From the start back to the beginning

Ch1co

Hi everyone, a warning that the intro's a bit long here so skip ahead if it pleases.

So to begin..

I'm a 36 M and novice runner. I started my running journey from scratch October 2019 joining a local 10 week fit for life course. The aim for me was to lose weight (was 15 stone at the time) and to run a 5k regardless of time without stopping. The 10 week course finished up and as I'm based in the west my first 5k was the Claregalway jingle bell run that December. I literally crawled my way to the finish line completing the torture in 34.xx mins. There's this large hill at the very start and it got me! It got me good.

After the horror in Claregalway I continued running with the group and on my own, bought a Garmin watch, a good pair of running shoes and started to whittle away at the Kms per min.

My aim for 2020 was to run a 5k in under 30 mins (I like to keep my goals attainable!)
I took part in two races of sorts, Craughwell 5k, completed in 32.xx mins (a nice run tbf) and then Gort in Feb 2020 and crossed the line in 27.xx. Was delighted to pass my yearly goal in Feb.
So I kept running and running, joing the fit for life again and moving from the beginners group to the intermediates.

FYI..To any beginners, in my experience I can't stress how motivating and friendly a for life group are and for novices interested in running this should be your first point of call when they start up again. And it's social and you make friends. It's really great. Anyway, back to it...

All was going well until covid reared its ugly head and the running group stopped. I was on quite a running buzz and I managed to motivate myself to keep running solo throughout the 1st lockdown. At this point I had shed 2 stone and had run a 5k in 23mins and 10k in 52mins. I had, at the time (June 2020), an updated goal to run a 5k in under 21mins. All was going great.

Unfortunately I hit a wall.

I can't explain what happened post June 2020 in my head but from really enjoying running and using it to physically and mentally improve myself I just stopped. There was no taping off just one day I couldn't get either foot out the door.

Since then I've pretty much stopped running altogether. I've put the weight back on and some, and have only been out running twice.
The fit for life group started up for a short period after the 2nd lockdown (has obv stopped for now) and on these 2 runs, to be expected, I had really regressed from June 2020... I'm now looking at running a 5k in 32mins.

My reasons for this log is to hopefully motivate, hold me accountable and get any words of wisdom from the running group here on boards. If anyone has any tips please send them my way!

I hope to run 3 maybe 4 times a week starting with short slow runs (7mins per km) and then gradually increasing distance. Would love to get back to a 23min 5k by the end of the year.

Thanks for listening, and again any tips/knowledge from the group here is extremely welcome!

shotgunmcos

Welcome! And congrats on deciding to take up running and finding a way to improve your health and enjoyment of life. It sounds like the social running aspect was a key support and motivator. Running solo through the lockdown has been challenging for even the most seasoned runners. Runners that live for the race or the local parkrun. Your progress was impressive but now you know you can do it right?

So, congrats on your second great decision to find this community on boards and start a log. Its a great place to bounce off others, learn a few things and is often a good laugh

ariana`

Ch1co wrote: »

Hi everyone, a warning that the intro's a bit long here so skip ahead if it pleases.

So to begin..

I'm a 36 M and novice runner. I started my running journey from scratch October 2019 joining a local 10 week fit for life course. The aim for me was to lose weight (was 15 stone at the time) and to run a 5k regardless of time without stopping. The 10 week course finished up and as I'm based in the west my first 5k was the Claregalway jingle bell run that December. I literally crawled my way to the finish line completing the torture in 34.xx mins. There's this large hill at the very start and it got me! It got me good.

After the horror in Claregalway I continued running with the group and on my own, bought a Garmin watch, a good pair of running shoes and started to whittle away at the Kms per min.

My aim for 2020 was to run a 5k in under 30 mins (I like to keep my goals attainable!)
I took part in two races of sorts, Craughwell 5k, completed in 32.xx mins (a nice run tbf) and then Gort in Feb 2020 and crossed the line in 27.xx. Was delighted to pass my yearly goal in Feb.
So I kept running and running, joing the fit for life again and moving from the beginners group to the intermediates.

FYI..To any beginners, in my experience I can't stress how motivating and friendly a for life group are and for novices interested in running this should be your first point of call when they start up again. And it's social and you make friends. It's really great. Anyway, back to it...

All was going well until covid reared its ugly head and the running group stopped. I was on quite a running buzz and I managed to motivate myself to keep running solo throughout the 1st lockdown. At this point I had shed 2 stone and had run a 5k in 23mins and 10k in 52mins. I had, at the time (June 2020), an updated goal to run a 5k in under 21mins. All was going great.

Unfortunately I hit a wall.

I can't explain what happened post June 2020 in my head but from really enjoying running and using it to physically and mentally improve myself I just stopped. There was no taping off just one day I couldn't get either foot out the door.

Since then I've pretty much stopped running altogether. I've put the weight back on and some, and have only been out running twice.
The fit for life group started up for a short period after the 2nd lockdown (has obv stopped for now) and on these 2 runs, to be expected, I had really regressed from June 2020... I'm now looking at running a 5k in 32mins.

My reasons for this log is to hopefully motivate, hold me accountable and get any words of wisdom from the running group here on boards. If anyone has any tips please send them my way!

I hope to run 3 maybe 4 times a week starting with short slow runs (7mins per km) and then gradually increasing distance. Would love to get back to a 23min 5k by the end of the year.

Thanks for listening, and again any tips/knowledge from the group here is extremely welcome!

Well done on what you achieved in 2019, pretty amazing. One thing i noticed is you made massive leaps to go from 34 min 5k down to 23min 5k but i wouldn't underestimate how hard it might have been to progress from there down to sub 21 5k or even sub 22 5k! It doesn't sound like much after knocking 11 mins off but at that stage you had made all the "quick gains" that were available to you and more specific training may be required to go a bit further. I say this because it can be demotivating when you get used to seeing a PB every couple of weeks and then suddenly they stop coming! This is just something to keep in mind for next time you get down around 23 mins I think it might be helpful to have a few alternative goals, maybe this time you get to 25mins 5k and then start working on increasing the distances you run...

In the meantime, try to enjoy your running, don't take on too much too soon! Run/walk if that's what you need to do, either as way starting off or as a way to increase your running e.g. 10mins continuous run followed by 10 times 1min run/1min walk. Suddenly you have 20mins of running instead of 10mins. Adjust as per whatever you are able for right now...

Vary your routes, if you have a route you run all the time run it in reverse sometime(s) or suss out new routes. I'm not sure if you run on busy roads but if so then try to head to a nice forest/park somewhere off-road occasionally to enjoy the sense of being out in nature.

Vary the times of day you run to find out what suits your routine best or what time you enjoy the most - maybe see the sun rise some morning or set some evening!

If you're someone who uses headphones running then try running without them sometime especially in a nice forest/park where you can hear the birds sing! If you don't use headphones normally then try it with them sometime (at a safe volume of course) listening to a good podcast, book or music you might not notice the time go by.

When things allow try to meet up with friend(s) to run. In the meantime utilise the online forums available to you - there are several running groups of FB as well as here.

Best of luck