Been running outside in the cold

I have been running on and off, but in the last month I have been running around the block. I have got a route that I can do 5k so I am trying to run that without stopping to walk.

I am finding the motivation very difficult as the days as got very short. I generally go out about 6pm, it is dark at this point and recently has been getting colder.

 

I have just recently bought a Nike Vapor Light jacket, this has helped in keeping the cold air and wind off me, but it does have a couple of areas where it allows to breath. I is shower proof, but being a dry weather runner I am not going to test that part of it out.

 

I can’t run the 5k without stopping to walk a good handful of times, this is a bit annoying but it is the best I can do at the moment. I am also finding that I have very sore lower legs after the run and find it very difficult to walk around for the first 30 minutes when I get home.

 

I am aiming at running 3 times a week the same circuit with the first goal of not stopping to walk as many times and the final goal is to run without stopping to walk at all.

 

I went out yesterday and found that once I had uploaded the data to the Garmin Connect site I had done a 5k in a 30:30 which is very good for me. I don’t think I can better that at the moment, but you never know.

Garmin Connect – Run around the block (5k)

It’s been a long time since the last blog

It has been 2 months since the last time I blogged, my life has changed since the last blog. I have had the redundancy confirmed and my last day was 31-Jul-2012. There are IT jobs about but not the type of job I can apply generally, there has only been a couple that I could apply for.

During this time I have been mainly doing 5k runs on the treadmill, this has been very difficult due to the heat in the room. I have had all the windows open and a fan blowing air around, but it has been just too hot resulting in me feeling a bit faint at times after the run. I have managed to do a 4 mile run when the temperature was a bit lower but that has been the furthest I have run in the last couple of months.

For the last couple of weeks I have been doing a 3.5 mile walk around the block in the evening with my partner, these have been fairly slow going which has taken just slightly over the hour to complete. I few nights ago I did the same circuit on my own and completed in 45 minutes, which for a walk was as fast as I could possibly go.

I plucked up the courage last night to try a run. The last time I ran outside was ages ago and couldn’t even run a mile without stopping and I ran too quickly. Last night I got ready and set my Garmin for a 3 mile run, now I am fully expecting to stop for a walk on a number of occasions during this run, but the main thing was to run at a steady 6 mph (same speed I run at on the treadmill) to see how I get on.

I started off and run out the estate and on to a path that ran alongside a main road. I kept checking the Garmin for the speed and before I knew it I had completed a mile, I carried on running and concentrated on the speed and my breathing.

The second mile came along and I found I was getting a bit out of breath, but this was a record for me I had never run 2 miles outside before non-stop. I decided to carry on and see if I could complete the 3 miles that I had set on the Garmin. I was finding it fairly difficult at this point as there was a bit of up hill running which I am not used to doing, this did tire me out but I still carried on.

When the Garmin beeped and buzzed I had a sense of relief that the run was over but an over whelming sense of achievement that I had completed at 3 mile run without stopping. The next stage for me is to do this same run a few more times before even thinking of extending the mileage or running faster.

Garmin Connect – Walk around the block with my partner

Garmin Connect – Walk around the block on my own

Garmin Connect – Run around the block (3 miles)

1st week back from holiday, its been a difficult one

This week was all about running 5ks to get back in to it. I started the week off on a high. I went to work on Monday and spent most of the day going through emails and catching up with where I left off before going on holiday. I came home eager to get on the treadmill and knock a 5k out. I found myself running with fresh thoughts of the holiday which made the run go fairly quickly.

I went in to work in the Tuesday and went to a 9:30am meeting to find out that I am now on a 30 day consultation period as my job is at risk of redundancy. This is the time when you think ‘oh Christ, that’s all I need’. I was told during the 30 days consultation period that I will not be required to go in to work. I went home in disbelief that this was happening and decided to jump on the treadmill to do a 5k run, I’m sure you can appreciate this run was not full of thoughts of the nice views at Santorini, it was full of work. I found that run went by quickly but was hard due to the heat.

The following two days I have done 5k runs with thoughts full of work. Both runs were hard due to the heat but went by fairly quickly. I have now put a fan in the room to try and get some air movement as just having the windows open is not having much effect on its own.

Until the temperature gets a bit cooler then I can’t see myself getting past 5k. I really have found them difficult with not much energy left afterwards.

I wonder what next week brings.

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 1)

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 2)

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 3)

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 4)

1st run since coming back from a break at Santorini

I have spent a couple of weeks away from the treadmill and found the first couple of days in Santorini (Greek Island) I had aches and pains. During the course of the holiday the aches and pains went away. I did notice that a few people were running early in the morning, but even in the morning it was still hot. I did take my running gear out there just in case I wanted to do just a couple of miles, but looking at the people running it just looked too painful and they looked a lot fitter than me. I did quite a bit of walking around and swimming so I was reasonably active as I only put on 4-5 pounds of weight over the two weeks.

Not been looking forward to jumping back on the treadmill, but I thought the longer I leave it the worse it will be. I got myself ready and jumped on the treadmill for the warm up walk which seemed to go by very quickly. When the Garmin beeped and buzzed I knew it was time to up the speed from 4mph to 6.2mph for a steady running pace.

I found that I was running a bit stiff but after 5 minutes I seemed to relax and found myself thinking ‘this is just great running without any aches or pains, I wonder how long this will last’. The run went by fairly quickly due to getting lost in the thoughts of the place I visited and the views on Santorini. At times I got so lost in the thoughts I felt like I was still there, with short bursts now and then back to reality of the running.

I finished the run feeling quite tired, so I am hoping that as the week goes by the runs will get easier. I am not planning on doing anything more than 5k runs this week to get back in the swing of it.

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 1)

Last week before going on holiday and goals achieved

Today has been sunshine and showers, so I thought will it be cool enough to run 5 miles or should I stick to 5k. If I do 5 miles today and 5k tomorrow and the next day, then will I be injured for my holiday. If I don’t do 5 miles then will I feel I have failed and will it be too long since the last time I have run that distance by the time I get back on the treadmill, I have had all this going around in my head all day long.

As usual I made the decision when I got home and was ready to do the run. I decided to try 5 miles as last week I could not finish the run due to the heat. It was fairly warm in the room at 22.5c (72.5f) even with all the windows open to create a breeze.

I started as normal with the 5 minute brisk warm up walk at 4mph, I noticed my heart rate was slightly higher than normal at 95bpm (average). I thought maybe this is down to the heat and it might also be down to me feel anxious about the 5 mile run, should I be doing it or not.

Once I got to a mile in to the run I felt like I was running at a nice pace (6mph), but felt like I was starting to get a bit hot. I had a sip of water and carried on wondering if I will have to give up due to the heat.
2.5 miles in to the run I felt this was a good time to run through a few checks and have a mouthful of water, I am now half-way through the run and I am on the home straight.

At 3.5 miles in to the run I was feeling really hot, mouth was getting dry and I had to keeping sipping water. I was really hoping that I could carry on to the end, all I had to do was 1.5 miles which is around 15 minutes.

When I reached 4 miles I started to keep checking the Garmin, I was watching the distance remaining slowing diminishing. Every tenth of a mile takes around 1 minute, I just seemed to be willing the time away. I finally finished the run and did a cool-down walk for 5 minutes at 4mph as usual.

I felt good for finishing the 5 miles, but glad the ordeal was over, I felt so hot. After looking at the stats on the Garmin Connect website, I can see my heart rate was higher than normal and I also burned more calories as well.

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5 Mile

I have now completed both 5k runs without any rest days. My legs do feel a bit sore, I expected that and I am sure the aches and pains will disappear in the next couple of days.

Both runs were done in a similar heat to the 5 mile run, I did not find them that easy but I felt I had to complete the goal I set myself.

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 1)

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 2)

My task at the beginning of the year was to lose 1.5 stone and for my waist to go from 40 inches down to 37 inches, this I have achieved. I my other goal was to complete the ‘couch to 5k’ and then to build up to a 4 mile run. I have exceeded that goal by running 5 miles and also gaining a personal best 5k time. I feel happy to have got this far in 6 months and aim to improve on the distance when I come back from holiday and before the year is out.

I have kept a log of all the runs/walks I have done on a spreadsheet so that I can keep an eye on how I am doing.

Here are a few stats:

• Days of exercise: 71
• Total distance run: 159.8 miles
• Total time run: 1 day, 2 hours, 11 minutes
• Total distance walked: 94.5 miles
• Total time walked: 1 day, 50 minutes
• Calories: 26,360

It is now time to relax on holiday for the next couple of weeks.

Another week with a 5 mile run aborted

Today has been fairly hot all day and especially in an office with no air conditioning. I came home and opened all the windows as usual. After I got ready the temperature had come down to 26c (79f), so I started the run with a 5 minute walk as normal.

When the Garmin beeped I knew it was time to speed up and start the run, I wanted to keep the pace steady as my goal is to finish the distance rather than get the time down. After a couple of miles had gone by I checked the way I was landing, breathing, posture, heart rate and started to take on board some water, I was feeling good at this stage.

I was in the zone and listening to a Formula 1 podcast, they were talking about the Monaco Grand Prix. Every so often I would take a sip of water to keep me going. Once I had been running for 30 minutes I started to get very hot, I took some more sips of water swishing it around the mouth trying to cool down. This had not made much difference and I could only last another 7 minutes until I just had to call it a day.

I am now left feeling fairly fed up as this was just down to it being way too hot in the room. I am now wondering if this should be the last attempt at running further than 5k before my holiday as I only have 2 week to go before I fly out to Santorini (Greek Island), I really don’t want to have aches and pains while I am there.

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5 Mile (Did Not Finish)

I have put both of these runs together mainly because they were fairly uneventful. Even though the temperature in the room has been fairly hot, I have still been able to do these runs easily which is reflected on the Garmin Connect uploads.

I have noticed when comparing these runs to other runs of last week and a few weeks ago that my heart rate has fallen as well as the calories burnt.

My maximum heart rate was 162bpm (88%), while the average rate was 137bpm (74%). Calories burnt was 458c.

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 1)

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 2)

A difficult week

I opened all the windows for ventilation and let any breezes through, then got myself ready for the usual Monday 5 mile run. I started off with the usual 5 minute walk and then followed on with the start of the 5 mile run. Once I started the run I had some pains just above the ankle on the inside leg and both hips where aching. After a mile had been completed I found that the aches had gone away and I had settled in to the run.

Once I got half-way (2.5 miles) I found that I was getting quite hot and my mouth was getting dry, I took a couple of sips of water and carried on. After a few more minutes I found that my face was getting tingly and I was feeling a bit light headed, I took on some more water and though this would just pass.

After a few more minutes I had to abort the run due to feeling very hot and light headed. After a 5-10 minute sit down I felt okay, but I am feeling very disappointed that I had to abort the run, this is the first time this year this has happened. I’m not sure why this has happened as it is not that warm, unless I have not drunk enough water during the day making me dehydrated.

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5 Mile (Did Not Finish)

Throughout the day I had been drinking more water to make sure that I was hydrated. I had been wondering if I should take a day's rest to completely get over the run I had yesterday or to do an easy paced 5k run.

When I got home my legs were not too bad and I felt okay, so I decided to do an easy paced 5k run. I opened all the windows and got ready in to my running kit, it had been warmer today than yesterday so I thought what I will do is take frequent sips of water throughout the run.

I set the Garmin for the 5k run that started off with the 5 minute walk, followed by the 5k run. This run was to take about 30 minutes, so I had mentally prepared myself for that. After I had completed 10 minutes running, I checked the Garmin to see that I had completed about a mile so I knew I was on track.

The next check was at 15 minutes into the run, this was halfway and the Garmin should read that I have done 1.5miles with 1.5 mile to go. What I looked at the Garmin I couldn’t believe what my eyes saw, it said I had 3.5 miles to go. I thought ‘oh crap, I’ve only gone and selected the 5 mile run instead of the 5k run’. The thoughts going through my head at this point were, I wonder if I can run 5 miles as it is hotter today than yesterday when I had to stop the run. I am also thinking that I have mentally prepared myself to do a 30 minute run, can I now change my thought process into lasting out for 50 minutes? What if I can’t run 5 miles and have to abort this run like yesterday, how will I feel about that? By the time all this had gone through my head I had done 3 miles, so this meant that I had another 2 miles to go, which is 20 minutes.

What I thought to myself was if I think that I have run a mile, then mentally this will help me to complete the next 2 miles. This thought process only lasted for half a mile, but I told myself I only have 1.5 miles to go, that will be 15 minutes, so pace yourself to the end. I found the next 10 minutes went by quickly as I was thinking of work and the problems that I have dealt with during the day.

The last 5 minutes I just couldn’t switch off, they lasted a lifetime or that’s how they felt. I managed to finish the 5 miles and also noticed that I had finished of a bottle of water while running. I felt pleased to know that I have completed this week’s long run and after checking out the Garmin Connect website found that I had also achieved a personal best time as well, but only by a little.

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5 Mile

I decided to do a run today even though it has been hot all day and I felt a bit drained from being in a hot office all day. I thought that if I just run at a nice steady pace (6 mph) then I should be able to zone out and the time will go by quickly.

It seemed that the plan worked out as I found the run fairly diffcult in the heat, but I could zone out to some degree. I made a conscious effort to keep sipping the water to keep myself as hydrated as possible without drink too much each time. I had plenty to think about work which really helped the time go by quickly, this seems to help my breathing as well keeping me calm throughout the run.

I found my heart rate a bit higher than it has been in similar runs, but I put this mainly down to the heat in the room.

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k

Another week with a personal best time

I started the week off as usual with the longer run. I did the 5 mile relatively okay, by concentrating on the breathing to keep the heart rate as low as I could. I noticed that my heart rate and calories burnt had come down, this is encouraging as it shows that I am getting consistently fitter. After this run it has left me wondering how long it will be before I should attempt a 10k as this would be another mile longer which will take around 10 minutes more, have I got enough in me to push that extra bit?

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5 Mile

On Wednesday I felt like I had recovered from the previous run and thought to myself ‘I wonder how fast I can run a 5k, what is my limit?’ I jumped on the treadmill and did my usual 5 minute warm-up walk. Once the warm-up walk had finished I pushed the speed up from 4mph to 7mph (normally 6 – 6.2mph). Once I had covered half a mile my thoughts were ‘Christ, this is a bit too fast for me', I had started to breathe fairly heavily’. I decided to carry on until a mile had been covered and then assess if I will have to slow down or abort the run.

By the time I had done a mile I felt that I had taken control of my breathing and found that I had settled in to the run as much as possible. I started to land on the heels a bit, so I altered that back to landing on the ball of the foot or a bit flatter. I got to the halfway point still concentrating on the breathing and how I was landing, I seemed to be doing okay at this point.

The run was okay right up to the point where I had a mile to go. I seemed to be getting tired and the thought of slowing down started to come back. I decided to carry on and just concentrate on slowing the breathing down. I found the pace was a bit too much with only half a mile to go and at this point I started to feel a bit sick which was the first time I have had this feeling while running. I thought to myself ‘I have come this far, don’t slow down now, keep going’. I tried to take my mind off the running but I just could not think of anything else apart from ‘I feel bloody knackered’.

Just a tenth of a mile to go and boy was I finding this hard, my thoughts at this point were that I had to complete this now as I was going to feel a complete Muppet giving up at this stage of the run. When the Garmin started to beep and vibrate, the sense of relief was just overwhelming, I just could not wait until the 5 minute cool-down was complete so that I could check the Garmin Connect website for the stats.

Once I had finished my stretching I just collapsed in to my chair and popped on to the Garmin Connect website, I was very pleased to have done the 5k in 25:27 minutes. My maximum heart rate was 180bpm (97%), while the average rate was 150bpm (81%). I really do think this will be my limit for some time now, as this run was very uncomfortable to complete, but a big achievement to get the personal best time.

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 1)

During Thursday I had been aching all day at work, so I thought the run later will just be nice and steady. I found the 5k a bit painful and tried to keep my thoughts away from the aches and pains by listening to a Formula 1 podcast (Spanish Grand Prix), I found this worked quite well. Time went by really quickly to the end of the 5k run, I got off the treadmill thinking ‘I’m glad this week is over, I can now rest for the next 3 days before the next run’.

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 2)

The stats show I am getting fitter

I spent Sunday with aches and pains in the legs and hips. On Monday I found that I couldn’t get out of a chair without limping. Looking back I spent the whole week doing personal bests with a 5 mile run and Two 5k runs (explained in the last post).

On Tuesday I went to work with pains in my legs, but during the day they were getting better. When I got home from work I found that the leg had just dull aches, so I thought I would try the 5 mile run being that I was just going to run at a nice steady pace.

I found that once I had finished the warm up walk that I couldn’t feel any aches or pains, so I started the 5 mile run. A mile in to the run I was feeling okay, so it was just a case of keeping to a nice pace and keeping the breathing steady. The last couple of miles felt harder and my legs were getting tired, I was wondering if I was going to be able to finish. I kept pushing right to the end and was relived that I had completed the 5 miles but happy at the same time.

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5 Mile

On Wednesday I didn’t feel too bad, I though this was a bit strange as I had really pushed to finish the 5 mile run and thought I would have lots of aches and pains. By the time I jumped on the Treadmill I felt pretty good so I thought today I am going for a personal best. Halfway thorough the run I was thinking if I had done the right thing as I found it quite tiring. I did finish the run without slowing down, I was so tired at this point but couldn’t wait to see the time that I had achieved. When I checked Garmin Connect I was very please to have done a 27:22. At this point in time, I don’t know how I will better that time, but I am sure I will be in time when I am fitter.

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 1)

Thursday I though that I should do a 5k run with an easy pace being that I have done a 5 mile followed by a 5k with a personal best time on the following day and now another 5k which will be the last run of the week. So far my legs are not feeling too bad. I looked at the 5k run that I had done a month ago and thought I would run at the same pace to compare.

I found this run fairly easy with a nice pace to run at, I wondered at this point in time if that feeling was mainly down to all the pushing I have done and that I was getting fitter or if this was just one of those days where I am having a good run. Once the run was over I looked on Garmin Connect and the stats and compared the run I had just done compared to the same run a month ago.

The first thing I noticed was that the calories was 448 which was down from 511, the other main thing I noticed was the Heart Rate. Avg HR was 139bpm (75%), down from 150bpm (81%). Max HR was 162bpm (88%) down from 176bpm (95%).

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 2)

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (from a month ago)

The stats really do show that I am getting fitter. I find it is really very pleasing and motivating to look at the stats.

Continuation of the 1st 5 mile run week

The week started of with a 5 mile run which is detailed in the previous post. I had a rest day on Tuesday and found that the pain around the ankle area started to come back.

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5 Mile

Wednesday the pain was better so I went ahead and did a 5K run. I speeded the Treadmill up a notch to 6.3mph and did the complete run in that time. I did not feel too bad after and was quite pleased to feel that 28:12 was good progress for me and I found this motivating.

Garmin Connect - Treamill - 5k (Run 1)

Thursday I still had the pain above my ankle but it was not any worse, so I decided to do another 5K run. This time I raised the speed of the Treadmill up to 6.4mph to see if this made much difference. I found this was a bit harder to keep running at this pace and wondered during the run if I was actually going to finish without slowing down. I pushed on to complete the run with a time of 27:44, I was really happy with this but knew I wouldn’t be able to better this time just yet.

Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 2)

When logging on to the Garmin Connect website, I compared the two 5k runs this week with another from the previous week. I can see that I am getting fitter and improving slightly with is all encouraging.

I have found that during Saturday and Sunday that the pain around the ankle area has got worse. It has not stopped me walking around but I am aware there is a pain there every time I walk and especially when I go up and down stairs. I find that the muscle hurts to touch as well. I am now worried that this will not go away and will put a stop to the 5 mile run I planned for Tuesday.

Another goal complete – 5 miles

I have been pondering all day if I should push to do 5 miles or just settle for 4.5 miles or even do another 4 miles. What has not helped today is that I have had a pain just above the ankle (inside of the leg) for the last couple of days and to top that off I did not sleep very well last night.

When I got home I thought ‘sod it… I am going to set the Garmin for a 5 mile run, so I will have to do it’. I have opened the windows for some ventilation and to keep the room as cool as I can get it, I have filled up my bottle with water, found some running music on the iPod that lasts an hour and set the Garmin ready to start the workout.

I found the 5 minute warm-up walk went by very quickly as I was still wondering if I was being too ambitious running for 5 miles, this is going to take 50 minutes which will be the most I have every done. Up to now I have run 40 minutes twice and found it not too bad, but would I find the extra 10 minutes a bit too much?

The Garmin beeped a few times and then vibrated to let me know that it is time to run. I settled down in to the run after a few minutes and tried to loose myself in the music to stop me thinking of the task I have set myself.

When I had been running for 25 minutes, I did a check in the mirror at how my feet where landing and then checked to see how tired I was looking. I was surprised that I was still looking reasonably fresh. I had a flick through the Garmin to check the heart rate, I was a steady 160 bpm. I was fairly happy at this point and thought that I might just complete the 5 mile target.

After a further 15 minutes I had a quick check, similar to the previous check. I had now got to the 4 mile point and had been running for 40 minutes. I have been at this point twice before so anything more is new territory for me and a personal best.

I tried to forget how far I had run and kept focused on staying calm and keeping the breathing as steady as I could. I checked the Garmin and found that my heart rate was now at 170 bpm. I also started to check the countdown on the mileage, I was nearly there, just a few tenths of a mile to go.

The beeping started followed by the vibration from the Garmin, this was to tell me it was time to slow down for the cool-down walk. I had done it, a full 5 mile run that took just under 48 minutes. I have never in my life run that far or run for that amount of time. It did not seem to take very long for the cool-down walk to be over, but I suppose I had a lot on my mind at that point with the achievement that I had just done.

I was very pleased that I had accomplished the 5 mile goal, but thought ‘now that I have done it once, I will have to do it again next week’.

I now plan to have a day rest followed by a 5k run on Wednesday and Thursday, then repeat this next week. My next goal would be to achieve a 10k before I go on holiday in June, I will have to wait and see how I am in the next 2-3 weeks.

Garmin Connect
Treadmill - 5min-5mile-5min

Pondering if to extend the run on Monday

I have got to the stage of wondering if I should extend the longer run on Monday from 4 miles to 4.5 or even 5 miles.

What I am thinking is that a half a mile more is not that much more but another mile means that I would be running for another 10 minutes will this be too much for me.

Will a couple of 4 mile runs enough to progress to the next stage.

Over the last 2 weeks I have done:
Week 2
Thursday - 5k run
Wednesday - 5k run
Monday - 5 Mile run

Week 1
Thursday - 5k run
Wednesday - 5k run
Monday - 5 Mile run

4 mile goal now achieved

I have been thinking if I should try running 3.5 miles or push it to 4 miles all day. I came to the decision of doing 4 miles based on that last week I ran for 3.1 miles so I am doing another 9 minutes to get to my goal. The other thought was that last week when I completed the runs I was not that much out of breath and felt I still had a little more in me. My only concern was can I do this without any injuries. I had not run since Thursday so I thought today would be the best day being I have had 3 days rest.

Soon as I got home I grabbed the Garmin and created a workout that consisted of a 5 minute walk, 4 miles run, followed by another 5 minute walk. I got myself ready and then jumped on the treadmill. I had opened a couple of windows for ventilation and to cool the room down, but the temperature was still 21.5c (10c outside temperature).

I started the treadmill of at 4 mph which is the standard speed I use to warm up with and carried on until the Garmin beeped and vibrated, this was the signal that the 5 minutes were up and it was time to start the run.
The first 5 minutes in to the run went by fairly quickly as I got carried away listening to a Formula 1 podcast, this was a talk about the Chinese Grand Prix that happened on Sunday. 7 minutes in to the run I started to feel a twinge in my left foot, I am thinking to myself ‘marvellous, that is all I need now’. I started to concentrate on how I was landing on the foot and trying slightly different positions to land, but within 2-3 minutes that twinge went away.

I found that about every 5 minutes I was taking a sip of water as I was getting a dry mouth, even though I was not breathing very heavy. I found that time went by fairly quickly while I was zoned out listening to the podcast, I felt like a mechanical machine just going through the motions until it was time to finish the run and start the 5 minute cool down walk.

It only became apparent to me that I had run further when I finally stopped the treadmill to do a few stretches, I did feel a bit more tired than normal. I uploaded the data from the Garmin to the Garmin Connect website to have a look at the data. I think what I will aim to do is another 4 mile run next Monday and then compare the data to see if I have improved enough to run a little bit further.

Garmin Connect
Treadmill - 5min-4mile-5min

A true 5k on the treadmill

I have been pondering if I should run to the Couch to 5k podcast week 9 again but thought I will need to break away at some point so why not now.

I logged on to the Garmin Connect website and created a workout then downloaded it to the Garmin Forerunner 610.

The workout consisted of:

• 5 Minute warm up walk
• 3.1 Mile run
• 5 Minute cool down walk

Got myself ready with my running kit on and filled up the water bottle as usual, then jumped on the treadmill. One last thought if I should do this programme or just repeat week 9. I thought sod it, let’s do the Garmin workout.

Still feeling a bit groggy with the tail end of a cold like virus, I started off with the 5 minute brisk walk at 4mph. The Garmin beeped a few times and then vibrated to signal the next stage of the workout.

I pressed the up arrow on the control panel to 6mph which is what I normally run at. I was now thinking to myself that I normally run for 30 minutes which would make the mileage 3 miles, so I adjusted the speed to 6.1mph and thought that should make the difference of 0.1 mile in a 30 minute timeframe. I found that time went by fairly quickly as I had been thinking of some things I had been doing at work.

Before I knew it the Garmin beeped a few times followed by a vibrate to tell me to slow down to 4mph for 5 minutes.

Once the workout was over I realised just how much the workout had taken it out of me, so I had to miss out on doing 30 minutes of some weights. My legs don’t feel too bad so another run is on the cards tomorrow.

Garmin Connect
Treadmill - 5min-3.1mile-5min

Couch to 5k now complete

I have had a cold/bug that started at the beginning of this week and still have it now. Yesterday I was pondering all day if I should complete my goal of doing W9D1. I got home and thought sod it, I will feel worse if I haven’t done it as I will feel there is yet another delay in getting to the 5k goal.

I jumped on the treadmill and started doing the warm up walk and thought this seems okay. Once the 5 minutes were up I speeded up to a run of 6 mph as normal and still felt okay. Once I had done 10 minutes I was starting to get a little tired and wondered if I would be able to finish. Another 10 minutes went by, I felt tired but okay. So I am now thinking well I only have 10 minutes to go an then this will be over. I finally completed the 5k run and slowed the treadmill down to start a 5 minute cool down, I felt relived that the run was over but very happy that I had run the 5k.

Today I have been coughing and sniffing for most of the day and thought that I’m just not going to be able to run when I get home. Towards the end of the day I felt a bit better and was more positive to do the 5k run again. I completed the 5k (W9D2) run today a lot easier than yesterday which seemed very strange as I have felt worse today than yesterday.

That was the last run for this week, but my goal is to do more 5k runs next week and find some music with a beat that I can run too. I idea is that once I have found the correct beat for me, I will like to try running outside again and run to the beat. I think this will help me keep a steady pace that I am used to running at on the treadmill. I can then confirm the speed using the Garmin Forerunner 610.

This is the 2^nd time I have completed the Couch to 5k and find that it really does work. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is interested in starting up running or just wants to get a bit fitter.

Garmin Connect
Couch to 5k - W9D1
Couch to 5k - W9D2

1st Run Outside

31-March-2010

Through the week I had been debating if I should do a run outside on the Saturday morning as I wouldn’t be running until Tuesday late afternoon. I decided to set the alarm and get up in the morning, have a look out of the window to see what the weather was doing.

Once the alarm went off and I had enough I pressing the snooze button I got up and had a look out of the window. It was dry outside but looked a bit gloomy. I went downstairs and checked the temperature and found it was 10c. At this point I knew I was going to do the first outside run. I didn’t bother with anything to eat as it was only going to be two small runs and wouldn’t take long to complete.

I pondered on what to wear and decide it would be too cold for running tights with no pants on, well you can’t take the chance being in that state if a woman is jogging in the opposite direction can you? I put the heart rate monitor belt on and a long sleeved running top.

What I had in mind was to have a 3-5 minute warm-up walk, run a mile along the path, have a rest and run a mile back followed by a 3-5 minute cool down walk. This would be a nice easy first run outside so nothing could go wrong.

I logged on to the Garmin Connect website and created a 1 mile workout, then downloaded that to the Garmin Forerunner 610. I got half a small bottle of water as I was not going to be long. I am now ready at this point and just going over a check list in my head.

I left the house and walked up the road to the point where I was to start the run. I set the Garmin for the 1 mile workout and started to run. 5 minutes in to the run I found that I really getting out of breath, I couldn’t believe it and wondered what was going wrong. I looked down at the Garmin and found that I was doing 7.5mph, I normally run at 6mph on the treadmill, so I came to a walk for a couple of minutes. I started to run again and found I was battling with finding a pace to settle down with, but completed the mile run. I thought to myself ‘thank God that’s over, but hang on, I have to get back home’. I stopped at the bus shelter for a 5 minute rest and thought over the run that I had just done.

I started the 1 mile workout on the Garmin again at still found it very difficult to keep to a steady comfortable pace, I ended up coming to a walking pace out of breath again for a few minutes before carrying on with the run again. This continued for the rest of the mile, I just could wait for the run to be finished and get back. I was completely knackered.

Once I got back I uploaded the data from the Garmin to the website to analyse what had happened. I found my pace was all over the place and I had run a lot faster than I normally would.

What I have learnt is that running outside is completely different to running on a treadmill. This is going to be a new challenge I will have to master if I am going to find a 5k event to run.

Garmin Connect
1 Mile Run - 1
1 Mile Run - 2

Couch to 5k running programme

Last year (2011) I put on weight and decided to go on a WeightWatchers diet. I found the Couch to 5k running programme which really suited me well. Once I completed the running programme I built the distance up to 4 miles which was taking me 40 minutes.

I was running Monday-Thursday (4 days) on the treadmill (Reebok iRun), I was really pleased with my progress. I was fitter and had lost all the weight that I wanted to lose. I started to get shin splints and knee aches which were becoming very painful, so I backed off the amount I was running. I even had to take time off and just found that the aches and pains were just too much. I went to a running shop to be fitted with the right shoes using the gait analyst, I even had a better treadmill. I just could not shake away the aches and pains, so I ended up losing my way.

This year (2012) my goals are to run 5k injury free and to lose 1.5 stone before my holiday in June. I started to post on the Runners Forum to look for tips and keep the motivation up. I started right from the beginning W1D1 and found it too easy, but thought I will benefit in the long run (no pun intended).

We had a new carpet fitted, so I folded the treadmill up to make it easy to move around on the wheels as it weighs 100kg. When the carpet had been laid I got ready to do a run and found that the bracket on the console of the treadmill had been broken, I was really annoyed as the treadmill cost a fair amount and it would put me behind in my training schedule. I looked on eBay and was going to purchase another Reebok iRun with the motor burned out so that I could just use the motor, I was out bid. The next day I rang a company that sourced parts for Reebok fitness equipment and told them what I needed. They said they could send the part free of charge as the treadmill was under 2 years old. Once the part arrived I fitted it immediately and got back on with the running programme, I had been put back 1.5 weeks.

I was going through the weeks nicely and with no injuries, so at this point I am feeling great. I thought nothing can now go wrong, it’s all mapped out for me to achieve my goals.

On W6D2 I found I started to get shin splints, I just could believe it. All I was doing was 2 x 10 minutes runs, simple enough.

I started to research in to what the issue was. I thought ‘I’m running on a treadmill, my running shoes don’t have many miles on them, running at a 6 mph pace which is easy enough to finish the distances in the programme, what can be wrong?’ I just could not see what the issue was. I started to watch some running technique videos on YouTube and noticed that most of the people were landing on the ball of their foot. I thought about the way I ran and found that I was landing on my heel.

I came down with sickness and diarrhoea, I just could not believe what was going on, and this is just putting my running programme and weight loss on hold. During this time I watched a few more videos and read some articles to find out a bit more about running technique. I found a technique called POSE. Using this technique you land on the ball of the foot opposed to landing on the heel causing a breaking effect. This all made sense and I could really see why I need to adopt this new way of running.

Once I was well enough I repeated the W6D2 and found that it worked for me, my shins were not hurting, but I felt a bit of aching from the calf and hamstrings which were to be expected. My new Garmin Forerunner 610 (with heart rate strap) arrived that I had ordered from Amazon, my motivation to run was very high at this point. I soon realised that I needed the Garmin Foot Pod as I was running on a treadmill. I also ordered some running tights as I found I was getting too hot with the shell-suit type trousers on. After reading on the Running Forum I found that a large number of people don’t wear any underwear underneath. So there I am with all my new kit and tights on without any pants underneath… oh ah kinky. Strangely I found the tights just feel like pants and soon forgot there is nothing on underneath. At this point I just couldn’t wait to get back on with the running.

During Week 7 I found that my Achilles tendon started to ache and found that if I landed on ball of my foot and followed through with foot flat on the ground this eased the pain. This modification to the technique is worked all though Week 8. So now I am feeling happy that I am back on track with my goals.