Good morning and happy Bank Holiday Monday. I hope that whoever reads this latest random training and life update is having/had a great long weekend. So far, my long weekend has had two highlights; getting to the end of the third week of my Couch to 5k training, and eating lunch on Saturday inside an actual restaurant with another person. I’m glad we weren’t eating outside as it rained.

The NHS Live Well website provided the following information about the interval sessions in Week 3 of the Couch to 5k training plan.

As in previous weeks, I supplemented the three Couch to 5k interval sessions with a couple of cross training sessions and a couple of rest days. Each interval session started with a 5 minute warm-up and ended with a 5 minute cool down. Last week, I realised that my exercise bike was making my left knee hurt. Following a slightly uncomfortable 30 minutes on my exercise bike on Monday, my cross training session on Saturday comprised of a 30 minute walk followed by an attempt to follow this Yoga with Adriene Runner’s Yoga video. As I want to actually complete the Couch to 5k this time, I dedicated at least 30 minutes a day to strength and conditioning, I also dusted off and used my pulseroll massage gun.

Monday – 30 mins cross training

I woke up so early on Monday, I briefly considered completing my 30 minute exercise bike session before work. I figured that cycling in the morning would give my legs more time to recover before my interval session the following morning. I then reminded myself that I had a busy day of meetings to get through and that cycling after work the previous three Mondays hadn’t impacted my Tuesday morning interval sessions. I also find having something to look forward to after work a bonus.

I finished work at 4:30pm, and an hour later was enjoying a virtual cycle ride through the remote New Zealand countryside. Although the scenery was stunning, my left knee felt slightly niggly towards the end of the session, and was quite sore when I got off my bike. As soon as I’d recovered, I put my exercise bike in the shed at the top of the garden. Hopefully it will be a case of out of sight, out of mind. I uploaded something resembling the weekly interval sessions onto my Garmin, got my running gear ready for the morning and spent an enjoyable(?) 30 minutes massaging my legs with my massage gun.

Tuesday – 18 mins intervals (run 90 secs/walk 90 secs/run 3 mins/walk 3 mins x 2)

I have no idea what’s going on with my body clock, but I woke up just before my 5am alarm again. At least waking up naturally – or was it the noise of the wind and rain – meant that I felt awake when I headed outside.

The first interval session of the third week of the Couch to 5k didn’t feel great. I made my usual mistake of being a little too ambitious with my pace, and as a result found running for 3 minutes far more difficult than it should have been. The wind did its best to help me out but I still struggled during both of the 3 minute run intervals. At least I managed to carry on running, slowing to a walk would have been a little demoralising. I’m aware that I’m repeating myself, but if I don’t sort out my pacing issues, I’m going to struggle to complete the Couch to 5k. My concern is that if I continue to run like I’m being chased by a dog, I’ll probably end up injuring my fragile left knee.

After completing my 5 minute cool down hobble walk, I attempted and failed to take some artistic photos, walked home, worked through some stretches, shared my post run pacing concerns on Instagram and as it was still too early for me to start work, I headed back to bed for a couple of hours. I’m not sure that sleeping until gone 8am was sensible, but I felt much better for the extra sleep.

Like last week, the early morning interval session ended up being the highlight of my Tuesday. Let’s just say that I’m not a fan of spending most of my working day in meetings. I find meetings quite tiring and at times they don’t feel like the most productive use of people’s time. Sorry for the grumbling, I’m sure that my new job will start to feel easier soon.

Wednesday – Rest

Once again, this weekly training (and life!) update is rapidly turning into an essay so I won’t describe my rest day in detail. Work was busy and it felt like I spent all day talking to people either on the phone or on MS Teams. I felt so wired when I finished work, I walked to the local Nature Reserve and spent an hour nature (and people) watching.

Thursday – 18 mins intervals (run 90 secs/walk 90 secs/run 3 mins/walk 3 mins x 2)

Getting up at 5am after what could only be described as a terrible night’s sleep was difficult. I very nearly postponed my interval session until the evening but I knew that if I did, I’d end up not running at all. I was feeling so dozy I almost left the house without my phone. Let’s just say it was a good job I noticed I’d forgotten my phone as my stomach wasn’t feeling great. I won’t go into any more details.

Surprisingly, the second interval session of the week felt great, largely because the weather was perfect. The 3 minute runs felt like they were far more evenly paced, so I was a little surprised to see I’d covered exactly the same distance during the session as on Tuesday.

My left knee unfortunately felt a little niggly during my 5 minute cool down, so when I got home, I dug out my resistance bands and worked through some of the personalised exercises I was provided last year. Following a morning where I was all too aware I kept double-crossing my legs – not very sensible for someone with dodgy knees but it’s a habit I’m finding hard to break – I spent the afternoon working with an ice pack balanced on my left knee. Anything to make me sit without my legs crossed!

Friday – Rest

The highlight of the day was the arrival of a new joint supplement I’m looking forward to reviewing and a book I’d completely forgotten I’d pre-ordered. I’ve now got so many books in my ‘to read’ pile, I need to dedicate 30 minutes each day to reading. My evening was quite productive as I listed and sold some of my unwanted running gear on Facebook and drafted out some listings for eBay.

Saturday – 30 mins cross training

As my exercise bike had been hidden away in the shed at the top of the garden, I needed to find an alternative to indoor cycling. I decided to keep it simple and completed a quick(ish) 30 minute walk to the Post Office and back. Once I’d recovered from my walk, I attempted to follow a Yoga with Adriene ‘Runner’s Yoga’ video. Let’s just say I’m not very good at Yoga and it’s very much a case of things can only get better!

At lunchtime I met up with a friend in Bistrot Pierre for an early lunch. I’d spent a lot of time during the week weighing up the pros and cons of eating out; the pros just about outweighed the cons. Although I was a little nervous about eating out, I wanted to spend some time away from my house and my own company.

I felt incredibly safe and relaxed the whole time I was sat inside Bistrot Pierre. We were given a table in the small bar area which helped, as did the amazing food and beer. The only downside was the menu which felt a little limited, presumably due to the kitchen having less capacity due to Covid restrictions. My meal tasted amazing, I only experienced a small amount of food #FOMO and I can’t wait to return.

I spent the rest of my Saturday watching the European Team Championships, catching up on Chicago Fire, and preparing listings for eBay and Facebook.

Sunday – 18 mins intervals (run 90 secs/walk 90 secs/run 3 mins/walk 3 mins x 2)

The noise of what sounded like two cats fighting woke me before my 5am alarm. Getting to run in quite chilly conditions was worth the earlier than planned start.

There’s not much I can say about yesterday morning’s interval session. I tried to set out at a sensible pace, found myself speeding up, made a conscious effort to slow down, and ended the final 3 minute run feeling like I could have carried on running, always a good sign. I’ve no idea how, but I covered exactly the same distance during the 18 mins as I did on Tuesday and Thursday. Strange!

Like the previous week, the remainder of my Sunday was a relaxed affair. I had originally planned to spend some time weeding the front drive, but I decided that spending an hour kneeling down wouldn’t help my knee. I spent some time preparing more eBay and Facebook listings, watched the second day of the European Team Championships, and treated myself to a takeaway from my local Chinese restaurant.

So, that’s week three of the Couch to 5k successfully completed. I just hope that my fragile knee continues to cope with the training. The way I feel at the moment, I’m not sure I’ll cope with another lengthy break from running.

Week 4 of the NHS Couch to 5k training plan I’m following looks more difficult than the previous three weeks. I think it’s going to be a case of unless I learn to run at a sensible pace, I’m going to struggle to run for 5 minutes. Reading my training updates from last year has been useful as it clear that I’ve previously found Week 4 of the Couch to 5k difficult. So, although the version of the Couch to 5k training plan I’m following this time looks easier, it’s still very much a case of watch my knees, start slow and stay slow!

Training totals

• Runs: 9 (out of 9)
• Time: 2 hrs 57 mins
• Distance: 14.66 miles

Niggleometer

• Right knee: 3/10
• Left knee: 4/10
• Right foot: 1/10

Did you have a good Bank Holiday weekend?  I hope that the weather was good where you live? Did you head out anywhere?

If you have any yoga for runner YouTube video recommendations, please could you share them with me? I’m very much a novice when it comes to yoga so I’ve been looking for videos that are easy to follow.

---