Good morning and happy Monday. When this weekly training update goes live, I’ll be wading through the emails I received during my three weeks of annual leave. I can’t say I’m thrilled to be back at work.

I wasn’t going to publish weekly training updates, but I love writing them and people have said that they enjoy reading my training (and life) updates and. I also hope that my random thoughts help other beginner runners who, like me, are tackling the Couch to 5k. Anyway, I hope that whoever takes the time to read what I suspect will turn into quite a long blog containing all sorts of randomness had an awesome weekend.

As always, I can’t guarantee that these updates will be interesting or that they will contain blogworthy photos, but I promise to be completely open and honest and to share the highs and lows.

I decided to start again with the Couch to 5k training plan that is available on the NHS Live Well website. This version of the Couch to 5k training plan is spread over nine weeks.

The NHS Live Well website provided the following information about the interval sessions in Week 1 of the Couch to 5k training plan.

My Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday interval sessions started with a fast 5-minute warm-up walk and ended with a slightly slower 5-minute cool-down walk. I supplemented the three interval sessions with cross-training sessions and a couple of rest days. I’m yet to invest in a new exercise bike, so cross-training sessions comprised of 30-minute walks and Pilates workouts.

I know I’m repeating myself, but as I would love to finally complete the Couch to 5k, I dedicated time every morning and evening to stretching and strength and conditioning. I’d love 2024 to be the year I complete the Couch to 5k and get back into running consistently.

Monday – 30 mins cross training

If you’ve read any of my previous blogs, you’ll know that I’m a bit of a parkrun volunteering obsessive. I’m not sure I would have got out of bed at 7am on New Year’s Day for anything other than my home parkrun, Sutton Park parkrun. The Sutton Park parkrun course changed last October, and most of my walk to Boldmere Gate is unfortunately not what I’d describe as scenic. I thought I’d share one of the first photos I took in 2024. It captures the final uphill section of the new Sutton Park parkrun course.

I’m not sure it counts as cross-training, hopefully, my walk across Sutton Park did, but I started 2024 by volunteering as a barcode scanner. It wasn’t overly busy, and I enjoyed spending time in the finish area and being able to wish dozens of parkrunners a “Happy New Year”. I thought I’d share a sort of volunteering action photo from New Year’s Day.

[Photo – Kenneth Choi]

It’s always good to start the year with a half-decent parkrun photo. I powerwalked through a busy Sutton Park to Four Oaks Tennis Club where I was rescued by a friend, completed my strength and conditioning exercises as my calf muscles were feeling quite tight, had a much-needed hot shower, and then spent the afternoon writing my slightly overdue review of 2023. A positive start to 2024.

Tuesday – 20 mins intervals (run 60 secs/walk 90 secs x 8)

Although I’m more of a morning than an evening runner, I didn’t want to spend the day after I completed my first interval session feeling tired, so I decided to run in the evening when I returned from visiting my sister and her family. I loved spending time catching up with my sister and attempting to complete jigsaw puzzles with my twin nieces. The arrival of Storm Henk had resulted in heavy rain and widespread flooding across the Midlands, so the journey home was incredibly stressful.

I was feeling quite peckish after eating a smaller than I’d got used to during the festive period lunch, so I decided to eat, rest, and then run. I almost fell into the trap of spending more time thinking about running than actually running, but just before 9pm a sudden rush of motivation, and quite possibly guilt, meant I got changed into some running gear. I spent some time stretching and used the Bob and Brad Q2 Mini Massage Gun I’m reviewing to massage my calf muscles.

As for the interval session itself, although I did my best to sabotage the session by running at a pace I know I won’t be able to maintain as the duration of the running intervals increases, I found running for 60 seconds at a time relatively easy and reached the end of the 20 minutes feeling like I could have carried on running. My knees niggled a couple of times and my calf muscles felt quite tight, but my left foot didn’t cause me any concern. Once I’d completed my cool-down walk, I made myself a cup of tea, stretched, and massaged my calf muscles again.

Wednesday – Rest

This blog is getting quite long, so I’ won’t write an essay about Wednesday. After a couple of early starts and a busy start to the New Year, I made sure I had a quiet rest day. I think the highlight of Wednesday was completing and publishing my review of 2023.

Thursday – 20 mins intervals (run 60 secs/walk 90 secs x 8)

I spent the morning of my penultimate day of annual leave catching up on some of the household chores I’d been putting off for far too long. After hoisting myself up into and back out of the loft so many times my Fitbit thought I was exercising, I tackled some long overdue blogmin, and after far too many nights of poor quality sleep, treated myself to an afternoon nap.

Following the success of my evening interval session on Tuesday, rather than attempting an afternoon run, I decided to eat, rest, and then run. After a lot of post-evening meal faffing, I got changed into some running gear, worked through my stretches, and treated(?) my calf muscles to another massage.

The second interval session of the week went really well. I’ll never understand running, as although I made a concerted effort to run at a sensible and what I’ve described in the past as sustainable pace, I somehow ended up running further than I did on Tuesday evening.

I’m acutely aware I’ve shared far too many selfies on here and I’m not exactly what I’d describe as photogenic, so I thought I’d share a photo I took while I was about to tackle my nemesis hill. Apologies for the blurriness, evidently taking photos while running isn’t very easy.

Friday – Rest

I did my best to ensure my final day of annual leave was reasonably productive. After spending the morning tackling my ironing mountain, making spiders homeless, and vacuuming the house, I treated a friend to lunch at the Giggling Squid in Mere Green. As I hadn’t been to the Gigging Squid since September, I ordered my favourite dish; sticky chicken with egg fried rice and something I hadn’t tried before; crispy garlic prawns.

Although the food tasted amazing, I’m trying to save rather than spend money this year, so I doubt lunch at the Giggling Squid will turn into a regular habit. I popped into the charity bookshop and bought four more books to add to my ‘to be read’ pile of books, got home, and shared my running, walking, and parkrun goals for 2024.

Saturday – 30 mins cross training

I should have switched off my 6:30am Saturday morning ‘parkrun alarm’ as I was tail walking and didn’t need to arrive at Boldmere Gate until 8:45am. I left the house just after 7:30am and thanks to some slightly stupid powerwalking arrived at Boldmere Gate 50 minutes later. Sutton Park was once again looking stunning, so I thought I’d share one of the photos I took.

I volunteered as a tail walker with Helene. I like to think that all the picking up of signs and cones counted as a form of cross-training. I don’t think my knees appreciated all the squatting. I crossed the line in 480^th place in a time of 58:21. If all my Couch to 5k training goes to plan, I’d love to knock at least 25 minutes off this time. A runner can dream.

Sunday – 20 mins intervals (run 60 secs/walk 90 secs x 8)

I hadn’t set an alarm, so I was amazed when I was wide awake well before 7am. I looked out the window to see if it was icy, it wasn’t, got changed into some running gear, and then worked through my stretches and strength and conditioning exercises. My calf muscles weren’t feeling too bad, so I decided to save my massage gun until after I’d run.

My left foot has been what I’d describe as intermittently niggly since the end of December, and it was quite painful yesterday morning. Fortunately, by the time I’d completed my 5-minute warm-up walk, my left foot was pain-free, and I was good to go. I once again found the interval session easy and felt like I could have carried on running when I’d completed the final run repetition, always a positive sign.

As not all training runs take place in scenic locations and I’m trying to share the reality of training in suburbia in the winter, I took a photo of my local Co-op, completed my 5-minute cool-down walk, and then headed home. The rest of my Sunday was so mundane, I won’t bore you all to tears with the details.

So, that’s the first week of the Couch to 5k successfully completed. I just hope that my knees and left foot continue to cope with the training. After so many failed attempts at completing the Couch to 5k, I’d love to be back running 5k in eight weeks time.

Week 2 of the Couch to 5k training plan looks achievable, I just need to make sure I run at a sensible pace I can maintain for 90 seconds. I’ve already decided that as I’m not great at running, or even walking when it’s icy, if the snow that has been forecast makes an appearance, I’ll be taking a temporary break from the Couch to 5k.

Training totals:

• Runs: 3 (out of 3)
• Time: 1 hr 0 mins
• Distance: 5.01 miles

Niggleometer:

• Right knee: 2/10
• Left knee: 2/10
• Left foot: 4/10

Did you have a good weekend? Did you manage to complete a parkrun or another organised event?

 

---