Friday Fartleks, only a day late: I decided... - Bridge to 10K

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Friday Fartleks, only a day late

Razouski profile image
Razouski
β€’19 Replies

I decided this week that I would try and get back to doing a fartlek style run once a week as my pace seems to have dropped off since being ill a few weeks ago. Well it sounded like a good idea in principle...

I got myself togged up and once again used the dulcet tones of Michael Johnson and the C25K Week 1 Run 1 to get my timings from. Knowing that I would only be running for 30 minutes helped get me in the mood, and a very varied playlist could only help further.

But before starting the app I ensured I did my dynamic stretches followed by a good brisk 5 minute warm up walk. So what's new, you might ask? Don't you always start your runs like this?

I'm usually pretty religious about my stretches and warm up walk, but earlier this week I inadvisably tried running without. I was in a rush to get to my daughter's for the delights of painting and decorating, which obviously I was looking forward to immensely πŸ€”... (OK, so I may have lied about looking forward to it, as I was part way through painting every bit of her and her boyfriend's 3 bedroom house.) so decided to set off for a run with no stretching and only 2 minutes of a saunter.

Well what a trial that turned out to be and probably didn't save me any time at all. I was due to run 10k but 2 kilometres in my shins felt as if they were being attacked much in the way I'd attacked the skirting boards with an electric sander. The pain just grew and grew. "You must have shin splints," a small voice said. I was on the point of calling it a day, when I realised that it might not be shin splints, but I might definitely have brought one of my gremlins with me on my run. 2 kilometres would hardly have been worth getting my kit on for, my conscience argued with the nasty gremlin 😈, so I slowed right down and continued running as gently as I could to try to reduce the pounding from the pavement. Eventually the gremlin took umbrage and decided to shut up for a while.

I thought he'd gone home, but he was just keeping schtum until I'd completed the next kilometre. This time he stayed quiet but started poking my hip with a large invisible broom handle. At first I could ignore it but after a few hundred metres of this I ground to a halt, and did my best to stretch out my joint. For a moment I thought about phoning Miss Razouski and saying that if she wanted a painter and decorator today she would have to come and pick me up in the car otherwise I'd be suffering from paralysis. Alright... so maybe that was a bit extreme... and maybe she would accuse me of hypochondria... and maybe I wouldn't live it down in the Razouski family... so I carried on running - if you can call it running, if I'd gone any slower I would have been going backwards.

The joint did ease after another half km or so and I did manage to complete the goal of 10km. But boy was it hard, and boy was it slow. By the time I got home the rest of Razouski Redecorators Ltd were waiting to leave for the house. "What took you so long?" Mr R asked, "I thought you weren't doing a warm up?"

Not only was the run a tough one, I also regretted my decision not to warm up as my legs decided, as if I hadn't been punished enough already, to let me know what a poor decision I'd made, by aching throbbingly throughout the rest of the day. This wasn't the best state to be in to be painting doors and door frames.

And yesterday, Friday, when I should have been doing fartleks I decided to give my legs an extra recovery day and promised them I'd warm up properly before venturing out today.

So there we were, Michael Johnson, my well warmed up legs, and me. As I'd already walked for 5minutes when Michael said to start walking I started a gentle jog for 5 mins and when he asked me to run I ran quickly. And it seemed to work. By the time I'd completed all 8 " fast runs" with recovery runs every time I was told to walk, I was pretty puffed, but no aches or pains, and no gremlins. I usually hate this kind of fartlek running, but today I think I almost enjoyed it. I'd intended to complete the run by continuing to 5km, but when I got there decided another kilometre wouldn't hurt. My legs have forgiven me for the mistreatment earlier this week, and haven't given a single twinge.

Maybe fartleks aren't all bad after all.

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Razouski profile image
Razouski
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19 Replies
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Tasha99 profile image
Tasha99Graduate10

Well done! Need to do something similar myself I think! Well done πŸ‘ŒπŸ½

Dexy5 profile image
Dexy5Graduate10

I bet Michael Johnson was pleased to be in your company again razouski, even if you were ignoring his advice to run at conversational pace! πŸƒβ€β™€οΈβš‘οΈ

Razouski profile image
Razouskiβ€’ in reply toDexy5

I've never been able to run at conversational pace as I don't have anyone to converse with, except the bloomin' gremlins. ;-)

Dexy5 profile image
Dexy5Graduate10β€’ in reply toRazouski

Definitely ignore them πŸ‘ΊπŸ‘ΏπŸ˜ˆ

ktsok profile image
ktsok

That’s a good idea, using MJ to coach you through a fartlek session. I might steal that idea! I’m glad your legs have forgiven you πŸ™‚

Razouski profile image
Razouskiβ€’ in reply toktsok

I keep thinking I'll do three Fridays on Week 1 then progress on to Week 2, but I never seem to have the oomph to sustain it...

Wimborne profile image
Wimborne

Still haven’t quite worked fartleks out. Must admit I first thought it was fartlegs which I think is a much better name anyway. Busy times R but fabulous 10k in there which you need to shout louder about πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸŒŸπŸ“’ especially given those pesky gremlins along the way. So glad you gave them what for. πŸ˜€πŸƒπŸΌβ€β™€οΈπŸƒπŸΌβ€β™€οΈ

Razouski profile image
Razouskiβ€’ in reply toWimborne

I do like the term fartlegs πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

That may be enough to get me to do another session next Friday ... oh except I'll be in Amsterdam with our choir so will be rehearsing on Friday morning and doing a tourist run with the choir running group on Saturday . I'll maybe do fartlegs the following week.

Wimborne profile image
Wimborneβ€’ in reply toRazouski

How exciting... Choir, Amsterdam and a tourist run. Fartlegs will just have to wait. πŸ˜€

grumpyoldgirl profile image
grumpyoldgirlβ€’ in reply toRazouski

Your choir has a running group? My choir can get to the pub in pretty quick time, but thats as far as they get! πŸ˜‚

Razouski profile image
Razouskiβ€’ in reply togrumpyoldgirl

WE have a running club, but we only run together when we're on tour. So last year we ran in Paris (twice) and in Lucerne which was totally magical and included an impromptu swim in the lake. I don't think we'll be swimming in the canal in Amsterdam, but the run will be fun (I hope).

grumpyoldgirl profile image
grumpyoldgirlβ€’ in reply toRazouski

No, please, don't swim in the canal! πŸ˜‚ Your choir sounds amazing, I may have to quiz you more on it some time 😊

Glad you're sorting out those gremlins, after all you've had on lately I'm not surprised you were tempted to miss out your warm-up. You're a very busy lady!

Razouski profile image
Razouskiβ€’ in reply togrumpyoldgirl

I have been singing with the London Symphony Chorus for the last couple of years. Most of our concerts are at The Barbican in London, but we also did a couple of the Proms at The Albert Hall in the summer, and also our "away concerts". It's been very exciting as we get to sing with some renowned conductors including Sir Simon Rattle - who is lovely.

grumpyoldgirl profile image
grumpyoldgirlβ€’ in reply toRazouski

How brilliant is that. We mainly sing to our long-suffering friends and families πŸ˜‚

It's such a feeling, being a part of that wonderful sound. There's nothing like it. But my goodness, how do you fit it in along with everything else? I'm seriously impressed.

BaddieThePirate profile image
BaddieThePirateGraduate10

Glad you’re aches went away. Good effort. My last 3 runs have all felt hard, but I think it’s due to indulging in junk food. Is the house nearly all painted now?

Razouski profile image
Razouskiβ€’ in reply toBaddieThePirate

The house is just about finished. The carpets have gone in and they have had beds and sofas delivered. It's feeling really homely, and it's been nice spending some quality time with my daughter, and getting to know her boyfriend a bit better too.

Mr Raz has a couple of shelves to put up and a curtain pole, and I'm going to be hanging some curtains, and then we're all done. I think I shall miss it ;-)

BaddieThePirate profile image
BaddieThePirateGraduate10β€’ in reply toRazouski

I'm sure you'll be invited round to dinner after all that work πŸ˜€

Beachcomber66 profile image
Beachcomber66Graduate10

Or invited around to to make dinner more like 😊. My kids have had a few issues requiring support over the last few months. It is exhausting but great to spend quality time with them. Maybe your legs don't like decorating.....none of me does!!

Razouski profile image
Razouskiβ€’ in reply toBeachcomber66

That sounds more like it, invited round to make dinner! But as you say, it's nice to spend quality time with her, and doing something productive.

We now need to think about decorating her room when she moves out as it's the only room in the house we haven't done, and she didn't want to decorate it while she was here. But I think I'll have a break before I start on that little project, or my legs will be complaining even more. ;-)

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