After a particularly frustrating day of dealing with BAR/BRI’s customer service earlier this summer, I went out for a run, which led to a decision to have a go at the whole C25K thing again. (Last time I tried it, I wound up with ankle pain, knee pain, hip pain…)
This time, things seem to be going just fine–I’m in the home stretch now, having just finished week 7. This has got me thinking: what’s the next step? I’d like to do an organized 5K, though I’d be laughably far from anything even remotely competitive–I seem to do about an elevenish-minute mile. (I can do a ten minute mile no problem, but subsequent miles get a bit dicey.) I’m also looking at joining the local Frontrunners group for their Saturday mornings–though again, I’m a bit nervous of being too slow, particularly after looking at the paces that some running groups seem to favor.
Long term, I’d like to have a go at some of the longer distances–10K and half-marathon, at least. Immediately, I’m just thinking about getting a bit more distance, a bit more speed, and losing weight/getting fit.
Finally, a more specific question: How are you supposed to read training schedules? E.g., this one at Cool Running. It may as well be written in a foreign language to me.
(Posted in MPSIMS because it’s where all of the other C25K threads seem to live. Feel free to move if appropriate.)
The main point of C25K is to get the new runner over the hurdles of starting and avoiding the mistakes most beginners make.
Where you go from there depends on what you want. Certainly you can continue to increase your running to compete at longer distances.
Don’t worry about not being competitive in your races, the vast majority of runners are competing with themselves.
A good running club will be inclusive of all paces though there are a few that cater to the high level competitor.
Training schedules:
Fartlek: Swedish word meaning “speedplay”. This is an interval workout without structure, you start at your usual training pace then choose a distance or time interval to pick up the pace then return to your training pace. The actual intervals are done as you feel.
Example; jog 5 min, run 45 sec, jog 3 min, run 1min 30 sec, jog 4 min, run25 sec, jog 2 min, run 3 min. The main idea is you run as you feel changing the paces at random.
Intervals: Written out as 4x800, run at 5 K pace. Done on a track. Means run an 800 at your 5K race pace then jog a recovery(not specified here but usually half the distance of the hard run) Repeat a total of 4 times.
Hills: Same as the intervals, run at 5k pace(as specified here).
Do you mind if I toss a couple of questions out there, particularly as** runner pat** has chimed in?
As I get beyond the initial C25K stuff, I’ve been paying attention to a couple of areas where I’d like to improve.
-
Breathing: I notice that after a while, particularly if I’m pushing myself, I start to “pant”. Should I be trying to take long, deeper breaths. Is there a way to build that up?
-
Hills: in my native habitat, these don’t exist. Hence when I’m in my current area, every little slope looks like a hill. Nothing really that tough, in fact they’re probably embarrassingly small, but it’s almost like hitting a speed bump for me. Should I shorten my stride to accommodate the grade, or should I try to maintain my stride length if possible? What about adjusting pace to hills?
Hope that makes some sense.
Breathing; You’re running over your lactate threshold. Running fast enough to start panting means you’re starting to accumulate lactate in your system, that is what produces that familiar “burn” in the muscles and lungs.
Running at your lactate threshold will raise the point that you start going into oxygen debt.
If you hear someone talking about a tempo run, this is what they’re talking about.
You only need to keep up that pace for 20-25 min.
Hills are run at a slower pace but you maintain your perceived effort and you do shorten your stride.
So, net a) it’s okay b) don’t overdo it c) don’t try to slow my breathing down.
yes, it’s a fine way to maintain some racing fitness with a minimum of stress.
Once a week is fine, trying to go beyond 25 min is counterproductive as the stress of the run builds up quickly beyond that point.
Tempo pace is actually a pace that you can race at for 1 hour.
Don’t worry about trying to force your breathing into a specific pattern, just relax and let the pattern develop.
Part of racing well is learning to relax while you’re running your hardest.