Middle aged man May running challenge

[MOBB]

I've done a bit of a challenge for May, thought I'd stick details on here if anyone was interested in my progress :-)

I'm 50 next month, 15 stone 3lbs (1st May) and always been a bit lazy, unfit etc - my glory year was 2018 where I managed to get down to 13.5 stone and run a 24.58 5k, which to me was a major achievement.

My challenge for May is to run 100km in the month - not major by decent runner standards but to me its quite a bit as I usually do the occasional parkrun and not much more, other than quite a bit of cycling/e-cycling.

To achieve 100km I planned this;

- 4 parkruns in May
- a weekly "slow" run of about 7km
- a mile every day, gradually increasing my pace by 0.1mph each day. Starting mile time would be 9.40 and finishing mile would be 6.58 <gulp>

My fastest ever mile was 7.36 during a 26 minute parkrun in 2018.

Lets see how I go!

edit - all done on a treadmill at home except parkruns

Edited by MOBB on Monday 23 May 09:20

[egor110]

Good luck.

Word of warning though upping mileage and speed isn't a good idea.

Break your 100k up into smaller weekly chunks and just hit your mileage targets don't worry about speed , that'll come as you get lighter but that's more diet based than activity.

[MOBB]

Week 1

1 mile times;

1st 9.39
2nd 9.34
3rd 9.26
4th 9.18
5th 9.09
6th 8.58
7th 8.52

Slow run 7km 47.30 - this was extremely tough, kind of broke me :-0

Park run time 33.01 - felt fairly good but my calves cramped up for a couple of km in the middle

Weight 14.10 :-)

[MOBB]

egor110 said:

Good luck.

Word of warning though upping mileage and speed isn't a good idea.

Break your 100k up into smaller weekly chunks and just hit your mileage targets don't worry about speed , that'll come as you get lighter but that's more diet based than activity.

Cheers - I'm finding this out to my cost..........see below

[MOBB]

Week 2

1 mile times;

8th 8.42
9th 8.35
10th 8.29
11th 8.22
12th 8.14
13th 8.13
14th Didnt do my mile as parkrun kackered me out a fair bit!

Slow run 7km 52.12 - after some online advice I slowed this run down a fair bit, and what a revelation - actually enjoyed it sort of!

Park run time 28.29 - felt fairly tired but my calves were ok this time

Weight 14.7 :-)

Starting to feel very tired generally, and a bit sore genrally

[MOBB]

Week 3

1 mile times;

15th 8.08
16th 8.01
17th Didnt do my mile as I felt dead
18th 7.56
19th 7.50
20th 7.44
21st 7.37

Mile pace is now tough to maintain, but I havent failed yet!

Slow run 8km 59.53 - felt great so carried on til the hour mark

Park run time 27.58 - this was strange to me - first km or so I felt very lethargic but pace was ok, as I progressed I felt stronger and stronger running negative splits, finishing at close to 25.30 pace and had some in reserve!

Weight 14.6 - bit disappointing but I do feel like I'm storing water or something

Feeling more sore in the legs despite foam rolling etc. But will push on

Edited by MOBB on Monday 23 May 09:18

Edited by MOBB on Monday 23 May 09:19

[MOBB]

Week 4

1 mile times;

22nd 7.31 - new pb yay
23rd 7.26 - not sure how much more I’ve got!
24th 7.19
25th 7.14
26th didn’t run the mile as I did 10k instead
27th 7.09
28th didn’t run a mile due to a rough parkrun effort

Slow run 10k - 1.13.00

Parkrun 26.57

Weight 14.4

Edited by MOBB on Sunday 29th May 10:22

[Skyedriver]

Good lad, as above don't try to boost speed & distance although varying the distances to do faster short runs sounds OK but there again I'm no expert.
How are you doing the 9 min miles (or less) but 33min Parkrun? Parkrun should be around 27 mins at that pace.

[MOBB]

That parkrun was a painful one lol, I’ve done a 27.58 since then thankfully and felt strong

[Skyedriver]

Parkruns can vary so much. Tarmac or gravel or grass. Flat or hilly
My local (Ganavan Sands) is a tarmac cycle track with a lot of (very) steep gradients, compared to the likes of Darlington or Chester le Street which are virtually flat.

[MOBB]

Starting to think my sub 7 minute mile might be on, my 7.19 was tough but I didn’t fail :-)

[MOBB]

Skyedriver said:

Parkruns can vary so much. Tarmac or gravel or grass. Flat or hilly
My local (Ganavan Sands) is a tarmac cycle track with a lot of (very) steep gradients, compared to the likes of Darlington or Chester le Street which are virtually flat.

My local one is flat trail/tarmac, lovely :-)

[MOBB]

4 days left, 7.09 today felt nearly flat out

I think I can do it though

[MOBB]

Parkrun 26.57 today, first sub 27 since 2018, May nearly over phew

[BoRED S2upid]

MOBB said:

Parkrun 26.57 today, first sub 27 since 2018, May nearly over phew

Good effort! What’s next? Same next month? A yearly target?

[MOBB]

BoRED S2upid said:

MOBB said:

Parkrun 26.57 today, first sub 27 since 2018, May nearly over phew

Good effort! What’s next? Same next month? A yearly target?

June will be swap the daily 1 mile efforts for 2x weekly intervals sessions of some kind - plus parkrun and a slow 10k day.

Will give me 3 rest days and less chance of injury lol.

Its been really interesting as I now know what my max effort current is (7 min mile) and that a long slow run is way more enjoyable than I feared it might be.

Lost 13lbs too :-) But still 2 stone to lose really to be considered a runner I would say

[MOBB]

7.04 this morning, tough but still didn’t fail

2 days left, planning my first sub 7 attempt tomorrow am, then a slow 10k tomorrow evening, then a final max effort mile to see what I can do flat out

[egor110]

Got any plans to do a half/full marathon or ultra ?

[MOBB]

Possibly, not been on my radar until recently but would need to shift weight first

[MOBB]

6.59 this morning woohoo!!!!