Firstly, apologies for the late post... work has been hectic and I clean forgot to post on either of the last two night. This has put us right in the middle of July though, so it’s not all bad! Also, being in touch with my inner idiot, I went to post this a while ago, hit the wrong button and left the forum instead, so I can’t pin this yet... if one of the other lovely admins/mods can do that I’d be grateful!
So, down to the important stuff... how are we all doing? Half way points can be tricky for some, it’s easy to switch off, and for others it’s a sign that we got this now. It’s a good time to refocus and get ready to drive on to the end of the quest either way.
My week got me back to 10k... just 11 more to add by October, and I’m back into speed work, which has been a shock to the system as I’d refused to do any during lockdown. All that relaxed slower running has helped though, I’m 6 seconds per km faster!
Have a wonderful start to the second half.
Happy running.
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UnfitNoMore
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Don't worry about being a little late, those arrows at the top of the photo reminds me of a sign directing people to where the town centre of my home town is, they were pointing in the opposite direction confusing strangers to the town until I turned them pointing the correct direction.
My quest to run 16K by the end of the month is still on course, this morning I ran 13K, next week 14K and on the last Wednesday of the month I hope to run just over 16K/10 miles. 😊 🏃🏾
I remember reading how it’s actually impossible to find Manchester city centre from the west by going on street signs alone... you follow “Manchester” until you start seeing “city centre” and then you end up in Salford 🤣
You’re well and truly on it... can’t wait to congratulate you on that big 10!
I ran my 10k just over a week ago and haven’t run since 😢 We’re back in lockdown here in Melbourne although are allowed to exercise. I’ve got 5 boys to homeschool and a husband who is flat out with work. I’ve also picked up another injury in my other foot which seems to be the evil twin of my last injury. Patience is going to be needed and some strengthening on my weak ankles. I know exactly what my running goals are but will see what I can do in this season. Thankful to everyone on this forum who inspire me to keep going 🏃♀️
5 boys to homeschool? We have a school nearby with smaller classes! I think you should be paid a teaching salary there!
Hopefully your foot is better in time for the second easing of lockdown... I think we all need to get used to these things, it’s not going to go away quickly.
Good luck with the homeschooling. I’m a teacher and I found it quite stressful to homeschool my one child! When you get back out running hopefully your foot will be better and you can run all the stress away.
Thanks HappyNoodle. I shouldn’t really call it homeschooling as the teachers at our school are doing all the work. I just have to provide a workspace and snacks. This Covid season has made me SO thankful for teachers. You guys work so hard ❤️
Thank you 😊. Don’t do yourself down though. They might be delivering but you have to keep them focused and on task. And you don’t get a break at all. Don’t forget to take some time for you too 😍
A wake up call! Thank you! (And thank you for the laugh)
Let's start with the positives: the mission to explore new routes is going really well and has brought much pleasure. Living in a very 'folded' bit of the country, there are new perspectives on familiar places to be had.
The difficulty I had with an old friend, mentioned last week, has, superficially at least, been sorted out very quickly (after many months of increasing friction) with one email from me. All that is required now is for me to keep my tongue bitten, be the bigger person, bear in mind that she may be experiencing organic brain changes and move on.
I had a panic about my goal to increase my average daily step count/'active' days when my Fitbit died but my lovely husband quietly ordered me a new one.
The yoga will need to be something like a daily habit from here on in (not quite, I did get some in the bank earlier in the month)
Still 2x5K to get in
Not managed a week of 5 'active' days yet - despite being quite busy in a physical sense.
Time to focus is only really possible if we take time and steps to be relaxed... so I’d say you’ve made quite a lot of progress this week in that respect. While running can burn stress, I find it’s much better if there’s none to burn! Sometimes life throws things at us that make us step back a little or a lot... and I embrace that, many marathon plans have cutback weeks, so having the odd enforced one stops me having to consciously take one!
Active days aren’t necessarily where we pause life to do a formal exercise... if you’ve been physically busy, that counts in my book! I missed a run in the summer and spent the day logging and chopping wood, hell of a workout and I counted it as such... not least because there was no energy to go and do much afterwards.
All we can do is have a plan and move along the road towards it... while we’d like that road to be perfectly straight, they never are. We get there though.
Thankfully my ankles have improved and I have been able to run, albeit I am taking things slow. I had 4 days of discomfort when putting my foot down and it then completely disappeared. I am going to see a physio next week, who is an ultra runner herself so hopefully I will get some more strengthening exercises. I have been working on strengthening my ankles and have been following the exercises used by trail runners which have significantly helped.
I ran 5k on Monday and I aim to go again later after work. I am usually a morning runner so this will shake things up a bit. I have found a different route which I want to try out, as I am getting a bit bored with my usual route. It will involve running on a different surface so am interested to give it a go.
The yoga practice is coming along well and I have managed to do 3 sessions over the last week.
On recommendation from a colleague I have downloaded a free fitness app with lots of different exercises (yoga, pilates, stretch, strength etc) ranging from 5 minutes upwards per session. I have been trying out several of the 5 minute ones and boy do I know about it the next day. Its a really good app and because I can do short exercise sessions I can pick and choose a range to suit my mood.
Loving all the posts especially the Manchester signs as I used to live there. I have been keeping to my running every day quest as I have committed to running for 💯 days why did I sign up to that on Strava I ask myself some days but I am enjoying it happy running 🏃♀️
I sign up to lots on Strava... fortunately I didn’t see that particular challenge and I don’t think I’ll go look for it either 🤣. Great job staying on it... I’d have to put a couple of really short really slow recovery runs a week in to make it doable I think. Love that you’re enjoying the challenge and I’m sure that you’ll succeed.
I'm mostly on track with the B210K and really enjoying it! I've come to a sort of rhythm - first run is a 30-20-10, second I do a steady 5k (currently around the 33 minute mark) and my long run on the weekend. Spent most of this week plotting a 7k run for the weekend that explores some new parks, can't wait!
Plus, I've learnt a lot from changing my runs up and trying consciously to go a bit slower - before I joined here, i thought I should be running my same pace each run and just gradually extending the distance. So grateful I ditched that before getting an injury!! Loving all the chats and help on here, thank you!
Great stuff! Slower running rocks, big benefits and more time to both enjoy the run and taking in our surroundings... good for body and mind. I’m going back from all relaxed slow runs to some speed work as I’m on a plan again, and I’m enjoying those sessions a lot more too now (I used to hate them) dunno about life, but variety is certainly the spice of running.
You’ve had a great week and the fact you’re planning the route for the weekend so much tells me you’re well and truly hooked! Have a wonderful 7k and another great week.
I'm just about hanging in and managing a sub-25 (not) parkrun each week, but it's getting harder , and a couple of efforts to try something more ambitious have got precisely nowhere, the worst being an attempted 10k abandoned after 5 . I'm looking forward to mixing things up with some gym sessions next month, all being well and the gym getting its act safely together ......
I’m actually missing the gym and never thought I would! No word of mine opening at all yet... hopefully yours will be soon. Damn shame about the 10k, but sub 25 5ks are amazing. I’m sure the reopening of your cross training establishment will have you back up the distances soon.
Hello UNM. Well done on your speed work. All was well with me and my 3 x 5ks until Sunday when in my 4th k I twisted my ankle mid-air so immediately started walking. Everything seemed to get back to normal so I then ran the last km. on Monday I had slight pain from my heel to my lower calf so didn’t run. On Wednesday I had my first visit to the physio and the good news is he is happy that ski injury is cured, he then set to work massaging the Achilles area as he agreed it was a bit tight. As a result, It was pretty painful last evening but I woke up this morning and all was well, meaning I could meet buddies at (not) parkrun as planned. It turned out I got a fastest 3 mile segment on Strava so happy with that, even though my 5k is slower than pre-injury. I am happy to have a slow recovery.
Next step is to start the magic plan as quested but I need to get some flex and strength exercises in too to prevent further injuries.
Great to hear that the ski injury is fully behind you now and the issue this week was less significant that it could have been. Congratulations on that Strava segment... your 5k will soon pick up again on that evidence. Have fun with the S&F, I’m looking forward to seeing you cross the bridge again.
Evening UnfitNoMore, hope the half marathon training went well today. All fine here, long run last Saturday was 8k in an hour, a lovely partly new route 5k om Tuesday and intervals tonight which I needed to dig deep to find the motivation to get out of the door, but done. Having the off knee ache with the longer runs so phoning tomorrow to book gait analysis and my first proper running shoes holefully!! Just need to find time for hubby to have the 2 small people so I can get it done. Can't believe we're over half way through July already!!!
Nice week... and hopefully you can get the timing right and be floating along in super new running shoes very soon. Training today was an “easy” run, so not much to report... tomorrow is my tough one but I’ll do my best! Congratulations on the 8k, a big milestone for us imperial guys as it’s 5 miles too. Have a great week.
My aim was to finish B210k this month and looking at the calendar earlier, it looks like my 10k run will be on the 31st, so perfect timing if everything goes to plan 🙂 I did my first ever 9k run yesterday and it felt great. Running is one of the things keeping me sane during these crazy times!
What a way to finish the month that’s gonna be! I’ll be sure to get a end of the month post up on the day. Well done with that 9k.
Running gives amazing headspace once we don’t have to think too much about the act of running itself... which is hard to imagine when we take our first run on C25K 🤣
Some of you know that I am not one for taking on extra challenges, I just want to go out and enjoy my runs.
But I seem to have slipped up a bit. Here is what I am up to this month and beyond.
1. Still 10000+ steps per day (current streak 198 days)
2. Still running at least 5k, three times a week, including the (not)parkrun on Saturdays
3. Great North Run Solo - 40 runs in 78 days. Sometimes I split my runs so get more than one result in a day, so I have decided that I have to run on 40 days (even though they would accept the additional runs). In practice that means I have to fit in another 7 days on top of my normal run schedule. I do need my rest days so these extras are just a short run around the block.
4. End to End challenge - walk or run 874 miles, the equivalent of Lands End to John O'Groats in a year.
It then takes a while to update the various spreadsheets and webpages with the results!
That steps streak is simply amazing... I must turn off auto goal on Garmin as the best I can do is 7 before it gets ridiculous!
Sounds like you’re smashing GNR solo and (not) parkrun... I keep having a peek at your times too!
Short recovery runs are a smart way of adding the odd extra day here and there... they should have you better healed for the next longer one.
Not sure I have the inclination to fill in too many spreadsheets... I love all that to be automatic! Will the challenges not take directly from Strava?
My fastest run of the week is always Saturday, whether parkrun or (not)parkrun. Always has been.
The reason I started GNR Solo was because of the spreadsheet opportunity
First Pianism, then Sharuns and Geoff, and also Ssasqueen. Once they started comparing planning and star charts, I had to join them.
I should point out that I was a business analyst before I retired so I have spent a lot of my life "messing with spreadsheets "
The End to End will take the evidence from their Strava club, but we need to enter the data online to get on the map. That may change as they are hoping to get it to link properly to Garmin and Strava
This challenge started off as a small project to motivate people during lockdown. This is the third one and there is a Welsh Coast challenge. Each month the number of people signing up has increased and after 2000 people signing up over a weekend then all trying to log their first data their website crashed and has had to be rebuilt. It is a nice club though, not a corporate business - they didn't imagine that it would prove so popular!
I don't think there is any link between Strava and GNR Solo though.
I did some data modelling back in the day for BAe... I understand your reasons for not minding a spreadsheet or two, and they’re the same reasons that I hate it 🤣
Lejog and the wales coastal virtual are really great ideas... I hope that while not been all corporate they make enough money to keep it going after the year is up... at the price it’s very good value really.
As far as I can tell they were not making much money from the first few challenges, they have obviously made more on the latest one because so many people signed up. But for the same reason they have had to pay for additional software help.
However once that has been sorted, and the extra improvements they want to make it should hopefully be fairly robust for the future.
It was frustrating on Monday but not annoying because it isn't some business set up just to make money. As you say, the price is very reasonable.
I’m still doing the running, my 10k has stopped at 10k the last two runs, I did manage an under 30min 5k the week before but I’m now signed up to the End to End LEJOG so even though I’m still doing the running I’ve had to add in a lot of walking so I’m taking the runs a bit easier until I get used to the increased mileage. Might try doing a sneaky little bit of a run on one of the walks so increase my running mileage and reduce the time to walk, we’ll see how it goes next week. I’m in awe of some of the challenges above.
Great work... and with a more than a year of running behind you, you’re good to do a little running on “rest” days, so the run/walk to aid Lejog sounds like a good way of doing it to me! Challenges here vary a lot... many will be in awe of yours too! Have a wonderful week clocking some miles off that big challenge.
Hey well my 3 times a week was scuppered due to a painful tooth extraction but I’m letting myself off that. Still progressing on the magic 10 and cumulative total on track to meet marathon distance well before the end of the month 👍
Life throws things at us, we take them and pick back up when it’s done... that’s what being a runner is all about for me. Well done jumping back on it and moving towards your goals. Have a wonderful week edging up to that 26.2 total.
I only managed one run last week, a 5.3km. I had a super busy and stressful end to last week and weekend which means I now haven't run for over a week which is bad of me and not in line with my quest targets!
I have signed up to the Virtual Missions Conquerer Event Series though and have prepaid for two challenges so hopefully this will give me a kick up the bum as the money has been spent! I'm starting with my run across the channel (21 miles) and then will choose whether I'd like to do another shorter one or sign up to a longer one.
I'm behind but hoping to have at least one or two runs to report on the next post!
Don’t worry when life gets in the way a little... we are never defined by a week, and we always come back rested and ready to take on our goals... you even have new ones! Enjoy crossing the channel and who knows where next?!
I have been running three times a week, running #NotParkRun on a Monday (and I'm getting slower 🤣), having a socially distanced run on a Wednesday, which involves me watching my friend run into the distance as I slowly trot at my pace, and finally doing a long run on a Friday. I had to miss last Friday as my knee was a bit sore, and I'm still feeling guilty about it all now!
I've been really missing park run, but I do the park run quiz on a Saturday morning - does that count as a quest? 🤣
Don’t feel guilty... not running with a sore knee sounds sensible to me... hopefully it’s settled now. parkrun quiz has to count... its parkrun! Well done getting all the other runs done... I’ve had one or two of that kind of socially distanced runs with a group of friends... also known as parkrun!
Swollen glands and headaches told to rest no running at all last week and still not better GP says rest more ☹️ so the Bridge is in sight but moving further away than I had hoped. However the pull in my side should be okay to run with if it doesn’t hurt and gentle careful exercises no core work.
That sucks... get well soon. Goon not to run when you already know how tough it will be though! Bridges are permanent so no rush to get on them, they’ll wait for you.
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, and a couple of efforts to try something more ambitious have got precisely nowhere, the worst being an attempted 10k abandoned after 5 
July Quest week 2: Sunny Delight? Chasing the shade… ☀️ 🏃♀️ ☀️ 🏃♀️ ☀️ 
🍏Summer Quest Week 2
