Good morning and happy Tuesday. As always, I hope whoever takes the time to read what is likely to turn into a lengthy weekly update blog containing a fair amount of waffle and food photos had a great weekend. My weekend had a couple of highlights; a post-parkrun trip to McDonald’s for a healthy brunch and running for 20 minutes on Sunday morning without my knee hurting.

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

After an unplanned break from running due to illness and slightly temperamental knees, I was a little nervous about restarting the Couch to 5k at Week 6, so I decided to repeat Week 5. I rescheduled all the training sessions on Garmin Connect and made sure my Garmin updated and wondered if I’d be able to run continuously for 20 minutes.

My Wednesday morning and Friday evening interval sessions and Sunday morning 20-minute run started with reasonably speedy 5-minute warm-up walks and ended with slightly slower 5-minute cool-down walks. I supplemented the interval sessions and 20-minute run with cross-training sessions on Monday and Saturday and rest days on Wednesday and Friday.

With apologies for the repetition, but as I want to complete the Couch to 5k at the beginning of June, I allocated time each morning to the strengthening exercises I was provided a couple of weeks ago.

Monday – 30 mins cross training

This won’t be a ‘normal’ weekly training update blog because I was on annual leave. Nothing beats that feeling of not having to spend 7.4 hours a day sat at a desk staring at a screen. I’ve not gone into much detail in this blog, but I’ve been finding my job incredibly difficult recently and had reached the stage I needed a break. I wrote myself a ‘things to do’ list and then spent the morning catching up on some embarrassingly overdue household chores. I’m hoping vacuuming the house counts as a form of cross training, it felt more physically demanding than my usual lunchtime walks.

Tuesday – 21 mins intervals (run 5 mins/walk 3 mins/run 5 mins/walk 3 mins/run 5 mins) Rest

As I wanted to run on my 45^th birthday, I decided to switch some of my training sessions around. What should have been a rest day ended up being quite productive. I woke reasonably early as I had a doctor’s appointment in the morning. After I’d been to the doctors, I remembered to drop my ‘parkrun coat’ off at the local launderers to have the zip replaced. I popped into the local charity bookshop and bought some more books to add to my ’to be read’ pile and then headed home.

If you’ve read any of my previous blogs you’ll probably already be aware I have a slightly unhealthy obsession with the Giggling Squid in Mere Green. A warning, this weekly training update is about to morph into a not very informative food blog. I met up with my friend Vic for an early birthday lunch and ended up ordering a selection of smaller dishes from the lunchtime menu.

The food tasted amazing, and I regretted not ordering more. I wasn’t expecting to be presented with this after I’d eaten my dessert 🙂

Such a kind gesture considering it wasn’t my birthday. The rest of my final day as a 44 year old was so mundane I’m struggling to recall what I did when I got home from the Giggling Squid. I have a feeling I treated myself to an afternoon nap and made sure I’d set my alarm for 5:30am the following morning.

Wednesday – Rest 21 mins intervals (run 5 mins/walk 3 mins/run 5 mins/walk 3 mins/run 5 mins)

I woke well before my 5:30am alarm, got changed into some running gear, had a productive trip to the toilet, drank some water and completed some stretches. I must admit I was feeling quite nervous about running for the first time since I’d started treating my knees and legs to weekly osteopathy treatments. I found the interval session easy and was reminded that I’m more of a morning than an evening runner. My knees felt great, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover my fitness levels hadn’t disappeared. When I checked out my running and recovery splits, I was pleasantly surprised to discover my pacing was reasonably sensible by my standards.

I still need to work on my post training session selfie skills. I’ve decided to include the selfie I took just before I started my cool-down walk as it’s my first photo as a 45 year old.

I got home, had another glass of water, and then spent the morning tackling some of the chores on my ‘things to do list’. At midday I had a shower, got changed and then walked the short distance to the Quill and Taper pub for my birthday lunch.

It was lovely to have an unplanned catch-up with Sarah from parkrun. I know this is meant to be a running and not a food blog, but I thought I’d share two of the photos I took. As it was lunchtime and I knew I wouldn’t be ordering a dessert, I ordered breaded mushrooms for the first time this year.

I’m a creature of habit and I didn’t feel like eating a hot meal, so I ordered the chicken Caesar salad and a side portion of fries for my main course.

The food tasted amazing, and it was lovely to catch up with my brother. It’s just a shame my birthday meal was somewhat ruined by a snide comment made by my stepfather Colin. According to Colin, when I buy my own property I won’t be able to buy myself new trainers. I was left with the impression all I would be able to do is work and then go home; having any sort of hobbies or fun would be completely out of the question.

I did my best to not let this snide comment upset me but admit I spent the rest of my birthday feeling quite gloomy.

Thursday – 21 mins intervals (run 8 mins/walk 5 mins/run 8 mins) Rest

This weekly update has already turned into one of my essays, so as Thursday was rest day, I’ll fast forward to my third appointment at the Ebrook Osteopathy and Sports Clinic in Sutton Coldfield.

I should probably rewind a few weeks. I’m ashamed to admit I had a slight meltdown as I was fed up with not being able to run and was worried I’d never be able to train consistently. Rather than feeling sorry for myself I decided to do something practical, so I visited the Ebrook Osteopathy and Sports Clinic website and completed the contact form.

Four days later I had my first appointment. I was diagnosed with Runner’s Knee, treated to a rather painful leg massage, given some homework to complete and told I would be able to run again. My legs felt amazing after the massage, and I was able to navigate the stairs at home without flinching.

The following week I was given another slightly painful leg massage and I got to experience Shockwave therapy for the first time. I was also able to record my homework, this gave me the confidence to complete the stretches. On Thursday I got to experience dry needling for the first time.

I was pleasantly surprised it didn’t hurt at all and my knees and legs felt amazing after the treatment. I left the appointment wishing I’d had the confidence to visit the Ebrook Osteopathy and Sports Clinic at the start of the year.

Friday – Rest 21 mins intervals (run 8 mins/walk 5 mins/run 8 mins)

Following a quiet morning where I contemplated running but decided I’d need to be on top form later in the day, I spent most of the day at my twin niece’s birthday party. In an attempt to deal with a room full of small very energetic children, I somehow managed to consume several glasses of pink Prosecco. I’m not saying I’d had a fair amount to drink, but the camera doesn’t lie!

I got back home and then spent ages weighing up the pros and cons of attempting to complete an interval run while feeling slightly merry. I decided to listen to some music to help with my pacing and to take my mind off the pink Prosecco.

I got changed into some running gear, selected some trance music, and headed out into the torrential rain to complete my warm-up walk. I can honestly say I don’t remember much about the second interval session of the week. My pacing was what I’d describe as slightly erratic, and it looks like I found the end of the interval session difficult.

I’ve included the selfie I took just before I embarked on my cool-down walk stagger as a reminder to not drink and attempt to run.

I got home, drank a couple of glasses of water, had a shower, made sure my Saturday morning ‘parkrun alarm’ was switched on as I was barcode scanning at Sutton Park parkrun and headed to bed.

Saturday – 30 mins cross training

I’m not blaming the pink Prosecco, but I woke well before my Saturday morning ‘parkrun alarm’ feeling anything but refreshed. I walked across Sutton Park and arrived at the location of the start of Sutton Park parkrun near to Boldmere Gate just after 8:15am. I spent a few minutes chatting with some of the core team and then met up with and headed off for a pre-barcode scanning walk and talk with Helene.

Barcode scanning was a success, and I was only presented with one completely impossible to scan barcode. Volunteering complete, Helene and I popped to the Bassetts Pole for a McDonald’s birthday brunch.

As the events of the week had caught up with me and I was feeling tired, I had a relaxed and not overly productive Saturday afternoon. I caught up with some blog and eBay related admin and made a start on my 41^st book of the year: ‘Happy Place’ by Emily Henry. I laid some running gear out ready for the morning, made sure my alarm was set, and headed to bed at a sensible time.

Sunday – 20 mins running with no walking

My alarm woke me, and I spent a couple of minutes lying in bed debating getting up. I decided running early in the morning when it was cooler and quieter would be the best option, so I got changed into the running gear I’d laid out the night before, worked through some strength and conditioning exercises, had a productive loo visit, drank some water, and then headed outside into what were perfect conditions for running.

I completed my 5-minute warm-up walk, selected some music from the London 2012 Opening Ceremony and started to run. Last time I ran for 20 minutes I set out at a pace that was far too ambitious for my current fitness levels. This time I made a concerted effort to maintain a sensible pace that I knew I’d be able to maintain. I found the first ten minutes of the run easy, and it felt like I was running at a fairly consistent pace. Although my pacing during the second ten minutes felt a little more inconsistent, I made sure I only increased my pace when I approached the final few minutes of the run.

I captured this post-run selfie and then spent a couple of minutes reflecting on what had had been an amazing run, such a contrast to last time I ran for 20 minutes. I completed my 5-minute cool-down walk and then walked home.

And yes, I’m acutely aware I’ve said I would be cutting down the number of selfies I share, so here’s a bonus photo I took of what is usually a busy road not far from my house.

I got home, drank a couple of pints of water and spent some time massaging my calf muscles. As it was too late for me to head back to bed, I decided to have a quick look at the splits from my run.

Although my pacing was inconstant and I clearly started to speed up towards the end, I managed to run a pace I knew I’d be able to maintain for 20 minutes. Unlike the last time I ran for 20 minutes, I reached the end of the 20 minute run feeling like I could have carried on running. Progress!

So that’s the fifth week of the Couch to 5k training plan completed. The sixth week of the Couch to 5k looks challenging and I’m aware that my lack of recent consistent training might come back to haunt me. As the duration of the longest continuous run increases from 20 to 25 minutes, I might complete the run at Beacon parkrun. The course is flat, and I find running with others more enjoyable than running on my own.

Training totals:

• Runs: 15 (out of 15)
• Time: 5 hrs 3½ mins
• Distance: 27.37 miles

Niggleometer:

• Right knee: 2/10
• Left knee: 2/10
• Left foot: 1/10

Did you have a good long weekend?

Have you ever experienced dry needling?

 

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