[bagpuddycat]

Week 8 of running, and of my 10-week, get-you-to-run/walking-5k training plan, and I'm shattered. This week the plan has stepped up to running for 3 mins, walking for 2 (times 7) and it darned near killed me

For the last 2 run reps, I had to slow down, just to get to the end with all the important parts still functioning :d, and I wondered whether I've just been running too fast. I know it's a well-known adage that beginners always run too fast, but I have no idea how fast is too fast. Certainly, from nosying at other people's settings on the treadmills in the gym, I've been running slower than everyone already, so I thought I'd probably got it right, but it looks like I was still going too quick. My "runs" have been at 9kph when I'm on the treadmill (though I suspect a little faster at the beginning and slower at the end on my outdoor runs), though my last 2 today were 8kph. Perhaps the happy medium is somewhere between the two!

I'm guessing the only way to know the "right" speed to start out at is by trial and error (and by the time you've worked it out, you're probably able to go faster already :d ), but is there any simple rule of thumb that could take the pain out of it a bit for complete beginners?

Anna

 

[Granty]

As a simple rule, if you run and cannot hold a gentle conversation then you are going too quick, you may look a little odd if you run on your own but its a good indication.

 

[bagpuddycat]

In that case, I'd better stop running now

I don't think there is a speed I can run at where that's true, not for more than a couple of minutes, anyway

I fear that my determination to run for a whole 5km in May is going to be beaten by my body's inability to keep up. Blah.

Sorry, thanks Granty. You answer my question for me and I just moan :embarrassed:

Maybe I'll slow down to 8kph next time and see how that goes. Perhaps if I start off slower, I'll surprise myself.

 

[ed_m]

slightly curious as to which bits you consider to be 'the important parts' that are still functioning... i value almost all my parts!

 

[bagpuddycat]

Oh, you know, heart, lungs, brain, those parts. With hindsight, perhaps important was the wrong word. Perhaps essential would fit the bill?

 

[richardsimkiss]

hiya BPC... as has been mentioned, you should be able to hold conversation. I know you say you can't run that slow, but it's not about the pace, it's just about the motion of running - i.e. even if it means you're running no quicker than walking pace.

I think the fact that you managed your last workout speaks volumes and just shows that you can do it if you push yourself... it's just a case of deciding how far you're willing to push yourself to get the gains that you want.

Don't worry about other peoples treadmill settings (i know i'm guilty of the same) but it's near impossible to compare two people on a treadmill. Who's to say what experience they have, what their recent training has consisted of, or even how long they're planning on staying on the treadmill for!

Keep at it and don't forget to keep us updated

 

[cheriton]

slightly curious as to which bits you consider to be 'the important parts' that are still functioning... i value almost all my parts!

You've got me curious now as to which parts you don't value Ed

 

[bagpuddycat]

Richard - what I meant was, the slowest I can possibly run, I still can't have a conversation! Just the action of running seems to be many times more tiring than walking the same pace (I can walk really pretty briskly for miles, oddly). Thanks for your kind words, though - I was feeling a tad negative earlier, but the realisation that I did it, even if I did have to slow down and my legs did feel like they were made of something a lot heavier than lead, has kicked in now and I'm actually feeling rather chuffed.

After all, 7 weeks ago, I was quite pleased that I managed to run 1 min, walk 3, 4 times over. Onwards and upwards.

Cheers everyone :d

Anna

 

[Revenged]

this training plan sounds awful... i don't like the sound of it at all... who had the crazy idea of walk -> run times 7 !... it's so much harder to run again after you stopped for a minute (let alone for two or three minutes !!!)...

i have this problem all the time when i run for a couple of miles happily, stop to cross the road and it's an effort to start again (and that's after about 5 seconds stopping, lol)... BELIEVE ME when you are in the flow of jogging it's easy to carry on... just jog for 2 minutes and you'll find it very easy to carry on jogging for 10 to 15 minutes without getting tired (if you do get tired then you are going too fast)... but tbh if you can walk->run 7 times and stay on a treadmil for 35 minutes then already i think you will pretty easily be able to jog 5k...

i would recommend you do as you please... i don't like training plans and refuse to use them... going for a run in my world is meant to be fun - it is not meant to be a regimented nazi-germany style law where you must X miles on this day and Y on this or you'll be shot... if you don't like how the training plan is then you can do you own thing... personally i think you'll run further if you aren't always concentrating on fiddiling with the treatmil ever 2 minutes but it's up to you...

ps. try and be brave and run in the outdoors... it's more fun but it is hard to motovate yourself for running outdoors the first time... i always find that taking an mp3 player with pumping music loud helps motivate me to go out... so maybe that'll help you... but believe me when i say it's 10 thousdand times better than the treadmil and worth pushing yourself to do it... the treadmil is insanely boring... the only good thing about it is changing the incline so you can mimic hills on a treadmil (great if you live somewhere with no hills)... but staying more than 30 minutes on a treadmil is likely to make you go criminally insane... i mean look at me, i was on one for 45 minutes once and i've never been the same since, lol ...

 

[richardsimkiss]

Revenged... I see your point (and agree that stop/starting is a pain!) but run/walk programs are usually there to help people who can't currently maintain a constant jog for a lengthy period of time - it's to help them build up to it.

I think once you get used to a steady pace that doesn't leave you gasping for breath BPC, then you'll soon be running much further and it'll probably feel like less effort too! :d

 

[bagpuddycat]

Hi Revenged

I already do run once a week outside but unfortunately, if I'm to run on weekdays, it has to be in the gym. Well, there are two alternatives, but both running round the City of London at lunchtime, and running round a badly lit village in the dark at the end of a very long day are even less appealing than running in the gym

I enjoy my Sunday morning runs much more - along the canal towpath with ducks, swans and moorhens for company, who wouldn't?!

It's definitely a case of each to their own though - I loathe running with music playing in my ears. It makes me feel isolated from my surroundings and why would I want to do that when they're so beautiful?

Same with the training plan - Richard's right, the walk/run thing is ideal for those of us who really can't run or jog for more than a couple of minutes at once. I have no trouble at all starting to jog again after a walk break, and I need those walk breaks, believe me! And, if I didn't have a training plan, I wouldn't be running at all - I'd still be the couch potato I used to be. I need to have sessions planned or I wouldn't get my running shoes on.

My hope and intention is that, once I've done the Race for Life, I'll relax a bit and start running for fun, but right now, there's money for Cancer Research riding on my being able to do that 5k without walking any of it!

BPC

 

[crazymumph]

Advice needed.

I'm new to this forum and new to running having only started about 6 months ago. Two weeks ago I did my first half marathon in aid of Cancer research. I found the last 5km pretty hard going and I would like to continue running in events but I was thinking more 10km rather than 21.1km. My problem is I'm not very fast running at around 10km per hour on average and if I enter a 10km event I would like to finish with a good time. What I would like to know is how to increase my speed. It seems whenever I go running I always take exactly the same amount of time , any tips or advice gratefully accepted.

Also good luck to anyone else attempting their first event. I really think its your mental attitude that keeps you going. If I hadn't have been running for charity I would have stopped , but the thought of the money I was raising kept me going... although I really did feel like giving up near the end. Also if you stop before about 8km it is much harder to get going again.

 

[bagpuddycat]

Well, in my last session, I reduced my "run" speed by half a kph and it made a huge difference. I really could have held a conversation, except for perhaps the last 5 minutes or so when it would have been a struggle. Thanks for the advice :d

Oddly, though, I found running at this slower speed much, much harder on my shins. I think that's why I was running faster in the first place - the pace was a more comfortable one for my legs, if not my lungs

I skipped my outdoor session on Sunday though - I had a very hectic weekend and the only time I had free was during torrential rain and strong winds on Sunday morning. Since I don't have any "proper" running gear and am running in tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt, it didn't seem entirely sensible to go out and get drenched while recovering from a cold.

I'm clearly already addicted to running though, because I feel grumpy for having missed it and can't wait to get to the gym tonight :d