JULY QUEST 2024: Week 3, how great can you be?

[Yesletsgo]

Hello Questers, week 3 and what a week it’s been! The high of Wednesday, the disappointment yesterday (Sunday). Like life really, we strive, sometimes we succeed and sometimes the success we strive for slips through our fingers. Our disappointment can blind us to what we had to achieve to be able to fail like that. Reaching the finals of the Euros – not so long ago THAT would have been a sign of success!

In a tournament where there can only ever be one winner it’s brutal. Thankfully, real life recognises that we all have different ways of winning or else why would we bother? (In case you’re reading this and you supported Spain Felicidades!!)

We’re now in the gap between the Euros and the Olympics. Don’t suppose any of us will be on one of those starting lines but that doesn't mean we can’t do anything at all. I think we’re all agreed that we want to run, so here is our Quest to take steps to make our own running ‘better’.

Better can mean many different things, not just faster but also slowing down, being more mindful, pushing ourselves to run further, to run safer and without injury, to be the sort of runner we want to be.

So, pep talk over, how is your Quest going now we’re into the third quarter of the month? Mine has taken a back burner. Four days in the car across Europe meant a whole lot of sitting still and no running so there goes my consistency. On the other hand I had a ‘Plan B' for on the days I couldn’t run - I walked at least 2km. Maybe overdid it a bit on Saturday, over 20,000 steps in the wrong sort of shoes (sensible but obviously not sensible enough lol) which meant I had to take a couple of paracetamols for my poor old knees before I went to bed. I decided against a run on Sunday, definitely a rest day but today I was out there and how good it felt after the enforced break!

In case you haven’t taken part in the Quest before, here’s what you need to know…

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.

Some 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

You need to be 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.

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 want to ..............

Soooooo...let us know your progress and we'll encourage, congratulate and sympathise!

🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️🏃🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️🏃🏃‍♂️🏃🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🏃🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🏃💨💨💨💨💨💨🥇🥇

PS Thought for the week - the person who never failed never tried

[GoogleMe Graduate10]

Professional sport is a whole different world!

I am not aiming for 'great'

1) Rather pathetically delighted to have got out for *a* run that *wasn't* my '5K for a medal' yet (but did satisfy a quest goal from a previous month, with a nosy around one of 'my' woods that is under threat of development) I was starting to think that I'd only run if there was a medal in it!

2) On track with averaging 10 brisk minutes a day on the Active 10 app.

3) Yoga programme... hmmm, the hiatus has gone on longer than intended for a variety of reasons, chiefly technical, but I do have the next couple of sessions downloaded... just need to work out why the app won't let me delete other sessions so that I can download the rest of the programme. Memo to self: there is no reason at all why I couldn't just be doing my own personal practice in the interim

4) Pelvic floor... I have now coughed up the princely sum of £2.99 for the NHS approved Squeezy app and have two days of practice under my belt below the belt as it were.

Have also ticked off another past month quest goal as well. 😀

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to GoogleMe]

Sounds like you're on a roll there, ticking boxes left, right and centre.

I didn't realise the NHS charged for apps (naive I suppose). Seems a bit misguided when you think how much happier and healthier we'd all be with a strong pelvic floor.

I'd say you were doing great but I don't want to annoy you

[GoogleMe Graduate10 in reply to Yesletsgo]

It's used and approved by the NHS (and appears in the information materials of multiple Trusts) and includes their logo but I imagine is one of the many private link-ups.

All the more reason to be glad of the C25K programme being free!

[Folkylass Graduate10]

Hello Yesletsgo.

So for week 2 life things have got in the way and the blessed rain so last weeks quest was one run and one walk.

Anyway for week 3 ‘s quest my goals are as follows:

🌻Conquer the correct way to Jeff and improve on my running stance.

🌻Incorporate more walking.

🌻Be more determined to succeed

🌻Keep looking for the positives in everything

So the same as before except for the first goal. God loves a trier! 🤣🤣

Happy questing everyone! 🙋‍♀️xx

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to Folkylass]

You're a busy lady  Folkylass , you're in charge of the goals not the other way round

You're inspiring me to look into Jeffing. This hot weather my heartrate keeps wanting to go higher than I'd like so I take a little walk. Maybe formalising it a bit would stop the issue before it starts?

Love the other goals too. Where we're staying is 2km from the shops so the walk is at least a 4km round trip if we want fried pies for lunch (ooh, what a hard decision to make) so I'm managing to get a lot of walking done at the moment. Hope you have somewhere equally appealing and compelling to walk to

Positivity, strength - there's just no holding you back is there? 🏃‍♀️💨

[Xmrkn20 Graduate10]

Back after Week 1 calf injury, and have really enjoyed taking things slowly to build up my muscles again. Wearing a calf support while running means I don't feel self-conscious about my lack of speed (because people can see I may be taking it easy for a reason), which in turn means I have actually "enjoyed" a couple of outings! So my quest continues:

🐌To have some sort of slow run three times a week

🐌To continue to do calf-strengthening exercises twice a day

🐌To try to enjoy, rather than caring what other people might think

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to Xmrkn20]

Glad to hear you're recovering Xmrkn20 , sounds like you're doing all the right things.

Funny things, supports. I'd always thought of them very negatively until I started running but they really do have an upside (apart from making us feel more comfortable when we need some help). Yours gives you permission to run slowly, telling the world that you have a choice in this. When I needed a knee support I bought a black one because this made me feel like some sort of athlete who trained a bit too hard rather than a white one which made me feel like an old lady with a bad knee.

Your goals are really great, keep on with the slow and steady and the exercises. Maybe the third goal is the most important of all, in life as well as running

[RollingPea]

I can't believe Week 3 is already here! In Week 1 set my goals as:*3 runs/week, any distance, short is fine

* strength and flex after every run

* more cycling, increasing to 5/week by the end of the month

The runs are going fine. 3 in Week 1, only 2 in Week 2, but one of those was a Running Mindfully session, which was new for me. Week 3 has started well. I persuaded myself out of bed this morning. Grey, damp, windy. Really? Chose music, and trotted off a bit grumpily for an Easy Out and Back 30 min. It was lovely! Came back smiling and energetic.

Have been doing minimal S &F after runs as I'm short of time. Need to work on this. One way to solve it is to get out of bed 10 minutes earlier.....

Have been doing a little more cycling. 2-3 per week. Better than nothing.

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to RollingPea]

You've definitely got those Quest goals under control, doing a new run is a learning experience and mindful running is so eye opening, isn't it?

Grey and damp is one of my favourite running weathers (sorry if that isn't a very grammatical sentence 😂), not too keen on the wind though. Much better than too hot. Sounds like you had a great run there! Well done on the cycling too.

As for getting out of bed earlier.....I wish I could inspire you but I'm the wrong person to ask, definite night owl 🦉

Keep up the great Questing

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate10]

Hello... What a beautiful photograph that is.

Hoping that knee has improved too, and that your run was comfortable.

It is, as Churchill once said...“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

How true, But not always easy to do.

How many of us though have had, or are experiencing issues that seek to up-end us, and yet, here we are, out there and doing what we are able.

I am still running... a good week last week, culminating with the the long run of Week 2 NRC10K... I am enjoying having a change of motivation and continuing to shake things up a tad. My weeks are not five days running as I do value the rest days in between each run,

So, on we go...

Morning Yoga continues.

Squats/ankle raises.

Upper body strength exercises.

Walking now integrated more into exercise routines... and adding that extra bit in too.

( Plug for a post coming up... )healthunlocked.com/strength......

Out for a run in a moment... sunny day and the fields beckon.

Going through some issues currently related to Mr OF and his increasing frailty with the progress of dementia, but... not using the running as an escape, running for the joy... and all the benefits of that . Overthinking has been over used and as such, has lost any useful purpose, if any, it may have had; it is something I don't do any more.

So... all positives... and moving on steadily and slowly.

Happy, care free and maybe, sunny questing, everyone

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to Oldfloss]

Thank you Oldfloss , the knee was just reminding me that it's there, it was absolutely fine next day.

Yet again I can't take credit for the photo, Mr Y is the photographer. It was by our hotel in Duisburg, a huge hotel complex and quite swanky and corporate but surprisingly reasonable. There was a massive lake next to it (hence the photo) and a beautiful walk. Beautiful that is until the heavens opened on our walk home and soaked us to the skin 😂😂😂

That Churchill quote is very insightful, it's all about perseverance. Life can be really tough, especially when the thing we most want is a magic wand that we know doesn't exist.

The NRC 10k is so well thought through, when I was doing it earlier in the year I wanted to do all the runs, hence each 'week' of the plan took a lot longer than 7 days. What I like is that you can tailor it to how you like to run.

Your squats, strength, yoga etc will pay dividends, we really need to work on muscle mass as we get older, not easy to do when you have caring responsibilities as well as all the other stuff life throws at us.

Running for the joy of it is so fundamental, isn't it? To be out in nature, being in the moment, the earth underfoot, the scenery, the greenery, the insects, maybe even a ray or 2 of sunshine, aren't we fortunate to have chosen this activity?

Keep Questing, keep inspiring us and keep on slow and steady

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate10 in reply to Yesletsgo]

Thanks you... I am just enjoying doing the plan as a real change, it take me to 10K again, but with company on the way Your holiday sound just wonderful.

We actually had sunshine today !

[chrisl72 Graduate10]

Hi @yesletsgo! First run back after a gap feels great doesn't it! Well done!

My Quest has been going ok, plugging through the final runs in the 10k plan. Had a fantastic 4k tempo run a few days ago. Just two more recovery runs now, 25 mins and 15 mins, before the big one

Was planning this for the weekend but looking at the temperature I'm now thinking Monday morning first thing is going to be the best time, so planning for that now.

All the best with your Quests everyone!

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to chrisl72]

Wow, you've made terrific progress! Glad you enjoyed the Tempo run, don't know why but I find them really tough.

It sounds very sensible to wait until the temperature is a little lower before going for the Big One. It will be all the sweeter for the delay

Good luck and happy Questing

[CBDB Graduate10]

gosh, missed out on this ! Next one coming so soon!

but yes, that week I managed 4 rows, 2 runs, one long walk. So I was happy.

L as t week I upped my activities to 5 rows, 3 runs, and 1 long walk.

And first thing this Mon morning, I already got my first run of the week in!

Pretty chuffed with myself!

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10 in reply to CBDB]

Great to get that Monday morning run done, isn't it? Starts the week on the right foot if you'll pardon the pun

You're doing great with upping your activity, quite right you feel chuffed - I'm feeling puffed just reading about it 😂🏃‍♀️💨

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to Yesletsgo]

🥰😇😂🙏