Good evening and happy Monday. When this weekly training update goes live, I’ll hopefully be working my way through my ‘things to do’ list. As always, 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.

After a few too many failed attempts at completing the Couch to 5k last year, 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 runners who, like me, are tackling the Couch to 5k after being injured.

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 can guarantee the updates will be filled with typos as I’m still getting to grips with my new laptop.

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 interval sessions with cross-training sessions and two rest days. I’m not a member of a gym and don’t have access to an exercise bike, so cross-training sessions comprised of 30-minute walks.

As I would love to finally complete the Couch to 5k, I dedicated time every evening to stretching and strength and conditioning. I’d love 2025 to be the year I complete the Couch to 5k and get back into running consistently.

Monday – 30 mins cross training

Last time I decided to restart the Couch to 5k I was on annual leave and could run whenever I wanted. This time I decided to restart the Couch to 5k during a busy week which would involve a return trip to Leeds and a Friday evening concert in Lichfield. And that’s without including a load of health and house-related stresses.

Following a morning of data requests and report writing, I packed my laptop away, checked I’d got everything I needed for my overnight stay in Leeds, and then walked to the train station. I like to think my speedy walk to the station while carrying a heavy rucksack counted as cross training. Anyway, almost four hours after leaving home I arrived in a colder than anticipated Leeds.

I managed to navigate my way to my hotel without getting misplaced, checked in, dumped my rucksack, and then walked through a still rather festive-looking centre of Leeds to Five Guys to grab something to eat. I’m not convinced the hamburger, small fries, and large Diet Coke was worth what it cost but I didn’t fancy eating on my own in a busy restaurant.

I navigated my way back to the hotel room and spent what was left of the evening watching a selection of police-related programmes on Channel 5. There are some nasty people out there.

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

My meeting wasn’t scheduled to start until 09:30, so in an ideal world, I would have treated myself to a rare weekday lie-in. I don’t live in an ideal world and my hotel room was located at the front of the hotel on a main road, so I was woken bright and early by the sound of people shouting. The view from the room went some way to make up for the early morning wakeup.

I hadn’t booked breakfast in the hotel, so after a lot of worrying I’d left something in the room, I checked out and walked the short distance to McDonald’s to grab myself a healthy breakfast. My line manager is going to love my expense claims. I was able to grab myself a window seat, so what should have been a quick breakfast turned into 30 minutes of people-watching.

The meeting I’d travelled up to Leeds to attend was very productive, after spending most of the last five years working from home, it felt great to meet up with some of my colleagues for the first time in several years. The meeting finished just after 15:00 which gave me time to grab myself something to drink in Leeds station. After a quiet journey between Leeds and Birmingham New Street, I got back to Four Oaks, walked to Mere Green, and ordered myself a Chinese takeaway as I hadn’t eaten since lunchtime.

Sorry, this is meant to be a running blog and not a food blog. An hour after eating, I got changed into some running gear, spent some time stretching, checked my Garmin was working, and then headed out the door. I’d love to be able to say that the first interval session was a huge success, but it wasn’t.

I’m aware I’m repeating myself, but the first interval session after a break from running due to a running injury always feels quite stressful. All sorts of slightly negative scenarios involving my right knee imploding were going through my mind during the 5-minute warm-up walk. I had to remind myself that running is meant to be something I enjoy! Something to help me forget about the real world for a few minutes. My pacing was all over the place and for some reason my new trainers felt about as cushioned as a pair of clogs. Although I found running for a minute at a time easy, my right knee twinged a couple of times, and my right quad felt a little tight.

I walked home feeling a little frustrated and questioning if it was time for me to retire. I figured if my knee couldn’t cope with a minute of running then it wouldn’t cope with the rest of the Couch to 5k. It’s always good to feel positive after an interval session. With apologies for the earworm, “Things Can Only Get Better”.

Wednesday – Rest

I’ve already waffled on far too much and Wednesday was a much-needed rest day that featured tears and a lot of stress, I’ll fast-forward to Thursday.

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

I think the highlight of yet another stressful day that left me feeling completely overwhelmed and like an imposter was receiving a message to say my passport application had been approved. I figured having a passport would enable me to go travelling if the house purchase fell through.

I finished work and instantly found myself ordering myself a takeaway. Usually, a takeaway from a local Chinese restaurant makes me feel better. Unfortunately, the food I’d ordered tasted bland, made me feel guilty for wasting money, and did nothing to improve my mood.

I’m a little ashamed to admit this, but I almost abandoned the Couch to 5k after only completing one interval session. I didn’t feel like running, so after spending a couple of hours feeling sorry for myself, I decided to go for a short walk to clear my head. A couple of minutes into what was only ever meant to be a walk, I realised I was feeling well enough to tackle a run. Twenty minutes later I’d successfully completed the second interval session of the week. I wouldn’t recommend running in jeans and worn-out trainers, but my right knee was niggle free throughout the interval session. I didn’t take any photos.

Friday – Rest

Although I usually don’t provide much insight into what I get up to during my rest days, on Friday evening I headed into Lichfield for a Music of John Williams concert featuring the International Film Orchestra, so I thought I’d share a couple of photos here.

I’m going to blame drinking too much gin and tonic for booking myself a seat in the very front row of the concert. When I sat down, I realised I would be spending the concert less than a metre away from the concertmaster.

The concert was out of this world and featured music from Star Wars, Jurassic Park, E.T., Jaws, and Indiana Jones to name a few. We were told photography was prohibited, so once the concert started my phone remained in my pocket.

I was feeling hungry – my stomach rumbled a few times during the concert – and didn’t fancy standing around in the cold, so I headed to the warmth of McDonald’s to grab myself a healthy Friday evening meal. Following a short but highly entertaining train journey back to Four Oaks, I walked back home in sleet and snow and wondered if parkrun would be cancelled the following morning.

Saturday – 30 mins cross training

I didn’t want to drag myself out of bed as I was feeling shattered after a late night and a stressful few days. Had I not arranged to meet Ellen and set myself a target of completing 50 parkruns in 2025, I would have probably gone back to sleep. I’m pleased I made the effort to drag myself to Sutton Park parkrun as I loved my walk and talk with Ellen, even if this photo makes it look like I wasn’t enjoying myself.

Following parkrun, I spent some time in the Communitea Café in Boldmere talking through some of my moans and groans was dropped back near Mere Green and then headed to the Fox and Dogs as I’d arranged to meet a friend for a drink.

My friend had to leave early, so after spending almost an hour drinking on my tod, I decided to head back home. The quick conversation I had with someone outside the Fox and Dogs turned out to be the last time I spoke to anyone during the weekend.

Following a reasonably productive afternoon and evening, I laid out some running gear and headed to bed with my latest book; “The Trading Game” written by Gary Stevenson. Sometimes I ask myself when my life became so incredibly mundane.

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

I found myself wide awake at 6am. I lay in bed in the dark for a couple of minutes contemplating staying in bed before convincing myself that running in the morning would increase the likelihood of me actually completing the third and final interval session of the week. I got changed into the running gear I’d laid out the previous evening, worked through some strength and conditioning exercises, had a productive loo visit, drank some water, and headed outside into the dark.

I completed my warm-up walk, checked my laces weren’t feeling too tight, selected some trance classics on Spotify, and started to run. The interval session was enjoyable and pain-free. I managed to run the first run repetition at a sensible pace, this set the tone for the rest of the interval session. I reached the end of the 20 minutes feeling like I could have carried on running. I still need to work on my action photos.

I got home, made myself a cup of tea, and then headed to the local Co-op to pick up some groceries before heading back to bed for an hour. I really do need to work on my post-run recovery routine. The remainder of my Sunday was not exactly what I’d describe as blogworthy, so I won’t bore you all to tears with the details.

So, that’s the first week of the Couch to 5k completed. I just hope that my knees and feet continue to cope with the training. After so many failed attempts at completing the Couch to 5k, I’d love to be 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.

Training totals:

• Runs: 3 (out of 3)
• Time: 1 hr 0 mins
• Distance: 5.00 miles

Niggleometer:

• Right knee: 310
• Left knee: 3/10
• Left foot: 3/10

Did you have a good weekend?

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

 

 

 

---