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During the COVID-19 lockdown I have been 'working from home' but not really working as such because my job isn't one where a lot can be done from home. So my days are a lot more flexible than they used to be and I have taken this opportunity to try to get back into running again. This is for general fitness reasons and certainly not because I enjoy running; I actually hate it! However, it's an activity which does not require special equipment (beyond a decent pair of shoes) nor expensive memberships and it gets me outdoors and gets me moving. I used to run a fair bit when I was younger and it did the trick back then. Even in those days, I have never experienced the "runner's high" and suspect that I am not alone in that! You never read research articles on exercise and endorphin release without the test subjects being described as already engaged in (and therefore probably enjoying) recreational fitness, often at a reasonably high level.
Anyway, I digress. I last tried to get back into running in 2019 by following the NHS 'Couch to 5K' plan. It started out OK but I found it changed up the pace a little too fast for my sluggish genetics and I soon found excuses to not go out running ... and now it's winter again and just too cold and icy and I don't want to slip and injure myself, etc etc. Then I found a lot of other people had troubles with Couch to 5K at about the same time (in the plan) as me. Some people recommended None2Run which takes a more gentle approach to the idea of a phased running/walking plan. There is more information on Couch to 5K and None2Run at the end of this page.
So earlier this year I decided to try starting again with None2Run, with the goal to be 'up and running' (ah-ha) by the summer. The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown meant that I also now had a lot of time and exactly zero excuses not to stick to the plan this time around. So I dutifully restarted my running campaign but I still found myself, by around Week 8, finding it quite tough to stick to the script... I always just needed a bit more time to get my breath back between runs! So I was looking at either repeating a week or trying something new again or tweaking the rest of the plan into something new.
As an exercise, I compared the segments of running and walking in Couch to 5K with None2Run. First, I looked at the total amount of time spent doing either activity during the main running phase of each day, i.e. excluding any warm-up/cool-down time. It's pretty clear that Couch to 5K is more intense compared to None2Run: the NHS plan is three weeks shorter, which necessarily ramps things up but it also has you running for 30 minutes in the final week compared to 25 minutes for None2Run.
Total Time Spent Running
Week |__1__.__2__.__3__.__4__.__5__.__6__.__7__.__8__.__9__.__10_.__11_.__12_.
| . . . . . . . . . . . .
Total| . . . . . . . . . . . .
time | . . . . . . . . . . . .
(min)| . . . . . . . . . . . .
30-| . C = Couch 2 5K . . . ,C-C-C. . . .
-| . . . . . . ,C-C-C' . . . .
-| . N = None2Run . . . | . . . . .
-| . . . . . ,C-C-C-C' . . . ,N-N-N.
-| . . . . . | . . . . ,N-N-N' .
20-| . . . . ,C, ,C' ,N-N-N-N-N-N, ,N-N-N' . .
-| . . ,C-C-C, ,C' 'C' | . 'N-N-N' . . .
-| . . | :NCN-N-N-N-N' . . . . . .
-| . . | | . . . . . . . .
-| . . ,N-N-N' . . . . . . . .
10-| .C-C-C,CNCNCN . . . . . . . . .
-|C-C-C' | . . . . . . . . . .
-| ,N-N-N' . . . . . . . . . .
-|N-N-N' . . . . . . . . . . .
-| . . . . . . . . . . . .
0-|- - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - -|- - - - -|-
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Run Day
Similarly, the overall time spent walking (in between bouts of running) drops off much quick for Couch to 5K than for None2Run.
Total Time Spent Walking
Week |__1__.__2__.__3__.__4__.__5__.__6__.__7__.__8__.__9__.__10_.__11_.__12_.
| . . . . . . . . . . . .
Total| . . . . . . . . . . . .
time | . . . . . . . . . . . .
(min)| . . . . . . . c = Couch 2 5K . . .
-| . . . . . . . . . . . .
-|n-n-n, ,n-n-n, . . . . n - None2Run . . .
-| 'n-n-n' 'n-n-n, . . . . . . . .
-|c-c-c, . . | . . . . . . . .
10-| 'c-c-c, . 'n-n-n-n-n-n, . . . . . .
-| . 'c-c-c, . . | . . . . . .
-| . . | ,c, ,c, | . ,n-n-n, . . .
-| . . 'c-c-c' 'c, | | 'n-n-n-n-n-n' | . . .
-| . . . . | | 'c, . . . | . . .
0-|- - - - | - - - - | - - - -'c'- -'c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c'n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n -
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Run Day
Next, let's look at the length of each 'run segment' between weeks. The plots below shown the median running time for each week (as a set of three run days) and both of them show a gentle ramp in running time week on week before a sudden big increases in the latter third or so of the program. Both plans start out with well-spaced walking gaps between the runs. These gaps get a little shorter and the runs get a little longer each week ... but then there is a point reached where the walking gap becomes zero and two run segments join together into a much longer segment.
Couch to 5K - Length of Running and Walking Segments
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Runs | | | | | | |
01-03 |##--- | | | # = Running Segment (30 s) |
04-06 |###---- | | | | | |
07-09 |######----|-- | | - = Walking Segment (30 s) |
10-12 |##########|----- | | | | |
13-15 |##########|###------ | | | | |
16-18 |##########|########--|---- | | | |
19-21 |##########|##########|##########|##########|##########| |
22-24 |##########|##########|##########|##########|##########|##### |
25-27 |##########|##########|##########|##########|##########|##########|
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Median Segment Time (minutes)
None2Run - Length of Running and Walking Segments
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Runs | | | | | | |
01-03 |#---- | | | # = Running Segment (30 s) |
04-06 |##---- | | | | | |
07-09 |##---- | | | - = Walking Segment (30 s) |
10-12 |###---- | | | | | |
13-15 |###-- | | | | | |
16-18 |###-- | | | | | |
19-21 |####- | | | | | |
22-24 |####- | | | | | |
25-27 |##########|---- | | | | |
28-30 |##########|##########|##########|##########| | |
31-33 |##########|##########|##########|##########|##### | |
34-36 |##########|##########|##########|##########|##########| |
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Median Segment Time (minutes)
For me, this is too much: my body learns when the breaks are coming and it does not respond well to sudden demands to go further! I need to trick it by changing how the run segements increase with each new week and _then_ look at modifying the rest breaks between. So that is the rationale behind the third run plan here, which is called 'Hot Potato' because that's generally the impression I think I give out as I haul myself around the docks and parks of South London.
So with this super gentle plan, the total running time each day is still very similar to None2Run but the walk phases are a bit more generous. Also with some different phasing of the walking times in Weeks 7 and 8 and some extra 'cushioning' runs before the first long run, the new plan is also five weeks longer than None2Run. But who is in a rush? So the new plan looks a bit like None2Run on the total time spent running or walking but also has the more gentle change in the length of the running times similar to Couch to 5K, albeit at a lower rate.
Total Time Spent Running
Week |__1__.__2__.__3__.__4__.__5__.__6__.__7__.__8__.__9__.__10_.__11_.__12_.__13_.__14_.__15_.__16_.__17_.
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Total| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
time | . C = Couch 2 5K . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(min)| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
30-| . N = None2Run . . . . ,C-C-C. . . . . . . . .
-| . . . . . . ,C-C-C' . . . . . . . . .
-| . P = Hot Potato . . . | . . . . . . . . ,P-P-P.
-| . . . . . ,C-C-C-C' . . . ,NPNPNPP-P-P-P-P-P, . | .
-| . . . . . | . . . . ,N-N-N' . . | ,P-P-P' .
20-| . . . . ,C, ,C' ,N-N-N-NPNPNPP-P-P;NPNPNPP-P-P' . . 'P-P-P' . .
-| . . ,C-C-C, ,C' 'C' |P-P-P' 'N-N-N' . . . . . . . .
-| . . | :NCN-N-NPNPNP . . . . . . . . . . .
-| . . | |P-P-P' . . . . . . . . . . . .
-| . . ,NPNPNP . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10-| .C-C-C,CNPCNP . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-|C-C-C' | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-| ,NPNPNP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-|NPNPNP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
0-|- - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | - - - - | -
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Run Day
Total Time Spent Walking
Week |__1__.__2__.__3__.__4__.__5__.__6__.__7__.__8__.__9__.__10_.__11_.__12_.__13_.__14_.__15_.__16_.__17_.
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Total| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
time | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(min)| . . . . . . . . . . c = Couch 2 5K . . . . .
-| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-|npnpnp ,npnpnp . . . . . . . n - None2Run . . . . .
-| 'npnpnp 'npnpnp . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-|c-c-c, . . :p-p-p, . . . . . p = Hot Potato . . . . .
10-| 'c-c-c, . 'n-n-n+npnpnp . . . . . . . . . . .
-| . 'c-c-c, . . ;p-p-p, . . . . . . . . . .
-| . . | ,c, ,c, | 'p-p-p,npnpn;p-p-p, . . . . . . .
-| . . 'c-c-c' 'c, | | 'n-n-n-n-n-n' | 'p-p-p-p-p-p, . . . . .
-| . . . . | | 'c, . . . | . . 'p-p-p-p-p-p, . . .
0-|- - - - | - - - - | - - - -'c'- -'c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c'n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n - - - | - -'p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Run Day
Hot Potato - Length of Running and Walking Segments
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Runs | | | | | | |
01-03 |#---- | | | | | |
04-06 |##---- | | | | | |
07-09 |##---- | | | # = Running Segment (30 s) |
10-12 |###---- | | | | | |
13-15 |###--- | | | - = Walking Segment (30 s) |
16-18 |###-- | | | | | |
19-21 |####-- | | | | | |
22-24 |####- | | | | | |
25-27 |######-- | | | | | |
28-30 |########--|- | | | | |
31-33 |##########|--- | | | | |
34-36 |##########|##-- | | | | |
37-39 |##########|######-- | | | | |
40-42 |##########|##########|-- | | | |
43-45 |##########|##########|##########|##########| | |
46-48 |##########|##########|##########|##########|##### | |
49-51 |##########|##########|##########|##########|##########| |
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Median Segment Time (minutes)
So I am not saying any one plan is better or worse but there is no penalty to having options to choose from! Personally, I found Couch to 5K a bit too harsh and I encountered something similar with None2Run ... but that is just how my recalcitrant physiology was responding.
You can read more information on these running plans here:
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