5k Training

Hi all!

Thought I would start my own training thread to try and help motivate myself and hopefully get some help and encouragement along the way.

I'm 27 year old male (soon to be 28). I used to be super fit until I was 17/18 before giving up every sport I did and ate/drank beer far too much. After my first son was born, I ballooned from 11.5stone to around 18stone.

4 years ago I decided to do something about it albeit on and off over the 4 years. Mostly cycled with a bit of running thrown in now and then. Last September, my 2nd son was born 1 week before I started a full-time degree  at Uni. Newborn, Uni and 2hrs commute a day pretty much killed any enthusiasm I had for exercise.

2 months ago I managed to get out again and have caught the running bug badly. I'm running 3 times a week, one session with a running club. Still need to lose a couple of stone ideally

So that's me not that anybody will probably care! My aim is to focus on 5k; especially as I can do the ParkRun for free (great perk being a student and all lol).

I've Done 3 Parkruns the last few weeks and my times have been 27:14, 26:40 and 26:08 respectively.

 Short Term Aim: Sub 25mins
Mid Term Aim: Sub 23mins
Long Term Aim (not that i'll get there, but I can dream): Sub 20mins

Hope you haven't fallen asleep while reading my post, but feel free to join in if your goals are similar, you wanna give some pointers or generally wanna poke some fun at a overweight, hairy tattooed bloke

Hi Deadbox

I've just started dipping my toe into running, and also want to get to sub 25 for my Parkrun (28:27 is my current best).  I'm not doing any running specific training as yet, I'm concentrating on getting down to my target weight (11-7) before putting too many miles through my dodgy ankles and knees!

What is your training schedule? 

Good luck

Deadbox dont stop dreaming! My progress to date has taken me from 29:30 to 20:47

Lots of easy miles for the first year or two, just keep chipping away at each target and taking it sensibly and you'll get there. Which parkrun are you doing?

JLB - Feel free to join in on this thread and we can work on hitting sub 25min together.

Currently, i'm doing an easy session on a Monday with a friend who has just started out, which is usually around 4 miles (although this monday I did 6mi easy as he wasn't with me)
On a Weds I do a Club run which is usually 6mi ir so then do a ParkRun on a sat morning with a 1mi warm up and cool down.

Gonna keep to this for the time being and see how it goes when I start back at uni at the end of Sept

Curly- good to know it's possible, will just keep chugging away
I'm doing the Worcester Parkrun at the moment

At the moment I'm still concentrating on my level of general fitness so my week looks something like this:

Sunday - HIIT style excercise (6x burpees with press-up, 1 x sprint up stairs, 1 minute rest) x 6

Monday - HIIT (as above)

Tuesday - Squash (45 mins)

Wednesday - HIIT (as above)

Thursday - Squash (45 mins)

Friday - Rest

Saturday - 5k (Parkrun)

As the weight comes off and when my Parkrun times plateau I'll start swapping in more runs.

Here are a few other things to think of to keep your running a challenge.

Early morning runs. Nights are drawing in and running in the dark can sap your will. So get to bed early get up really early get the run in with the dawn chorus. By early I mean 5-6 oclock.

Increase your pace over distance.  Take in hills. Fartleks( look it up) Tempo runs, tempo intervals. Geting  a good watch with a foot pod will help you know what your doing. yYou need endurance, stamina and speed to be good at 5k

The Complete Runners Handbook. Buy it.

Increase the time of your warm up and cool down. I do 20 minutes minimum. The body needs time to go from be, desk, car  sofa to running. A minute is just not enough.

Does your college have a track? If so use it for speed work.  Yes you will be the slowest bugger on it but tough. A sub 20 minute 5k does not come easy.

Good luck

I did my first sub 20min 5k aged 42 .

You got time

some sound advice above cant add much more to it im afraid except to say that ive been running just less than a year and done 3 parkruns (edinburgh) 23.47,22.49 and 22.37 all on the back of increasing easy mileage without doing any specific interval sessions.

more mileage to start off with should allow you to shave some time off your 5 ks mate,then as said above inroduce some intervals to your training and take it from there.all the best with your training

YC

YC talks some serious sense!

I've not made it to Worcester yet...*adds it to the list* 

JLB - hope the calf feels better and good luck for the 10k on Sunday

Cheers for the advice Stephen, i'll definitely be doing more mornings as when i'm back at Uni as I have a spare hour before starting as I like to miss all the motorway traffic. I imagine the Uni will have track (dunno where it is tho haha) but doubt i'll be able to use it as I do full days 4 days of the week and half day on the weds.

Cheers YC, will keep on top of the miles for now, my endurance needs some work.

Curly - it's only been going 11 weeks but is a nice course but mostly around a woodland; the slight incline towards the end of the 2nd lap is a bit of a killer  lol Might give a few others ago once i've done a few more. Apparently there is a new one coming that will be closer for me.

Did 6.2mi tonight, with a couple of biggish hills but mostly flat, nice and steady

Not had a chance to get online over the weekend! 

I started feeling lazy not doing any excercise due to the calf, so did 4x (15 x press-up and 30 x sit-up) for time on Thurs, and 100 x press-up for time on Friday.  On Saturday I decided to test out my leg so jogged to the pool and swam about 1.5k and jogged home with no ill effects; relief. 

My goal for the 10K on Sunday was just to get to the finish line, I'd never been beyond 5k in my life, and it was only in late July that I managed to run 5k without taking a walk-break.  The race itself was great, I ran a very slow pace and got around no problem.  I had loads in the tank at the end and felt I could have just kept going forever.  My time was 1:05:38, and I was 640th out of 686 finishers, pretty pedestrian, but next time I'll be running for time rather than just to complete the course.

Great result on your Parkrun Deadbox, I feel inspired to have a serious crack at my time next Saturday.

Good work deadbox!!!! Well done!!!! 

Just want to share my thoughts and maybe see comments from other experienced runners.

I started running in the gym mid May/11 and then have done 6 parkruns + some outdoor running at the weekends. Lost around 7kilos (1stone). My weight is 71kilos (11 stones) - height 178cm(5'10). I feel I need to lose another 3 kilos, and i am working on it through exercise as my apetite has increased soooo much since started running.

My parkrun PB is 27.29, and again I am 39 and have never run before and actually hated even the idea of running.

When you guys discussed running time, do you mean to achieve a certain time and finish without a breath/feeling sick or to achieve the time and still smile when you finish??? I think I may be able to run a bit faster than 27.29 but I think I will feel sick at the end.

DeadBox wrote (see)

Well done on the weight loss! 11stone is just a distance dream for me, I'm still tipping 14 stone. I don't think i's manage to get lower than 12 tho as even tho I'm only 5ft9 I'm quite broad Have you got a goal time? Or are you just doing it and seeing where it goes? As for times, personally I run them at the same perceived exertion each week. I would say it's uncomfortable, I have felt sick the one week; I kinda enjoy that feeling though lol. I always smile at the end once I've got my breathe back, especially if I've run a PB. Within a minute or so I'm usually chatting to others afterwards.

I have not got a goal time TBH. I want to run/finish a marathon in 2012 when I become 40. Therefore time is not an issue to me.

I will run outdoors today after work wearing for the first time a Garmin 305, which i believe will help me keep within my pace level and don't get distracted with faster runners on parkrun/races.

As for weight loss keep doing your exercises and eat healthly. Cut the junk, soft/sugary drinks, alcohol, etc. I could not believe how easy it is to lose weight....

Keep up you good work and soon you will be 11st