Heather Fell: Can you believe it has been two weeks since I set Pippa off for the start
of her Couch to 5K running program. Now, I actually haven't spoken to Pippa so I'm dying
to find how she's getting on and I bet you guys are too. This week we're also going to
be having a look at a basic gait analysis and covering effort levels when you're new
to running. There's not much more I can do without Pippa, it's time to go and find her.
[music] Hello.
Pippa: Hello. Heather: How are you doing?
Pippa: I'm good. I'm good. Heather: I am dying to know how your last
two weeks have been. Pippa: Wow.
Heather: Can you give us a quick rundown? Pippa: Yes, I did it which I think is the
biggest achievement. I think it went well. Yes, I did it.
[laughter] Heather: Were there any wobble moments or
did you cheat on anything? Pippa: I didn't cheat technically, but there
were a couple of days where I had to do it later than planned. There were a few sessions
that were a bit closer together than maybe ideal but I don't think that's cheating. [laughs]
Heather: No, I appreciate the honesty. Like I said, there was a day in there in the week
that you could move it one way. Pippa: Exactly.
Heather: Anyway, I gather you've recorded some of your runs for us to have a look at.
How did you find that? Pippa: Let's just say I'm definitely not a
presenter. Heather: Oh come on.
Pippa: I was very self-conscious while holding the GoPro and I definitely ran a lot faster
than I should have done because I thought if people see me running with a GoPro, I need
to look like I know what I'm doing. [laughs] Heather: Were you talking whilst running fast?
Pippa: Yes. Heather: You're still being conversational?
This sounds like-- Okay, I think we need to take a look anyway.
Pippa: Here we go. Session two. First one without Heather's supervision and I've already
made a mistake by deciding to go out the hottest time of the day. Good luck to me. I know that
GTN you love some hot tech. I've got an exclusive for you here. I wasn't sure how I keep track
of the splits and how, and when I walk and when I run. I've done something really high
tech. I've written it on my hand. You can use that it's just a hot tip there. Here we
go. I'm going to head off. [music]
Just finished run three of six and I don't know whether it's because of the heat or I'm
just running faster or I'm even more unfit, but I'm really out of breath.
[music] We finished our run and actually went okay
but she does run a lot faster than I do. [music]
I'm back from my last run of week two. I've done the two weeks and I'm still here. I definitely
think it's gotten much easier or I've improved yet because I don't think there's really enough
time to tell, but mentally, I feel like I'm enjoying it a bit more. It's a bit easier
mentally because once I've done the first one of that week, then the next two it's,
"I've already done it. I know what I'm doing." That's good. I'm a bit nervous about what
Heather has in store for week three and four though because I'm sure it's going to ramp
up a gear. Please be kind, Heather. Heather: Just to refresh everyone. Pippa,
you've just completed your first two weeks. Your last week was a five-minute walk, then
90 second jog, two minutes walk six times. Before you went off, you were worried about
effort levels and how to know how hard it was. How hard was it? Can you give it just
a scale out of 10 on how hard you're working? Pippa: Yes. I'd say the first two were definitely
the hardest, the first two runs. I was trying to find my pace, I guess. I'd say maybe a
7 out of 10, but then I relaxed into it and then I think it went down to maybe a 6 for
the rest of it. Then by the end, I was comfortable and felt I knew what I was doing.
[music] Heather: It's a hard one and I don't think
it's going to just be Pippa that's struggling with keeping those effort levels down. I did
say it needs to be conversational. Now, 7 or 8 out of 10 is a little bit high. Yes,
it's okay to walk on those bits but ideally, you want to save the walking just for the
walking sections. Avoid any hills to make it as easy as possible and as time goes on,
that effort level should come down, and hopefully, you'll be able to jog at around a 4 or 5 out
of 10 by the end of the program. If you do have a watch like Pippa that's going to actually
give you your heart rate, you can use that as a little bit of a guidance. I don't want
you to get fixated on watching your heart rate.
If you're doing intervals, especially, there's a bit of a lag. If you do a running interval,
your heart rate's not actually going to catch up possibly until you're even back on the
walk but as we start to build up and do longer intervals, then you can use it just to see
what zone you're working in. If you're doing the same stretch on several runs and you're
running at the same pace, hopefully, you'll start to notice your heart rate average drop
over that time. Some watches also will show your heart rate zone. Basically, you just
want to stay out of the red, ideally in the green or the blue zone.
[music] Heather: That's enough talking for now. I
want to actually head out for a run with Pippa and it's time to start week three with the
following session. It's a five-minute walking warm up again and then the main set consists
of 90 seconds jog, followed by 90 seconds walk, then a three-minute jog followed by
a three-minute walk twice through finished up with a five-minute walk warm down. That
is the first three sessions for week three and we'll cover week four later on. Remember,
it's in the PDF as well. We might as well get going. I'm coming with you, Pippa.
Pippa: Okay. Heather: No getting out of this one.
Pippa: No pressure. Heather: It was just on my watch. Actually,
we've got five minutes warm-up of walk, but if we can walk at the actual warm-up pace,
not like we're just having-- Pippa: Okay, not a stroll.
Heather: We can still chat obviously. Have you been doing your runs on your own or have
you found anyone to do them with? Pippa: On my own at the moment. It seems everyone
I know who runs is much better at running than me. Maybe towards the end, they might
have an interest in it but so far just solo. Heather: I think you should even try and rope
somebody in who just because they're quicker, they can then just do it at your pace and
it doesn't matter if it's easy for them. Pippa: That's true.
Heather: Is there someone you could maybe-- Pippa: Yes. I may make my husband do it. I
bet he'll love that. Heather: Yes, you can vlog that one for us.
[laughter] [music]
All right. This next run, I'm not going to come with you because I'm going to watch and
do a bit of gait analysis. Don't think about me just run like you are normally and we'll
see if we can spot anything. We're actually going to cheat because I'm going to get the
camera to film Pippa in slow motion. I can watch it back, but I can also watch it with
Pippa to show her what she's doing. [music]
Heather: Pippa, do you look like you thought you would look?
Pippa: I don't know. I'm a lot bouncier than I thought I was.
Heather: Yes. That's not necessarily a bad thing because you've got the energy and you've
got a good posture. There's still a little bit of work we can do in it but the bounciness,
I feel I want to convert that energy into a bit more length with your stride. It's very
up and down and you've got obviously the power, but I somehow want to make that longer. The
stride rate is great and that's something that often that new runners struggle with
of doing too long a slower ride. I feel it's much easier to lengthen a stride than it is
to speed it up. Pippa: More gliding.
Heather: Yes, I want you to actually try to think that-- At the moment you're very upright
like this. I want you to try and have a whole-body lean. This is a lot of people have made this
mistake. It's a lean from the ankles right to the head so that you're slightly like this.
I think that will naturally lengthen your stride and give you a bit more drive at the
back. We might, maybe in the next time we meet up, do a bit of a few drills to help
with that. For now, I just want you to try to think of still keeping your shoulders nice
and upright because that's really important for breathing.
I've only seen a short bit. I know you're on camera, but I think sometimes from what
you've said, it sounds like you creep up with your shoulders a little bit and again, it's
another thing that new runners do. Always trying to keep those shoulders down whilst
still using your arms because that's another thing, by driving a bit more with your arms.
Yes, they're good. They come forwards and backwards. There's no lateral movement which
is great, but if you drive a bit bigger arm movements will actually help the stride because
the body is connected. Your arms move in time with your legs.
Pippa: Does it matter if your hands are straight or clenched or [crosstalk] Just hands.
Heather: It's a really good question. Yours, I think they're just quite relaxed hence why
I didn't note as a major thing, but it's about being relaxed. If relaxed for you is this
or is relaxed for you is that, that doesn't matter. It's the chain and the effect it has
on your shoulders. If your hands are just, and if you find carrying something helps relax
that's another thing you can do, but you want the forwards backwards motion because they're
all lengths with the body. As soon as you're going across, you're twisting your whole body
and you're wasting energy that way. I think your breathing looks good, but the more you
relax, the better that will be. Pippa: Perfect.
Heather: Your stride rate is good, but I want it slightly just a little bit extended, and
that links in with a posture of just a slight lean, not a bend at the hips, just a lean
of the whole body forwards. Hopefully, that's not too much to take-on on one go.
Pippa: I can do that. I can do it. Heather: Cool.
[music] All right, you've seen week three. Here's
what's in store for week four. Again, a five-minute walking warm-up, and then the main set is
three-minutes of jogging, just 90-seconds of walking, then we're up to a five-minute
jog, followed by two and a half minutes of walking, three-minutes jog, a minute and a
half of walk, and then another five-minute jog followed by a five-minute warm down of
walking. That is, again, the same three sessions repeated throughout the week, but it is all
in the PDF in the description below. Coming to the end, have you got any final thoughts
or questions before I leave you for a couple of weeks?
Pippa: No, I think I've got it. I just need to remember to lean forward, be more conversational
with my pace, and longer strides. Heather: Sounds good. We will be back in two
weeks to see how you're getting on again. Pippa: Yes. Thank you, everyone, for just
being lovely and supporting me on this journey. If you're doing it with me, then go team and
share in the comments how you're getting on too.
Heather: Yes. Awesome. Remember, do give us a like if you've enjoyed it, and don't forget
to check out our social media channels and give those a follow too.
[00:11:20] [END OF AUDIO]