Yesterday I had a chat with my doctor and I thought I would share some of her insights on here, as the way she explained it all to me made me realise something I had not quite grasped.
Since learning to run I have been caught up in the joy that is running. I still love running so much, it is now so much part of my life, but sometimes the intensity of running, long distances and faster speed are not what you need all the time,
Sometimes you need to find a comfortable pace and distance and amount of days running and just stay there for a while, because that is more beneficial to your well being. I doesn't mean that your not getting fitter. It means you are keeping your fitness while working with what your body needs.
I am mentioning this because I have been the worlds worst this year at pushing myself to get the back to where I was before. My doctor has advised me to let that go for now as where I am now is more important.
She says I am making myself stressed just because I can not run a 10km yet when what I should be doing is acknowledging that I can run a 5km but my body only wants to do it once a week, I can swim 600m and I can hike between a 10-18km at a slow pace. So to think I am not fit is unfair of me. I am still fit, my whole fitness level does not just rest on whether I can run a 10km.
I will be more likely to get to my 10km by stopping trying for a while. I have had 6 months of boom and bust and I need to do some more relaxing. So more mindful walking, rather Than the higher cardio stuff.
Every beat of your heart goes through the kidneys so every time I've been pushing myself with my run three times a week it has been putting a bit of stress on my whole body and because my heart rate runs a little high when I run this is making a difference and totally exhausting my body. This is quite unique to me, it has nothing to do with being a donor.
After my chat with my doctor yesterday I have woken up feeling so much better about it all, so my point of sharing is that I think we all can be guilty of the pressure we can put on ourselves because a run is hard or we having trouble getting to a distance or pace and it is good to remember that we are all fit and active even if we don't achieve that elusive run just yet. We have all made such positive choices and when you feel down about it, pat yourself on the back and celebrate what we have done, let's stay in the positives. 😀
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Realfoodieclub
Graduate10
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Thats a good lesson RFC! I will take note of that! and you are doing amazingly well after your transplant so have extra reason to realise your body is an brilliant machine! Happy weekend to you
Thank you aliboo, I am in awe of what my body has been able to do. Hehe I watch everyday as MrRfc is bombing around . 😀. A little slower for me for a while will help me come back stronger. Running is still teaching me so much.
Thank you for sharing this information with us Rfc, it makes perfect sense of course, but as you say we all get caught up in pushing that little bit further and don't always think things out properly.
You have really stepped right back up there following your kidney donation and I'm sorry to hear that you have felt stressed that you were not acheiving as much as you wanted to ,to get back to where you were last year. Your doctor sounds lovely. Just doing what your body needs and is comfortable with is, is enough and the best way to stay healthy I guess.
I'm sure this will help everyone to listen to their body rather than trying to create amazing stats every run.
You are amazing just being able to run 5k once a week, swim, hike and all the strength exercises you do.😊
Fab post RFC. You are so right about the pressure. We sometimes forget how far we've come. We should try to imagine talking to our "before C25K" selves and wonder what they'd say if they could see us now!
You are doing brilliantly after coming through so much.
Other party... pre 2012. Guess what Rfc, in 2017 you will be running 5km a week.
Rfc pre 2012. ..... Why are you being so mean to me. You know I Hate running and everything about it, how on earth could you think that making me run 5km a week would make me happy, I can not understand how and why you would want to inflict that on me. 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀.
I'm laughing so much, I can just imagine the old me with the news.
Your doc is right, Sweetie. Never forget you're amazing: a runner, a swimmer, a hiker, an organ donor, a working woman, and a great encourager of other runners both experienced and novice. Pat yourself on the back and cut yourself some slack. You're officially a marvel xx
Oh, I am so glad you have posted this RFC! Such wise words and absolutely right that you should be proud at where you are after all you have been through, physically and emotionally. Also, from my own point of view, your words resonate. Having come back from a summer of injury, I have at times felt under pressure (from myself!😮) to get back to where I was earlier in the year. I will, of course get there when the time is right but I too have had to give myself a bit of a talking to about appreciating where I am now - and as you say, I am still fit! The important thing is that we run - love to run....and will always (while we can) ..run! Take care.😀🏃🏽♀️x
Be kind to yourself, I find it is actually quite a relief to take the pressure of a bit and listen to the experts. Your doing great with your recovery as well.
I haven't been here long and I don't know you well but your post is inspirational. Running, swimming, walking, life....and on top of it all a donor! Wow! Just LOVE your 5k👍. You are fantastic! Thank you for posting.
A brilliant post, RFC and one that I can totally relate to in my current situation. Accepting that we are where we are.............and for the moment, not stressing about finding the strategies to move towards longer or faster.
That's a great post Realfoodieclub , I had no idea you'd had a transplant. You are doing amazingly well, so you are right to celebrate what you can do, and it's a real lesson to us all. X
Thanks RFC, I think we all do so well with C25K and get used to a week on week improvement, often against all expectation that it actually works. Then we often get lost for a short while before starting to look at 10K because we want some structure and maybe want to keep up with others on the forum, although some miss out the getting lost stage.
So your post just confirms that I have got it right (for me). Although I don't regret pushing myself harder, in retrospect I was probably putting myself under too much pressure to do more than I wanted
I didn't always enjoy the post 5k phase and it took me a long time but I got there, did a 10K which I enjoyed and would do the occasional one again (maybe) but I have gone back to running whatever I feel like doing twice a week, usually 40 to 60 minutes, usually 5-8 km, plus a parkrun and i am back to really enjoying it and waking up to think "oh good, it's a running day"
You are so right about phases after graduation. One of the reasons I pushed for this forum was to help with that lost phase, but also running can take us in so many different directions. I'm glad you have found your joy again. For me I think it will come by acknowledging that what I am doing is good enoughright now, I am a bit of a adrenaline junkie as far as running goes I crave the buzz of a unreachable (for me ) run. But I love the thought of phases as it makes everything seem transitional and that is comforting to me right now, thank you.
Reading this is so helpful RFC as I too really struggle with wanting to be back where I was... you are so right it's about focussing on the positives, and you have come such a long way with all that you have been through... X
Thanks for your post. I think we runners are always so focused on the next goal, we rarely take a moment to look back at the 'us' we used to be and see how far we have come x
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All I can come up with is...A Questing we will go :-) 
Thoughts on Freestyle and rigid routine.
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