brand new to running, 6 month goal - 10kg

hey RW,

I've just started running last week to incorporate into training for my chosen focus sport; boxing. I used to play basketball until around 4 years ago but never did specific running then, plus i got injuries in both knees which put me off pavement running and stopped me playing.

I figured I've always been interested in physiology so have started this new journey with a baseline, and had a VO2 Max, lactate threshold and body composition test done, and awaiting the results now. my first jog was 3 times around the local park which I worked out was around 3 miles, completed in approx 25 mins.

going from the NHS basic bmi calculations I'm overweight, sitting at 90kg and 187cm tall and am around 23% body fat according to a biometric impedance device. I want to get to a competing fitness and skill level in boxing and giving myself 6 months to get down 10kg to be comfortably inside light heavyweight category (81kg Max) so am doing running to optimise calorie expenditure and improve that fitness.  A combination of 'roadwork' and sprints.

any advice to prevent old knee injuries coming back? I run with forefoot striking style, mainly because in boxing we're to be on the balls of our feet, but also I've heard it decreases the stress on knees (but can lead to tight calves without pre/post stretching).  I will join park run I think, as that kind of distance seems manageable to start off with.

thanks, Leon

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  • Hi cleanerleon,



    I have just lost 20kg in six months. Unfortunately, I have just got a dose of runners knee. In hindsight, I should have built up my distance more slowly instead of going balls out. Strangely, my knee injury occurred when I bought new trainers. For a change, I went to Sweatshop to get a full gait analysis. I used another shop previously to this who recommended support trainers. When the staff at Sweatshop stated I had a neutral gait now and didn't over pronate, I questioned them. Anyway, on my second run out, my knee went. That's me out of running for a month at least!

    My suggestion to you is get a professional gait analysis and buy appropriate trainers. The staff at my gym are having me strengthen my upper legs, as these muscles support the knee. As a boxer, I guess you do these anyway.

    As for weight loss, I cut out the carbs and sweet stuff. It worked for me.

    By the way, the park runs are great.

    Cheers

    Dave
  • Errr I think you run a 10km not a 10kg image 

  • I think the OP meant that his goal is to drop 10kg to weigh 80kg. I don't think he was specific about running a particular distance. I would definitely recommend parkrun, its totally free and a great way to meet like-minded people
  • Sorry... I knew that, it's just running purely to loose weight isn't the way to run, and frankly you don't loose enough calories to do it, you can loose weight easier by going on some high intensity kit in a gym and loose a lot more calories per hour. 

    Running combined with a good diet, but then anything combined with a good diet should work, the diet is the key to loosing weight not the running.

    the running allows you to be a bit more flexible with the diet. 

  • wow good work on dropping 20kg.  Indeed it is 10kg and not 10km that is my 6 month target.

    I've also purchased a HRM to effectively make use of the VO2 max & lactate threshold information I'll be getting this week.

    so dave, you encountered problems going from supported to neutral trainers or was it the other way around?

    thanks

  • true booktrunk, doing anything purely to 'lose weight' is usually a back to front way of making goals I know, as weight loss is usually the consequence of staying focussed and meeting other specific training goals (eg. running 10k in under x amount of time, etc) but unique to me is that I need to be down to my fighting weight before I know how I'll be for boxing in terms of strength/stamina.

    I take on board the HIIT advice, and this is something I already do, but it doesn't stop me feeling completely gassed after a few rounds, so although the calorie expenditure might not be as maximal, I really want to improve my heart and lungs to deal with prolonged exertion.  It seems striking a balance, as with anything, yields the most useful results.

    Getting my breathing right is a huge goal for me, and I will eventually be training with a gumshield to replicate the breathing conditions of a fight, its a lot harder.

    Having never done it, I do find I've enjoyed the few runs I've done, a good sense of achievement and a desire to get faster and further. 

  • the lower the weight the better... as you say, it's striking the right balance. But motivation is failing me at the moment. I'm happy enough to maintain for now, run and eat what I want!

  • I've now started doing the park run, it's the longest distance I've ever done on a single run but I've enjoyed it so far. My first time was 23 something but I was behind lots of people as a first timer at the start. This week I made sure to get a start at the front and dropped the time to 20 n half mins. I spent a while at the beginning messing about with the mp3 player so I can do better still.



    It's a lot more enjoyable running with other people and having someone in front to try keep up with.
  • Visiting back after a long hiatus.

    I continued with the park run, only with running the actual park run 5k and one mid week 5k I got my time down to a PB of 18:59 in May 2015.

    That was a huge goal met, and I also got down in weight to 79.5kg although never got to compete in boxing due to a nose injury which required surgery.

    I've since started back again, and hoping to regain and surpass previous form. I'm already back running under 19 mins for the 5k on the treadmill @ 1% incline but I cant seem to manage a sub 20 outdoors. Park Run times are at 22+.

    Maybe its mileage I need to look at increasing now? and being a bit older now at 31, perhaps age 27/28 was my peak. I managed huge reductions in times just through mainly running the same race faster each week, though that approach may not work now.
  • LOLZ - peaking at 27/28 indeed.

    Even if you were training to the best of your ability you wouldnt peak at 28. How old is Mo ?

    Well done on your running though - that time is excellent. 

    What kind of training are you doing ? 

    How many miles per run and what kind of pace ? How many times per week. 
  • Haha it sure feels like I've slipped off some kind of peak and sliding down the other side now, but maybe that's everyone when they hit the first age milestone of 30, I've got a few to go yet but the recovery ability of my early days feels long gone (hangovers included!).

    At the moment I'm doing only around 10mpw and I've never really ran more than the 5k in one go which I do as fast as I can every other day, be it outdoors (20ish 5k) if I'm on land, or sketchily on a treadmill (sub 19 5k) when on the ship I work on.  

    Time is the biggest restriction, long shifts mean getting to put aside only half an hour or so for daily exercise including warming up and stretching.  The longest I've ever physically ran in one go would be a 10k town race, finished in 43 something, but I feel it could have been a bit faster but 1000s of people meant the first few minutes barely jogging until it thinned out.

    Everything I'm reading is talking about much doing higher volumes (30-40mpw) than what I am doing now, even in articles about getting down to times I'm already achieving. I will be looking to bring the pace down and increase mileage, perhaps with a running group though
  • If you only ever run 5k distances then you will always be at a disadvantage.

    Time can't really be that much of an issue surely - even an extra mile per run would be less than an extra 10 minutes. 

    If you can find the time to get some longer and easy runs in - I'm sure you'll see better performance for it. 

    If all my runs were 5k then I'd probably have stopped running. It takes me at least two miles to warm up !
  • Glad to found your thread here. I'm also new to Runnersworld.
  • GuarddogGuarddog ✭✭✭
    At the moment I'm doing only around 10mpw and I've never really ran more than the 5k in one go which I do as fast as I can every other day, be it outdoors (20ish 5k) if I'm on land, or sketchily on a treadmill (sub 19 5k) when on the ship I work on.  
    I'd be seriously pleased with times like those for 5K, although I'm giving you over 20 years :smile:

    Might not be a case of having to do more miles, but it's what you do with your training that would count. Doing 5K effectively balls out each time is probably not going to increase your speed. And it's speed you're looking for.

    You obviously have the stamina for both 5K and 10K, judging by your 10K time as well. I'd suggest incorporating intervals, progressions and thresholds into your training. You can do that over the same time time period you have now. It just shakes up the training a bit, but it will help with the speed.

    Remember to fit in an easy recovery session in between as well.
  • hi RW, checking back in again, some journey this has been

    Last I was here in mid 2018 I was trying to get back to a sub 20 5k, having achieved 18:59 PB in a 2015 park run and simply couldn't seem to get anywhere near it.

    Well, I got back down to around 80kg in Jan 2019 (188cm tall) and with that lower bodyweight, managed, with a slightly more efficient running technique (though still didn't increase my weekly/each run mileage) and to get my best down to:

    First time 1st Place Parkrun in Feb 2019 out of 400 runners.
    16:34 Treadmill 5k - Jul 2019
    18:03 Parkrun 5k - Sept 2019 (was really trying to get under 18 mins outdoor 5k all summer)

    Then went on holiday straight after that parkrun PB in Sept, ate what I wanted, then had a big kitchen renovation and as winter set in near enough stopped running, stopped most activity actually and gained all the weight back and then some over christmas.

    I sadly now sit back pretty much at square one at the start of this thread, 92kg, with outdoor 5k's at 22-23mins, but with lockdown coming in, and the weather breaking, I've started enjoying running again as a mean of escaping the house! Start trail running as there's a really nice 10k total trail run close to my house, which I'm managing in around 55mins. Its frustrating to know I used to run much faster, but perhaps this increase in distance and the strength benefits of trail running will help get my bodyweight back down faster and be an even better runner than before. My goal is by the end of summer, to get an gps outdoor sub 18min 5k. Parkruns may not be operating still, so we'll just have to see.
  • Dropping back in, 6 weeks since that last post, and now almost 10kg lighter (82.5kg), my first half marathon under my belt (first time running more than 10k) and 5k times continue to tumble, current best GPS/footpod based 5k @ 18:34. With a few more kilo's shifted and some proper running training utilising hill sprints, threshold and tempo runs and a weekly easy 10 mile long run trail, I think I'll have that sub-18 5k this summer.

    It is amazing what the food tracking with myfitnesspal has done, coupled with plenty of running. I started it at the time of that last post, around 6 weeks ago, and while my thread title had been to drop 10kg in 6 months, it is absolutely possible to do so in a much shorter time utilising running with strict food tracking, setting the goal to 1kg loss per week as if sedentary, but not giving myself extra calories based on exercise done that day. Keeping a high protein intake despite low calories (40% of ~1800 daily cals) which seem to have kept my recovery going alright.

    Very happy with the lockdown progress made. Purchased a garmin forerunner 645 music so no phone needed and paired it with a stryd footpod to see what training with power could be like. Hope to update this with a weight goal of 79kg met, and a sub-18 5k time
  • Another check in at approx 6 weeks, and I have managed to tick off a few long term goals

    -got back down to under 80kg where I seem to run my best

    -finally achieved a sub 18 5K, and by quite a margin with a new PB of 17:17 albeit on a very forgiving flat seaside route, but outdoors all the same.

    -achieved a sub 1hr30 half marathon outdoor distance, again with the advantage of a flat route but only the second time going this distance so very happy.

    Next goals are to maintain this pace and stay under 80kg unless increasing muscle mass which might happen as I'll be beginning resistance training alongside the running

    <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6027274/uploads/editor/hj/ghz9n3imh7jm.jpg" alt="">

    <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6027274/uploads/editor/yk/3wyyetkelfe6.jpg" alt="">
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