Slow Motion Run Club

BravingABikini

Full Member
Having been inspired to take up running for the summer, I'm starting a thread to capture my progress and set some goals, separate to my food diary.

It has been 10 years since I last took running somewhat seriously. At that point I was running around 50-60kms per week and ran a 25 minute 5k.

I think that running is a near perfect exercise for me. It's low barrier to entry (just put on your shoes and go out the door), you compete against yourself and there are lots of metrics to track, and it's highly efficient at c. 500 calories for a 30 minute run.

So, what have I done so far. Last week I took a baseline 5k with fresh legs. That came in at a 27:50 time which is a very solid start. I think the recent walking has clearly improved my fitness to be able to start at that level.

This week I am setting a km per week baseline which is likely to be 25-30kms. I'm not going for anything fast, staying above 30 minutes. The goal is to be comfortable completing that amount of k's without risking injury.

Once I have the baseline, I will aim to increase kms by max 10% per week. In July, I will think about my speed.

This is all just hopeful planning at this stage. At the beginning of something, it's touch and go whether you will get past the first few weeks. But I feel motivated and I'm enjoying the feeling of getting back into some exercise.
 
Week 9-15th June

Goal: Hit 25-30kms mileage

DayDist. (k)Pace (min per k)Notes
MonRest
Tue66:08
WedRestWalked 8k
Thu56:16Social run
Fri55:55
Sat55:57parkrun
Sun96:11long run
Total30
 
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Final day of baseline week. I'm aiming to set up Sunday as long run day, so hoping for an 8k run today. I'm a bit nervous for it. I don't have a sport watch to track pace, and I should be aiming to run quite a bit slower to be able to run the extra distance. We'll see. If I need to walk a section, then I have to be OK with that too.

Recap of this week's runs:
Was happy to do an extra kilometre on Tuesday although I messed up the routing. I'll try something similar next Wednesday.
The social run was great at a slower pace. Spent the whole time chatting to one of the organisers. Sped up a little for the last bit, but generally kept it easy.
Friday, I repeated the social circuit at my own pace which dropped 2 minutes off my time. I like the loop, which goes past my front door, and will keep using it as a standard run.
Was happy with yesterday's parkrun under 30mins. I got a DNF at last week's run after coming out the gates too fast and pulling a muscle 4k in. The right hip flexor has been a little on edge this week, so been keeping it easy.

Looking ahead to my likely schedules. I will take a rest day on Monday and Friday. That means my weekends will be parkrun and long run and my weeks will be 3 easy runs. I'm going to run 5k with my younger sister on Tuesday and return to the pub run club on Thursday. Wednesday not planned yet. I should be looking to add some kms but they might come from a double run on one of the days rather than adding length to any of the other planned runs.

Anyway, I've been procrastinating for too long. Better lace up the shoes for this run.

Update: Managed a 9k run at a faster pace than I planned. I thought I would struggle to keep my pace down, but amazingly I could still complete the run at the faster speed. Really really happy with the effort. Week 1 down, now let's try to get better!
 
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Week 16th-22nd June

Goal: Run first 10km

DayDist. (k)Pace (min per k)Notes
MonRest
Tue56:15Dog run
Wed5 | 45:33 PR | nasplits in afternoon
Thu76:40recovery
FriRest
Sat55:40Parkrun
Sun3 | 105:51 | 6:35long run
Total39
 
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No exercise today - legs are quite tired from the 9k.

Just popping in to say that in a drunken moment, I entered the ballot for the London half marathon next April. Ballot closes tomorrow so we will see if I have just committed myself to running for the next 10 months!
 
One in September. I'm still trying to convince my friend to do the 24. So it might be shorter.

The other one will be another 26.
 
Went to the forest with my sister for a 5k together. She kept warning me that "it'll be a slow 5k", but we still ran 31 minutes which was on rough terrain and starting and stopping for the dogs. Although I do think my first kilometre was faster for having the dog dragging me along.

Anyway, it was a really fun way to get some extra miles in, so we'll do something similar next week.
 
Went for a 5k this morning. Felt strong going round and have ended with a PR.

I might do another 5k this evening as my Thursday plans have been messed up meaning I can't attend the running social.
 
woohoo - be careful out there and stay hydrated! If it's anything like here, it's very warm.

Annoying when plans get messed up, but good to have a backup.
 
Yep, it's a warm one!

Exciting day - my garmin arrived. Ended up going for the Fenix 7 because I like the map function. Not sure how to use it yet though.

Set up a 1km split activity with 90 second walk breaks and took the watch for a spin while dropping the nephew off at football practice. Added an extra 4k to the daily run total and I'm already in love.
 
Went for a recovery run this morning. Garmin was suggesting a 7:00/k pace, which I tried to stick to. The beeping from the watch kept telling me that I wasn't trying hard enough though so it ended up a little fast.

Taking a rest day tomorrow but parkrun planned for sat and then a 10km long run on Sunday I hope.
 
Good Parkrun on Saturday despite the heat. Knocked 70 seconds off the previous week for a 28:40.

On Sunday went out for 10k but felt terrible and aborted the run after 3kms. Went back out in the evening and paced a gentle 6:35 average. Pretty happy with that end to the week for 39kms total.
 
Smashed the weekly goal with a 27:10 at the parkrun this morning. I am really happy with that and pleased with my progress so far. Fitness is improving quickly as I continue to increase mileage. Hoping to get another 5k in today and then a long run tomorrow.

I think a sub 60 minute 10k will be the goal for next week.
 
Another week down with 46kms clocked. Long run today of 10 miles, but started to feel woozy by the end, which means I have to start bringing fuel on my long runs. Will look into best options as I'm not interested in gels 🤢

Really enjoying getting back into the sport and watching times improve. Moving to London next week so I'll need to find a different social running club and hit up some different parkruns.
 
Week 30th - 6th July

Goal: sub 60 min 10k

DayDist. (k)Pace (mpk)Notes
MonRest
Tue86:01humid!
Wed5 | 55:33 | 6:28evening social
Thu105:40 PR
FriRest
Sat2 + 55:28to + Hilly Parkrun
Sun226:07HM Long run
Total57
 
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Went for a 10k this morning to see if I could knock off the weekly goal at the first attempt. No such luck. It was very hot and humid this morning so gave up on the 10k after 8k.

I've got a social run tomorrow so I'll give the 10k another go on Thursday.
 
Went for a 5k around lunch time. Was hoping to take it slow, but ended up running it all at tempo. I have a social run planned tonight so that will be a slower effort.

Have been getting terrible sleep with the heat the last few days. Today is much cooler, so hoping for a good rest tonight to have a good attempt at the 10k tomorrow.
 
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