Running – Zero FKTs

6 December 2024

The Journey So Far

I want to let you know a bit more about my journey with ZeroFKTs so far; what I have done to set this up, the training I have been doing, any setbacks and where you find me now.

The Idea

The plan for ZeroFKTs first formed in my mind in August 2024 and I started pretty soon after this. I had been listening to a lot of podcasts at the time, Huberman Lab’s guest series with Dr. Andy Galpin in particular, and these had formulated the idea in my mind to finally get off my behind and properly rehab my knee. In the conversations I had listened to the ideas of having a plan and being consistent with it kept cropping up. As planning has always been something I have enjoyed, this was fine, but I needed to find a way to be consistent.

The Plan

I decided to loosely follow the approach of Dr. Andy Galpin; identify my defenders (what will prevent me being consistent), choose a goal timeline, weekly training frequency and exercise selection and use those parameters to set up my initial programme. It’s a really great conversation with loads of actionable advice and examples and I would encourage you all to listen to the episode linked above. Anyway, I identified my defenders as being time (busy work and family life), previous injury and …. The goal timeline I have given myself is 12 months, 3 months to rehab and 9 months to build to the final goal. The weekly training frequency is 5 times per week and the exercise selection is running (obviously) and resistance exercises I can do from home with my current equipment, kettlebell, dumb bells and bands. With all this considered the starting plan looks like this:

Table 1

Pretty simple, right?

This fits in with my current schedule of work and family commitments and allows me to build up the amount of running I do in a sustainable way while also allowing me to work on strengthening in order to reduce the risk of reinjury.

Staying Consistent

This is where ZeroFKTs comes in. A big part of wanting to document this all in public is to keep me accountable. My big failing in the past has been not completing plans I have come up with but previously there has not been any real accountability. I’m hoping that this time round having ZeroFKTs as an outlet will provide this and help keep me motivated when things inevitably get tough.

The initial programme is also simply designed to make it easy to follow, allowing me to build the habit of regularly exercising. Once this habit is established then the programme can become more run focussed and maybe more complex, although it doesn’t need to be.

How has it gone so far?

As I mentioned before the idea for all this started in August, it’s now very nearly December. So how has it gone? What progress has been made?

Well, I started running immediately by following a walk/run programme. Specifically I have been following the NHS Couch to 5K programme. I’m pretty sure most runners in the UK will be very familiar with this but for anyone who doesn’t know this is a programme designed to get you from not running at all to being able to run 30 minutes continuously, or 5K, 3 times a week across the span of 9 weeks.

But, I hear you cry, the period from the start of September to the start of December is 13 weeks, what has happened? Niggles have happened. Nothing serious but enough that it has had to make me pause and then retread portions of the programme. This means that while I would like to have completed the programme by the end of October, I still have the final week to run.

Why hasn’t it gone smoothly?

To be honest, I don’t think I was as focussed on the process from the start as I needed to be. I started running and was diligent with that, but, I didn’t give equal focus on the side of the process that would help prevent any breakdown. In short, I didn’t do the strengthening and rehab exercises I said I would. So far, pretty typical of me.

Once the niggles started, rather than trying to run through them like I may have done in the past, I rested, ramped up the strengthening and rehab exercises and then got back to running.

Having done this the past 4 weeks have been much smoother and I have been able to progress much more.

Another big change I made after the first niggles cropped up was to buy new running shoes. My previous shoes were old, really old. Upgrading the shoes was a real game changer, but there will be more to come on that later!

The next two weeks

The final weeks of the Couch to 5K programme, weeks 8 & 9, consist of 3 runs of 28 minutes and 3 runs of 30 minutes respectively. I will continue to intersperse these runs with the rehab workouts and strengthening exercises and will update again once I have completed week 8 ahead of the final push for week 9. In the meantime, keep running!

A snapshot of my runs so far

29 November 2024

Ground ZeroFKTs: The start of a running journey

alastair Diary, Nutrition, Running, Training 0

I am Alastair, the man behind zerofkts.com.

I am a 41 year old resident of Essex, UK. I have a wife, two kids, a dog and a full time job.

So, why zerofkts.com?

I have struggled with injury for almost two years and decided I need some accountability to get me back to running and back into shape. I am also looking at where I am in my life (busy with work, family etc) and I am realising I need something that is a bit more for me. Finally, I want to work on my physical and mental health so that I can live a long, happy life where I get to see my family grow and I can be someone that my kids can look up to and be proud of. That’s where zerofkts.com comes in.

So why running?

Simply, it’s the most accessible form of exercise out there. Lace up your shoes, head out of the door… run. It can also be done in a more timely fashion that fits better with family and work in a way that other forms of cardio (cycling, for example) don’t. More than that though I have some unfinished business with running, due to injury mainly, and I have challenges that I want to put myself through.

As you can probably guess from the title of the blog I am under no illusion about setting records, there will be a LOT of slow running, especially to start with. I injured my right knee in January 2023, made it worse in July that year and it’s been a long road back from there. Even now almost 2 years since the original injury my knee needs looking after with rehab exercises and, leaving my ego at the door, the approach to returning to running has to be sensible, with a slow progression. I can worry about speeding up (if I want to!) later, I have to make sure that my knee is right first.

Even before the knee injury I had attempted to run marathons and other race distances only to find that something would break down during training, ruling me out of the event completely. This has been a mix of things, ITB issues, calf strains etc and as a result this has left me wanting to complete some of the challenges I had previously set myself; I want to tick a marathon off the bucket list and then maybe look at something different with a bit more adventure involved.

I have generally struggled to stick to training plans and be consistent with rehab and training. Life is busy and it’s easy to put things off when that is the case. The trouble with that is when things get put off once it is easy to do that again… and again and again. What I have found is that before I know it I have put things off so much that any progress I may have made has been lost, motivation then suffers and the plan is then abandoned. I know I am not unique in this but my hope is that documenting and sharing my approach this time round will help to provide me with the accountability that will help me to stick to my plan and achieve the goals I have this time round. I am also hoping that if you happen to stumble across my blog then you find something useful and, dare I say it, inspirational.

So, my intention with this blog is to document my journey from where I find myself now, overweight, unfit and generally lacking in purpose, to where I want to be; lean, fit and with a renewed vigour for life.