#couch to 5K

[rainyfestivalsweets]

My 5k was awesome.

New PR 36:15.

[tomhardysurinal]

I started Couch to 5k today and my legs are unimpressed

[fallowhearth]

Running is really highlighting all the muscles that didn't get touched by my yoga and walking over summer.

The muscles in that triangle are quite tender. Not feeling it much anywhere else. I don't know enough about anatomy to know what muscles are there or why I need them for running.

[thebeesareback]

It's taken a few episodes of Taskmaster, but Sarah Millican's charm and humour has finally got me to forgive her for making me try to do the couch to 5k

[unlucky-leek]

So I've been trying this Couch to 5K thing for a couple of months after my doctor said my blood pressure was too low (scary!).

I did it 6 years ago and managed just fine, but office work has kind of killed me and I've been really struggling with the 5 minute run for some reason this time.

Well, today I was determined to do it and found this to run to:

I guess having someone screaming "YOU CANNOT KILL ME, I AM OMEGA" into your ear hits different, because I finally managed the 5 minute run after weeks of trying! Twice! (You run 3 mins, walk, 5 mins, repeat).

And THEN as if things weren't crazy enough, I found these demon claw marks at the end of my run:

(Srsly what could have caused that, I have no idea)

I guess it's time to reward myself by finally buying DMC5:SE on PS5 when it's next on sale 😆

I had it on PS4 but I really want to replay it with the nicer graphics and I finished it years ago anyway~

Anyway that's all, just proud of myself! 😁

[solfirafira]

after missing a week, I'm back on my every-few-days runs and so today I decided to map out my route on google maps just to see the distance.

apparently my usual route is like already 5km in total so that's awesome for me training for a 5k marathon, but I mostly do majority walking and like a few minutes of running interspersed so I think now I should practice keeping up a light jog the whole route, only taking a break when absolutely necessary.

[parttimesarah]

I did my week 5, day 3 Couch to 5K run with this on today. That run is 5min warmup walk, 20min running (the longest I’ve done in ages), and 5min cooldown. I normally run with music or running cadences on, but this was so fun! It felt like I was running with a couple of really nice guys who didn’t shame me for being slow af!

[runveganwankerrun]

6th June '24

Three weeks

That seems to be what it takes to start feeling the benefits of eating more healthily and starting to run again. I went to The Mothership's yesterday, which involves walking to and from the train. Thirty mins from my house, then twenty to hers, so fifty mins of walking each way. It has a tendency to make my back ache and there are a couple of notable hills. Yesterday, I was half way up one of them before I realised! I'm definitely getting fitter. I felt really good.

Today's run was the start of week three of couch. It's tough, but I'm glad to be getting out. I'm becoming a little less self conscious of leaving the house. It's up to three minute intervals. I never would have thought a few years ago that three minutes would be so challenging. Who'd a thunk it!

I went out on Tuesday with a chum from running club. It's been over a year since she ran, so I didn't feel as if I was holding her back. We did run/walk breaks and it was lovely to have the company

Tuesday was a busy day, as I ended up going out for a walk with another mate later. I was almost social!

Eating between 12pm and 8pm seems to be working for me, timetable wise. I'm still overeating at my evening meal though. I reckon I'm thinking, "Quick. It's nearly eight o'clock. Eat more before you have to stop!" Something to work on.

[rainyfestivalsweets]

Today so far.... 9.5 hours work. 1 lecture for school.

Doing the things. Bath later?

Chores now.

[prominence12]

I know literally no one cares but I have been training for my very first 5k since the beginning of the year. My race day is May 11th, and today was the start of week four of my real running training. It's such a dumb thing but I am so proud of myself so far.

I ran for 16 minutes tonight and I was bummed because I wanted to keep running?! I never got too out of breath, and I could sing and jam out the whole time. This is probably the most active and fit I've been in my adult life... Which is pretty sad. But I'm feeling so good!!!

[fallowhearth]

Happy that day 2 of running again was still fun. I'm in that sweet spot of fitness where I have enough condition that the current intervals aren't challenging, but I'm unfit enough that I hit runner's high at like the third minute of running. I know in a few weeks I'll be waiting 10+ minutes so I'm enjoying it while I'm here lol

Run album: Kalidia - Frozen Throne

Remembering also that running immediately after work is a great way to trick my brain into also cooking dinner and tidying up, using the 'objects in motion stay in motion' and the 'finish the album' principles.

[good444me]

[dreadlockmimi]

Today I ran 6 miles which is something I never thought possible less than a year ago. Even though I took walk breaks and didn’t run the entire time, I committed to keeping my heart rate in zone 2 for the run and was over a mile in before a walk break. I still need those breaks to keep my heart rate in check. But I’m improving every day.

Last summer I couldn’t sustain even a minute of running and now I am addicted to improving and lengthening my runs. I know I can run at least 5K without walk breaks which makes me break down in tears of joy for how far I’ve come. I wouldn’t have believed I could do this a year ago.

I’m signed up for a half marathon in April and thinking about a marathon in October and even dreaming about a local ultra next year.

I stumbled into running completely on accident. I bought a treadmill at a low, low in my life determined to just started walking. I noticed huge improvements in my mental health, mobility, and overall quality of life very quickly and kept at it. Then I found a sports bra that actually held me together and just decided one day that running seemed like something to try out. And I didn’t stop.

I followed a Couch to 5K program and cried the first time I ran for 20 minutes straight during the program and cried again after I ran my first 5K race.

Running is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in some ways. But it’s given me confidence in areas of my life that I didn’t have confidence.

I know I can do hard things.

And now I crave it. I want it. I drive home from work looking forward to a run. I wake up in the morning excited to go run.

I am the slowest runner I know, but I don’t give a fuck. I am not here to compare my runs to others, but to myself overtime, and I can report huge improvements. My quality of life has improved so much that it’s now clear to me I am running for my life.

And I don’t want to stop.

[snowbodyatall]

I finished week one of my couch to 5k! I'm fuckin so proud of myself y'all 😂💁🏻‍♀️

[historicalfightingguide]

TLDR:

Do steady-state cardio, general endurance running for a base-level cardio. Both for being able to drill/spar with more people during a single training session, as well as to be able to perform better in later rounds of tournaments.

When you feel you can start adding sprints for being able to have more actions at higher speeds within a single fight.

If you do armored combat you may want to try running with added weight on, but be careful to slowly increase the amount of weight, give yourself freedom to experiment with different techniques, rhytms etc. as well as to do a slower pace and a shorter distance when you first start doing it. If you are interested in learning how to fight in armor check out  HEMA Harnischfechten and Knyght Errant as well as the armor , Harnischfechten and armored combat tags on this blog.

In terms of running more generally a great beginner program (even if you’re physically active but not used to running, or haven’t done it in a while) is ‘couch to 5k’ developed by NHS, which you can find here, and similar related programs for intermediate and advanced runners.

For anyone who hasn’t yet seen the following links:

Some advice on how to start studying the sources generally can be found in these older posts

Remember to check out  A Guide to Starting a Liberation Martial Arts Gym as it may help with your own club/gym/dojo/school culture and approach.

Check out their curriculum too.

Fear is the Mind Killer: How to Build a Training Culture that Fosters Strength and Resilience by   Kajetan Sadowski   may be relevant as well.

“How We Learn to Move: A Revolution in the Way We Coach & Practice Sports Skills”  by Rob Gray  

Another useful book to check out is  The Theory and Practice of Historical European Martial Arts (while about HEMA, a lot of it is applicable to other historical martial arts clubs dealing with research and recreation of old fighting systems).

Why having a systematic approach to training can be beneficial Remember that we can use sparring and tournament footage for videostudy as well.

Worth checking out are this blogs tags on pedagogy and teaching for other related useful posts.

And if you train any weapon based form of historical fencing check out the ‘HEMA game archive’ where you can find a plethora of different drills, focused sparring and game options to use for effective, useful and fun training.

Consider getting some patches of this sort or these cool rashguards to show support for good causes or a t-shirt like to send a good message while at training.

And stay safe

[runbookzombie]

No ZR. Just C25K.

I didn’t use ZR today because a friend of mine asked me to help her run for the first time. I’m not a certified coach so I told her to go slow and follow C25K. I ran alongside her. We ended up doing 2km total which was not bad.

She finished the workout and completed W1R1. Good job!

And then we played tennis. I haven’t done any tennis since I was a teen. My right arm is a bit sore now.

To replenish my depleted energy, I am having pad see ew.

Here’s an AI-generated image of pad see ew. Looks very healthy: