Good morning. Happy Bank Holiday Monday! As always, I hope whoever takes the time to read this weekly life and training update had an amazing weekend. If, for whatever reason, your weekend wasn’t great, I hope the next seven days are more positive. My weekend had a couple of highlights; the fact it finally rained and that I managed to run for 20 minutes.

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

Like the last time I attempted the fifth week of the Couch to 5k, I looked forward to tackling three different training sessions. After last week’s shenanigans, I made sure the training sessions were saved on my Garmin and wasted a lot of time worrying about running for 20 minutes.

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

As I’d love to complete the Couch to 5k before the end of the year, I allocated time every day to stretching. In addition, I used my Bob and Brad Q2 Mini Massage Gun to massage my quads and calf muscles before each interval session and whenever I felt my legs would benefit from an extra massage.

Monday – 30 mins cross training

The new week didn’t get off to the best of starts when a series of emails left me feeling completely overwhelmed and in tears. I wrote a ‘things to do’ list and reminded myself I could do my job. My review of Week 4 of my Couch to 5k training was published, and I spent a couple of minutes thinking about the week ahead. As I wanted something to look forward to after work, I booked a table at the Quill and Taper pub and messaged my friend with the details of the booking.

I power walked to the Quill and Taper as I wanted to spend 30 minutes doing something that resembled cross training. I was feeling slightly woozy as I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so during my walk I decided I’d order a soft drink rather than my usual pint of beer. Unfortunately, by the time I’d walked from the pub entrance to the bar, the landlord had already poured me my usual pint of beer.

I didn’t want to risk eating the royale chicken tikka masala, so I ordered the crispy fried chicken burger southern-fried chicken breast fillet. Looking at the photo I took, I’m still not convinced why gravy was included, but the burger tasted amazing.

Apologies for the terrible photo. I still feel self-conscious when I’m trying to take photos of food in public. The burger wasn’t quite as filling as I’d anticipated, so I ordered a salted caramel sundae for my dessert. And I wonder why I struggle to lose weight.

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

I finished work at 5:00pm and could tell I’d spent too long staring at a screen because I was starting to get some visual disturbances, usually a sign I’m about to get a migraine. This meant that rather than tackling some of the mortgage and house-related paperwork I needed to complete, I spent an hour lying in a dark room. Not ideal from a productivity perspective, but it meant I felt well enough to attempt the first interval session of the week.

Some unexpected light rain meant that conditions were perfect for this unfit runner. I completed my warm-up walk, spent some time fiddling with my socks and laces, selected some music on Spotify, and started to run. I think it’s fair to say that my pacing was inconsistent, largely because midway through the second running repetition and at the end of the interval session I had to speed up to get away from some slightly dubious-looking people. I suspect I also sped up a few times to get away from the smell of overflowing bin bags.

Although my right knee twinged a couple of times, I enjoyed the interval session far more than I expected to, especially considering how I felt immediately after finishing work. In an attempt to avoid a group of teenagers who were loitering around my usual route home – yes, I am a bit of a wimp – I walked home via the local Nature Reserve.

I made it home, drank a glass of chocolate milkshake, massaged my quads and calf muscles using my massage gun, and then, in a desperate attempt to get some sleep, headed to bed at the early time for me of 10pm.

Wednesday – Rest

This weekly update has already turned into one of my essays, so as Wednesday was a much-needed rest day, I’ll fast forward to Thursday.

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

On Thursday, I finished work slightly later than originally planned and then spent the next three hours trying to combine printing out and filling in the pile of forms my solicitor had emailed, cooking myself something reasonably healthy, and completing a couple of loads of washing. All this productivity meant that I didn’t manage to leave the house until just after 9pm.

Conditions were once again more or less perfect and by the time I reached the end of my warm-up walk, any feelings of tiredness had disappeared. I made sure my laces weren’t too tight, selected some upbeat music on Spotify, and started to run at what felt like a sensible pace I had a chance of maintaining. I managed to run at a reasonably consistent pace during the first 8-minute running repetition and then made the most of the 5-minute recovery repetition. My pacing during the final running repetition was more inconsistent, I’ve no idea why.

I completed my cool-down walk, managed to capture yet another somewhat unflattering selfie, and headed home feeling pleased with myself for completing another interval session.

Sensible runners would have spent some time massaging their calf muscles when they got home. I’m not sensible, so I spent an entertaining couple of minutes trying to pin out washing in the dark before heading straight to bed. At times I really am my own worst enemy.

Friday – Rest

I think the highlights of what turned out to be a slightly stressful end to the working week were not wasting money on a takeaway from the local Chinese and the rain that had been forecast making an appearance.

Saturday – 30 mins cross training

I was feeling so tired on Saturday morning, that I considered treating myself to a lie-in. Had I not set myself a target of completing 50 parkruns in 2025, I may well have attempted to get more sleep. Once I’d dragged myself out of bed, I very briefly considered heading up to Lichfield again. Without sounding slightly pathetic, I wasn’t sure if any of my Sutton Park parkrun buddies would be around.

As always, I’m pleased I made the effort to walk across Sutton Park to Boldmere Gate as I ended up enjoying every minute of Sutton Park parkrun. I walked and talked my way around the Sutton Park parkrun course with Ellen. My left knee niggled a couple of times which was a little concerning but seemed to settle down once I’d warmed up. After what turned out to be another busy Sutton Park parkrun with 586 finishers, I spent a couple of hours in the Communitea Café in Boldmere helping sort through a mountain of finish tokens. I even remembered to post an update on Instagram.

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So that’s 20 parkruns completed this year, 30 parkruns to go 🙂

Following a fun couple of hours talking about all sorts of random topics and not thinking about the real world, I was dropped off in Mere Green and walked to the Fox and Dogs pub where I’d arranged to meet up with my brother. I say ‘walked’, unfortunately during the walk, my left knee twinged a couple of times and started to feel quite painful. I started to have doubts about running for 20 minutes the following morning.

The rest of my Saturday was so quiet, it was not exactly what I’d describe as blogworthy. Following a productive afternoon and evening, I laid out some running gear, checked my Garmin was charged, and headed to bed at a sensible time as like last Sunday, I wanted to get the final run of the week done before 8am.

Sunday – 20 mins running with no walking

Well, that was the plan. Although I’d gone to bed at a sensible time, I struggled to get to sleep, and after a couple of hours of slightly restless sleep, I woke up and spent three hours in overthinking mode. I switched my 6am alarm off at 3am in the morning as I figured I had the entire day to fit in a 20-minute run.

After a Sunday that featured another trip to the Sutton Coldfield tip, so much gardening I’ll need to return to the tip, a spot of Vinted shopping, an afternoon nap, and some life admin, I got changed into some running gear and spent some time giving myself a rather painful calf and quad massage. For some reason, when I headed out on my warm-up walk, I didn’t feel confident I’d be able to run for 20 minutes.

I would love to say I enjoyed every second of the final training session of the week, but I spent the majority of the 20-minute run telling myself to slow down and chuntering to myself. I almost got run over by a motorist who either failed to see me or hates runners. I increased my pace several times to get away from the aroma of festering rubbish. I’ve got everything crossed Birmingham City Council empty everyone’s bins this week. My left knee twinged a couple of times but otherwise felt okay. I just need to get better at starting my training runs at a sensible pace that I have a chance of maintaining.

On reflection, I think it’s fair to say my pace was far too ambitious for my current level of fitness. My left knee started to feel so sore during my cool-down walk I started to doubt I’d ever be able to complete the Couch to 5k. There’s nothing like being overdramatic.

So that’s the fifth week of the Couch to 5k completed. Despite some dubious pacing, I managed to run for 20 minutes without walking. The sixth week of the Couch to 5k looks challenging and I’m aware that my fragile knees 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.

Training totals:

• Runs: 15 (out of 15)
• Time: 5 hrs 3½ mins
• Distance: 27.49 miles

Niggleometer:

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

Did you have a good weekend?

What’s the most parkruns you’ve completed in a year?

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