c25k | Entries tagged with week4

Week 4 run 2: Zombies Run recorded completely silly times for me, which is always annoying because I like getting my 'scores'. I think I was probably slowish as it was another really hot run.

Week 4 run 3: Zombies Run gave me a sensible overall result for the whole run: 2.8 km in 24 minutes, or 8'44'' /km. I believe that as it's a bit faster than the first time I tried this workout, but not ludicrously fast. But the rubbish timing last time makes me unsure, as does the fact that the splits did not make any sense, claiming I ran 3 km in under 3 minutes by zigzagging about all over the place. Which apart from being obviously wrong is inconsistent with a final distance of under 3 km in over 20 minutes.

I don't want to give up ZR because I'm enjoying the story and finding that it helps a lot with motivation to keep going and not just clock-watch, which I need at this stage of the programme.

I also got my boyfriend

cjwatson into Zombies Run. He's also acquired the same piece of kit as me: a headband with built-in Bluetooth headphones. That is way more comfortable for running than in ear headphones, and doesn't advertise the fact that you can't hear like over ear headphones. The sound quality isn't amazing but I'm pleased with it. So I mentioned to him that I have a themed playlist which contains songs about zombies and other undead / the apocalypse / running away, most of them with a fast beat except I couldn't resist Zombie by The Cranberries.

In case anyone is interested: Zombie music.

Next week: 3 X 5 minutes for the start of Week 5. I feel reasonably confident about that.

Current Mood: annoyed
Current Location: Cambridge, England
Current Music: Qntal: Dulcis Amor

liv

I tried Week 4, with the aim of just completing it and not worrying too much about pace. The weather has got a lot more pleasant, warm but not unbearably hot. I switched back to Zombies Run because my problem with longer intervals is more often boredom than needing to concentrate. And I did complete the whole workout, and it felt reasonably comfortable, and ZR recorded my pace as a little over 9' /km, which is fine because I expected to be a bit slower and anyway ZR seems to be a bit more pessimistic than Runkeeper.

Current Mood: optimistic
Current Location: Cambridge, England
Current Music: Metallica: Creeping death

rmc28

I managed to run week 4 day 3 on Friday 26th, just before sunset. I was a bit cold at the start but as usual ended the run quite hot.

I was then intending to run on Sunday, but we did a long journey on Saturday and I was too tired and unmotivated to do so. Monday I thought about it but it was cold and icy on the pavements and easy for me not to bother.

Yesterday I made myself get out and run week 5 day 1 because it was getting too easy to not bother. It was still cold and icy but at least one side of every road had been defrosted by the sun by the time I ran. Where normally I run up one side of the street and back the other I just ran up and down the 'dry' side. It wasn't much fun, especially at first, but I was pleasantly surprised when it finished to find I'd been slightly faster and slightly further than the previous Friday, despite running only 15 minutes total rather than 16.

I'm back at work on Friday so I think it will be easier to run Friday lunchtime than force a run on New Year's Day (not because *I* will be hungover, you understand, but I rather suspect spouse will be, and he has the children all day on the 2nd too.) Then I can run Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and then back to Monday-Thursday-Saturday as a routine.

If I can stick to the 3-times-a-week plan, I will complete c25k week 9 at the end of January. I rather suspect I won't actually have run 5k by then, so 'week 10' will be 2x 30 minute runs and a 5k run at the weekend, to prove to myself I can do it. And, well, that is pretty much 'week 1' of this half-marathon 'to finish' training plan.

I'm not committing to any particular event at this point, because I'm fairly certain I'll miss weeks and have to repeat them and all that. But a goal I have is to complete that half-marathon training plan and know that I can run the distance if I want to. I've done it once, I want to do it again (and again, and again, but once more will do to start).

rmc28

Yes, it has been over 2 weeks since I did day 1, for which I blame work, migraine, a cold, and work again.

But today I had nothing to stop me going out at lunchtime, so I gathered up my stuff and dragged myself out, and enjoyed it rather more than I had expected. Five minutes is long, but not impossible, and a good running playlist helps.

In theory the next run should be Thursday, but I am not sure there will be a good time to go out running on the 25th. Friday 26th will do, and we have a wider-family gathering on Saturday, but I should be able to run Sunday.

rmc28

I missed an entire week of running: last Monday I was ill with a migraine, Tue & Wed I was back-at-work but otherwise still recovering, and then I kept having very good excuses for not going out.

So today, despite having a thorough attack of the dontwannas, I made myself go out at the last possible lunchtime moment.

And what do you know, despite it being really cold and me having no gloves, by the time I was into the second run, I was quite happy and even my hands had warmed up. Five minutes does feel like a really long time (and it covers a really long distance too) but I had good music on my playlist and was able to get into the groove.

(My legs ache now though.)

Next run: Thursday.

liv

I had a go at week 4 on Thursday and, not even slightly. I just about managed 3 minutes at 10 kph, and then I was in no way recovered in the 90 seconds walking break. So I thought, ok, week 4 is too hard, I'll try alternating 3 minutes running and 3 minutes walking four times, cos that's about half way between week 3 and week 4. But by the end of 3 minutes walking I was still really struggling for breath, and pretty close to full-on asthma, so I gave up at that point. I am not sure if there's any specific reason why I managed 3 minutes before but couldn't on Thursday, I suspect it may have been that the 5 minute walk wasn't enough of a warmup to attempt something right at the limit of my ability.

So today I dropped back to week 3 and... didn't manage to complete that either. I did 90 seconds, 3 minutes, 90 seconds and just gave up halfway through the second three minute interval. Maybe I could have completed it and just ran out of willpower, I'm not sure. Again, I felt like I was close to asthma so I think I was probably right to stop short. So I'll keep doing week 3 until I can properly manage it with the running intervals at 10 kph.

Current Mood: disappointed

healingmirth

I went for a run today, and for the first time in probably 9 months, it actually conformed to a C25K workout. It was my fifth run in the past few weeks, but the rest of them were the three-five minutes jogging, three minutes walking that I default to when I feel like I need to do something active but I'm not up to pushing myself for whatever reason.

This is the earliest in the year that I've started running outdoors - my first couple runs in March were a lot of jumping over muddy patches and weaving around the stubborn snowdrifts. I'm excited about the prospect of hitting the 5k workout by the end of May. If I'm going to do that, though, I definitely need to get out of my winter rut and fix what I'm eating.

If my ipod is to be believed, I basically stopped running after July last year, and I wasn't super consistent before that. But! I am perpetually hopeful that this year will be different.

Oh, and also. I've had basically the same running playlist for the past three years. It's served me pretty well, but I mostly just haven't had the patience to sort through my music collection for other options. I downloaded mixxx a couple weeks ago on an unrelated music whim. To my delight, I discovered that I could tell it to scan my library, and then I could sort that list by BPM, so I've added a bunch of songs to my current playlist, with more on the back burner for when I'm feeling ambitious.

ewt

This morning I repeated Week 4 Day 1, but with all treadmill speeds .5kph slower.

I found it frustrating walking so slowly, and don't feel I've really had any cardiovascular challenge to speak of. But the shin discomfort was only minimal, and only near the end of the faster intervals. No NSAIDs since Tuesday night, so I don't think I've masked pain with medication. Shins a bit uncomfortable now, but nothing like Tuesday.

I suppose the lesson here is that I should not dash about in a hurry the day before walking at the gym.

I did have some hip pain and sacro-iliac joint discomfort; the hip pain has continued. I suspect this is due to too much standing yesterday (running many errands), because it was like this before even getting to the gym, and hasn't been made worse by it. Ibuprofen shortly!

Next time I will try the same programme again but put the speeds back up to 5kph warm-up, 6.5kph fast, 5.5kph normal, and ending with 6kph for the remainder of the treadmill time. If shin pain gets worse than it was today I will switch to .5kph slower, rather than doing myself more mischief walking faster than my shins are happy about.

I'm actually really glad of the treadmill: it felt like I was walking *much* slower, not just .5kph slower, and I think had I been trying to do a similar "scale it back a bit" outside I would have been too impatient.

ewt

Shin pain is back.

I am upset about this. I wasn't even running.

It started before I even did the first "faster" interval, when I was still walking 5km/h. Maybe I should have just stopped then, or done 40min at 5kph and left it at that.

I kept going anyway, telling myself it wasn't *that* bad. This may have been a mistake, in terms of recovery and not aggravating an existing injury, but I think I would be feeling even worse now if I hadn't completed the set.

Possible causes:
-last night I was running late for a service I was leading, so I walked faster than normal to get to church on time. I rather legged it, in fact, and was pleased with myself for having walked a mile in under 20 minutes. It didn't hurt at the time. I've been walking a lot: church is just over a mile and I am there most days, sometimes twice, so I'm walking two to four miles most days; most of the time, this doesn't cause me problems. In general my joints have been pretty good lately and I haven't taken any painkillers for a few days, so I don't think I masked pain with medication or anything like that.
-er, not sure what else. I don't think it was caused by walking faster for 5 minute intervals instead of 3 minutes, or anything, because it started before then.
-I'm starting to wonder if the orthotics are actually causing part of the problem. They're "half-orthotics", which means they're only under the back half of my foot, and they're stiffer than the shoe in the front part of my foot. Could I be over-working my calves/shins because that part of my step is more flexible? But without the orthotics, I get hip and back pain, which slows me down a lot more and probably involves long-term damage.

PLN:
-Accept that it isn't fair and allow myself to have a bit of a sulk. Grah to hypermobility. Hmph.
-On Thursday, try the same programme again, with all the speeds cut by .5kph. Decide after that what to do next.
-If I continue to have ongoing problems, maybe try those horrid elliptical machine things. I hate these, but I haven't really used them since before I got the orthotics, so maybe they won't make my hip hurt so much now. They don't involve so much lifting feet and putting them down again, so may be gentler.
-Think about how this programme could be adapted to cycling, which I have had more success with in the past.
-If that also doesn't work, look into spending serious money on shoes, gait analysis and so on, or possibly getting different orthotics (even more serious money, if the NHS says "You get shinsplints when you walk fast? Walk slowly then!").

Good things:
-I have a PLN
-I walked a mile in under 20 minutes last night, and regularly walk two to four miles in a day. That's not bad going. In 2007 I couldn't walk to the end of the road without serious back pain, so even if I'm having some minor problems now, I've definitely improved.
-Between the walking (and attempts at running in January), rowing (so far this does not seem to exacerbate shin pain), and various other things, I appear to have dropped a dress size since Christmas. Now, I'm not doing this to lose weight or get smaller, or even weighing myself or using measuring tape! However it is gratifying to see some results in the form of changes to my body, even if they are changes I am trying not to care about.

rmc28

Done, this damp grey morning. More distance than on Tuesday, pace slightly up on RunKeeper. All good.

Next week looks interesting. Will I really be running 20 minutes non-stop next Thursday?

liv

Dragged myself out to the gym in truly horrible weather. Repeated the workout as on Monday, but with the last 5 minutes at a more challenging though doable 7 kph. This didn't make my total distance measurably greater, but still, solid 3km.

I listened to music this time, mostly 80s electronica stuff which has a strong beat and which I like, though I'm not quite sure I've got my playlist exactly right. The whole workout felt like hard work, but not actively painful, so I think I will try moving right up to week 5 and not repeating this set to get my pace up.

Current Mood: hot

rmc28

Success!

Went out last night at about 9pm and was slightly worried that it would be too cold, but in fact it was fine. I think this is the first time I really enjoyed the session. When I started the first run it all felt fluid and right in a way I didn't expect. I still got out of breath, sore in the legs, slightly stitchy at one point, but I came back home feeling relaxed and exercise-happy.

I ran noticeably less far than on Sunday and RunKeeper recorded a slower pace, but the session felt much better.

liv

Completed the workout, by means of running the final long section verrry slowly (6.5kph). Which gives me a total distance of 3 km for the first time, and an average pace of 9 min/km.

I think 6.5 kph is probably too slow, it felt almost easy even for 5 mins. But I probably wouldn't be going much faster if I were running outside and setting my own pace, if I were already puffed by the end of the workout. But I think it's better for me, and more in the spirit, to run for the full period but slowly, rather than trying to go fast and giving up before the end. So day 3 I will try 7 kph for the last section, and decide whether I feel ready to move up to week 5 next week or if I want to keep improving my week 4 pace.

Current Mood: okay

rmc28

I did it!

I lost yesterday to a family gathering and a new netbook *cough* but today was dry and sunny, if cold, and I had

liv 's example from yesterday so pushed myself out the door a short while ago.

I ran what felt like very slowly and that seemed to work. I listened to podcasts (backlog of the News Quiz) as I find they distract me more than music unless I am very tired. Also I am pleased that my "pace" as recorded on RunKeeper is the fastest yet. Total distance 2.3 miles.

liv

I didn't quite complete the Week 4 workout. But on the plus side, I did succeed in restarting after a week off; thanks

rmc28 for making a pact with me that we'd both start again this weekend. I managed to drag myself to the gym though I was nearly rooted to my chair having a lazy weekend. (Unquestionably too cold to run outdoors today, in spite of the tempting bright winter sunshine.)

Things I can be proud of: moving at pace (set by the treadmill) for all but the last 2 1/2 minutes. Completing my first continuous 5 minute run, even if I couldn't finish the second long one. Running for a total of 13 1/2 minutes, compared to a maximum of 9 in the previous workouts. Average pace over the whole thing 8'54'' /km – first time under 9 mins/km, so that's considerably faster than I've managed up to now!

As for not completing it, well. I've been off running for 10 days, so I'm possibly starting to be deconditioned. And I still have the remnants of last week's cold on my chest, which doesn't help. If I were running on my own and could slow down a bit during the long runs I think I could probably manage this. I think the thing that defeated me this time is that the recovery periods between the runs aren't long enough for me, certainly not the 90 second ones. After the second 3 minute session I had to walk for 2 minutes to be able to start running again at all, and still couldn't make it past 2'30''.

It's actually quite nice to have found the real (cardiovascular) limit of what I can do at the moment, so that I can try to push that limit. It may take me more than three sessions to actually complete Week 4, but we'll see.

Current Mood: exhausted

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Couch to 5k

Entries tagged with week4

Zombie silliness

Week 4: 9'11'' /km

Week 4, day 3 & Week 5, day 1

Week 4, day 2

Week 4, Day 1

Struggling

Week four (again...) - I'm back!

Week 4 Day 1 again

Week 4 Day 1

Week 4 Day 3

Week 4 complete

Week 4 Day 2

Week 4 day 2

Week 4 Day 1

Week 4 day 1

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