Well, here we are again, a week of August gone and a week of new questing!
My Questing started well with a bit of a faffy , but enjoyable run, and I managed another, non- faffy, short one whilst having an enjoyable few days , back at my other happy place in Wales. So, my main target of at least one run a week is holding!
My photograph, taken on one of our outings, is of a tree, looking completely devoid of life, except from the centre of the trunk, new growth and new life
It just reminded me of new beginnings, new running plans and setting out again; sometimes from your original starting point.. or starting a whole new adventure.
Where we were heading, was to an outcrop of rocks and boulders which Mr. OF and I used to frequent in our youth. We always visited and climbed and bouldered and had fun. Having spent the day there, the outcome was, a new climbing rope ordered...just a short one and some new sticky shoes Add to that, the walk up will make a terrific running route, and it is a whole new adventure starting again for me
But! Enough of my ramblings... How has it all gone with you? I have been reading some great posts and our Questers who joined last week, seem to be pretty much on the way to their targets!
Sometimes we start really strongly, but wind, weather and life in general can affect our progress; the thing is, for us all to stay positive, maintain what we are able to and enjoy !
Please, please post and let us all know how your week has gone... I do know that one or two of us are already feeling the benefits, ( and the aches and pains sometimes of this first week! It is great to see folks' progress and to support each other
And...
If you are not already here with us then, time to join in.
What is the Quest?
The aim of the Quest is to help you find a focus or goal that you would like to achieve by the end of the Quest period.
The Quest takes one calendar month. You can join at any point during that time.
I ask that you are a C25K Graduate before joining the Quest. The reason for this is that pre-graduation your week is very much structured according to the C25K programme, and I wouldn't want the Quest to interfere with that.
Most popular goals are:
★ To run three times a week
★ To slowly increase distance
★ To train for a specific race
★ To add Stretch and Strength exercises to your weekly routine
This is a personal challenge, so it's completely up to you! If you want to join, all you have to do is comment below with something like:
I would like to join the Quest, or, count me in! I would like to...
Each week, I will put up a new post, so we can chat and see how we are all doing!
So, any new questers, just leave a reply, if you have want to join in.
Happy Safe Questing for this next week, everyone
Oldfloss x
P.S.
The new growth in the centre seems to show this is a Rowan tree. Plus grass!
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Oldfloss
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Hi Floss, looks like you have had an adventurous and rewarding week!
Mine has been less exciting but I am pleased with myself for completing all 4 runs on my Garmin plan including 2 after long hours at the desk at work .
Happy questing all!
OldflossAdministrator60minGraduate in reply to Week7
Excellent news, a great start to your Quest!!Perfect for body and soul after a long stint at work! Looking forward to watching your progress
A week of a) being stymied and b) insufficiently motivated.
The insufficient motivation is the yoga, just hasn't happened. Am away now for a couple of days (not a holiday, interring the ashes of a young relative who died traumatically at the beginning of the first lockdown, first family gathering since) and hotel room boredom (not taking laptop, don't do much stuff on phone) and beloved who sleeps longer than I do in the morning might be helpful in nudging me into a practice or two!
The being stymied really was just that. Set out for my 5k Ratty medal charm run (second attempt having failed last month due to extreme slowness and lack of time) but Runkeeper was being oddly quiet about distance and couldn't fix it so it looks as though I only did 3.5k. Am absolutely sure I did more than that but not 100% sure it was the full 5k (and certainly can't cobble together evidence to prove it). So that means another attempt... I am less downcast than I might have been as it was a very enjoyable run anyway - found the fine weather between torrential downpours, the Derwent was looking lovely and the woodland was fresh, survived a field of cows, admired a paddock of insanely handsome rams, and the cycle path which was the return leg was way quieter than expected for this Summer. Also nothing like doing your warm down in a graveyard with a multiple thousand year yew for perspective!
Oh gosh...I can see why you were stymied.. and what a terribly sad occasion to get together for the first family gathering. The run sounds to have been just the thing... and in a beautiful location too. Derwent Water, or the Lakes ?
Lovely post Floss, love the tree, there’s an apple tree where we run that looked dead until recently and is now covered in apples, Last week didn’t run that much due to crazy work but yesterday a happy 5k
Simple and doable... running is the thing and enjoyment, that is the key. I am getting them where I can and if you get to run more, that can only be good. I shall watch for your posts
Dear OF, It is wonderful to see your wonderful written words again!
Thank you for writing. Instead of one run this week, I did three! I'm pleased as punch to be in the running game again after not running since 2020 March when the pandemic started. My son is mowing our grass very short so we keep ticks at bay and he has ensured a circle around our house around which I have been running. He is not running due to some benign bone issue, but between you and him, I have been catapulted off my comfortable couch perch and into the game again.
This is the best news!!!! It has made my day...and, three runs. Wow!!!!!Absolutely wonderful, you are going to feel so much better, mentally and physically.
Close to home too so able to relax into your run and simply enjoy ..
Hello Oldfloss, good to see that tree is fighting for survival just like the rest of us over the last year. Your stay in Wales sounds lovely and great for charging the batteries.
I have run 3 of my NRC training plan runs this week; Speed (hilly intervals), Long (8k), and Recovery (30 mins).
That adds up to 14 kms on my quest for 25 miles in August.
I’ve also got the Summer Bingo card to add to my quest
runr.co.uk/collections/mile... (in case the photo on iPad doesn’t work)
so I ticked off
Run Somewhere New ✅
Run Up A Hill ✅
Summer Bingo Card
OldflossAdministrator60minGraduate in reply to Dexy5
Wow!!! This all looks really positive...you are already getting the km in....are you loving the hills yet?Love that Summer bingo too! Well done you!
Last weekend saw me doing a parkrun (5km) followed by an easy 10km on Sunday. A planned rest day on Monday followed.
Tuesday morning started uncomfortably but I did a 2 mile run with no problems. By Tuesday evening I was starting to feel feverish. I rallied a bit on Wednesday morning but resumed the fever by lunchtime. On Thursday morning I got a GP appointment and by the evening had started a course of antibiotics for the urinary tract infection.
On Friday evening I was feeling a sufficient improvement to do a short walk to the chippy and back. Today I felt well enough to go out for a 5.6km walk. I'm hoping to resume running tomorrow morning.
The calendar I'd virtually drawn up had to be virtually ripped up. The hope of doing a HM on the anniversary of my graduation from C25K is reluctantly deferred.
Oh gosh! It started so well!No fun at all these UTIs...but..ypu will be back on track soon...but just take it really steady...don't rush it, and remember that HM will wait...xxx
Impressed you're returning to the rock face, shame you're a bit late to qualify for the Olympic Speed Climbing (!)
Just one questing run this week, I used strong winds as an excuse to duck into the gym and go for the lowest hanging fruit left on my target chart. So that now shows a green blob for 2.5k continuously at 13kph, plus a yellow blob for adding on another 500m at the end of the run making a total of 3k out of 5.
Also a couple of companionable runs with Dexy5 including the hilly speed run from her NRC programme. So a satisfactory week on the whole, especially given the Tokyo medal haul.
Hi OF, lovely post 😊Glad you are enjoying Wales - sticky shoes sound interesting!
We had a busy week in Yorkshire exploring new places. Walked over 40 miles! Unfortunately I may be on the IC for a little while! I have strained my back and groin due to Squiggy pulling hard on my Canicross harness - too many exciting smells! So HM training has stalled again 😩
A great start to my August quest so far, which is to continue on the bridge to 10k. Run 1 was on the hills, it was a barely moving pace at times but I survived it which is about the best that I could have hoped for!! Run 2 was a 30 min easy pace on the flat and my distance was ~4.1k, which is an improvement on ~3.7-3.8 km at graduation, with a lot more ease too. The third run was my long one of the week, the 50 min run. Overall not too bad, although in the last 10 mins I could feel the tank was fairly empty - my splits didn't show me slowing down that much, but there wasn't that feeling of finishing with a push like previous runs. But the plan has us repeating the 50 min run again this week, so hopefully it will feel slightly less tiring next time out. 50 mins and 6.5 k is further than I've ever run before (saying that, the 20 min one was at the time too, but still!). I was feeling pretty chuffed with myself until I watched a film on Amazon last night about the Welsh Dragon Back race - 315 km over 5 days, with a climb of about 3000 to 3600 m per day! Suddenly 6.5 k seems pretty pathetic!! But having recently struggled to walk up just one of the mountains that they covered, I'll stick to my mediocre achievements I think
One step at a time...slow and steady, and mainly, enjoy.Celebrate every run! They all count! X
Haven't run in a few weeks due to my knees feeling dodgy. I think I might be able to run, it's mostly with bending the knees that they hurt. Taking some supplements to aid the joints. Definitely hope it's not my rheumatic arthritis playing up, don't want to switch to another kind of IV as the one I am on at the moment is the least harmful one.
As mentioned, I do think I can run, but taking this week off still. This is my last week before taking of from work for a bit. So letting the knees rest still this week and maybe starting coming weekend I'll try a bit of running again. Might try some real Japanese Slow Jogging like CBDB does. Won't hit my regular distance then, but might enjoy myself more and get back into the game.
So my quest for this week is: rest and starting next week my quest is: start running again.
That is an excellent target for this week.. and for many of us, taking a rest when we need to, is sometimes the hardest thing to do.Looking forward to your post next week @
That's a lovely photo 👍Trees are amazing how they can look like they're virtually dead and then burst back into life. I'm glad you hear you had a lovely time revisiting old haunts.Well I'm a week late getting started with the quest, I've been struggling with motivation to get out there to be honest which isn't like me at all.
Anyway back from a dog walk and I've sat down and made a tentative plan for the next 4 weeks. Since starting to run again after my injury in April I've been trying to gently increase my distance . I was also doing 2 core session via zoom with my physio which although tough I really enjoyed, but sadly due to her work load she's stopped doing them, which I think it's one reason I've been a bit adrift.
Anyway I'm stop rambling on 🤣
So my plan is ..
*Run twice a week
*One longer run upping the distance by 0.5k it's it feeling ok. The second run to be either a hilly route or to work on pace by be running fartleks
*Find suitable core exercises to do twice a week to make up for my zoom class
OldflossAdministrator60minGraduate in reply to dijep
Welcome...great targets there; doable and clear.Looking forward to your posts and hoping it all goes to plan!
My quest last week was to make a late start on my Brighton Marathon 10k training. I started with a Parkrun, my first one for ages, and I really went for it, to see if I’d improved during the interim and I did manage a course PB and came first in my age category with 25 others in it.
I ran with my running club on Monday evening at the track. The training session was tough as they were preparing for a 3K race which is in a few weeks.
That was a great start but it all fell apart during my first attempt at a proper long run on Wednesday. I wanted to to take a long slow go at 10k to see how my aerobic fitness was. I ended up stopping at 8k with legs of lead. On reflection I should have taken another day’s rest after the Parkrun and club sessions.
Last Saturday I had an easier Parkrun and today I completed a 10k interval session running each 1k at about my race target pace of 4.35/km. It went quite well but it was tough and I may need a two day break before getting back out there.
I’m not sure I’ll get close to that pace on race day as I’ve started the preparation far too late but I’ll give it my best shot.
The picture of the tree bringing new life is quite a metaphor for me and my running journey. I hope it continues for a long while yet as I have so much more to achieve before I hang up my trainers.
All sounding positive and as if you are enjoying your quest for speed, then you seem to be on track. You have set yourself a challenge :)The lovely, long slow runs are the ones that weirdly do build up our speed and stamina, the more you do the more it evolves.
I feel we all have to try to remember to be kind to ourselves too? Not push too hard, and always listen to our running body!I am a tad over cautious as I learned this to my cost last year!
Well it's the 10th of August and I have run twice! Your mantra taking the time to run is sticking with me...yesterday I went for a walk with Mr BBR in my running gear and slotted a 20 min run along the canal bank into our 7k walk.
I have become a bit bored of my local routes from home so this will be a good way to change things up and get some running in.🤞👍🏃♀️🚶♂️
The P. E with Joe Wicks is really paying dividends now...I have done them all, just the last ' final party' one to do tomorrow.
Today he gave us the Fitness challenge again (4 weekly) and from when I started I have improved as follows.
Squats now 36 in 60 secs from 27
Press ups now 32 in 60 secs from 18
Burpees now 18 in 60 secs from 11
Will carry on doing these on weekdays as still enjoying them.🤸♀️
Daily Yoga with Adriene, just missed one or two days when time has run out. Still enjoying getting on my mat🙏
Great to see how everyone is doing with you leading the way, your rock climbing adventures sounds great! Turning the clock back and having fun.🧗♂️
Looking forward to my next run, happy questing all.🌻xxx
This all sounds extremely positive, and also, fun!!!You have done so, so well and are really on track.
But, the best bit, for me and I hope folk reading this, is to see the balanced range of what you are doing , and the enjoyment you are getting from it!
I joined the quest last week with what I now realise was a 'not August' quest since I said I wanted to work up to 10k in September. So I think that is actually a quest for next month???
So the revision is a more questy and immediate target - to run 2 days per week now that I'm back at work. I'm going to be kind to myself as well since work is full on. There seem to be a lot of energy-sapping, mojo-munching gremlins about at the moment so I hope that this quest will help to help swat them off my shoulders!
Hi Oldfloss and fellow questers 👋My quest is to run 10 miles - eventually and to reach 8 miles by the end of August.
Well I am very proud to report that I have just completed 7 miles / 11.2k 😊. This is my longest run to date. It was slow due to the heat but very manageable. Now for a shower 🥵.
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How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?
week 2 begins! 
