Author: Matt Gibson

This evening, I failed. This is the first time I’ve found myself unable to follow an instruction from Get Running on the C25K.

Specifically, I failed to stop.

Today, I set off on yet another different route. This time, I headed into town instead of out of it, down the harbourside.

That was fine; there weren’t too many people about, and there aren’t any roads to cross. I’m finding that this is a huge advantage of living next to a middling-size river, and close to a bridge: there are plenty of routes for running that don’t involve crossing roads, because people rarely want to drive into the water.

Anyway. I got to the halfway point at 12½ minutes, according to Get Running, and I was pretty much in town. I knew that I wasn’t halfway around the harbourside, but some part of me just thought I should carry on.

So I did. The “stop running” voice prompt came when I was still on the other side of the river, but with not too far to go, so I just pressed on. Feeling like I’d taken on a challenge, somehow, I crossed the bridge and ploughed on back to the place I’d joined the harbour at the beginning, reaching it just after Get Running told me it was time to warm down, so five minutes on from the official end of the run.

According to the GPS (I took it with me because I only realised at the last minute that there was only 20% battery left on the iPhone, and I wanted a backup timer) I ran for 2.55 miles, averaging 5mph, for 30-and-a-bit minutes. That’s 4.1km!

Bearing in mind how I used to slow down to a walk when the PE teacher was out of sight during cross-country running at school, that’s probably the furthest I’ve run in my entire life 🙂

Anyway. Pretty chuffed. You can see my route here, though I’ve (probably slightly naughtily) taken a snapshot of it for the blog below.

I’m going to carry on with the rest of the C25K, of course, and maybe not push myself past that limit again — but it’s a good feeling to know that I’ve already run for the full half-hour that the plan builds up to, and survived!

Imagery © 2009 DigitalGlobe, Infoterra Ltd & Bluesky, GeoEye, Getmapping plc, The GeoInformation Group. Sourced from Google Maps

I decided to try a little experiment this evening. Was my cheerful, bouncy performance on the last run because I’m getting better, or because of the different route I took?

So, I went back to the old route, along the towpath. I also took my venerable Garmin eTrex along with me again.

And I’m pleased to report that it wasn’t the route on Saturday that made me feel like I could go faster and carry on quite cheerfully all the way to the end!

This evening I bounced through the towpath run with similar alacrity, and set a new personal best, I think (although I’ve not measured all my runs, I’d be surprised if the one 25-minute run I didn’t measure was a good one.)

On this route (via Gmaps pedometer) I got a little further along the towpath than ever before, and the eTrex confirms my overall speed as 5.1mph, which is a shade higher than any previous average speed I’ve managed, breaking 5mph for the first time.

I guess the 8mph max speed was done on a downhill stretch, possibly the ramp down from the flyover at the beginning 🙂

The Garmin (more accurate than the Gmaps pedometer, I guess, as it knows exactly where I ran) says the overall distance was 2.15 miles, or 3.46 kilometers. So, rounding up, I can run 3.5km in 25 minutes, which seems pretty good to me. A bit of arithmetic tells me I’d be able to run 5K in 35 minutes, keeping up that pace.

Anyway. I also felt pretty damn fine after the running (especially after the shower!) So, I reckon I’ve broken through the first plateau, and got to the point where I’m starting to enjoy the running itself, as well as the “having finished running” — previously my favourite part by far 🙂

Well now that, that was a doddle. Really. Week 7, Run 1, done.

Today I decided to try a different route for the first time — not wildly different in direction, though, just along the other side of the river. Here’s the route on Gmaps Pedometer.

But it’s amazing what kind of difference the width of a river makes. On the north side of the Avon is the A4, a main route leading from the west of Bristol, where I live, out north and west towards Avonmouth — and then perhaps to Wales, if you join the M49, or down south towards Devon and Cornwall if you join the M5.

As you’d expect, then, it’s far from the pleasant little towpath on the south side. But with the drawbacks — traffic and tarmac — come some pluses, with street lighting, a wide pavement, and a lack of big puddles. I figure this will make a good fallback route as autumn kicks in.

Whether it was the change of route, me getting better at running, or just a particularly good day, I did well. I don’t think I was any faster or slower than last time — my venerable old Garmin eTrex that I carried along says I averaged about 4.8mph, which is about the same. But I paced myself better, and had enough bounce left in me to actually speed up a bit for the way back after the halfway point.

And it was all pretty enjoyable, the whole way through. I felt I had easily enough left in me to shove another five minutes on to the end, if I’d felt like it.

But I shall stick to the plan. There’s plenty of time to push up to half an hour, and there’s always the possibility that I’ll have an off day at some point, just like this was an “on” day…

One interesting point about my new route — I passed a seven mile marker. Not a personal one, mind, but one that’s been put in place for the Bristol Half Marathon, which is happening tomorrow. Good job I ran today; wouldn’t want to get sucked into that by accident. While I felt like I could carry on, I certainly wouldn’t last another 11 miles!

Well, that was wet. The heaviest rain I’ve ever run in, for sure, and I must definitely find a non-towpath route so I can avoid big puddles in weather like this! I was soaked, and my shoes and socks definitely weighed a fair bit more at the end of the run than they did at the beginning…

On the plus side, the twenty-five minute Week 6, Run 3 of the C25K is done and dusted. And it actually seemed easier than the twenty minute run of Week 5. It was certainly easier at the beginning, although I think I was equally knackered and just-plodding-on by the end.

I think I went a little too fast for the first half, too; must definitely try to pace myself a bit better. But Thea Gilmore’s Mainstream just bounced me into it, really. Luckily the slightly slower ska beat of The Clash came along for the last half to keep me going.

Today is definitely the furthest I’ve run. Working it out on Gmaps Pedometer (clicking there should actually take you to my specific route), I reckon today’s run was a bit over two miles, or three and a half kilometres, in twenty five minutes. I’m happy with that, and I’m even happier that the first half was actually not just slogging through the rain, but quite cheerful jogging in the rain.

Anyway. Back now, and much more cheerful now I’ve dived through a nice warm shower and into my carefully-prepared bathrobe and green monster slippers. There’s nothing like a bit of home comfort to welcome you back after a run.

Just a quick update, today, as it’s late. It’s a Bank Holiday here in the UK, and I used it for the traditional British Bank Holiday pastime — DIY.

So, I didn’t get out for my run until late: after I’d finished wallpapering. Now I’ve tidied up, it’s almost bedtime.

I should sleep well, because I’m a bit knackered. All day DIY followed by Week 6, Run 2 of the Couch to 5K will do that to a person! Today’s two ten-minute runs took me further down the towpath than I’ve ever managed before, I think. I may have been going a touch faster than usual.

But like I said the other day, I’m not concentrating on speed at the moment. I’m just going to keep plugging away at the C25K, and maybe start looking at my speed once I’m at the end of the plan.

Anyway. Bedtime. Must make sure I’m nice and awake for Wednesday: that’s a single 25-minute run!

Well, I won’t pretend that was anything other than a long, damp slog. It’s raining out there, my left hip is sore, and my energy levels weren’t fantastic.

But I feel quite a sense of accomplishment now, I’ve got to say. Today was the final run of Week 5 in the C25K. It’s the first day with a single, uninterrupted run, of twenty minutes.

And I did it. I was really flagging towards the end, but luckily I was close enough to the end when my energy ran out that sheer bloody-mindedness saw me through.

That, and a fine playlist, this time generated by the iTunes Genius, rather than Tangerine, based on PJ Harvey’s fantastic modern lovesong, This is Love, and passing through such classics as Sorted for E’s & Wizz, Ever Fallen in Love and Placebo’s Nancy Boy. This was fab running fodder, and I’m going to dig it out again the next time I feel like I really need something to keep me putting one foot in front of the other.

Anyway. I’d best go have a shower. With a big smile on my face. Today, it seems, the satisfaction has more been about the destination than about the getting there, but that seems to change from run to run, so who knows what next time will bring?