Back up to 25 mins running, and feeling good. Even earlier than usual :O

by crashieuk

Last week I ran 3 sessions, of 20 mins, 22 mins and 24 mins, adhering strictly to increasing each time by no more than 10% which seems to be the accepted maximum by which you should increase a running distance from the last one.

So today, rather than add 2 mins and remembering that I have a propensity for “good” numbers I decided to simply increase to 25 mins, thereby allowing my next 10% to be an even increase (on Wednesday) to 27 mins 30 secs and the following one on Friday to a good, even 30 mins flat, thereby being back to my end time from the c25k program.

Knowing I was on an early shift today, and that things always tend to be a bit rushed to get the warmup/run/cool-down/shower/breakfast in before I have to set off for work, I set my alarm for a 6am wakeup call, 30 mins earlier than my usual. I was actually feeling pretty crappy went I went to sleep, so I wasn’t sure if I would feel like going for a run first thing in the morning (or whether I would then leave it until after work). I thought it best to give myself the option, knowing that if I felt fine, I’d be in the mood to run as it always seems to wake me up perfectly and set me up for a good day.

Luckily I felt fine when I woke up at 6am, so after a quick trip to Tesco to get some bananas as I’d run out (and some cat food – not for me 🙂 ), I was off out for a 5 mins warm-up walk and 25 mins run. Knowing I had the extra 30 mins was a great help as even using some of that time to go shopping I knew I wasn’t going to be rushing around quite as much as I have on previous days (last Wednesday take note).

The run itself I split again into 3 mins segments as planned, so I’d have 8 of those then ending with the final minute on its own, which I always tend to enjoy and not struggle with.

So rather than knowing how long there was to go or having any countdown, or “you are half way”, I set an audible note of my time elapsed for every 3 minutes. I made a point of not paying attention so much as I would then be tempted to count them as they passed and then get bothered by my statistics, but rather just to keep running for time and completely ignoring distance, and even again not tracking distance at all.

I’m no longer interested in how far I’m running, just into going for the time as I’m sure I pressured myself into an injury by all that worrying about running a full 5km. Once I get back to 30 minutes running on Friday, I’ll either then keep running 30 mins repeatedly and try to pick up the pace, again paying no mind to distance, or I will keep increasing time until I maybe get up to 45 or 50 minutes. After that I haven’t decided but maybe I’ll do some treadmill work to improve my speed. Again, that’s lower-impact so no stress on knees or ankles.

Also, I am solely running on grass now, except for brief segments where I cross over a path, as I’m sure that it’s the pounding pavements/concrete that knackered my ankle/knee the other week. Bearing in mind I’m back after a recovery period, I’m finding the grass running far better, but as the weather cools down towards winter and eventually starts to turn more inclement (rainy), I might have to invest in some better trail running shoes with better grip. My current shoes are fine, but I could see them starting to struggle if there were any decent amount of rain.

As I’ve said before, cross-country running was always my preference at school over track running, and I’ve never really tried road running until recently and I still don’t think I’m suited to it, what with the addition of the shit state of the kerbs and roads in Southampton (which crocked me).

Today’s run itself was a breeze – all the 3 minute segments swept past with no struggles and the last minute was the complete doddle I’ve become accustomed to. The cool-down felt awesome, and I got some great stretches in, so I’m sure I’ll be well-rested for Wednesday.

I have no pain whatsoever, and 4,700+ steps completed before work 😀

I hit my 7,500 Fitbit step target at work around 2pm today – bonus once more so I’m sat here with no worries about putting the unit on charge which makes a nice change 🙂