Watching from the sidelines

[jwillmac]

Hello everyone, I just watch from the sidelines because to be truthful, I'm a rubbish runner. I finished C25K ages ago and I still plod a 5 km a couple of times a week in about 44 mins .I also do open water swimming in our local Loch. However, I started using an insulin pump 9 weeks ago and I'm struggling to get past running for more than 20 minutes without hypoing. So it's a work in progress still .Our park run is hilly and you run the hill 3 times ,so I've never attempted it ....yet .I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I will still keep trying and watching you all in awe !

[Instructor57 Graduate10]

Well done on doing what your doing !If you are getting a couple of 5k's in then that's great !

Remember, your not in a competition with anyone , they are your runs and what you are achieving is having a positive impact on your health and wellbeing.

Don't worry about the park runs !

Your doing just fine 👍

[Gwenllian1 Graduate10]

You sound to be doing great! Your 5k times are very like mine and if I do those a couple of times a week I feel pretty good. In an ideal week I might manage three runs but that doesn’t always happen. Life gets in the way. But what both of us are doing is great for cardiovascular health and controlling blood pressure. And you do the cold water swimming too! I’m impressed. I’m a bit like you in that I always read but don’t often comment and sometimes feel a bit outclassed by other people’s achievements! What I remind myself is that what I am doing I am doing for myself. It’s not a competition. If it was I wouldn’t have started!

[Lookslikejames Graduate10]

I don’t think there is any such thing as a rubbish runner. What’s important is you are getting out there and running, which is great for body and mind.

Keep going, you’re doing great 👍🏻

[Sandraj39 Graduate10]

Hi jwillmac 🙂 I don’t know how your insulin pump will affect your running long term but it does sound like it’s early days for you with it at the moment. I hope things work out with it and you can get back to your running again soon.A couple of 5K’s a week is more than many do - so you are most definitely not a ‘rubbish runner’ plus you are swimming too! ( now I really am a rubbish swimmer!😂)

Good luck and let us know how things progress.

[jwillmac in reply to Sandraj39]

I've been a type 1 diabetic for 42 years, but whilst the pump ,she is called Tammy by the way, is amazing, running is known to cause hypo so I will keep tweaking and hopefully I'll get it sorted ! Open water swimming has the opposite effect on my blood glucose, I guess because there is some resistance involved battling the wind , the drift and how cold the water is ! But I'll keep on keeping on !

[Sandraj39 Graduate10 in reply to jwillmac]

I think it’s brilliant that you’re finding ways to carry on exercising - so important for all of us! 👍🙂

[nowster Graduate10]

At this point, you do what you're comfortable with most of the time, but throw in the occasional little challenge for variety.

My local parkrun is also hilly. The start is a gentle downhill slope (a former road with gaps for cat's eye road studs) then a right turn into a steep drop towards the river. Then it's a slow climb alongside the river and then another sharp right turn and gentle climb, and another right turn and a slight drop on a path that often gets muddy. Then there's the short S shaped hard climb. A bit of respite from slopes follows, running round the entire periphery of a square "rose garden" on the flat and then out and back towards the start. And that has to be done four times!

There are much harder ones, for example, Lanhydrock in Cornwall, which HeavyFoot has done, with a stamina-sapping long hill climb, and Watergrove (near Rochdale) which is more like a trail run into the Pennines.

[jwillmac in reply to nowster]

The pump is my challenge currently lol , I may try a flatter course in time once I sort out the hypos .

[GoGo_JoJo Graduate10]

There is no such thing as a rubbish runner. You're a runner, end of. You're also doing wild swimming which many can only dream of. You're doing what you can. We cannot control all the circumstances in our lives, only our own reactions. You're winning in my book 💖

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10]

Honestly the only criticism I might make of your progress is I think you are being too hard on yourself!

Whatever level I am at I know there will be others who can go faster and longer than me, but I don't care, because I'm doing my bit, and IMO one of the most important, if not the most important aspects of running for health and wellbeing is feeling good, so please praise yourself - you are doing great - and please feel good about it! 👍

[Mittymoo Graduate10]

A rubbish runner running 5 k twice a week? Not too shabby in my eyes !!

[RunSkippyRun Graduate10]

Hi jwillmac, kudos on getting out and the running despite the difficult stuff and also congratulations on posting here. It's especially good to read your post as I struggle with running because of a health condition and also find it difficult to post (to me it seems that everyone is doing wonderful stuff and I get a bit doleful at times and disappointed with myself - I know it's stupid but sometimes difficult to be rational when it feels things are going backwards 😞). So, I admire your greatly for getting out there and keeping on trying - all best wishes for your parkruns and I look forward to reading more of your posts. 👏👏👏

[LadyAlba]

Exactly what looklikejames said. No such thing as a rubbish runner. We are all different and have different capabilities. In my humble opinion some of the posts on here are a bit OTT. Don't measure yourself against them. Keeping at it when it's not easy for you shows amazing mental strength. 👏 You obviously get something out of it or you wouldn't be doing it. You just need to work out what it is and focus on that.

My one tip would be, try going back to a run walk run method if that works for you and helps with the asthma. Just because you've finished C25K doesn't mean you have to run constantly.

[jwillmac in reply to LadyAlba]

Hi , I think you may have me confused with someone else lol .I'm not asthmatic, I have type 1 diabetes lol .

[She_wolf]

I know where you're coming from. I finished c25k a year ago for the third time but was determined to keep running this time but never, ever, enjoyed it. Until I discovered Jeff Galloway's run/walk/run method (known as jeffing). Its completely changed things for me and I've even got PBs at Parkrun I've now gone from dreading running a 5k to training for a half marathon. But however we run the main thing is that we run. Good luck x

[Newbie59]

Wow, you are defo a runner. After I graduated I did the same, twice a week I ran a 5k and I really enjoyed it to be honest. Then in March after reading other posts about pushing on to 10k, improved speed etc, I started to do speed and interval training, and ran too hard. I ended up with hip pain and had to stop running. I am still trying to get back where I was in terms of running fitness.

So I would say, just do what is best for you

[BradC]

Doesn’t sound rubbish to me. You’re giving your body seriously good exercise😊

[Betj]

As everyone says there really is no such thing as a rubbish runner.. you're doing great. I am also type 1 diabetic and so have to manage this whilst running although I'm not on a pump so don't have any experience of that. It can be a pain but like other aspects of diabetes there is lots of trial and error and working out what works for you but you'll get there! There is an forum group on diabetes uk and ive found nurses are often good in advising adjustments etc. You may need to drop yr dose and or eat more snacks to run for longer. Hope that helps and keep going, it's so worth it! 😁

[jwillmac in reply to Betj]

Hello fellow member of the dead pancreas society! I'm fairly confident about adjustments because I'm a retired nurse lol .I'm still trying out different ways to sort the issues out ,so I'm confident I will get there! I'm a member of quite a few diabetes groups and I'm very wary of others giving dosing advice. My DSN is pretty approachable, but she's not experienced with exercise. Keep well!

[Betj in reply to jwillmac]

Thats good... its just a pain getting there sometimes isnt it!! As "there" then often changes!!! Sorry I was only trying to be helpful and encouraging. Of course you will know your way around it all after 40 years and I agree bout dosing advice but have learnt more about effects of different types of exercise and effect on BS and ideas from others about what works for them since I started running 4 years ago which has helped and I've managed several 10k races Best wishes and hope it settles down for you.

[jwillmac in reply to Betj]

sorry, I didn't mean to come over as preachy ,well done on your races !

[Frenc Graduate10 60minGraduate]

Not rubbish!!! And you swim, in a Loch. IN A LOCH! Brrrrrrr. 🥶☃️