Monday 6 July 2020

Couch to 5K | Week 4


I can’t quite believe I’m about to start my fifth week of the Couch to 5K! When I first started I wasn’t sure if it’s something I would consistently keep up with so I’m really pleased to still be going strong with it -
  and I daresay, I’m actually starting to enjoy it. This week progressed to an alternation of 3 and 5 minute runs, with 5 being the longest so far. It was also my first week with my new Under Armor running trainers so I was keen to see what the difference would be, especially as far as the pain in my arches was concerned.



Run One

It was quite overcast when I set out for this run and much cooler than it had been in the previous weeks which was a massive help. I found that I didn’t struggle with running three minutes at all, and upon getting to the end of the first running section felt like I could have kept going had I wanted to. The five minutes felt much harder by comparison and I found myself in need of my inhaler a couple of times throughout the run. The section where I needed to run for five minutes happened to be up hill and facing into the wind too which made it harder.

 

I ended this run feeling quite frustrated that I’d had to pause, or didn’t make it to the end of the full five minutes. Although I really shouldn’t beat myself up because this is the longest I’ve had to run so far since starting Couch to 5K, and I’ve made great improvements from that first run.

 

On a positive note, I didn’t have any pain in my feet or ankles at all, and my new trainers were far more comfortable that my old ones.

 

Run Two

For this run I felt very unrefuelled. I hadn’t eaten a great deal during the day and really felt the difference for this run. It was once again a very windy day and much like my previous run my longer running sections were both facing into the wind and slightly uphill. I did much better with the longer running today than I had on Monday, but it was certainly a struggle to hit five minutes’ worth of continuous running.

 

Run Three

Given my lack of energy on my previous run I made sure to eat the right foods this time to ensure I was well energised. I also took a puff of my inhaler on the warm up walk before actually running, which I felt helped quite a lot. As with before, the sections where I had to run for three minutes felt absolutely fine, and I feel like I had a pretty good pace going.

 

When it came to the five minute running section I did something slightly different this time. When I got to the end of the bottom of the field I run laps round, rather than continuing up the incline and into the wind I turned around and carried on back the way I had come from. This meant that I carried on running on a flat without the wind to impede me and it made a massive difference. I could make it to the end of the five minutes and still felt like I had the energy to keep going, which I did. Obviously I’m going to have to get to a point where I can run up inclines but that doesn’t need to be right now, so for the time being I’m happy I could run to the time I needed to.

 

When it came to the end of the run and was time to do the warm down walk I decided to do another lap of the field which added another mile to my run, making it my longest run so far.

 

 

I didn’t end up doing a run on the weekend so don’t know how my running off the C25K app has changed this week, although in run three I beat a lot of my existing PBs so I can certainly see an improvement compared to last week. I feel like I’ve fallen into a really good routine when it comes to running, to the point that it feels quite habitual now. Part of me wants to start adding more runs into my week, but as that would prevent me having rest day I’m holding off for now, especially given that each week is getting harder I need to give my body the chance to recover between runs.

 

Just as I’d hoped, the new trainers made a massive difference this week. There was a tiny bit of pain in my arches towards the very end of running but nothing like I’ve experienced in previous weeks. I guess it just goes to show quite how important proper footwear can be!

 

I’m now entering my fifth week feeling excited for whatever challenge is in store next.


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