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I'm back!!! - as a big slug!

Two weeks ago, I was a finely honed atheleet - competing in a monster race against thousands and thousands of other finely honed atheleets!!

Today I am a big slug - with a sore nose. The sore nose comes from blowing it too much after having a heavy head cold - and the likeness to a slug comes from the fact that I have also been on an 8 day cruise doing what one does on cruises. I WAS going to do some work on the ships treadmill - but my cold put an end to any idea of that so I have done basically nothing physical for 2 weeks - and that is why I am now a big slug!!

BUT -- I HAVE A PLAN!!

Starting next Monday - I am going to do 6 runs , starting with 15x1minrun/1minwalk, next day 10x2minrun/1min walk, next day 6x 4/1, next day 3x8/1 then 2x16/1 and finally 1x33/1. This is to pull myself up by the bootstraps - slowly and gently - until I am once again, that finely honed atheleet and ready to progress forward.

Then I am going to do Jenny Hadfield's 5K Beginner RUN training programme jennyhadfield.com/wp-conten... I will finish that just in time to go on another 2 week cruise to NZ in late October.

17 Replies
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I'm not seeing the slow and gentle????

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Baxza! Welcome back! We missed you. Sounds an emminently sensible plan - the slothful ness of the cruise will soon be far behind you. I'm looking forwards to hear how it goes.

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Sounds like a good plan! You'll soon be back to full speed!! Squash the slug!!!

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Yay Bazza, your back! Bad news about the cold during your holiday but probably did you're muscles and joints good to have a good rest after your mega run the other week. Two weeks isn't long enough to lose your fitness, so reckon you'll be back like a rocket! Happy running :)

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Hi bazza , you allways have a plan and you will soon be back to where you left off I'm sure . Good luck .

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Welcome back mate! I can certainly relate to the "doing what you do on cruise ships" thing... we did 5 nights out of New York a few years back and I swear I put on about 1kg a day... it was great fun though! And after your great effort in that race you deserved a good break mate...

You'll be back into it in no time... your body will remember! :)

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Welcome back Bazz, sounds like you had a well deserved break, sorry to hear about your cold . You will soon be back to the finely tuned athlete that you are . Take it nice and steady though wont you ? :-) xxx

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Welcome back!

I'm sure your fitness won't have disappeared completely. That training plan looks like a good way of working for 10 weeks. Are you actually doing a 5k at the end of it, or just disappearing off on another cruise? More importantly, once you get to NZ, do you get to spend some time there or just fly straight back?!

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I actually run 5Ks a lot already - I go to Parkrun most weekends. When I was doing C25K , I even incorporated the run of the day/week into a run at Parkrun , as part of the C25K training. I am really only doing this new Beginners 5K plan as a way of getting me out of the door each day. I have been mixing run/walk with non-stop running during my post C25K training - but I am not sure that they mix well as training strategies. So from now on (once I get back into good condition), I am going to do the 3 Jenny Hadfield non-stop running plans ( Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced). She incorporates some speed work and hill work, etc into her plans and I want to do these to help improve my ability to run 5Ks. I would like to do it a little faster than my PB of the moment - but more importantly to get fitter to be able to run it more "easily" . Running races more "easily" is more important to me than running them "faster"

The cruising scene over here (in relation to NZ) is mainly 2 week return cruises out of Brisbane or Sydney to 5-6 NZ ports ( going to both Islands). This one we will be doing (with 36 friends from our motorhome club) is from Brisbane - and goes to two ports we have not been to yet - Akaroa and Napier. This time I am also going to RUN up the track to the top of Mt Manganui. google.com.au/search?q=mt+m...

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Wow, looks amazing!

Just read your explanation below of how you plan to have rest days as you get yourself going again. Looks like a good way of going about it.

I like the idea of runs being easier :0

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Glad to hear you had a good time. There has to be room for enjoying life as well!

Your plan sounds good, except for the "next day" bit. If you really feel sluggish, then 6 days in a row might be a bit aggressive. Have you thought about adding some rest days in between those getting-back-into-the-swing-of-things days?

All the best.

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I didn't explain my "plan" very well - the 6 days of "catch-up running" will be spread over 14 days - with the usual days break in-between. :) Starting the first day with just 1 minute running intervals and increasing to 30 minutes non-stop over the 6days/2weeks. :) I have often found over the last 6 months, that if/when I get lethargic, reverting back to W1D1 of C25K (or something similar) seems to bring back the "spark" fairly quickly.

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Welcome back bazza. I have 2 more nights of cervezas and lovely meals. I'd probably go for some rest days as Tomas suggests as well. Look forward to hearing about your progress from slug to gazelle !

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Hope you had a lovely holiday despite the cold. Sounds like quite an intensive plan to me - sure you'll get back to fitness quicker than you think!

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Ey up Baz. Welcome back. WE missed you!!!!

So, a man with a plan! Good. You need a plan to divest yourself of the excess poundage. It'll soon go won't it. No worries

Ooooh off again, cruising again! Lucky you. NZ - which bit? North I assume. My sister lived on South Island and it's really quite empty. Sounds great!

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We go to ports on both North and South Island - the two islands are quite different. As you say, North Island is more populated - but South Island is more scenic and rugged (something of a cross between Switzerland, Norway and Scotland)

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You'll get back in to it no problem big slug! ;) Glad you enjoyed your cruise, you gotta have a bit of something you love every now and then!

I've also been very unwell so now need to get back on track, at least you have a plan in place!

Good luck!! :)

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