Good morning and happy(?) Monday. I can’t believe it’s June. As always, I hope whoever reads my latest training and life update had an amazing weekend. If, for whatever reason, you didn’t have the best of weekends, I hope that the next seven days are more positive. My weekend had a couple of highlights, managing to complete Sutton Park parkrun and spending some time with my brother and nephew.

The NHS Live Well website provided the following information about the three training runs in Week 6 of the Couch to 5k training plan.

Like the last time I attempted the sixth week of the Couch to 5k, I looked forward to tackling three different training sessions. I also wasted far too much time worrying about running for 25 minutes.

My Tuesday interval session started with a fast warm-up walk and ended with a slightly slower cool-down walk. I supplemented the one interval session I managed to complete with cross-training sessions on Monday and Saturday and rest days on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.

As my knees were not feeling very happy towards the end of last week, I made sure I allocated time after work every day to stretching. I also 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 week got off to a positive start because I wasn’t working and therefore didn’t have to spend eight hours feeling like an imposter. I was also able to have a rare lie-in. Shortly after 9:00am, I was collected by Mum who drove us over to the Chase Farm Café for a cooked breakfast and a long overdue catchup. Not the best of photos, but this breakfast tasted amazing.

My review of Week 5 of my Couch to 5k training was published, and as I struggled to get out of mums car, I started to doubt I’d be able to complete interval  sessions on Tuesday and Thursday, a 25 minute run on Saturday, and the Royal Sutton Fun Run on Sunday.

I spent the remainder of the Spring bank holiday gardening and tackling yet more house-related paperwork. I decided that spending over three hours in the garden clearing ivy counted as a form of cross training, so I didn’t attempt a power walk in the rain.

Tuesday – 24 mins intervals (run 5 mins/walk 3 mins/run 8 mins/walk 3 mins/run 5 mins)

I had originally planned to travel to the Birmingham office so that I could print out some guidance documents, however after getting approximately four hours of sleep, I decided to stay at home. After a somewhat overwhelming day, I was able to finish work at 5:00pm. As soon as I finished work, I spent some time getting a guest post ready and completing yet more house-related paperwork. I booked a place on a Lichfield Cathedral tour and ordered and devoured a takeaway from my favourite Chinese restaurant.

My knees had been feeling quite niggly since Sunday, so I got changed into some running gear and spent some time massaging my quads and calf muscles with my Bob and Brad Q2 Mini Massage Gun. I also completed some of the exercises I’d been given to hopefully strengthen my knees. My knees felt quite niggly during my warm-up walk but not painful enough to make me think I shouldn’t run. I completed my warm-up walk, spent some time fiddling with my socks and laces, selected some music on Spotify, and started to run.

Once I’d settled into the first running repetition, I think my pacing was reasonably consistent, aided by the fact I spent the first five minutes running uphill. My pacing during the second, longer running repetition was all over the place, it’s clear where my left knee started to niggle. As for the final 5-minute running repetition, it was very much a case of trying to make it home.

Although my left knee felt increasingly painful as the interval session progressed and seemed to hurt more during the recovery repetitions, I enjoyed the interval session far more than I expected. I captured what turned out to be a slightly blurry selfie and then headed back home.

I hobbled home, drank a couple of glasses of chocolate milkshake, massaged my quads and calf muscles using my massage gun for the second time in an hour, and then headed to bed feeling incredibly frustrated with myself.

Wednesday – Rest

It’s a good job Wednesday was a rest day as the moment I stepped out of bed, I realised I’d injured my left knee the previous evening. My left knee was so painful I knew I wouldn’t be running on Thursday and seriously doubted I’d be able to run at the weekend. The first guest post I’ve featured on my blog since September 2020 – Enhancing Postural Health: A Doctor’s Take on Running – was published and almost instantly became more popular than any of my Couch to 5k related waffle.

Thursday – 23 mins intervals (run 10 mins/walk 3 mins/run 10 mins) Rest

My knees were so painful when I first stepped out of bed, I knew I wouldn’t be attempting to complete the second interval session of the week after work. I spent a bit of time in what Geoff used to call ‘self-pitying mode’ but gave myself a talking-to and ended up having a productive but expensive morning. It’s a good job I hadn’t treated myself to a new Garmin the previous week, as I ended up spending a not-insignificant amount on a Level 3 house survey.

Friday – Rest

I think the highlights of what turned out to be a gloomy end to the working week were the Chinese takeaway I treated myself to after work, and the fact that it was Friday. My knees started to feel slightly better but were still quite niggly.

Saturday – 30 mins cross training

My knees felt so painful during the first few minutes of my four mile walk to Boldmere Gate I contemplated heading back home. Had I not set myself a target of completing 50 parkruns in 2025, I may well have turned around and walked back home. Fortunately, five minutes into my walk to Boldmere Gate my knees started to feel much better, not completely niggle-free but better than they had done since my Tuesday evening interval session. I must really like taking photos here, I promise I haven’t just recycled last week’s photo.

As always, I’m pleased I made the effort to walk to Sutton Park parkrun. I managed to walk most of the course and ran up the final hill. Although my knees twinged a couple of times they seemed to settle down once I’d warmed up. After what turned out to be a slightly warmer than I was anticipating Sutton Park parkrun, I spent some time relaxing on the grass stretching before I started to walk back towards Mere Green. I even remembered to post a slightly grumpy update on Instagram.

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My left knee felt so painful during my walk back towards Mere Green, that I called my friend Vic to see if he could rescue me. Predictably, the person who is usually attached to his mobile phone ignored my calls and text messages. After a painful three-mile walk hobble I reached the Mare Pool pub in Mere Green where I bought myself a couple of pints and spent an hour relaxing in the sun and resting my knees.

After spending a couple of hours with my brother, the rest of my Saturday was so mundane, it was not exactly what I’d describe as blogworthy. Following a productive afternoon and evening, I headed to bed at a sensible time with Trespasses by Louise Kennedy.

Sunday – 25 mins running with no walking Rest

In an ideal world, I would have completed a 25-minute run as part of Beacon parkrun leaving me to participate in my favourite local running event; the Royal Sutton Fun Run. I don’t live in an ideal world and after getting out of bed and discovering both of my knees were quite painful, I accepted that I wouldn’t be tackling this year’s Royal Sutton Fun Run as walking 8.5 miles wouldn’t be sensible. The Royal Sutton Fun Run will always be there next year.

I ended up spending most of the day gardening and managed to fill six large green garden sacks with a combination of what I hoped were weeds and a lot of ivy. I regretted not attempting the Royal Sutton Fun Run a couple of times as the weather was perfect but reminded myself that I’d made the right decision. I managed to avoid heading to bed for a Sunday afternoon nap and ended up having a second consecutive mundane but productive afternoon and evening.

So, that’s Week 6 of the Couch to 5k not exactly successfully completed. I wish that this blog was more positive and contained more in the way of running, but that’s the reality of life as an injury-prone runner with fragile knees.

Week 7 looks challenging and, quite frankly, impossible unless a miracle happens and I wake up with pain-free knees. I get to say ‘goodbye’ to interval runs as in the final three weeks of the Couch to 5k; all the training sessions are continuous runs. Not ideal! Like last time, I think my main concerns are how my knees will respond to running for 25 minutes three times in a week and getting my pacing spot on.

Training totals:

• Runs: 16 (out of 18)
• Time: 5 hrs 27½ mins
• Distance: 29.69 miles

Niggleometer:

• Right knee: 4/10
• Left knee: 8/10
• Left foot: 2/10

Do you read guest posts?

Did you have a good weekend?

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