Runners return: Phase 5 - the final block
Most of this phase was pretty different to what had come before. Instead of running on a track and using dumbbells, I was mostly back running on London streets and had a yoga mat.
This was my final fortnight block in my 10-week programme to get me back to running for 30 minutes plus continuously again.
In this block, the running parts of my run/walk split were 5 minutes long, followed by 1 minute of walking - and then repeating this for 6 blocks. This means a total of 30 minutes of running in each workout, completed two times in each week. In between, there are lower activity days, and some days devoted to strength, stretching and core work too.
The other side of the world
The interesting change-up that I had to factor in was a very long-haul flight after the first run from New Zealand to the UK, a stay at a hotel for the first few days, and two of the following runs happening on London suburban streets, navigating most cracked paving stones and cars half-parked on the kerbs. It may not sound like much, but it’s a very different environment to running around an athletics track. A lot more opportunity to trip up, for sure.
I also didn’t have access to any weights, so I nipped out to Decathlon and bought a foldable exercise mat and stuck to bodyweight strength exercises along with core / yoga work.
Here’s what the fortnight looked like, followed by Phase 4 for comparison. Compare it with Phase 3 and Phase 2 if you like. And here’s where I started with Phase 1.
Fifth 14-day block of workouts
Fourth 14-day block of workouts
Analysis
With the long haul flight, staying 4 days in a small hotel room on arrival, and then in a small bedroom in my parents’ place with no equipment, this final phase looks quite different to Phase 4:
I really focused on getting my runs in, but had to be more flexible about how and when I did them. That included throwing a Parkrun event in, but following a run/walk strategy close to what I had been doing in previous phases, as I coached my 11-year-old daughter through her first 5k run. Read more about that here, and see the direct Facebook post from Southall Parkrun here.
In a small enclosed space, it was easier to keep my core workouts up, but I was limited to bodyweight only for strength workouts.
Yoga workouts took a bit of a hit, but still kept up a minimum level
Walking workouts increased, partly because they were easier to do than anything else. And that’s ok when circumstances change.
The end?
Of this little programme, yes. And mission accomplished too.
Despite a couple of little niggles, I was flexible enough with the plan that I could throw in a couple of extra rest days / lower intensity when I needed to in order to reduce the risk of anything getting out of hand. And I finished strong, even managing to keep the programme going during a trip to the other side of the planet.
That’s got to be satisfying, right?
Next, I’ll tell you how I put my training to the test: I ran a time trial 5k race at Parkrun the following week.
Stay tuned next week to find out how I did.