My running has been going really well lately. PBs have been tumbling (the bonus of changing your watch after an injury!) and I’ve felt like I’m flying. Every run has been a good one. At some point it was going to come to an end. Maybe it was because it was Monday. Maybe it was because I’m out of routine and wouldn’t normally run first thing. I think I can reliably blame lack of coffee!
I have a tendency to only post about good runs so for some balance and self indulgent moaning, here’s what happened this morning!
Firstly, garMin was suggesting a hill run. So was Nike Run Club. That seemed like fate. The only problem? Where I’d usually run before yoga is pancake flat. I thought I’d try the local deer park which is definitely hilly enough and drive to the leisure centre afterwards. I faffed around being annoyed there was no coffee (instead of just going to buy coffee like a grown up) so I left too late to make the yoga class. Oh well, there’s always Adriene at home. As I was driving, it started raining, and I wasn’t mentally prepared for that. I had my highly technical phone protector (also know as a sandwich bag) ready so at least that meant I could carry on without needing to go home. After the “warm up” walk, I was still freezing and pretty damp. I did a few dynamic stretches to the amusement of some dog walkers and started the easy mile warm up. That seemed to pass uneventfully and too quickly so I was surprised by the first interval…0.25miles up followed by 0.25 miles back down the hill. I’d chosen my hilly section quite poorly and didn’t realise there was a downhill bit in the middle. It was too late to change so I felt like a cheat hitting that when I was supposed to be climbing. Turning round and running straight down again was really hard! Nike Run Club always has you jogging lightly or walking down the hot. My garmin made me run. I’ve run down a lot of hills as part of my usual routes but it felt tough straight after a sprinting up a hill interval!
My chilled drum and bass wasn’t doing the business so I tried to pause the run to change it. That was a mistake because it immediately skipped through the recovery and on to the next interval up the hill. I wasn’t up for that so tried a different button which skipped me to running downhill! I was having proper words with my watch at this point, to the amusement of the same dog walkers. Eventually I got it sorted but couldn’t figure out how to go back to the j eyeball I’d lost. Ah well. Not a disaster. For the next hill spring. I tried another nearby path which was definitely all up hill, until it wasn’t and I was going down again. This was rockier underfoot ao I took it steadier. Again, the downhill felt harder and took loads of concentration not to fall over. Not the ideal path. For myast interval, which I was sure would be the best, there was one more option near enough for me to be at the start without needing to risk pausing my watch. The only downside? Those dog walkers were standing right on the start line. I decided to do it anyway. Horrific. This one was uphill all the way and even had speed bumps. There was no need to try and slow me down…I felt like I was going backwards. Still, this was the last one and the downhill finally felt nice to take the brakes off. All that was left was to finish the run with another gentle mile. I diverted onto a cycle path and had a very grumpy end to the run ruminating on how it had been months since I’d last felt that awful during a run (not true!) and cursing my garmin for making me do such a stupid workout (which was entirely my choice). I was quite close to 5 miles so I decided to keep going a little while longer and finish nearer the car.
I was expecting plaudits from my Garmin for my efforts. Instead, I have gained two years in ages, had all my predicted finish times made slower and told I had “room to grow”. Totally demoralising. I know exactly what I’d say to someone on here in the same position-ignore the watch, stick it in a drawer for being rude etc but today it just got to me a bit more than usual. Now I’ve had a few hours to grumble, I can see that if someone offered me “Monday morning 8km run with three hard hill efforts in the middle completed” I’d have definitely accepted that as a good run. I’m still finding it hard not to be disappointed. I’m sure it’ll pass next time I have a good one. Whatever my head thought, it was still work for my legs and I’ll definitely benefit from it. So that’s a massive moan with a happy ending. There is now coffee in the MissU household so all is well.
Happy (or grumpy!) running everyone. Every time you’re out there it’s a win, whatever you think about it.
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MissUnderstanding
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A lovely amusing write up! Made me smile ! I’d give anything (almost!) to swap your run with my hard (!) 8 minute run, 5 min walk then 8min run this morning. Haven’t run for a month, but have done some nice long hill walks in the Peak District and lots of other walking, so hadn’t expected such a dramatic drop off in my fitness level. I’m sure my current disappointment level is higher than yours right now. And Garmin aged me a year too. Hoping for a vast improvement day after tomorrow 🤞
🍏Yess MissU what we feel in our heart doesn’t always coincide with the head knowledge but good you can acknowledge the positivity in retrospect! Couch B would be proud of your final analysis!! Well done on your 8K!! ❤️❤️
Thank you!! Anything that makes Coach B pleased is good in my book!!! I think the biggest positive is that somehow 8k not a big deal to have run. That’s a big change just in the last few weeks.
Well done on your 8K today MissUnderstanding, Mr Garmin isn't very nice to people no matter how they run, he says things like "room to grow" or "could do better" and adds your age despite a runner going all out and getting a PB, just ignore Mr Garmin, he's a nasty guy,
Sometimes it feels like everything is against us doesn’t it? But you were so right at the end…whatever it felt like, it WAS work for your legs and you WILL benefit! 🙂👍
Thank you! It really was one of those days!! I quite like a good moan so sometimes a rotten run like that is quite fun in retrospect. It does show you what you’re made of. Some of my favourite runs looking back were absolutely hideous at the time, There was one which was two hours in the driving rain where I accidentally hit a steep hill for the final mile. Was cursing my life choices most of the way around but felt almost can’t believe I had the bloody mindedness to make it to the end!
Well done you! I find the Garmin algorithm's assessment of my fitness, as judged by V02Max and fitness age, is complete and utter nonsense.
Best score I've ever had was following two flat, easy 5k holiday runs about a month before the Trail du Gévaudan. Garmin rewarded my completing it by docking me a VO2Max point, leaving me three points lower than after the holiday runs. Ridiculous.
Admittedly I rarely sprint hills, I just bimble along, providing free amusement for forestry workers and neighbours. I hope the dog walkers were kind.
Confession: I'm fed up with numbers (again) so I dumped both Garmin and Strava when I ran yesterday 😈 in favour of improvising and taking photos.
Thank you! You are so right-Garmin is often bizarre in the judgements it makes. It’s great to be reminded of how mean it was to you! Having a good old grumble with people who get it is such a brilliant thing.
The dog walkers were lovely. They clearly didn’t quite know what to make of me, and it was a bit unfortunate that it sort of looked like I was stalking them around the park and doing weird things! Just a minor bit of confused nodding at me and a polite “hello-have a nice run” at one point. Their dogs (two gorgeous border collies) were having a great time running around the fields and not bothered by me at all.
Ditchinh garmin and strava sounds like a perfect plan!!!
Translated transcripts of my most recent forestry worker chats:
(Me) "Hello!"
(Him) "Hello! Goes up a bit, doesn't it?"
(Me) "Yes, goes up here. Then down, then up. Then down again, then up. Have a nice day!"
(Him) "Ah OK. Good luck, have a nice run!"
And more recently:
(Me) "Hello!"
(Him) "Hello! Running all over the place, bit of this, bit of that?"
(Me) "Yes, absolutely, exactly that, got it. Have a nice day!"
Only occurred to me afterwards that it could well have been the same guy on both occasions. He's probably placing bets with his mates on where the crazy running woman will pop up next.
That is absolutely classic run chat! Love it! I’m glad it’s not just me that has these sorts of encounters.
The worst is when you’re doing something like couch to 5k runs with run/walk intervals and the run section ends just as you catch up with a walker… I have to confess to keeping running a bit further to avoid the awkwardness!
Thank you! It was nice to get the grump out among the friends!! I heard on Women’s Running podcast that apparently 1/3 of your runs are amazing, 1/3 are just normal and 1/3 are rubbish. That sounds pretty accurate for my running. I’ve had a load of great ones recently so maybe I’m due some shockers!!
I smiled so much here...there were misadventures galore 🙈🙈🤣🤣 I actually like these ones because it makes me realise how far I've come. Like you maybe these are few and far between but as a quote I like goes, 'A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. '
Thank you!! I think it was on Nike Run Club recently that Coach B was saying it’s not necessarily your best runs that show your progress most, it’s your worst ones. This felt like a total shocker but when I looked at the stats, it was a a really decent one. Running shoes you you’re so much tougher than you think you are.
I absolutely love that sailor quote. That’s going in my run book!!!
Garmin s so mean, and I too take it too much to heart.. I’m sure that extra effort will pay off eventually and your fitness age will go down again.. I’ve just had a similar albeit beginner level experience, with a tough (for me) jog resulting in disappointing Garmin scores.. I was gutted.. but then the next run on the plan was much easier for me, and the scores reverted.. hopefully the same will happen to you 🤞☺️
Thank you! It’s so good to be reminded it’s not just me. Fingers crossed for both of us that we get good scores and we can have a proper moan here when they’re not amongst friends who help us keep it in perspective!
What a run, and a great bit of writing! All those hills in all the wrong places!!! Then some snotty comments from your watch at the end, why do we pay all this money for tech when it can't even be nice to us???Well done for such a great effort, the main thing is you have a fantastic attitude 😁
Thank you! It was cathartic to get it all out. Couldn’t believe the hills weren’t where I thought they were. I’ve been to that park loads. Next time I’m walking there, I’ll pay more attention!
You’re so right about paying for tech to be mean to us. It’s a good thing there are so many lovely people here to remind us we’re more than what our garmin thinks of us!!
A great write up MissU and yes I'd disregard garmins appraisal. It was it's fault you had to faff and lose time - just think without that watch and problems you'd have been flying up and down those hills! Hope you have a better run next time 😊
I'm not running this week as have a chesty cold but up til then it was going well! I've got the HU 10 miles next then Westonbirt 10k in June 😍 Have you signed up to any races?
Get well soon. I haven’t officially signed up for anything yet but I’ve got tentative plans for the HU 10 miles, a local 10k in June (if that works which it might not this year) and potentially the New Forest marathon if I can stay injury free! I’m not booking that until I’m back comfortably at half again, and I’m vaguely thinking of a summer half as a training run. So lots of ideas but nothing set in stone yet! I like the idea of Westonbirt….
Thank you and wow love those plans! Esther Newman of The women's running magazine said on the podcast the New Forest race was the best she'd ever done! Think she did the half. It sounded a quiet, beautiful and fun race. Good luck!
Fabulous write-up and your struggles made for an inspiring read! So thank you! And I saw the photo of the coffee reward on the quest post, and it looks like a coffee reward well worth those hills!
Hugely well done!!! I am at 6k, and building back up to 10k is a journey full off worries, niggles, frustrations but also lots of delights and moments of pride!
Thank you! There’s a lovely coffee shop nearby and I thought the pastel de nata was extra well earned after all the irritations!!!
You’re so right-every run journey has the bits we’d rather not have but they make us so much tougher and it makes the highs that much more satisfying. Getting to 6k is great progress. That 10k will feel extra worthy of celebrating when you get there!
Haha you had me giggling at this it was a very good run for you but your watch made you feel that it wasn’t. I would ditch the watch pronto 🤣🤣🤣. Enjoy your coffee and look forward to your next run (without the watch dictating to you). 🤣🤣🤣
That does sound awesome! Funny - as I've just said elsewhere - how we can sometimes be "glass half empty" about our runs!
Am immediately going on Amazon to see if I can locate one of your fancy phone bags! 🤣
Exercising in front of dog walkers/"proper" runners/random gawpers 😱 On one occasion it was a group of teens who I invited to join me instead of suggesting exactly where they might take themselves off to!
Always glad to inspire people to buy new kit-in the crazy April weather, I’m never without some sort of protection for my phone in case of monsoon downpour!
Running in front of others can be nerve wracking. I wouldn’t have loved a group of teens, but luckily round here you’re more likely to meet a group of cows/sheep!!!
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7k... kinda!
And we thought that was the top of the hill 
Triple 7’s - NRC
A Kind of “Jeffing” 8k
