Acceptance
I’m getting older. There’s no point trying to deny it. In a little over 12 months, I’ll have been on this planet for half a century. That’s a long time. One thing that comes with getting older is learning to live with new realities. Like accepting that a big night out means a big week in. Like the fact that I have aches and pains in places that I didn’t know existed. And like the fact that PBs are a thing of the past. What I don’t have to accept – not yet anyway – is that I have to stop running. I just have to change how I run, reconsider what I want from running, and do more yoga and strength and conditioning. I’ve accepted that – even if I don’t necessarily stick to it.
GTPS
If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that I’ve been dealing with a chronic complaint for the past few years. As far as this blog is concerned, it’s the thing I’ve written about the most and the reason I’m writing much less often. At times, it has weighed heavily on my mental health and, indirectly, it weighs heavily around my middle. As I sit here in Worthing’s Coast Cafe, half-watching a mad spaniel barking at the sea, I feel a familiar pain in my thigh, reminding me that I need to move soon or I’ll have an uncomfortable couple of hours to contend with. That’s another thing I’ve had to accept, that even sitting down can be uncomfortable nowadays.
My previous return to running ended with a calf strain that highlighted my lack of patience. My latest effort has been more controlled, if a little frustrating at times. That’s because my latest effort has been guided by an approach typically associated with new runners. Inspired by my wife and my step daughter, I’ve been following the Couch to 5k plan. It didn’t happen easily, but I’ve come to accept that, at almost 50, I can’t just throw myself back into my running like I used to. Whether my body will fully accept this approach is still to be seen. At the time of writing, the jury is out and I’m not sure if I’m ready to accept their verdict.
So, what is Couch to 5k?
Couch to 5k is a nine week programme designed to get you from no-running to being able to run for 30 minutes non-stop. You don’t have to run 5k in those 30 minutes. In fact, the UK average for 5k is 33 minutes, so a lot of Ordinary Runners won’t be able to. You do three runs a week, each of which blends running and walking (also known as jeffing, which is a topic for another post), with the intensity building throughout the programme. From week seven, the jeffing is over and you’re given a target of 25 minutes non-stop jogging. This gradually builds to half an hour over the remaining days.
Stop jeffing about
Each run starts with a brisk five minute walk, to get your legs moving and your heart pumping. Each run also ends with a five minute walk, to cool down to stop those pins from seizing up. In week one you do 60 seconds running followed by 90 seconds walking, repeated nine times. Week two’s sessions involve five lots of 90 seconds running and two minutes walking. In week three, you get up to three minutes of continuous running, which steps up to five minutes in week four. By the end of week five, you’re hitting 20 minutes of non-stop running. By the end of week six you’re invited to run for 25 minutes without any walking.
There’s an app that, in the UK at least, is voiced by a selection of former athletes and various celebrities. I’ve tried most of the voices to see which is most motivating, finally settling on the dulcet tones of Geordie comedian Sarah Millican. You can play tunes at the same time as using the app, with an option to drop the music volume to accommodate the voiceover. It generally works well, with clear instructions and gentle motivation to keep you moving. And it’s completely free to download and use (without any adverts to get on your nerves), funded by the NHS.
It started earlier than you think
Hands up who thought that Couch to 5k was a new thing? I definitely did. At least, I assumed it was relatively new. I certainly didn’t think that it was invented in the ‘90s. In fact, the only running I thought was new for the 90s was the running man (the dance, not the film). Apparently, that craze comes from the ‘80s. In case you were wondering, the film is also from the 80s, although I was less surprised about that.
Painful, dreary, horrible
Anyway, in 1996, an American by the name of Josh Clark turned to running to deal with a break up. Like many people, he found it tough. To deal with the “painful, dreary, horrible ramp up” that he suffered in the early weeks, Josh looked for a gentler approach. One that might help others get into running with much less of the discomfort that he’d suffered.
Having stumbled onto interval training, Josh created a plan to help people to go from zero to runner in nine weeks. He wanted a way of “introducing new stress and ability into the body” without causing the sort of injury you might otherwise suffer if you just popped on a pair of shoes and started pounding the pavements. At the same time, he built a website to tell everyone what he’d learned. By his own admission, it wasn’t until the mid-noughties – after he had created an online forum – that it started to find some popularity. And what popularity it found.
It’s impossible to know how many people have followed the Couch to 5k programme over the years. In this short film, Josh estimates that number at being in the millions, if not tens of millions. And it’s not just new runners who use this gentle approach to running. Having previously been a keen runner at school, I made my first comeback in 2008. Although I’m not a “new runner,” I’ve found Couch to 5k to be a great way of easing back into it. At least, to begin with. It hasn’t all been plain sailing.
What do I think of Couch to 5k?
I know I’m not your typical Couch to 5k-er and at first I found it hugely frustrating. A minute would flash by in what felt like a few seconds and I’d reluctantly slow to walking in between each insignificant bout of running. The 90 second walks would feel like a lifetime and I’d be itching to stretch my legs again, knowing that I’d barely get moving before I’d have to reign it back in. Even the five minute runs of week four seemed insufficient. However, as the periods of non-stop pavement pounding started building, I began to appreciate the slow build.
As I write this, I’m up to week seven, with three 25 minute runs ahead of me. My last run was a week ago and my legs are grumbling. The old familiar pain has settled back into my thigh and my left calf feels tighter than a gnat’s fanny.
Put your feet up
With winter beginning to bite here in Southern England, it’s tempting to put my trainers away and put my feet up for a while. It certainly feels like the sensible choice. I might even listen to my body and let myself recover for once. I’ve become accustomed to not running over the past few years, so another week or two won’t hurt. Gone are the days when not running makes me unbearable.
Perhaps that’s another factor of getting old – learning to accept my limitations and be comfortable with what my body is telling me. Right now, it’s telling me that it wants rest. I can always repeat a previous week of Couch to 5k. In fact, that’s implicit in the programme – you can redo any week as many times as you need. There’s no judgement and no expectation. In fact, it’s yours to do with as you wish, and to me, that’s more than acceptable.
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