to starting the plan now that I feel I have a decent base to build on.

The Muppet

I'm not feeling the best today nausia and a sick stomach so I set out to do the obligatory 10 minutes to see how that went. It wasn't good to be honest but I decided to stick at it and managed an easy 5 miles . I felt a little better nearing the end but still not good.


I was planning on a parkrun in the morning but I will give it a miss if I'm still feeling the same .


5 miles @ 11.15 pace

Greenmachine

Your one to watch Muppet. Congrats on all your hard work so far. You have come so far.

The Muppet

Thank you green machine but don't be expecting anything spectacular.

Greenmachine

The Muppet wrote: »

Thank you green machine but don't be expecting anything spectacular.

Just mean you have put in some hard work to make the improvement you have. You came from a somewhat weak base, where 2.5km in 30 minute must have felt like an amazing feat. Now you have Ran 5km in 26 minute. You are continue to improve which is fantastic. Your heart and lungs I am sure are grateful but maybe not in the beginning. :D:D

The Muppet

Greenmachine wrote: »

Just mean you have put in some hard work to make the improvement you have. You came from a somewhat weak base, where 2.5km in 30 minute must have felt like an amazing feat. Now you have Ran 5km in 26 minute. You are continue to improve which is fantastic. Your heart and lungs I am sure are grateful but maybe not in the beginning. :D:D

Hard work that's for sure but also very enjoyable . Having this forum helps a lot with tips on the proper way to do it. I have come a long way .I was disappointed with today's run but I should remember I still did a 5 mile run its funny how expectations can change as we improve.

The Muppet

Hill sprint session this evening .

1 mile warm up
7 X 15 second hill sprint
1 X 25 second hill sprint
1 mile cool down

It went really well, there was plenty of life in my old legs I was happy with that as I still was not feeling 100% yesterday .

28 miles in total this week.

New plan for the week ahead I'm really looking forward to it.

The Muppet

Hill sprint session this evening .

1 mile warm up
7 X 15 second hill sprint
1 X 25 second hill sprint
1 mile cool down

It went really well, there was plenty of life in my old legs I was happy with that as I still was not feeling 100% yesterday .

28 miles in total this week.

New plan for the week ahead I'm really looking forward to it.

The Muppet

I am starting the new plan this week, I got a little ahead of myself and did the hill sprint session yesterday so I will do yesterdays easy 45 mins today and then take it from there and see how it goes.

Week 1
Sunday: 45mins easy
Monday: warm up, drills then 6 short hill sprints (6-8 seconds full recovery) and warm down.
Tuesday: 45mins easy
Wednesday: 90 mins easy
Thursday: rest/recovery run/easy XT
Friday: 5*2mins@5k effort w 3 mins recovery
Saturday: 45mins easy

The Muppet

Easy 45 minute run tonight @ 11.20 possibly too easy but I was enjoying the easy pace . I think it's the first time I've ran to time instead of distance since I finished the couch to 5 k .

My flipbelt arrived today , i found it very handy for carrying phone keys etc and there is no feeling of wearing something .

The Muppet

Another 45 Minutes Easy Tonight @ 11.10 pace . Nothing to report apart from getting drenched .

The Muppet

My plan called for 90 minutes easy. The route I took made it a 100 minute run @ 11 min pace .


Part of my run was on my favourite running location which is along the coast road from fairview to Sutton cross . There's always a nice cooling breeze and the promenade and path along the cycle track is lovely and smooth.


My legs were a little tired today but overall I felt really good on the run . I think I covered just over 9 miles

The next run on the plan us an interval session I have not done too many of these to date just the ones in hal higDon intermediate half plan over a year ago.

This should be on Friday after a rest day tomorrow . I m off down the country on Friday so Im thinking of doing it tomorrow and taking Friday as my rest day . I'll see how the legs feel tomorrow evening I'm really looking forward to doing a " pace" session .

annapr

The Muppet wrote: »

My plan called for 90 minutes easy. The route I took made it a 100 minute run @ 11 min pace .


Part of my run was on my favourite running location which is along the coast road from fairview to Sutton cross . There's always a nice cooling breeze and the promenade and path along the cycle track is lovely and smooth.


My legs were a little tired today but overall I felt really good on the run . I think I covered just over 9 miles

The next run on the plan us an interval session I have not done too many of these to date just the ones in hal higDon intermediate half plan over a year ago.

This should be on Friday after a rest day tomorrow . I m off down the country on Friday so Im thinking of doing it tomorrow and taking Friday as my rest day . I'll see how the legs feel tomorrow evening I'm really looking forward to doing a " pace" session .

sssh, don't tell people about the cooling breeze, we prefer to call it a steady gale another member of the seafront running 'club', I see!

The Muppet

Oh for sure. I have been running along there for the last year it's so refreshing once you can dodge the cyclists , those guys really shift along there.

The Muppet

Tomorrow's interval session completed tonight as I'm away tomorrow night .

5 X 2 minutes @ 5k pace with 3 min easy.

I'm not really sure at the exact pace as I was cocentrating on the run not the watch, I just ran hard but I think I exceeded 5k pace ( 8.40 ) I was in the 7 40 mins at times . I'm not used to running g by the watch or doing intervals I guess I will get used to it.


Is there much protein in cream cake as I just noticed a slice in the fridge and I'm sorely tempted .

annapr

The Muppet wrote: »

Tomorrow's interval session completed tonight as I'm away tomorrow night .

5 X 2 minutes @ 5k pace with 3 min easy.

I'm not really sure at the exact pace as I was cocentrating on the run not the watch, I just ran hard but I think I exceeded 5k pace ( 8.40 ) I was in the 7 40 mins at times . I'm not used to running g by the watch or doing intervals I guess I will get used to it.


Is there much protein in cream cake as I just noticed a slice in the fridge and I'm sorely tempted .

perfect recovery food!