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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

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chickey2

Best of luck! You've come a long way this year!

Firedance

The very best of luck on Sunday T!!! Have an amazing day, you've trained really well and no matter what happens on the day keep a positive head and enjoy the experience, you can do this!!

diego_b

Best of luck to you, well done on getting to the start line now make the most of it!!

Bungy Girl

I've just re-read your first post on this log to remind myself of how far you have come in a few short years. I hope you're proud of yourself and your achievements, as no doubt your family and friends are. Best of luck for Sunday.

tang1

Best of luck Sunday, hope it goes well for you. Enjoy it most of all, run well.

The Muppet

Thanks everyone, I really do appreciate the encouragement and advice I've received here even if its only a like on a post. I'm actually quite apprehesive today, at this rate I'll have myself crocked before Sunday . I just want to get at it now .

tony1980

Good luck TM, hope you have a great run which i'm sure you will and hopefully I get to say hello afterwards in McGrattans!

FIFA2004

The very very best of luck on Sunday Muppet! You deserve a great day after all the hard work and how far you've come. You're grandkids must be so proud of you... you're an inspiration to them and the rest of us!

The Muppet

Bungy Girl wrote: »

I've just re-read your first post on this log to remind myself of how far you have come in a few short years. I hope you're proud of yourself and your achievements, as no doubt your family and friends are. Best of luck for Sunday.

I was thinking of this post before I went to sleep last night BG, I had to read back on the first post myself and it certainly put things in perspective for me. I tend to forget where I've come from on occasion and feel I should be doing better than I am. I feel really relaxed and positive today thanks for that BG.

tony1980 wrote: »

Good luck TM, hope you have a great run which i'm sure you will and hopefully I get to say hello afterwards in McGrattans!

Definitely Tony , you better wait for me in MC Gs and the best of luck to you too, I really hope you have an injury free run and enjoy. Are your family coming up?.:D

FIFA2004 wrote: »

The very very best of luck on Sunday Muppet! You deserve a great day after all the hard work and how far you've come. You're grandkids must be so proud of you... you're an inspiration to them and the rest of us!

Cheers FIFA thats very kind, I was actually thinking of you on the drive into work this morning as I haven't see you post much lately , I hope all is good with you and that the exams are going well.

All my Family, Wife, 4 kids ,their partners, grand kids, 2 dogs, 2 goldfish and Louis the hamster will be there to cheer me on , (well maybe not animals), that'll really make the day for me having them all there.

denis b

Great training cycle to get here T. Well done. Stick to the plan on Sunday and enjoy the support to the finishing line. Take care and enjoy.

The Muppet

denis b wrote: »

Great training cycle to get here T. Well done. Stick to the plan on Sunday and enjoy the support to the finishing line. Take care and enjoy.

Thanks Denis, will do.

Singer

Wishing you a great day on Sunday T, it'd be well deserved! We'll get out for a run once all this marathon nonsense is over and done with

The Muppet

Singer wrote: »

Wishing you a great day on Sunday T, it'd be well deserved! We'll get out for a run once all this marathon nonsense is over and done with

We definitely will B . Thanks and I hope you hit your goal . See u after I'm sure in that high chair .

jake1970

Best of luck to tomorrow TM. Enjoy!

annapr

T, I remember meeting you halfway through the Fingal 10k, I think it was the longest race you had done at that time... and you were so relaxed and positive. If you can channel that attitude tomorrow you will have a great day!

Very best of luck!

mel.b

Good luck tomorrow TM...can't wait to read the race report

FrancieBrady

Best of luck from me too TM. Inspirational thread to read. No bother to ya!

Ososlo

What an amazing road you’ve travelled from the beginning of Couch 2 5k TM. It’s been great to be able to follow it from the early days. Yours is always one of my go-to logs to read for many reasons. I have a huge amount of respect for you and your approach to training for this. You never make excuses, you never make a big deal out of it, you just go out and do, it and get on with it with a no-nonsense approach. Your passion for running is so clear to see and I can see how much it contributes positively to your whole life. I know I’m just some random stranger on the Internet, but I feel very proud of you and all that you’ve achieved so far! It’s only the beginning for you really, or at least just the close of the first chapter of a very long book.
I know you’ll have a great day tomorrow, but good luck anyway, and I hope the Running Gods shine extra kindly on you throughout

Murph_D

Best of luck tomorrow Tom - run well, reap the benefit of all that good work!

The Muppet

Murph_D wrote: »

Best of luck tomorrow Tom - run well, reap the benefit of all that good work!

Cheers D

annapr wrote: »

T, I remember meeting you halfway through the Fingal 10k, I think it was the longest race you had done at that time... and you were so relaxed and positive. If you can channel that attitude tomorrow you will have a great day!

Very best of luck!

Thansk A , It was indeed 6 whole miles and a bit , that was only last july:eek: here I am on the eve of running 26.2 . I am relaxed and positive about it but with huge respect for the distance and the unknowns of running it.

mel.b wrote: »

Good luck tomorrow TM...can't wait to read the race report

Thanks Mel B. It's very likely to be a long read.:D

FrancieBrady wrote: »

Best of luck from me too TM. Inspirational thread to read. No bother to ya!

Thanks A million Francie, From reading your posts I feel we have quite a bit in common your starting out while I'm a little further down the road, There's a great group on that c25k thread these days , Stick with the plan , be consistent and enjoy your running and I'll be wishing you the best of luck in your marathon debut some time in the future.

Not sure about the no bother bit but thanks for the good wishes.

The Muppet

Ososlo wrote: »

What an amazing road you’ve travelled from the beginning of Couch 2 5k TM. It’s been great to be able to follow it from the early days. Yours is always one of my go-to logs to read for many reasons. I have a huge amount of respect for you and your approach to training for this. You never make excuses, you never make a big deal out of it, you just go out and do, it and get on with it with a no-nonsense approach. Your passion for running is so clear to see and I can see how much it contributes positively to your whole life. I know I’m just some random stranger on the Internet, but I feel very proud of you and all that you’ve achieved so far! It’s only the beginning for you really, or at least just the close of the first chapter of a very long book.
I know you’ll have a great day tomorrow, but good luck anyway, and I hope the Running Gods shine extra kindly on you throughout

Wow A , I'm emotional enough today {heaven knows what I'll be like tomorrow} but that just means so much to me coming from you in particular.

Right back at ya though, loads of the contributors here are the nicest bunch of random strangers on the internet but for those of us starting from scratch with Couch 2 5k you are always encouraging supportive and constructively critical when need be. I see you still at it with the current crop in the c25k thread , Perhaps you don't realise what that means to us mortal runners in the early days, I suspect you do being a c25k graduate yourself but if not you should, it's one of the reasons most if not all of us have the utmost respect and admiration for you.

Thank's For Everything

I'm not sure if your running tomorrow but if you are have a good one.

The Muppet

Well it's finally arrived, Marathon Day.

I'm surprisingly calm and relaxed this morning having had a good night's sleep , another surprise.

I know I've done all I could to enable me to run a marathon. All my running since April 2015 have been focused on this day. I've only missed a handful of scheduled runs in all those month's so all that's left is to go do it.

If I have a medal by the end of today I will have achieved something i'd never have though possible a few years ago.

The plan is to go out a bit back from the 4.40 pacers , I'm hoping I will be running at a comfortable pace with them if for any reason i'm not comfortanle at that pace I'll drop back to my lsr pace and really soak it all in and I will be just as happy with that .

The goal is to have a good run' soak up the atmosphere and enjoy myself .

No doubt I'll have plenty to say the other side .

The Muppet

I have my Medal ,ended up going to plan c as above , Finished in 5.04:38 , I had a ball , really enjoyed it, will post full report and thoughs in a day or so.

denis b

Well done once again Tom. Hope you enjoyed your adventure.

The Muppet

denis b wrote: »

Well done once again Tom. Hope you enjoyed your adventure.

Thanks Denis I did indeed and enjoyed meeting you all afterwards too.

Ososlo

Brilliant! Knew you'd enjoy it;)
Can't wait to hear all about it in detail! HUGE congratulations!!!

FIFA2004

Fantastic!!!! So happy for you! So well deserved!

can't wait for the report!

The Muppet

Thanks . busy with family today so I will post my report tomorrow fifa.

In a nutshell I'm still on a high . Legs were a little stiff this morning , right calf was tight and left IB is sore. All minor stuff that will sort itself out

I got out for a nice walk this morning too and all was good.

FrancieBrady

There should be a training plan for just reading the race reports!

Maximus Alexander

Only getting around to catching up on other people's logs now. Just wanted to say well done Tom, delighted you enjoyed the day and got through it all without much trouble. Well deserved and I love your attitude and approach to the whole thing too. This bit from the morning of rang particularly true with me:

The Muppet wrote: »

If I have a medal by the end of today I will have achieved something i'd never have though possible a few years ago.

It's a great way to look at things and I'm glad you went into the race feeling that way rather than having to learn it afterwards like some of us.

Congrats!