What next?

So, I'm 40 year old male.
In October I decided I was going to try and get my fitness up by attempting to start running.
I downloaded to c25k APP and it was difficult, but I managed to complete it.
Now I seem to have gotten a bit of a thing for running, I'm not fast by any stretch (Never have been) but I've been trying to get out 3x per week. Tuesdays/Thursdays and Sundays. Unfortunately, I can only get in 3 miles on the Tuesday due to commitments with children/work however I can get out longer for Thursdays and Sundays. Today for the first time I did 7.25 miles, I wasn't aiming for this distance it was just the route I'd chosen came out at this distance.
I'd only ever done 6 miles previously 2 weeks ago. This took me 1hr 16 minutes, and I was concentrating on my heart rate being about 140-150 BPM.
I found I can do 4 miles then I have to walk for a small amount (2/3 minutes) before I can run again.

The question is do I keep at this small mileage (Massive for me) until I can do this none stop or do I try and go a little further?

Thanks
Redleader

Comments

  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Enter a 10km race, say in a couple of months, you're doing enough mileage to train for that.   

    However, if you're running 4 miles then having to walk then you're running too fast in your training runs.  So focus on keeping the pace down in your longer runs and not walking.   

    Pull off a training plan for a 10km that you can adapt to your life schedule.
  • Thanks a lot shades, I found it really difficult to keep my speed down, which I thought would have been much easier. I assume I can find a plan on here somewhere?
  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Instinctively when we take up running our brains want us to run faster than our lungs and legs are able to.   It can take a while to discipline yourself to run slower and therefore be able to run longer.   It's the slower running that will build and strengthen your aerobic system.

    I'm sure there are some 10km plans on RW, if not should be plenty on the internet.   Find one that you like the look of and want to do.
  • > @SHADES said:
    > Instinctively when we take up running our brains want us to run faster than our lungs and legs are able to.   It can take a while to discipline yourself to run slower and therefore be able to run longer.   It's the slower running that will build and strengthen your aerobic system.
    >
    > I'm sure there are some 10km plans on RW, if not should be plenty on the internet.   Find one that you like the look of and want to do.


    Again, thanks a lot. It makes sense really that my brain thinks it can go faster than I actually can.
    Its a lot harder than I thought it would be to run slow.
  • Hey Redleader
    I had a similar situation to you and found that using a running watch really helped - it's helpful for wanting to run fast enough, but also for checking you're not running too fast. It enables you to plan your pace from the comfort of your phone/computer then stick to your timings to make sure you run the whole way.
    You may know all this already... you just didn't mention a watch in your post.
    Hope this helps anyway!
    Cheers
    Tom
  • <blockquote class="Quote">
    <div class="QuoteAuthor"><a href="/profile/Redleader1603">Redleader1603</a> said:</div>
    <div class="QuoteText">Thanks a lot shades, I found it really difficult to keep my speed down, which I thought would have been much easier. I assume I can find a plan on here somewhere?</div>
    </blockquote>
    Morning, I’m in a similar position that you were in; just finished couch to 5k now looking for a training plan for 10K. Did you find anything that you could recommend?
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