April 2025 Quest: toeing the line?

[GoogleMe]

So, the half way point of the month hoves into view.... Does that faze you, are you feeling smug at how things are going... or is the ramped up time pressure going to galvanise you?

Week 2 has been pretty odd for me... despite my toe incident and a lot of... stuff... I've got caught up with my Active 10 average and got a 30 minute run in [it seems to be driving my purple toe doesn't much like!]. But the yoga practice really hasn't picked up. Some of this can be put down to chaotic under repair bathroom (which is my 'yoga studio' due to clear space, normally) but I include meditation and breathing practices under that umbrella and yet I've done almost nothing (almost nothing is better than nothing but only just...) One of those situations where you don't do the thing you particularly need to do!

How about you? Is the Easter weekend going to prove a boon to achieving your goals or a challenge to overcome or work around?

A reminder of what this is all about:

Those of you familiar with the Quests know how this works. For anyone who isn't, here’s an introduction to 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 with a weekly check-in. This means you can join at any point during the month.

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 - that's quite enough of a goal in itself.

Popular goals are:

★ To run three times a week

★ To slowly increase distance

★ To follow a training plan for a specific race

★ To add strength and flex 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...”

It's not too late to join!

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate10]

Hey GoogleMe ! I was just about to very belatedly post on week 2 and I spotted the new one. Thank you for keeping us all going!

Last week was a total write off for me in terms of running. I’ve still been battling the cold that won’t die and I just felt chesty and tired. So my “do some runs” goal got a big fat zero next to it. Oh well. Recovery is important! The other goals have all got ticks.

I did well on walking in the sunshine. I got out most days. At the moment we’ve got loads of baby bunnies and lambs in the fields so it’s extra nice trying to spot them. It’s quite hilly round here and I e been deliberately trying to add a few more climbs to get some strength back in my legs. There have been a few aches and pains but only that my legs are complaining they’ve been asked to work a bit harder than they’ve been used to! I’ve done a bit of yoga and I think that’s helped.

This week, I’m keeping the same goals (I had to go back and look!). There’s been a particular pinch point with work recently but now that’s passed, it should be a lot easier to get back to my usual routine of a few runs a week with some cross training and strength and flexibility. I’m really, really looking forward to the normality! I need to decide when “later in the month” starts and get back to some proper weights. Maybe this will be the week…

Here are my goals again to remind myself…

🏃‍♀️Do some pilates and yoga classes (weights later in the month)

🏃‍♀️Do some runs

🏃‍♀️Walk lots

🏃‍♀️Keep telling myself every step is a step closer to being back where I want to be.

Have a great week fellow Questers!!

[GoogleMe Graduate10 in reply to MissUnderstanding]

🤣 I accidentally sent the weekly post early.

Pleased you are doing some proper convalescence with a bug like that, getting outdoors but not pushing it. Will be easier to tell that way when you are ready to run again, I reckon. Can be so frustrating to be laid up in fine weather. Will have to borrow a pinch of your yoga dedication I think! (Have downloaded a walking Qi Gong practice which might kill a couple of birds with one stone)

Here's to 'later in the month' (and if the bug decrees that later in the month looks a bit May-ish, so be it, but it seems promising that it won't be)

[Yesletsgo Administrator Graduate10]

Hi GoogleMe , sorry about your toe, hope it heals quickly. If you're doing Active 10 and had a run it sounds like you've got things under control.

As for me, well last week I spent 7 days driving from Greece back home to Essex so lots of time sitting in the car. On the plus side, for once I didn't do all the driving like I usually do. My son is between jobs so joined us for the journey, and he loves motorway driving. In order to cheer him up we detoured a bit, stopping to have a look at San Marino (I've never been there before) and Venice, which is just fabulous.

So the first of my goals was not to overdo it. Well, if 'it' is running I certainly didn't as I didn't run at all.

I'll deal with the my second goal in a minute.

As to the third one, of doing Nike Training workouts I just didn't get the chance. Most nights the 3 of us (me, son and husband) were sharing a room, Italy isn't cheap, so there was no room for me to do anything. Also, I know their sense of humour....

As for balancing the sedentariness with walking, here's my step counts for the week:

Monday - 12,000, Tuesday - 9,400, Wednesday - 10,700, Thursday -22,700, Friday - 17,200 and Saturday 12,400 steps (guess which day was in Venice!) I even managed nearly 8,000 yesterday when we were driving or on the ferry most of the day. So, although I didn't run I certainly walked!

This was balanced by a diet of non stop pizza, sometimes twice a day, but hey, when it's that good who could resist?

As to my second goal, last April I only ran 14.36 km. This month I've managed 4.58 km so if I can run a further 10k between now and 30th I'll have upped the number from last year, though I doubt I'll increase or even reach the 26km from last month.

Oh well, even if I only run 4.58 km this month that's 4.58 km more than I'd have run before I started running. I suppose this sort of thinking means I'm getting quite good at being kind and understanding to myself about my shortcomings 😂

Happy Questing everyone!!

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate10]

Hi GM,

Please can I jump on board the Quest train now...

Phew! The start of April was a whirlwind. Having just been away for a week in Devon, we hot car-ed it up to Derbyshire for a few days around the Monsal trail 10k run (not sure if you have heard it mentioned much on here 😉😊)

My month began well then, a 33 min non-stop run before we went, that 10k and an 18k cycle. Some slow walking with little one, but ground covered nevertheless. Yoga has been a bit hit and miss, but I am back on it now.

I hope that joining the quest now will give me the incentive to get back to running twice weekly, and daily YWA. I have promised Mr Bbr that I will go out walking further afield again now spring is here, maybe on trails or catching a train and walking back type of adventures...

I also want to keep off the stone in weight I have lost prior to Monsal, and lose a bit more too if possible. So less wine and less treats and more movement.

I am sorry your toe is still so painful, it really does look broken...do you ice it and put your foot up as much as possible? Hope the swelling begins to go down soon 😚x

Good luck fellow questers!

💚xxx

[GoogleMe Graduate10]

Hop aboard! Really you've been doing brillliantly as it is, but I can see you are after some regular structure after all the highs.

And oh yes, to the walks - we're located so that we can pop out after tea and tart about in all the special Peak and Derbyshire places but train and walk back is a smashing idea so thanks for the reminder.

I am with you on the weight loss ambition in fact. The NHS BMI calculator said things I really can't be doing with, that I thought I'd left behind all those years ago when I graduated from C25K, so I am on it, but we've got Easter to deal with. And I've got far too many local ice cream parlours to avoid...

(Toe didn't swell but perhaps there's an upside to spending most of my time in bed, can't avoid having my feet up. Now looks stripy purple and yellow like one of those sad dead earthworms, ugh)

[T2runner]

Well my plan for the next two weeks would have been hitting Beyond c25k and some solid longer time runs, do another park run. But now it's going to be healing my strained muscle and a short run or two to get back to normal.

[GoogleMe Graduate10 in reply to T2runner]

Oh, rough! Definitely going to have to play that one by ear and by ouch.

Do you feel you'll be chill with that or would it be good to add some meditation/relaxation practice to the mix?