Running in lockdown: how has it been for you?

[Gwenllian1]

I have been reading every day here as usual but not posting or commenting much which is a sure sign that my running isn't going too well. I have been impressed and interested to see how many people have kept up their running through lockdown and found it a help. I think I have got there now but for me it has been a bit of a bumpy ride. I read oldfloss's post the other day and was quite relieved to find that I was not the only one! Long post warning!!

On March 8th I ran (slow as a slow thing but I did it) the Chester 10k. I was over the moon. I really didn't think I could and then I did. So when lockdown hit I really didn't want to lose my very hardwon fitness. It has taken me more than a year to get to be able to run that far and I will never be quick. It is still hard work sometimes so I was pretty sure that if I stopped running for a month or two that would be it - gone.

Now normally I do not run from home. We live halfway up a very steep hill on the Clwydian Hills in North Wales. You can go very steeply up or very steeply down but you can't go flatly anywhere until you are a good twenty minutes from home. So that is the practical problem. And at the beginning of lockdown there was also the emotional turmoil of being shut away from family and friends. I am generally quite a calm and easy going person and we knew that we are very lucky: no health problems, reliable pension income, no young children to care for or bored teenagers to keep cheerful. We live in a beautiful place. We have a large garden so plenty to do. From the outset we said that if we couldn't do it, with all our advantages, who could? So in many ways preparing for and living in lockdown has been fine. I have blogged about it here if you are interested welshhillsagain.blogspot.com But it seemed to be taking quite a bit of my emotional energy. I felt tired and at the beginning I did not sleep well, rare for me, sleeping is one of my specialties.

So I managed nothing more than walking up to the top of our hill and running down a couple of times a week at most for about a month. That makes a run of about 2.5k. I didn't bother with strava or stats. It hardly felt worth it. It didn't feel enough and yet it felt like as much as I could manage. I felt I was hardly running at all and yet I couldn't raise the energy or the desire to do any more. A few weeks ago I thought I should see if I could find another way of doing it so with much encouragement from my husband I decided the thing to do was to walk/run up and run down, aiming to improve my time every so slightly.

The first couple of times were so hard I nearly gave up but slowly, trying to run a couple of times a week and three on a good week, I have got better. Here in Wales, lockdown is still pretty tight and we are not supposed to drive for exercise so I am stuck here with my hill for at least another couple of weeks but oddly I am learning to love it. Today I did my fastest time ever. I still can't run all the way up and I might never manage that but coming down is great and feels like flying. Even going up is beginning to feel less like purgatory.

One day soon I hope I might drive to the sea and run down there or drive to my favourite run by the river but in the meantime I am so glad I didn't give up entirely when it felt impossible. I didn't desert running and it hasn't deserted me. Thank heavens for that.

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate]

Lockdown is tough hills are tough, well done in tackling both. For me lockdown was best in the beginning, i could walk to work and see no one walk home and see no one, then we were allowed to drive for exercise and suddenly there were cars and people again, then we could exercise more than once a day and walking to and from work is horrible as runners and bikes whiz past so I bought a car but it’s been good to get out and run, I’m glad you have been able to and you must be so much stronger with that hill work

[Gwenllian1 Graduate10 in reply to SueAppleRun]

It’s interesting that in some ways full lockdown with its very clear message and absence of choices is easier than a halfway house. I do understand what you mean!

[SueAppleRun Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Gwenllian1]

Yes it was much easier in the beginning, i knew i could go to work and those who couldn’t stayed home, the local beaches and parks have got steadily busier but i think that’s because so many people are still home from work and school and the weather has been lovely

We walked to our favourite running places but then didn’t run much so it’s great that we can drive to them and run where we want and of course meeting my daughter and dog outside has been lovely

[Grannyhugs Graduate10]

Wow you've done wonderfully tackling these hills during lockdown and all the worries that come with that. I too used to live half way up a hill and luckily decided to start tackling them pre lockdown- what a blessing that I could the run free anywhere and grew to love challenge myself to more and more hills. 3 weeks ago we moved house - its flat here, very flat, I have to run 3k to get to the bottom of the first hill. Perversely I'm now having to relearn how to run flat. I find it tough, boring, raised heart rate (that could be the heat) so beware when you get that first run at the seaside 🤣🤣 happy running 🤗

[Gwenllian1 Graduate10 in reply to Grannyhugs]

That’s interesting about the challenge of flat! I’ve always struggled with hills but at least they give you very clear goals and break a run into sections quite naturally. The run by the sea is flat as a pancake so it will be interesting to see if I find that differently hard, if I ever get there! Good luck with the running in a new place. Some exploring to do maybe?

[Tasha99 Graduate10]

Well done on persevering!

I’ve loved it actually. My club has set challenges every day and I’ve done a low heart rate zone training plan which has been not only easy but now my pace has improved drastically. A lot of people have really struggled to run though that I know. People need other people to run with on many cases.

We’re coming out the other end now. Keep going. Maybe sign up to a ‘race at your pace’ medal - you choose a distance to for in the month. Why not sign up for June? If you over or under achieve, you can change the target until the 25th.

[Gwenllian1 Graduate10 in reply to Tasha99]

That’s a great idea Tasha, thank you. I will have a look and see what I can find. Haven’t come across the idea of a low heart rate training plan before. I don’t know much!! I’m intrigued by the idea of something that manages to combine being easy with improving your pace! Sounds almost too good to be true!

[Tasha99 Graduate10 in reply to Gwenllian1]

It really is! It’s hard to keep it low. You need to find your heart rate zones on garmin. My zone 3 max is 148 I think so I aim for 140. I’ve done a lot more miles with little if any stress on my legs. Did 125 miles this month. On your watch, set it so you can watch your heart rate all the time. I can’t believe how fast I can run now! I think I’d knock a minute off a 5k now.

[Buddy34 Graduate10]

You should be so proud you've preserved because its paying off and I'm sure one day you will run up the whole lot of that hill.

Just think how special that day will be when you can drive to your favourite running spot by the sea or by the river .

Well done you 🤗🤗

[Gwenllian1 Graduate10 in reply to Buddy34]

Thank you Buddy! It was a bit touch and go there for a few days! I think the thing that kept me going is the thing that has brought me through the whole process of learning to run: I am not sporty, I am not fast, I am not very competitive (except with myself) but I am persistent, to the extent of being quite bloody minded if you ask my nearest and dearest!

[Buddy34 Graduate10 in reply to Gwenllian1]

I think it's being ' bloody minded' that's got you, me and a lot of us to be where we want to be. 🤗

[Gwenllian1 Graduate10 in reply to Buddy34]

Well it is quite a useful quality isn't it sometimes? I don't like to quit, sometimes even when perhaps I really should!

[UnfitNoMore Graduate10]

This lockdown has challenged most people in ways we never expected to have to face. Very well done conquering it all, and look at you go now! Very inspirational.

I started the lockdown a right “expletive deleted” according to the wife as I’d heard the rules and decided that my one exercise a day needed to be the dogs’ walk, and they’re too young to run it. I was managing to get one run in a week, and so at least she got one day of me smiling. Then, rather strangely for someone who always works from home, cabin fever managed to set in... don’t think I’ll ever understand that one! The fog was lifted by a policeman telling me that walking the dogs was “essential work” and so not necessarily my exercise... and that got me smiling... I was back, the wife was happy (I’m sure she likes her headspace while I’m out) and I started to get my legs back into running more often. As an early birthday present the restrictions in England were changed to unlimited exercise... I didn’t even know Boris knew when it was... don’t always like what he says, but I could have kissed him right then! Upped the exercise and just had to go 10k on my birthday... but wasn’t ready to run the distance. A look at my weekly milage and a bit of maths and I figured I could go 5k at lunch and then again in the evening... so, I’m back at 10k as long as there’s a 7 hour rest between intervals 🤣. Work got busy for me while lockdown was on, and also had me on nights... so I lost a few days that I barely remember, other than that it’s not been so bad.

While the situation hasn’t been good, I’ve taken some optimism in on my runs every time I’ve seen an obvious new runner, or someone listening to our lovely coaches on C25K on speaker... and we have a huge number of new lockdown runners on their way to that 5k right now, they’re always inspirational to me.

Just hoping that the Covidiots don’t cause us to go back into full lockdown... but we will all get through this stronger.

[Gwenllian1 Graduate10 in reply to UnfitNoMore]

I love the idea of 10k done as two 5ks with a seven hour break in the middle! Genius! It's fascinating the different ways lock down has affected us. You were clearly not expecting cabin fever. I normally go a bit stir crazy if we are here for two long. We have a phrase for it "I think you need to get down from the hill" but weirdly I haven't felt that. But there's no doubt that running helps! As you say, I watch pictures on the TV and just hope we are not going to throw all the progress away.

[Rungranny 60minGraduate in reply to Gwenllian1]

Just last week I managed 10k in the same way. Ran 5k to my son's house , stayed for an hour , had tea and flapjacks 🤣then ran the other 5k home. My son who does Ironman Triathlon distance was mildly amused 🤣. But it felt great and I feel sure I can make it to 10k proper by the end of this month if I keep slow and steady.

[Gwenllian1 Graduate10 in reply to Rungranny]

That’s a great idea! I do like the idea of fuelling up with flapjacks! Seriously I’m sure you will get there if you go slow and steady. That is the only way I’ve got anywhere at all with my running!

[Kat332zz Graduate10]

Well done on those hills. I walk to the top of my undulation before I start running, now of the age where I need a warm up walk anyway.

Lockdown has been great for my running, no other things to do or people to see, so able to go out every second day. It was wonderful to start with, no cars about, crossing roads was a doddle, now not so much but still able to plan my week round running.

[Gwenllian1 Graduate10 in reply to Kat332zz]

I thought I would do loads of exercise, daily yoga, running every other day, but I have probably done half that. I decided not to beat myself up about it. Being kind seems like the best way of managing this coronavirus time and I’m trying to be kind to myself as well as others! It’s great that you have found something that works so well for you. I think the structure that running gives, however often you do it, is a real help.

[Kat332zz Graduate10 in reply to Gwenllian1]

I agree with you, do whatever gets you through this awful time. After I retired it took me a year or so to allow myself just to sit and read a book for an afternoon without feeling guilty. My argument is that if I’m not hurting anyone or anything then it’s fine.