Running (up that hill)

[dinekes]

@ GLTM

I hear you.

Havent run at all since xmas day. Covid first 2 weeks Jan and have been like a hermit since. Only been out for about 4/5 walks.

The first couple of walks didnt feel great after at all, broke into cold sweat during it then felt bad afterward with a headache.
Just put me off doing anything , probably psychological now.

Doing squats and a few weights exercises so I dont turn completely to jelly!

[Goodluck2me]

@ GLTM

I hear you.

Havent run at all since xmas day. Covid first 2 weeks Jan and have been like a hermit since. Only been out for about 4/5 walks.

The first couple of walks didnt feel great after at all, broke into cold sweat during it then felt bad afterward with a headache.
Just put me off doing anything , probably psychological now.

Doing squats and a few weights exercises so I dont turn completely to jelly!

As i sat on the couch exhausted after the 10km and my legs were dead and overheating I was delighted with myself to have that feeling back. I hadn’t properly pushed myself in ages. Nothing like following it up with a slow on to tee you back to nomality again, I’d encourage you to get back out again, but taking it easy post cov

[BennyHiFi]

Took 2 weeks off and did a 10km on Sunday, it’s amazing how tired I am after it. Your fitness just plummets when you take a bit of time off at all

I find 6-7 days is the optimal break for me. First run back always seems to be light-footed and breezy.

[dinekes]

@GLTM

Went for shortish jog earlier.
Just did 3k at just over 6min per which is slightly slower than my usual slow pace!
Breathing wasnt great, struggled a bit. I forgot to take a blast of Ventolin before so I think its lack of cardio fitness coupled with a preexisting lung inflammation most likely.

Anyway was great to get out and break the rut. Cheers for the post and the encouragement as it got me thinking in the right zone again ie 'one step at a time and build slowly'

[Mellor]

Hit the weights today, no jiu jitsu tomorrow.
Which means cardio tomorrow. Struggling to get my motivated. Really not arsed.

[dinekes]

[QUOTE=Mellor;n1687294]Hit the weights today, no jiu jitsu tomorrow.
Which means cardio tomorrow.

Felt same way for the past 3 weeks or so. Weather crap, not in a great headspace etc. Today from deciding to get out and being outside was probably under a minute. Didnt give myself a chance to think of an excuse not to. Once youre out its grand.
Was thinking of all the work I'd put in since last June/July which helped with motivation a bit.

[dinekes]

Somehow an email I sent to customer posted here (must have had it on paste or something dont know, deleted it there)

[BennyHiFi]

Completed my 8,000th tracked kilometre today in just over 7 years. Add a few hundred on for untracked runs when I forgot my phone or the battery died and you get a straight line from here to Los Angeles.

934 tracked runs in total.

Would like to think I could get to 20,000km before the knees or hips pack in. That'd be halfway around the world.

It's all relative of course. Some people could do that in 2 or 3 years but I'll take it regardless given my age and lifestyle.

As Mark E. Smith from The Fall said... "It's not repetition, it's discipline".

Onwards and upwards.

[Goodluck2me]

@GLTM

Went for shortish jog earlier.
Just did 3k at just over 6min per which is slightly slower than my usual slow pace!
Breathing wasnt great, struggled a bit. I forgot to take a blast of Ventolin before so I think its lack of cardio fitness coupled with a preexisting lung inflammation most likely.

Anyway was great to get out and break the rut. Cheers for the post and the encouragement as it got me thinking in the right zone again ie 'one step at a time and build slowly'

You often fear a run before, it never regret it after. I think so often the hardest part is putting on the shoes.

if you want a bit of variety, I could give you a few challenges?

try a pyramid the next time you run, where the first is warm up pace, 2nd is faster, 3rd is fastest, 4th same as 2nd and 5th warm down. Challenge is to get the third km as quick as possible, not to speed up 1 and 5th.

[Mellor]

Still haven’t gone for that run

[Goodluck2me]

Still haven’t gone for that run

Get out and tell us how fast you did 5km, become an inspiration!

[dinekes]

You often fear a run before, it never regret it after. I think so often the hardest part is putting on the shoes.

if you want a bit of variety, I could give you a few challenges?

try a pyramid the next time you run, where the first is warm up pace, 2nd is faster, 3rd is fastest, 4th same as 2nd and 5th warm down. Challenge is to get the third km as quick as possible, not to speed up 1 and 5th.

Will give that a go when I get dome lung fitness back.
Was really struggling breathing doing that 3k

Used to do ladders in intervals ..great workout

Main issue is I need to get back to a semi decent, uninjured level like I was at Dec
If I push anything beyond a certain level a persistent calf injury pops up. Really have to manage/monitor every session carefully. Like I might go out Mon but feel a niggle and from experience I would have to leave it to Thurs/Fri for another session and I would be dying to get out!

I will get there though, just slowly!

[Goodluck2me]

Will give that a go when I get dome lung fitness back.
Was really struggling breathing doing that 3k

Used to do ladders in intervals ..great workout

Main issue is I need to get back to a semi decent, uninjured level like I was at Dec
If I push anything beyond a certain level a persistent calf injury pops up. Really have to manage/monitor every session carefully. Like I might go out Mon but feel a niggle and from experience I would have to leave it to Thurs/Fri for another session and I would be dying to get out!

I will get there though, just slowly!

Absolutely, it’s nothing you can’t tailor why not walk 1km, jog 1km, run 1km and back down etc. Or 500m. Just keep the variety and enjoyment, all of that is better than no exercise so keep the faith!

[BennyHiFi]

Something quite remarkable happened this week - I ran my fastest 10km in almost 4 years. Sub 1 hour (59:46 to be precise) - still slow by many measures of course but a huge thrill nevertheless when your only opponent is yourself. And how and why it happened seemingly defying the laws of space and time!

At first I thought it must be a tracking issue y'know, RunKeeper being off but I'd been getting progressively faster over the previous couple of weeks or so, breaking a couple of fastest times in a while and already seeing my overall per km pace drop below last year's level.

When I hit the 'finish line' I knew there was no tracking issue as I was within a couple of meters of where I normally consider my 10km finish (I do the same standard loop as my day to day go-to run).

No idea how or why at almost 50 (in September) I've found a little extra kick. I do know that a thigh strain slowed me down in 2018 and 19 - by up to 10% on a bad day I reckon and its only in the last 3-6 months could I say it felt the issue had totally cleared up.

New trainers? yes but unlikely to give e that kind of bounce (they're not the special Nike marathon ones!).

Weight? A stone below recent heaviest but been the same weight for about a year now and not trying too hard to go for the half stone/stonestone to get me to ideal fighting weight.

I changed my measurement from miles to Km just this year and that's made me more aware of pace because I'm getting feedback from the app more often but again, that's unlikely to make me faster in and of itself, just more aware when I AM running faster.

Anyway, just thought I'd share this minor triumph over age and ability - I've got another goal to aim for this year now. Another sub one hour? A few sub one hours? A 40s pb? Unlikely as I'd need to find another 90 secs over 10km - probably not impossible but highly unlikely.

I've done 260km so far this year so took a well earned break (due to the feckin' freezing weather) after that run on Tuesday, drinking wine tonight and will dive back in again on Monday.

An aberation? Perhaps, but a delightful one.

[Goodluck2me]

Something quite remarkable happened this week - I ran my fastest 10km in almost 4 years. Sub 1 hour (59:46 to be precise) - still slow by many measures of course but a huge thrill nevertheless when your only opponent is yourself. And how and why it happened seemingly defying the laws of space and time!

At first I thought it must be a tracking issue y'know, RunKeeper being off but I'd been getting progressively faster over the previous couple of weeks or so, breaking a couple of fastest times in a while and already seeing my overall per km pace drop below last year's level.

When I hit the 'finish line' I knew there was no tracking issue as I was within a couple of meters of where I normally consider my 10km finish (I do the same standard loop as my day to day go-to run).

No idea how or why at almost 50 (in September) I've found a little extra kick. I do know that a thigh strain slowed me down in 2018 and 19 - by up to 10% on a bad day I reckon and its only in the last 3-6 months could I say it felt the issue had totally cleared up.

New trainers? yes but unlikely to give e that kind of bounce (they're not the special Nike marathon ones!).

Weight? A stone below recent heaviest but been the same weight for about a year now and not trying too hard to go for the half stone/stonestone to get me to ideal fighting weight.

I changed my measurement from miles to Km just this year and that's made me more aware of pace because I'm getting feedback from the app more often but again, that's unlikely to make me faster in and of itself, just more aware when I AM running faster.

Anyway, just thought I'd share this minor triumph over age and ability - I've got another goal to aim for this year now. Another sub one hour? A few sub one hours? A 40s pb? Unlikely as I'd need to find another 90 secs over 10km - probably not impossible but highly unlikely.

I've done 260km so far this year so took a well earned break (due to the feckin' freezing weather) after that run on Tuesday, drinking wine tonight and will dive back in again on Monday.

An aberation? Perhaps, but a delightful one.

Excellent! Enjoy the buzz, new goals are for next week!

[ionapaul]

Ran 112km in March, my first 100+km month ever Legs are a bit wrecked as a result but I needed it to get back on track for an annual target of 750km, as due to lack of creche in Jan/Feb I only managed approximately 85km over the course of both months. I won't keep up the same pace as my left Achilles has never been back to 100% since injuring it in 2019 and it's feeling worse in recent weeks, I need to take it a bit easier I think. But just need to aim for approximately 70km per month and I'll be golden. Unsurprisingly my average page in April was also probably my slowest ever! I think if Parkrun started back up tomorrow I'd really struggle to hit a sub 22min 5km, and sub 21min would require a lot of work.

[Goodluck2me]

Ran 112km in March, my first 100+km month ever Legs are a bit wrecked as a result but I needed it to get back on track for an annual target of 750km, as due to lack of creche in Jan/Feb I only managed approximately 85km over the course of both months. I won't keep up the same pace as my left Achilles has never been back to 100% since injuring it in 2019 and it's feeling worse in recent weeks, I need to take it a bit easier I think. But just need to aim for approximately 70km per month and I'll be golden. Unsurprisingly my average page in April was also probably my slowest ever! I think if Parkrun started back up tomorrow I'd really struggle to hit a sub 22min 5km, and sub 21min would require a lot of work.

When running regularly the slower the better so you should see that as an achievement more than a failure. I did 6 weeks of all 5min+ running in June and shaved 100secs off my 5km PB whilst thinking I was making no progress, so keep at it.

[ionapaul]

As it turns out, maybe I'm not going to be a slow as I thought (and you are right GL2M)! Was up in Fernhill Gardens yesterday with the family and managed to sneak off for a quick run around the new 400m running track (though running path a better description I think) while the rest enjoyed a picnic, did 10 laps so 4km at a 4.06 pace. And even had to stop on my final lap to tie my shoelace!

For my 2nd lap I pushed at 90%+ effort and managed it in 1:16, which impacted the remainder of the run. Defo could have kept at 4:1X pace for a final 1km, so would have just about managed a sub-21 5km. Still a long way to go to hit sub-20 again but hopefully it is possible.

[Goodluck2me]

As it turns out, maybe I'm not going to be a slow as I thought (and you are right GL2M)! Was up in Fernhill Gardens yesterday with the family and managed to sneak off for a quick run around the new 400m running track (though running path a better description I think) while the rest enjoyed a picnic, did 10 laps so 4km at a 4.06 pace. And even had to stop on my final lap to tie my shoelace!

For my 2nd lap I pushed at 90%+ effort and managed it in 1:16, which impacted the remainder of the run. Defo could have kept at 4:1X pace for a final 1km, so would have just about managed a sub-21 5km. Still a long way to go to hit sub-20 again but hopefully it is possible.

Yes I saw that, tying your lace is takin the piss though!

[luckforsome]

As it turns out, maybe I'm not going to be a slow as I thought (and you are right GL2M)! Was up in Fernhill Gardens yesterday with the family and managed to sneak off for a quick run around the new 400m running track (though running path a better description I think) while the rest enjoyed a picnic, did 10 laps so 4km at a 4.06 pace. And even had to stop on my final lap to tie my shoelace!

For my 2nd lap I pushed at 90%+ effort and managed it in 1:16, which impacted the remainder of the run. Defo could have kept at 4:1X pace for a final 1km, so would have just about managed a sub-21 5km. Still a long way to go to hit sub-20 again but hopefully it is possible.

...Out of curiosity, where exactly is this?... Is it in the same location as the house people visit and the random little tree house (pic of this included)...

[ionapaul]

Very close to that tree house! There's a new carpark at Fernhill now (further down the road between Belermaine and Hillcrest Road) and the new running path is at the top of the big stairs you see when you exit the carpark towards the rest of the property. Will definitely try to make it up there every few weeks to push myself a bit.

[BennyHiFi]

So the first third of the year is down.

Target: 500km of 1,500km
Actual: 488.4km of 1,500km

I'll take that considering the dog bite at the start of the year and a couple of weeks bad weather or with sniffles.

Moving from x2 10km per week to x3 10km hasn't been without its challenges, particularly when you only manage a week with one or two runs. Trying to pull them back by moving to x4 per week is certainly tougher than moving from two to three.

Anyway, stiff legs and some sluggishness are first world problems. Hopefully I can keep it up though the summer months now (historically I've usually run less in summer).

Bit of warmer weather wouldn't go amiss mind you.