Where is "there" ?

Maybe I should change the name of this blog to "running horse", at least temporarily !

The previous post on definition of done started heading in to goal setting territory.... let's follow that train of thought a bit further down the road.

Yesterday I got a notification on social media that an event had been updated... lo and behold it was the Supernova event changing it's date from November this year, to March next year. 🤔

Not really a surprise with local covid spikes and lockdowns, plus the "6 household rule" - even if that doesn't apply to "organised sports", bringing a few hundred people together to exercise is probably not the best thing to be doing !

My stated aim in the last post was "to get back to pre-lockdown level of running fitness"  which is measurable as I was tracking my runs then and have that history available (adding a bit of qualitative judgement on the "feel"). Implicitly I was targeting the supernova run, on the basis that parkrun wouldn't be active again by then. In England they (parkrun HQ) have since stated an intention to restart by the end of October, but there is no date for Scotland yet. 

(Edit to add: .... and preferably reach the goal without incurring any injuries)

But I could still either go and run my local parkrun as a (not) parkrun, or I could run a local route. I just need to set a date.

Which means my original goal is still valid, with some tweaks to the how, when and where.

I had already realised that I have some interim goals en route - for example to run my shorter (2.6km) local loop at 5:1 intervals with a sensible level of comfort (lungs, legs).

And my stretch goal would be to use the C25 programme to maybe even improve on this, as the weeks 7-9 have longer runs in them, plus there are some 5+ podcasts if/when I make it past the OneYou programme week 9.

In the meantime I was out today repeating the OneYou week 6 run 2 (warm up walk, two 10 mins runs with a 3 min recovery walk in between, cool down walk). It definitely felt better than first iteration of this run. Not good yet, but better.

If I'm aiming for end October, then I have time to repeat a few weeks before moving on.

And as I plodded along, I realised I'd actually already met one goal. I started the OneYou programme because I was getting ankle and foot pain. It may seem counter intuitive that exercise is the solution for this, not the problem - but a process of elimination has confirmed it. I'm just not active enough working from home (despite having horses to tend to daily). Even if I haven't yet got to the fitness level where running makes me feel good, it does already stop me feeling bad. 

[Updated to add: the aim of the OneYou programme is "To run 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes (approx. 5K)"

There has been a fair amount of discussion on social media that running for 30mins is not the same as running 5k. In the past 14 years, I have never run anywhere close to a 30min 5k.]

Are we there yet ?

 #definitionofdone

I'm trying to get back to pre-lockdown level of running fitness via a C25K programme (OneYou). A week ago I hit the first longer run (week 5, run 3) at 20mins. I planned a fairly forgiving (aka not too hilly) out and back route, but got to 14 mins with the wind in my face and a slight incline..... and just ran out of breath. I paused the app, walked to recover, then ran the remaining time. (and yes I had completed all the previous runs up to this one)

The app says "smashed it" when you complete the run. It doesn't have an option to say “nearly there” or "could do better".

Now I know project managers that would take something live at that point ..... I mean the run wasn’t continuous, but there was 20 minutes of it ? and maybe the customer doesn’t need the last 6 minutes until we’ve managed to do a continuous 20min run at a later date. I mean it’s good enough isn’t it ?

But the next long run isn’t 20 minutes, it’s 25 minutes. And the week after consists of 3 more runs of 25mins.

Not done then.

This week I planned a similarly forgiving route, but in the opposite direction so I’d have the wind at my back on the homeward leg. And this time.... I managed the full 20minutes. Just.

Done yet ? If I am picking my route so carefully ? And dreading the uphill slopes ?

Well it depends... what does “done” mean in this case ?

My personal view (as it’s my goal and done-ness):

It does not mean I can run 20minutes cumulatively (14+6)

My MVP on the programme is a continuous 20min run

But the true programme “done” is to complete that run with enough quality and comfort that I can happily move on to the week 6 and 7 runs. (I've done the week 6 interval runs already)

And actually the goal isn’t to complete the C25k programme, that is the “means whereby”. The goal is to get back to my pre-lockdown running, which was running intervals. I’m adding that test into my running.... over a shorter distance than 5k initially, and over 5k later.

Not quite done yet then 😉 (post script to add: yes there is a time element to this goal. In theory I have a Supernova 5k run in November. Which means I have time to repeat weeks in the programme and don't need to settle for MVP. When I asked, they said they would make a go/no-go decision about 8 weeks beforehand..... so I'll know some time in the next few weeks.)