Welcome to week 3 fellow Questers! How’s it been going for you? Did your plans get disrupted by last week’s snow or have you been Marching on with purpose?
It’s been a wobbly week here. I’ve been aiming for consistency but that’s still been elusive. Migraine, a sudden escalation in work and DOMS from strength work has meant there have been runs, but not quite the quality that I’d hoped for. The good? Strength and flex still a massive win. This week’s PT involved more varieties of lunges than I ever thought possible and my poor legs were utterly battered afterwards. The bad? No long run and a huge bout of nerves about the upcoming HM…
Where do you go for encouragement when you’re having a big ol’ wobble? A massive shout out to all the Virtual Run Buddies who’ve talked me down from panic and cheered me on when I really needed it. Thank you all for posting your tough runs, and your fast runs, and your fun runs, and even your runs that didn’t happen. Sharing our successes and struggles really does make it easier to keep going when it all feels like it’s going a bit wrong.
Yesterday, I wasn’t up for a run but had a wonderful long walk around a local deer park. Two podcasts that were brilliantly timed-this week’s Women’s Running all about how the Paris HM went for them. One of the presenters has had a dodgy build up like me but just aimed to run with more joy than ever before. I’m absolutely doing the same. The other is this week’s Runner’s World podcast about the value of run/walk as a strategy. It could have been recorded just for me as a reminder that it’s a great way to run and not a failure.
Today’s photo is of some daffs practically glowing in the sunshine. That perfectly captured my mood by the end!
Sorry that was such a ramble! How have you been doing? Keeping up your path of positive or wobbling a little as you try and keep moving forwards? However it’s been, let’s keep each other Marching onwards!
If anyone missed last week’s quest post or the first one explaining what it’s all about, they’re linked here. It’s never too late to join us!
Hello MissUnderstanding, still on Q for my Quest to run 10K by the end of March, this morning I ran 8K, one of my favourite distances, I have ran several 8K's since graduating from C25K, my average about a hour, fastest about 56 minutes, slowist 64 minutes, this morning I ran that 8K in just under a hour of 59:35.
Still going! There's no particular goal for this month. There is a longer term one of stretching the distances again. I got to 26km last year. It would be nice to be able to make that a nice round 30 before summer.
Mixing up the runs as usual, and still running every day. I might do a Half Marathon distance on Sunday if the weather lets me.
However I'm not planning to do another barefoot run until it's warmed up a little. (I do plan to, though, to toughen up my soles.)
I’ve really enjoyed following your mix of runs. Seeing an actual barefoot run was a treat! Big respect to you for doing that in the cold without losing a toe to frostbite!! Waiting for more temperate weather seems a good plan. Hope the HM happens, or whatever runs come your way this week are as varied as the recent ones have been!
Hello MissUnderstanding , beautiful photo, spring is definitely springing!
My NRC app tells me I've run 6 weeks in a row! Woo hoo!! Chasing away all that winter lethargy that's for sure!
As to consistently running 2-3 times a week? Yes, I've done 5 runs so far this month, so 2-3 a week (wondered how you'd manage half a run, now I know it's all about averages 😂)
I'm still sort of following the NRC 10k plan, in that I'm alternating my 'normal' runs with the speed/tempo/fartleks on the plan. The next run on the plan is 4 miles (6.5K) so I might do that as I like the idea of going a bit further than 5 km.
The overall distance I want to run this month is 40 km. I'm on 17.74 so it's definitely achievable but the tempo etc runs tend to be shorter than I'd usually do so it's taking longer for the kms to add up. If I don't get to 40 km I'll just choose a different measure of success
Absolutely fantastic! You’re nailing those goals of yours. Great mix of runs too-I’ve loved the run reports. Sounds like you’ve hit on something that’s really working for you at the moment. Long may that continue!
I love that mix! I’m a bit of a rebel at heart (and also a bit of a good girl so I don’t know how that works!!) and I hate feeling constrained by a plan. Nice to have the balance of feeling more in control with the bonus of having some runs that you can just load up if you want to without searching the whole NRC catalogue!!
You've got it! It's good to leave (some of) the thinking to someone else sometimes. Plus the runs they choose are probably harder than I'd choose if I was left to myself, I'd probably just do the Triple 7s run repeatedly and leave it at that!
A glorious photograph full of the essence of Spring !
Your sessions sound exhausting! But you are making terrific progress too and the wobbles.... well , everyone here is supporting you and our friends on the Marathon and HM site, well they are just as amazing... wobbles are ok... it's good to wobble sometimes...it proves that when you succeed, as you surely will, how blinking strong you are.
My Quest.
YWA... still having fun, working through March.
March Matness I have missed a few and tweaked a lot... but staying with it...
Runs. Two in so far and unless the rain is too heavy I may get a third in tomorrow!
Still staying steady, still listening to my body... I would have liked an 8K yesterday, but my body said no so I did a 2K with an odd choice of guided run...Three Weeks to Go, from the HM plan which I had to abandon . Strangely it really was useful,; just 15 minutes, but a lot of the chat really fitted in with my mind set...?
In did also finish with a short burst at the end of the run First in a long time... it felt good. I am running steadily, comfortably and feeling fairly confident
So much wisdom, as always! I love thinking of a wobble as just a test of how strong you are. One of my school teachers used to say that nothing worth doing comes easy so there tougher times are definitely character building!
Great week of questing. It’s funny how those NRC podcasts often fit really well with the runs, even if they seem totally unrelated. I bet that burst of speed felt wonderful. It’s one of my favourite feelings-asking your legs to go for it and then just letting them! Such good news that you’ve got so many things to celebrate this week. Extra yay for the weight gain too! ❤️
Sounds like you've had a bit of a week of it, but that blue sky and daffodils shows days will get longer weather will get warmer. I had a lovely run the other day and a couple of nice walks, my boss is off so works been manic trying to get it all done.
Today is a day off but dog turned up before 8am and the day has been full of grooming, baths and running about outside with him, so run didn't happen.
You are doing great and always encouraging others too
Thanks for such a lovely post ❤️ You sound mega busy at the moment. When it’s like that, just keeping our heads above water is a challenge. Hope things quieten down for you soon.
Spring is coming! Even here in Germany where we've been on a temperature roller coaster (18°C on Saturday! 0°C last night and up to 6°C today...). And there are daffodils blooming here, too. This is my favorite time of the year 🌺
Running goal: Yupp. Doing it! I did a 50 minute run today 🥳. Unless my body gives me some feedback to do otherwise, I'll tackle 55 minutes next week!
S&F: I am having a lot of fun with March MATness! I've done the full sequence of 34 exercises once now, which was fun. So are the special classes that the Pilates Transparency Project is organizing this month - I've attended three so far (gotta put in a plug for that, too: healthunlocked.com/strength... )
Walking: Sometimes I feel like the Energizer Bunny with that... I just keep going and going... 🤣
Feeling like the energiser bunny is something to be seriously proud of! You’re really on a roll with this quest. I feel encouraged and energised just reading this!!
That photo has cheered me up from what has been a murky grey few days and very much longing for sunnier days.😎
Sorry to hear you've been having a wobble, but I think all the additional strength & flex will really help you with your HM.
My quest has been ticking along ok. I managed my first 5KM on Sunday since last October (that fateful run when my knee decided to give up) and feel reasonably confident that I can make it to 10KM in time for the HUHM in May 🤞. I had loosely been attempting to follow the Magic Plan but time constraints have made it a bit difficult to schedule in the longer runs in the week so I am going to rethink how I progress.
I've also managed to work on speed /tempo running and the last couple runs I've done on the treadmill to give me a bit of control over this.
Been ramping up the strength work and doing core work along with the physio exercises which I am enjoying.
And I *might* have had a trip to The Range, and I *may* have purchased a kettlebell 😳. They didn't have a great choice and the ones they did have were a bit beaten up! So I ended up getting a much lighter weight than I was planning on, but I figured that it would come in useful somewhere (even if it acts as a door stop in the Summer😂) and it was only £3.75!!
Congratulations on that 5k! It’s so satisfying when the distance pops up again after a while. Long run logistics are tricky here too. I’m attempting mine tomorrow but it’s a bit of a random time that will run over lunch. Hope you can make something work. 🤞
Great news about the kettle bell. I need to get on and order mine, or I’ve heard that a Decathlon is opening locally soon so I might have to pay them a visit!
Brilliant to have had a variety of runs. Coach B was just talking about that on my NRC run today-A New Run. It was a 25 minute chilled out one I’d definitely recommend. Have a great week!
What a gorgeous picture! Wobbles? I’m having some of my own. After saying I never get sore from running, I have had sore legs in various places WHILE running. 🙁.
Anyway, I have made some progress in my goals: I bought “Run Free” (Audeo Fuel,) to try to get my runs up to an hour and I have stepped up to 40 minutes from my previous “Stepping Stones” 30 minutes so that’s progress. The trouble is that I don’t like those niggly aches while running; they stop me from taking bigger steps so I am proceeding at a pace that is about my regular WALKING pace. 🙁. I had been using turmeric a lot to keep aches away but I had a bad reaction to it so I cut way back. I will just try to stay on the 40 minutes for now. Oh, if anyone knows why buying “Run Free” is a recurring expense, i would be thankful to know….
Sorry about your wobbles too. Hope things settle down for you this week. Sometimes I get a bit of random ache and it goes away again. If it’s my hip, I know I need new shoes!! Maybe it’s worth thinking about an extra rest day or two if you’re still sore running?
Great you can see you’re making progress with the goals-that’s always a spur to keep at it. I don’t know Run Free…it sounds good! Will have a look!
I think I missed weeks 2 catch up which was a shame as that week went ok, this week not so well😂I seem to be back to struggling to talk myself out the door and the weather really put a stop to plans at the end of the week. So I only managed to get out once last week.
I've been trying to keep to some S&F every day but some of my sessions have been very short.
Roll on warmer weather.
These forums make so much difference when plans aren't going as you'd hoped. I'm sure you'll be fine for your HM. And you know we'll all be cheering you on from all around the world 👍🌍 👐
The weather has made things tricky! It’s brilliant you’ve still found other ways to keep active and that S and F work will be brilliant for your runs. Sometimes we’ve just got to do what we can and be nice ourselves. It’s so helpful to know that we’re not alone in finding things tricky!
Thanks so much for the encouragement. I absolutely love this place and all the wonderful people who come here ❤️❤️❤️
That's such a cool picture! I have a half marathon tomorrow morning about 2 hours drive away which will be my second one this year. I also have another one the weekend after that I forgot about until I saw that I signed up for it when checking a website for something else 😭. I booked them as part of my long runs in the marathon training plan. Which is probably just as well as I am way down in my training as I'm trying to look after my knee at the same time. Hope you get well enough soon and start getting back on track.
Between snow and Tribunal... and the surprising (good) thing that happened right at the end of the Tribunal, running has not happened. But apart from the day after the Tribunal when I was unwell and totally forgot, I have kept up with a daily teeny-weeny yoga practice and my hands and feet are having the unguents slathered on regularly.
Good to read overcoming your running struggles, judging from your latest post, you are keeping those wobblies firmly on a short leash! A great read, and well done! I have downloaded the two podcast, they do sound interesting.
It’s been a weird week, one that threw me off with a death in the family. Only thing that kept going was my running, and I managed 2 runs, 3 if I include last Sunday.
☑️ Run 2 - 3 times/week using the NRC 10k plan
❌ Pilates March Matness
❌ Walking Challenge
❌ Rowing
It just shows how much I need running in my life now, as the runs represented a calm, meditative, reminiscing hour to recharge.
So I’m still here, not quite back to my usual rowing, running and workout shenanigans but getting there again.
So sorry for your loss. Be kind and patient with yourself, and if it’s useful to reframe your goals as “do what I need to do to be nice to myself”, do that. I found sometimes runs really helped after my friend died, and sometimes I just needed to sit quietly. Sending masses of virtual hugs.❤️❤️❤️
Not a lot of running here this week. I did a 5k on Monday and was aiming for another 10k towards the end of the week. A heavy week at work left me exhausted and without the energy to run, or do very much else really 🥵, so no extra 10k. Hey Ho, tomorrow is another day.
I’ve been a bit aimless since I stopped running with my running buddy. She still isn’t ready to begin running again so I’m going to get back on the NRC HM training plan. I halted it to wait for her return but 4 months later I need to get back to the plan. I’m on 12 weeks to go which has an 8k run so I’ll do that and move on.
Happy questing everyone 🏃♀️ 🏃♂️ 🏃🏾
Edit: 8k done. Now I’m ready to start 11 weeks to go 😁
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September Quest Week 3
