The jump in week 4 has got me worried, to go form 9 mins to 16 mins seems like a crazy jump. I was seriously considering re-running week 3 but I’m going to put my faith in the program and give it a go.

I was so worried about it, I squeezed in another run in the hope it might help next week. Changed the venue to the more public local park, now I have some confidence and I’m fairly sure I won’t embarrass myself too much. It’s a glorious sunny Saturday morning, just dog walkers and other newbie runners, neither of which care about my antics.

I’m learning the hard way (which is the only way) Muhammad Ali’s famous (abridged) quote:

I only start counting when it starts hurting

because they’re the only ones that count

Luckily it starts hurting fairly quickly so at least I have that going for me, straight to work.

It was my first time running on concrete as opposed to grass. It was obviously harder underfoot but I’m not having to wade through grass so it all balances out. My feet always hurt (especially half way) so it doesn’t really matter, the change in terrain didn’t make any difference.

As per the previous run, I’m only starting to struggle in the last 20 seconds of each of the 3 minute runs. Recovery is really good typically within in a minute. I’m confident there’s still something in the tank at the end of 3 minutes, but I’m not convinced it’s another 2 minutes. We’ll see on Monday.

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It’s the week of the 3m run! Another landmark. But don’t panic I’ve invested in some new Nike trainers, special running socks and a belt to carry my crap in, like I can buy the performance I’m so sadly lacking.

Amazingly 3 minutes turns out to be totally doable, who would have guessed. Certainly not me. In fact I was spot on, I could get to 2 mins quite strong and then the last minute it all gets a bit puffy.

That said, it was probably not the best time to break in a new pair of trainers, it literally crippled me. I managed to stagger back to the car and it took a few minutes of sitting before I painfully drove home. wondering if I’d ever walk let alone run again. I’m having to admit I actually prefer to run on my own, having run with someone and without I find I run better on my own, it allows me to focus. Not to mention the headache of synchronising schedules as opposed to the flexibility of just popping out the front door when I have an hour.

And best of all, the park guys have mowed the grass round the outside of the field, they must have heard me or one one of the Velociraptors ate someone’s pup. It really helped cut down the drag.

The new running belt was excellent, I was running with a small backpack before and the belt was so much better, I almost couldn’t feel it. The only problem I had was my phone’s bluetooth would keep cutting out. In fact I had to re-run one of the runs because the bluetooth totally died. Not sure what the issue is, will need to investigate,  it works fine if the phone is in my pocket. So that’s the plan for now.

The socks well they look cool, but I’m not sure they made a huge difference when I’m only running 9 minutes, might help on an actual 5k, I’ll report back when I get there.

Having done quite a few sessions now I thought I’d summarise my observations of the types of people I meet when out and about. One of my big concerns when starting C25K was what other people would think about a sweaty middle age man trying to give himself a heart attack.

Run Rating : 

Well last run of the week and I’m back on my own again. My running partner has called it a day after damaging his knee. Having a set of working knee’s is somewhat important in their line of business, so it’s not something they can afford to ignore.

So back to the country park, back on with the headphones and head down. They will need to do something about the grass here it’s starting to look like something from Jurassic Park, replete with velociraptors in the long grass.

Actually, as runs go this was very straight forward. I was finding I was recovering pretty much after each run within the 2 minute walk period. Which makes a huge difference, certainly psychologically. In fact the last run I extended out to 2 minutes to see what it was like ahead of next week’s sessions.

Running on my own allowed me to focus on my own pacing, which was certainly slower and hence less stressful than the last two runs. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, i.e. should I be being pushed to go faster at this stage or as many seem to indicate get through the program at any speed and then focus on building up speed later when you have the distance. I tend to think the latter is a probably the better route, or at least the less painful one.

I will need to get some new running shoes the soles on the ones I have are starting to fall apart. Sad really because it’s not through over use, rather probably a result of sitting in sun in the porch for 5 years not being used. I think I’ll also sort out the rucksack, it’s starting to annoy me and as it’s total overkill to carry my keys.

Another unexpected benefit of running is, I’ve actually developed a tan and one that actually protects me from the sun. It might seem like an odd thing to those of you who are lucky enough to be able to tan, but given my Welsh DNA, I have a tendency to go from pale white directly to lobster red, even with the application of factor 30 sun block. I suspect it’s a situation not helped by spending 20+ years under florescent lights. I came home after today’s run to wash the sweat off my face only to find myself looking at a face full of freckles, a sight I hadn’t seen in a very very long time. Skin cancer here we come!

Overall week 2 has been a lot easier than week 1, which I guess should come as no surprise, probably made even easier by re-running week 1. Next week the program ramps it up to 3-minute runs which is a bit worrying, I’ve seen I’ve got 2 minutes in my legs but another minute? Hmmm not so sure.

Run Rating : 

Back to the country park for another 9 minutes of running in 30 minutes. Honestly doesn’t sound like a lot, so I’m still coming to terms of why it’s proving to be so difficult.

It’s becoming harder and harder to keep up with my running partner’s pace, even over these short runs. They are adapting quicker than I am, in my defence they are also carrying significantly less weight. Coupled with a longer stride it’s obvious I’m either going to be holding them back or I’m going to end up killing myself chasing them.

There are two physical aspects of running that are proving the biggest challenge for me at the moment, nausea and foot pain.

No surprise the last two runs have proved to be the hardest, I start to get the feeling of nausea in the last 30 seconds of run 5 and for much of the last minute of run 6. It’s probably the worst aspect of running, I can handle most of the other physical side effects but this one is difficult to ignore.

The Internet offers lots of suggestions most really can’t be applicable given that it’s only a 9-minute run. My general conclusion is it’s a combination of the blood being redirected from the digestive system to the legs and lungs, and possibly lactic acid build-up as it only really starts to happen when I’m digging deep. The general answer seems to be slow down a bit, something I’ll have to try on the next run. I suspect it’s a side effect of not yet having found a good sustainable running pace.

The other problem is my feet still continue to hurt on the recovery walks, not while running, and it’s a very much more demanding pain than the feeling of nausea. It takes almost the full 2 minutes to walk it off and it starts pretty much after the first or second run. I suspect it’s poor circulation to the feet, resulting in either lactic acid building up or the feet just not getting enough oxygen. The fact I can walk it off makes me think it isn’t an issue with the type of running shoe, i.e. pronation or supination.

One more run to go this week, I don’t feel I’m making a lot of progress. I clearly am as I was struggling with 60-second runs last week. I just need to keep going, trust the program it’s worked for others.

Run Rating : 

The program steps up in week 2, less overall runs 6 vs 8 from last week but they are all 90 seconds, The only saving grace is that the recovery periods have increased to 2 minutes as well. I was really not looking forward to this, although I could see a little bit of improvement in re-running week 1, I’m not convinced it would translate into this week.

In the back of my head, I felt I could probably make it to halfway, i.e. the first 3 runs, but anything beyond that was going to be a voyage into the unknown.

We went back to the country park, on a slightly overcast but warm Sunday afternoon.

Turns out running 90 seconds as opposed to 60 seconds doesn’t make a massive difference. The session seemed to be over very quickly, the last two runs were as always a bit tough. Really just hanging on, lots of puffing and panting and trying to fight down rising nausea in the last 30 seconds. The biggest issue I had, and I noticed it on the last week 1 run, is that I’m tending to have to chase after my running partner rather than run at a pace that’s comfortable for me.

As discussed previously he has a naturally longer stride than my dwarf legs and over even 90 second period he’s getting a few metres ahead. In the last couple of runs, I was really struggling to keep with his pace and I was having to dig deep to maintain any sensible gap.

That and the grass is starting to get very long around the outside, helped by recent rain, to the point I’ve ended up with grass stuck in my sole where a piece of the rubber is coming off. Hopefully, they’ll get around to giving it a mow before it’s up to my waist.

So totally possible to run 6×90 seconds, but it’s not fun and it’s becoming a real challenge to keep up.

Run Rating : 

I convinced a friend to give the program a crack. There’s nothing like a bit of peer pressure and I worked on the basis that having someone else along would make it a bit more fun and provide some accountability, So we started back at Week 1. I also worked on the basis the extra easier (than week 2) runs would ease me into it a little more, at the end of the day the program is 9 weeks, but it doesn’t matter if it takes longer it’s not a race (ironically).

Run 1 (23/05/2018)

My new running partner’s first run (my 4th) and it showed I felt their pain literally. Although they did a much better job of the first run than I did, there’s no way of escaping the painful truth that we are both very far from fit. For me it was an easier run, having someone along to talk to (although there wasn’t much talking by halfway, just a lot of panting) and share woes with and basically have a laugh made the time pass quicker.

I did make the mistake of doing a 10-mile walk the day before and started to feel it in the last few 60 second runs. I think we’ve already established that running for 30 minutes will be far more effort than walking for 4 hours. So I think I’ll switch to purely running rather than trying to maintain walking long distances going ahead. The rest days in between runs really do have a purpose.

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Run 2 (25/05/2018)

What a nightmare of a run, I really struggled. It was hot and very humid, I ate too close to the run. It was evening as well which I don’t think I like, I think I prefer earlier in the day generally. Just about made it but by far the hardest run full stop, even harder than the first day. Just miserable, even with the company and not to mention soul-destroying after the last run had been so positive.

Luckily I’d read enough about other peoples experiences to know that sometimes you are going to have a bad day. So I’m going to shake it off, make sure I’m better prepared next time and push on. My partner did far better and even on run 2 is showing more natural place. I know from walks they’ve got a naturally longer leg stride than I have which is becoming very apparent.

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Run 3 (31/05/2018)

After the disastrous run two, I made sure I ate 2-hours before the session this time. Thankfully it wasn’t as hot as well, it was still in the evening. All in all, it was a much better run and I am now getting to the 5th interval before having to start to dig deep.

Having run week 1 twice now, I can definitely see some progress and in hindsight I think given where I was starting from it was probably the best move, to ease into to it.

Let’s see what happens in week 2, I’m still not convinced even with the extra time that 6×90 secs is really doable.

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