Couch to 5k

A **** run is better than no run at all.

 

again, fantastic advice

atomic habits by James clear is a great book which reflects some of this thinking

 

This is the third time I’ve seen this book mentioned somewhere this week. I have it in the library at work but I’m not in for 6 weeks now. I’ll have to try and remember to get it after the holidays.

 

Am I correct in thinking that you're Leeds based, rather than Barnsley, JamDrop?

If so, then I'm scheduled to be Run Director at Woodhouse Moor parkrun next Saturday (5th) if you want to come along and see what it's all about. You could spectate, volunteer, walk the whole thing or just do some of it (it's a 3 lap course, each about a mile in length).

Drop me a PM if you're interested and I can provide more info.

(NB: Other Leeds parkruns are available, but WHM is the oldest and best, in my totally biased opinion. More importantly, it's one of the flattest courses, alongside Armley).

 

You can also listen to diary of a ceo podcast with him - that covers the key points!

 

when does a 'jog' become a 'run' or vice versa ?

 

I am Leeds based now, yeah. Thanks but let’s not get too carried away

 

I’m not going to be one of those people who posts about their runs all the time as it’s really boring so just a quick last update.

I went out again today, had some music this time and wow does that make a difference! I could just pretend I was dancing rather than thinking about what I was actually doing. It was much easier this time and completing it didn’t leave me out of breath even though I apparently went half a mile further than before (2.25km Weds, 3.17km today).

Anyway, that’s it from me in posting about it unless something major happens - thanks everyone for your kind words and advice, this forum is the best!

 

I started running last year as a result of trying to keep up in the fitness stakes with my siblings - big bro has always been fit and active but when my sister started training for mini triathlons I realised I had to do something or risk being the couch potato of the three of us!

I was cr ap when I started, could barely run a few hundred yards without my lungs burning and legs aching. Key is keeping at it - the hardest part is often getting out of the door and started. Managed to do my first marathon this year and am already thinking of my next one.

Between the running and cycling to work at least 3 days a week I cam now regard myself as 'fit' I guess and has done wonders for my mental health.

Keep at it JD!

 

Little! challenge for you here JD --

AN EXTRAORDINARY RACE
FOR EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE
IN AN EXTRAORDINARY PLACE
Who could you be if you pushed yourself to your limits? What could you do? Where might you go? The Marathon des Sables is the stuff of legends – a truly gruelling multi-stage adventure in one of the world’s most inhospitable environments, the Sahara Desert. It is indisputably the Toughest Footrace on Earth. Physically, it is six days’ running over 250 kms (156 miles) across endless sand dunes, rocky jebels and white-hot salt plains, carrying what you need to survive on your back. Mentally, it is the ultimate challenge – an experience like no other in the world.








WHAT WILL YOU FACE?
The glaring sun. The heat (up to 50°C). The sand – lots of it. These will be your constant companions, alongside 1,000 other runners from across the globe, spanning cultures and physical abilities – but united by the quest for adventure and to achieve something different from the crowd.

It will be hard. Your feet will swell. They will crack. They will bleed, as you cross the world’s largest hot desert. The Fourth Day will take you out of the Saharan morning into dusk, dark and beyond as you cover more than 80kms (52 miles) in one relentless stage of running. But you will find the strength to power onwards like those who have run before you, to the exhilaration and joy of the finish line.

AT A GLANCE
250+ kms (156 miles)

Six stages over seven days

A long stage of 80+ kms (52+ miles)

Self-sufficient, but with water rations and communal goats’ hair Berber tents supplied and pitched each night

Temperatures of more than 50°C

Want to discover more? Head to www.runultra.co.uk for a wealth of information about everything to do with MdS, from how to train to how to pack your bag, to stories from past competitors. Join now for all the latest updates.

 

Who signs up to stuff like that? Absolute madheads.

 

Exactly!

 

are you sort of hinting that you may not be doing it ?

 

I only went and completed it!!

It took slightly longer than 9 weeks due to occasional injuries, illness and extreme weather conditions but we’ve graduated the programme. The beautiful little Betsy goes off to change someone’s life in two weeks so we knew we had a deadline to finish it. She was there at the start and there’s no way she wasn’t going to be there at the end.

I haven’t yet made it to 5k as 30mins just isn’t long enough but we did reach 4.2k today so it’s within touching distance. I reckon if we were road running rather than around a very muddy field we would be much closer to it.

Here’s a bonus pic of the best running buddy!

 

Well done @JamDrop

 

Wouldn’t worry too much about not doing 5km in 30 mins there are lots of more seasoned runners still not doing that and I would warrant that if you slowed down slightly you would smash the distance.
Well done to you & Betsy.

 

Well done, but beware, leg problems can come from too much running when you've not done it for years, ankles and knees in particular. There was an article in the Guardian the other day about the top man at Transport For London who mentions in passing that he started running during the first COVID lockdown and is now waiting for an operation.

 

Totally agree with this. The success is in getting up and getting out there. I used to get a bit obsessed about times. There can be big disparities in speed from one day to the next for me, my advice is don’t get hung up on it!

keep putting the miles in your legs and your stamina will continue to build over the months / years

 

I somehow missed this thread first time around @JamDrop but well done you! And like @Sheriff has done, I'd encourage you to go along to a Parkrun - I think you'd really enjoy it. The folks are the front are racing but imo for 90% of people it's not competitive. In fact the only person you compete with is yourself and even then, only when you choose to. Parkrun is a fantastic community of people who encourage and congratulate each other and the shared experience each Saturday morning is a joy to be part of. And btw, walking is fine too, there's no judgement. You should try it. Once you do one you may find yourself hooked!

As a side story - my two closest Parkruns and the ones I do most are Walsall Arboretum and Chasewater but occasionally I go somewhere else for a change. A week last Saturday I visited one of the two in Wolverhampton - East Park. When I got my kit out the previous night, in the dark because my wife was already in bed, the top I got was an old Barnsley FC training top. When I parked up at East Park and walked to the start, a voice said "Is that a Barnsley shirt?" To cut a long story short, a couple from Barnsley were going to see Blink 182 in Birmingham that evening and so decided they'd do a local'ish Parkrun beforehand and ended up in the same place as me. I ended up having a conversation with them prior to the start. Small thing I know but it made my day that I'd connected with fellow Reds at a local event.

 

You absolutely would. Far more purchase on the ground from your foot on road.

And well done.

I started running, after quite a few years of doing nothing, at beginning of 2019. I was, 47yo, 16st with a 36" waist, and had been a lifelong smoker. At first I couldn't do 3k without stopping a couple of times. Stuck at it, it was hard, but really caught the bug. I now do about 100k a week, do half marathon in just under 1.5h, marathon PB is 3h 22m. I'm now 10.5st and 31" waist.

If I can do it, anyone can. Genuinely. I was so unfit when I started.