5x50 - Now it is Over

I am finally sitting down to write about my 5x50 challenge. I could not decide how often to blog and I didn't want to bombard people with blow by blow accounts throughout; in hindsight I should have written more along the way. It does however feel like a good time now to sit down and look back on it all. It is fair to say that it did not go as I had planned, but I did complete 5K a day for 50 days. I also kept a diary throughout along with distances completed, and the crazy messages I sent to friends, so it is nice to use that to reflect.

The Good

I got off to a really strong start. We had 10 days of clear dry weather and I started by beating my personal best. I managed quite a few jogs that had a timed mile in the middle. My best being a 10 minute 9 second mile. On Day 46 I beat my Personal Best time and dropped below 33 minutes with a 32:50.

I am lucky to have had some pretty routes and due to circumstances there were quite a few night walks. There is something quite soothing about wandering around a quiet village at night, and there were some stunning nights with really bright moons and shooting stars. There were also nights with cheesy music on my MP3 player when I pretty much danced down the street zig-zagging to add distance to my pedometer. I am still hoping that I was not spotted!

I also managed to get the weather to do some fantastic family walks. These were over 5K in distance and had the added bonus of  my daughter in the carrier on my back to add to the workout! The two of these that stood out were Eshaness and Hermaness.

A walk around Hermaness was the most Northerly UK 5x50 at that point in time.

The Bad

On Day 16 I woke up with a start and pulled a muscle in my neck and shoulder. This caused me a lot of pain and I felt rubbish having taken ibuprofen. I managed to alternate between gentle walks and slow jogs but felt awful if I did too much or didn't move it enough. It is amazing how much of your body you use when you jog. I thought I might be okay because my legs worked but I was very wrong!

I then managed to catch a really nasty cold which just would not leave my chest. It was the most frustrating thing as I would jog so far and then just end up coughing and unable to breathe. I felt like it was an excuse but I just could not do it. This is where I got really frustrated with a lot of the motivational posts by 5x50 as they often spoke about the biggest battle being in your mind, where as at that point in time my battle was most certainly with my lungs!

The Ugly

It is hard to write about the "ugly" bits without talking about the Shetland weather. I was incredibly lucky for the first week and a half to get calm dry jogs. There were days where the weather was far less kind, although this year I only got caught in one hail storm compared to four last year. I find really windy days the hardest. At times Shetland seems to have magical wind because if you are jogging and the wind is in your face you think 'Well at least it will be at my back soon'. Then you turn in the run and it is somehow still in your face - magic!

There were also days when we had really strong gales. There was one weekend when I decided it was too windy to jog and walking in the wind was so slow that I managed an average of 17.5 minutes a mile, which is slow by any standards. Although there were wet days, I didn't mind them as much as windy days. In some ways I prefer a rainy jog, it feels like a bigger achievement and there are less people about. The other thing is that if I am jogging on a bright calm day I think how lovely it would be to be walking. If  I am jogging on an awful rainy day then I am pleased to be going as fast as my little legs will carry me!

There were also days where it came down to factors beyond my control and they are frustrating especially if you have started strong. For me the worst of these was getting caught out by road works and having to cross the road and jog through dust. It is hard to keep going when you know that your time is slipping and there is nothing you can do about it.

The hardest part of it all was after being ill/injured knowing that I could not make my targets. I was feeling better but deflated and demotivated. One of the most difficult parts of this years challenge was to get back up and finish the way I started, but I managed the final push and I am really pleased that I did.

The Stats

330 Km in total
23 jogs
37 walks
Personal best 5K time
Most Northerly 5K in the UK done.

And now....

I am focusing on the fact that I did 5K every day for 50 days. I did not beat last year's number of jogs or total distance but I did beat times. There were days where I walked and I should have jogged but without the challenge that time would have been spent curled up in a ball feeling sorry for myself. I did it and I am glad that I did. Next year I will do it again and I will try again to beat targets. Since finishing I have made sure that I am active every day although some days the 5K has been replaced by other activities. I am also training for a 10K and time will tell how that goes. It would have been nice to write a blog ticking off all of my goals but life does not work that way. I am however, writing a blog as somebody who can run faster and is healthier than I was 4 months ago.

One Down, Forty-Nine to go - 5x50 Begins

Today was my first 5x50 day. The Shetland weather was kind to me bringing a glorious spring day with bright sunshine and no gales.  I had completed Week 8 of my 'Couch to 5K' and Week 9 was to run for 30 minutes, so I decided to jump full force into my 5K as I was feeling ready - or as ready as possible. It was my first full Sandwick route this year; the Sandwick route is the harder of my two routes as it has a slight hill. I say 'slight' as  if you are driving or walking you don't notice it, but running up it gets you right in the calves. I think that Day 1 is both the hardest and the easiest. It's difficult because it is the point of no return, and is also a long way from the end, but on the other hand it is exciting to start a new challenge and the ache from lots of consecutive runs has not set in.

The jog itself was good, the hill section hurt but I found about a minute in my last stretch where everything came together and I felt like I was running without thinking about it, and it felt faster than normal. I have no idea how to recreate this feeling tomorrow but it gives me some hope that my legs can move faster. I am not comparing my times with the end of last years challenge as I am not yet back up to that standard of jogging, but I will be comparing my times to the equivalent day last year. Today's time was 36.08, so still a 12 minute mile, however looking back at last year it was 40 minutes the first day. With a good head start on last year I am hoping to get a few personal bests this time.

With a sunny beach walk in the afternoon I added a 3.3K walk to my tally. They have changed the website for logging this year and I like the extra information given but it is still easy to fill out the activities. The bonus of starting on the day the clocks change to BST is that I found the time to jog, and log... and indeed blog on a day with only 23 hours so the rest will be easy - right?!?

Count down to 5X50 and What is running anyway?

It is now 6 days until the 5x50 challenge starts. This is my second year so in some ways I feel better prepared and I know that I can do it. On the other hand I remember the pain, the weather and the "I just want to hibernate" days from last year. It is a fantastic challenge and the beauty is that you can tailor it to your own goals. I know some people questioned why I needed the challenge; Why not just do it off your own back? I am quite a motivated person but for me having to write down activity and distance on my form pushed me on the really hard days. The on-line system of tracking what you do encourages you to do something and allows you to look back and see how far you have come. I made my challenge about running and walking and added extras on for fun. Felling like you are contributing to a big total helps a lot. The £5 entry fee goes to Sport Relief so you are doing for a good cause too. The forums and social network pages are really fun. There are lots of very fit people doing it but there are even more people that just want to be fitter and that comes across.

I am eager to beat last year so this year :  I want to run more than 30 days and walk the rest.
                                                               I want to cover more than 400Km in total.
                                                               I want to reach 250Km before day 37.
                                                               I want to do a 5K in less than 33 minutes.

For a lot of people this might look easy but they are my goals. I would also like to do the UK's "Most Northerly" 5K as part of my 5x50 challenge. This does depend on the right weather at the weekends. I am also guessing that someone else might have the same idea (if you are reading this - hello).

When I started talking about this last year it opened up a discussion about what running is. I was told by a friend that running is "going under a 10 minute mile". Another friend argues that it is simply "moving faster than you can walk" though that asks questions about speed walking. This was cleared up by a third friend (yes I am that popular...) that said it "is having both feet off the ground during a stride". Laura from the NHS C25K plan said that I was a runner at the end of week 6 when I did 25 minutes without stopping.

I know that this a roadrunner but the rest is confusing!

Roadrunner  by Wilson 44691 - Sourced from Wikimedia commons 

I am now working on preparing for my challenge. As well as all the obvious things like checking my trainers are okay and that I have good high-visibility clothing I am doing a few things that I found helped last year.

I have been using the NHS Couch to 5K plan to get up to distance. I found it really helpful and I am on week eight now (despite my blog updates being behind). It would be a great plan for anybody that wanted to be able to jog 5K at the end of the 5x50 challenge as the rest days would allow walking or 30 minute activities. I think the two would be easy to combine.

I found it important to plan what I wanted to achieve and stick to it. It is nice to have some flexibility but I didn't want to look at my pedometer and think that thanks to a busy morning walking about at work I didn't have to run that day. If you are doing classes or group events then it would be easy to plan and give it a little bit of structure. I also found reaching little goals a good way to break down what felt like a daunting challenge.

I set up a couple of routes depending on where I would be for my run so I have one in Sandwick and one in Lerwick. I used walk jog run to set my routes and check my pace. It is a really easy site to use and free. It took me a little while to get a route just the right length but that was going to be the same no matter how I measured it. I also wear a pedometer during the 5x50 to measure my walking every day and I log that separately.  I find my pedometer is good for my mindset, if I am wearing it I am more likely to park further away from the shops, or vacuum for that matter, as it all adds up.

Clickimin Loch, part of my 5K route in Lerwick

p.s I am pretty sure that I am not a runner ..... yet.

I Am Not "Phoning It In" - Level 1 of 30 Day Shred

Before Christmas I completed "Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred". I developed a strange love/hate relationship with it. I felt the benefits and was pleased to have done it although it really pushed me. I did however feel that I wanted to do it on the harder level.

The shred is really well designed, it is broken into 3 levels. Each level has 3 6-minute circuits which are broken down into 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs work. There is a decent warm up which is effective and gets your heart rate up without wasting time and then there's a good cool down afterwards that allows you to stretch. It is only 20 minutes but it really pushes you. Jillian demonstrates the moves and has two girls behind her, one doing the harder level and the second doing easier modifications. This is good as it allows you to do the full workout even at the beginning but also gives you something to work towards and keeps you motivated. Some of the moves require hand weights, and this allows a second level of challenge as you can increase the weight size. I am still using small weights but would consider increasing the size of them in the future.

I made the decision to complete 10 days at each level. I worry that I would struggle to consider myself happy enough to move up a level, so the 10 days made me push myself. I found the first circuit of level one the hardest. This was good as once that part was done I knew the rest would be better, however it was difficult to throw yourself into. I really struggled with full press-ups last year, so I did it on my knees but I was determined this time to do full press-ups. I had managed this by workout 6 but at the the detriment of the next move. It took until workout 10 to get all of the harder moves to come together. I think that the yoga helped my strength a lot and all of the chaturanga push ups have helped with the standard push ups.

I feel that the first level is a little 'jumping jack' heavy, saying that they are simple effective cardio and easy to follow. She explains that there is no easy modification for jumping jacks as she "has 400lb people who can do jumping jacks".

The music is nothing special but then I find that I am so involved with the workout I don't pay that much attention. Jillian is pushy and has some amazing sayings including "don't phone it in". She pushes you to exercise arms and legs together to burn more calories. Despite the fact that I often find myself muttering expletives she makes you complete the workout. She is strangely encouraging despite sayings such as "if you think you are going to die, follow Anita".

The frequent changes in exercise keep you on your toes and make the workouts go quicker.  It is very hard and by the end I was sweating and shattered but it does start to feel good. You feel that your muscles have been worked and that you have gotten out of breath. She encourages you to work through the difficult parts as that is when change happens. This is a message that comes across in the couch to 5K podcasts as well.

Couch to 5K - Week 5

Week 5 is a really important week, as it goes from three identical runs to three different runs. This is where you make a lot of progress and get slightly anxious. For me this is also where my route got longer, as initially I was using a 4.3Km route as I was jogging for less time, but from week 5 I tried the full 5K route, walking whatever was left over at the end.

The first run starts with a 5 minute warm up walk, followed by 5 minutes jogging-3 minutes walking twice, followed by another 5 minute jog. This is a minute less than week four but only has 3 runs. Again this pushes you to run for longer with a shorter recovery period. This jog was fine and I found I had some energy left at the end of it which gave me hope for the next run. Doing the programme for the second time is a blessing and a curse, as I know it works and I can do it but I also remember how hard I found it and how heavy my legs can get. A lot of the podcast talks about pacing and in the later levels it is very important. I had more issues with the weather again this week with it raining so hard the water was dripping off my eyelashes and I was struggling to see. It is at times like this that pushing on makes you feel better in the end.

The second jog is 5 minute warm up walk then 8 minutes jogging, 5 minutes walking and 8 minutes jogging. I was feeling good about it and managed to push harder on both jogs. 5 minutes is a generous recovery time and by this point I am finding that I need less and less recovery. Despite being quite windy at least it was dry! Keeping a steady pace really pays off. The podcast also gives time updates and in many ways it is good to just not worry about the time. I think I would be more tense if I had to think about it.

The third run of week 5 is where it gets serious with a 5 minutes warm up walk followed by a 20 minute jog. On paper this seems like a really big jump and is over twice as long as any previous jog. This is where the podcast really helps. It is very reassuring that you have done the preparation and need to just keep going and pace yourself. Had I been trying to plan my own jogs I would have never taken such a big step up but it works. I kept a steady pace and got through it. The podcast says that it is a mental as well as a physical challenge which is very true. I think it is at this point that the 5K seems achievable.

Couch to 5K - Week 4

I have just finished week four of Couch to 5K . This week consists of three runs all of which start with a 5 minute warm up walk followed by two repetitions of  3 minutes running - 90 seconds walking and 5 minutes running - 2.5 minutes walking. This is significant for a few reasons; the first is that total running time goes from 9 minutes to 16 minutes, which is a big step up, and also because the overall 'recovery time' is less than the running time. Although both of these factors seem quite daunting it is fine once you get into it.

The pacing that has been talked about in the first few weeks really comes into play. I find the first 5 minute run the hardest, I am not sure why this is but it could be either; a) I want to subconsciously hold something back, b) I feel better when it is out of the way as I know I am half way there or c) I am not warming up adequately.

The weather here has been really windy for these three jogs with some hail thrown in for good measure. When I made the decision to jog outside in Shetland I knew that I could not worry too much about the weather. Wind is tough to deal with but it feels good when you change direction and get a bit of rest-bite from it. I also struggle to jog when it is too hot so I find the motivation of getting out of the wind good!

I have been given a few tips that have helped and also found out some of my own. I am guilty of not moving my arms enough when jogging so I find wiggling my fingers a little when jogging prompts bigger arm movement and it is becoming habitual now. If I mouth words to a song it can sometimes help me breath as I can get too caught up on breathing 'correctly'. It also makes me smile which, as much of a cliché it sounds, really does help!

Bashera is My Daddy - Apparently!

After being unwell and having a cough that slowed my exercise to a halt I have finally completed the next set of Level One workouts on 'Jilian Michaels Yoga Meltdown' DVD. I am not as impressed by this DVD as I am the '30 Day Shred'. I love the theory but there is too much contrast between yoga and high intensity work-outs to combine them comfortably. There is the usual injection of sayings with "Who's your Daddy? Bashera is your Daddy" being up there. Bashera is there to demonstrate the more difficult moves and it is nice to see her getting credit for this albeit in a rather cheesy catchphrase. I will be doing Level Two as I am curious and it seems fair to fully review the complete plan. I did not find it as compelling to do as the '30 Day Shred'.

It is effective, I am more flexible than I was and I managed to do the "camel" pose even if I do struggle with holding chaturanga for the full time. When I was feeling too ill to do the DVD I went back to the Wii Fit Yoga. On the Wii I have a profile from a few years ago and a profile that I set up after having my daughter. I was impressed that I managed to beat my personal best on both profiles in the yoga session. This was despite some of the moves being very different and me feeling out of practice on the Wii. I think the most noticeable difference was on the 'sun salutation' pose. This makes sense as it is very dynamic and even though it is different to the yoga meltdown it follows the principles. I would like to do a more traditional yoga DVD and see how it compares, for now I am eager to get back on the 30 day shred.

Couch to 5k - Week 1 - 3

To learn to run last year I used the NHS 'Couch to 5K' podcast. I found this a fantastic resource so this year after some hibernating and indoor exercise I decided to return to it in order to get back to my 5km distance for the 5x50 challenge at the end of March. It is a nine week plan based around 3 runs a week, although I tend to aim for 4 runs just because it fits better with work. When I did it the first time I stuck strictly to the 3 jogs per week rule and it helped a lot. This time as I am feeling a little more confident so I compressed the first two weeks. I think this is one of the great things about having a set of downloaded podcasts as I have read about people reducing the number of weeks at the start but also people having a few extra runs during a week that they found really challenging. The three runs per week is a good target and really worked for me last year but it is nice to know you can be a little flexible.

I have read that there are a lot of apps for phones that do the same thing. I have a very basic Nokia so it was never going to be an option for me. I found this easy to download and stick on my MP3 player. The obvious benefit being that you don't have to worry about timing yourself and you can just get on and run.

The first week is a 5 minute warm up walk followed by 60 seconds of running and 90 seconds of walking for  a total of 20 minutes. The podcast is narrated by "Laura"  who has a wonderfully calm and reassuring voice. I was worried at the start that this would annoy me or make me feel patronised but it didn't. There is just the right amount of talking and the updates on how much time is left are really helpful. She encourages and reminds you to keep a steady pace and that you just want a jog. It also give you somebody to mutter at when it gets hard. The challenge in Week One is that you have the most amount of 'stop-starting' of any week. This is great as it allows you recovery time but if by 'Jog 8' you are finding new leg muscles you really have to push to go again. I found that a minute could feel like a really long time. I completed this and felt a lot better after it than I did a year ago so I was happy to move on to week two.

Week two consists of a 5 minute warm up walk followed by 90 seconds of running and 2 minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes. At this stage you still have more time to 'recover' than to 'run' which is reassuring and with less runs in total than week one you can tell yourself there is less stop-starting. There are more tips in the second week, however, the first one they tell you is wrong as she suggest heel striking - which used to be advised but is now out of date. It is now advised to land on the middle of your foot as suggested on the NHS website. There are a lot of good hints and tips on the website as well as in the podcast.

Week Three is 5 minutes of warm up walk followed by two repetitions of 90 seconds running-90 seconds walking and 3 minutes running-3 minutes walking. This is the week where the recovery time matches the jogging time. This puts more pressure on to recover but it is doable. I really liked this week as the 90 seconds are feeling a lot easier by now and the 3 minutes are manageable. The timing of tips here helps as by the time she has explained a tip then you have gone from 90 seconds left to 60 seconds which makes it fly by. I did this run 3 times.

The music is well thought out, I did not recognise any of it but found out after using Shazam that quite a few songs are available on Amazon. I don't tend to pay a lot of attention when I am running but it is good to have it there. They pick up the tempo of the music during the runs and slow it back down for the walks. I tend to find I naturally go with this even though I did not consciously register it at first. Doing the three runs from each week helps as you start to associate parts of the music with being near the end. I think if I listened to the podcast sat still my heart rate would speed up and slow down accordingly now after hearing it so may times! There are also some great tongue in cheek lyrics in the songs, my favourites being "I gotta run I gotta go", "I can't do this long distance thing" and "Take a little time, don't you move too fast".

One of the things I will say is that when I started I was incredibly self concious; I am not built like a runner and I had to research how to run but I realised that nobody cared. I find that jogging pink faced in hail and grinning like a Cheshire cat, because I cannot believe I am jogging, is character building. I also find that the dog walkers of Lerwick are especially nice and are also out in all weather. I have had lots of encouraging words from runners but those that do it well have the sense to go to the gym in the hail.

5x50 and a Jogging Plan

Last year I decided to learn to run, this was for numerous reasons
1) I could not run properly and looked like an injured penguin when I tried
2) I want to be a good role model for my little girl and not a sports day embarrassment, and
3) I needed a way to get fit that was cheap and would fit in my lunch break.

So I signed up for the 5x50 challenge, 5Km a day for 50 days; the site includes walking, cycling, swimming or even 30 minutes of exercise. This is a great event with the £5 entry going to sport relief and a fantastic and supportive network. I had to record my details each day which spurred me on to do it and keep it up. I set my own challenge which was only jogging or going for a walk, with the intention of doing more jogging than walking over the course of the challenge. I also made sure that my walks were an actual walk and not just part of my daily routine. I did log my walking from my pedometer as well separate to the 5km.

To get myself to the stage where I could jog 5Km I used the NHS couch to 5Km podcasts. I found this a great way to get up to the distance and it is a fantastic free resource. It was not easy and there were days that I cursed the woman talking on the podcast (Laura). Saying that it was oddly reassuring having her talking me through it.

Having managed to complete my 50 days with 30 jogs and 20 walks last year I am eager to do better this year. I also want to get my 5km time down to less than 30 minutes. The challenge starts in March so I need to get jogging again. I have let things slide in the winter so it is back to the podcasts to get me ready. I am getting over a cold so I am starting at the beginning again, my first jog was far better than last year so I am hoping to do less runs in the early part of the couch to 5km and get onto the longer runs for preparation. Excitingly this year I have friends in other places doing it as well so I have them to keep me going and share the pain.

I am not yet comfortable with being uncomfortable but I am getting there!

Last year, after reading a lot of good things about it, I tried Jilian Michaels 30 day shred. After trying it for a month I also thought a lot of good things about it. I will need to revisit it this year and "nail it" but before I try it again I bought Jilian Michaels Yoga Meltdown. I wanted something different and something that would rebuild my core strength. I am intending to do the 5x50 challenge again this year. I want to jog faster and stronger so this seemed like a good place to start.

I have now done seven workouts with the yoga meltdown. It is interesting and different. It did not wipe me out in the same way as the 30 day shred did even on the first day, but the feeling in my muscles continued through the next day and I made the decision to do it for 3 days and then take a rest day. I think this was wise as I went back on days 5 and 9 feeling better. The structure is not as clear cut as the 30 day shred with the circuits being separated with sun salutations which is not clear to start with. The circuits are well contained and challenging. It is a good mix of moves and by workout 3 I had got into the flow of it Like anything the more comfortable you become with the order the more you can focus on the technique. I love the fact that there are two other people demonstrating the moves at varying difficulties. This is a welcome feature of both workouts.

I was concerned it might be a bit gimmicky and it is! There are may sayings that feel like they should grate on you, including "get comfortable with being uncomfortable". Saying that in all honesty I just use them as marking posts throughout the workout. I was not aware of her reputation before getting the dvd so had no preconceptions. She is tough and unrelenting. I am often pleased she is not actually in the room as I have expressed my frustrations verbally at times! The thing is though she is motivating, you get it done. Somehow she picks you up when you need it.

I still have a lot of work to do on my technique but I am very gradually getting there. I can do moves now that I could not a week ago. I am intending to continue this level for another week and then try level two for two weeks. After that I will come up with another plan which may be mix and match or the odd back to back who knows! Like T Rex I do not like Chaturanga - but unlike T Rex I will be able do it with practice.



I had done some very basic yoga poses on the Wii Fit but that was all. I am enjoying the movement she incorporates. If you are looking for a slow pace then this is not the right DVD. I imagine that somebody very experienced at yoga would want something more challenging in terms of poses but the dynamic aspect does bring something new.

My tips would be - 1) make a mental note which leg you are on as you will return for the opposite leg in a few moves time. 2) Make sure you are inhaling and exhaling when you should be. I found it makes a massive difference with the push ups to inhale on the way down (also with the push ups keep your elbows locked in), and finally 3) Paint your toenails and then at least you will smile when you look down to "find the floor" again.