Week 4 and here we all are. I don't know about any where else but here in London the weather is so changeable. As I look out today it feels like I have missed summer running as it really looks Autumnal out there. I am sure the sun will shine some more for this year.
What the quest is:-
The quest takes six weeks. You can join any time within that six weeks.
The main 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.
I ask that you will be a graduate or about to graduate to join the quest. The main reason I ask this is that while you are doing the program your plan is very structured so I wouldn't want the quest to interfere with that.
Most popular goals are:-
To run three times a week
To slowly increase distance
To train for a specific race
To add In Stretch and strength exercises
As you can see they are personal to yourself and it's totally your own choice.
Every week I will pin a new post where all the members of the quest can talk about how things are going.
So if you wanted to join all you have to do is put
I would like to join the quest, or count me in and then I would like to. ..............
Your name will then be added to the top post and every week your name will be in the quest until the end.
At the end, only for those that would like to, we each put out longest run of the quest and it is then marked on a virtual run we are doing from John O Groats to Lands End.
Then it all starts again for another six week Quest.
Realfoodieclub
Folkieboater
Frannyfran
The_tea_fairy
Dagshar
Poppypug
Rmnsuk
Misswobble (IC)
Curlygurly
Ruth-canal-runner
Googleme
Irishprincess
Pigivi
Jelly_b
Chrissy-b123
Usain_balti
Fitfor60
Catch
Wristy
Anniemurph
Lizziebeth57
Samsonandrew
Coddfish
Carolecal
Christian1
Tanyag
Mossy1
Written by
Realfoodieclub
Graduate
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Last week, what can I say, I'm shattered. Very long working week and missed some of my walks. Physio went very well, he is really pleased with me. I am now allowed to try the cross trainer and I must do wall press ups. He is concerned that I don't let my upper body muscles start to waste. I was so pleased when he added these in as I was feeling decidedly flabby on the upper body. Running tones so many muscles and I can really see the difference now, all I need is the energy to do my exercises. Luckily this week dosent get busy until the end of the week so I have until Wednesday night to get myself back on track. Happy running to everyone and happy healing to everyone else.
I never thought that doing 3x30 minutes of running, swimming or cycling a week would be quite such a challenge - after all, it is effectively what C25K has trained us for.
However, my life has other ideas at the moment. I had one run and that was it - and even then, although speed is not the object of the exercise, I still seem to be consistently quite a bit slower than before I had flu at the beginning of May. I even had a couple of mornings where I didn't start the day with my yoga session (downward dog with a sick headache would not be pretty) One of those days I did the session before I settled down for the night when I was feeling better but the next day I did flunk out completely. I have had some nice walks though - important because they get my husband out (so sometimes I've walked when I could have run).
I'm not sure I've yet managed a successful week yet this Quest! I might manage it this week though and really feel I need to, as our neighbours, who want to live inside a barren stockade (which is their right) are fussing unpleasantly about us doing anything on the back side of their ugly high fence and we are desperate to disguise it with planting. The neighbours the other side of 'our' fence put stain on their side including the top and it dribbled down ours and they've planted fruit trees against it. Hooray to the latter (my personal view is that we have a moral obligation to encourage bees etc), had a bit of a grumble to ourselves about the former but would not dream of harassing them about it.
We cannot change everything - about ourselves and certainly not about other people. RFC recently posted about benefits of running and for me it has been about giving me back some sense of control over my own life. My run this week was in the rain and it really didn't matter.
I am sure we get a little under pressure while our bodies heal our immune system, I am so surprised at how I am flagging after my kidney infections. I am the same as you I often change a fast walk for a slower one out with my other half, I consider it time well spent.
Well RfC I wish the weather was changeable up here, dull, rainy and cold seems to sum it up, with the occasional glimpse of the sun. Had my living room fire on last night!
Running wise, I have been out with my jog scotland group once formally and once informally, I am pretty much the slowest runner in the group and that took quite a bit of getting my head around to be honest but I have decided it's okay and I'm not panicking about the speed they set off at now, just doing my best!
Had planned to go to Parkrun on Saturday (it was the 300th event and they had pacers) however I got a call at 7.30am from my son's partner saying she had a bug and could I take the two kids for a while. My son is a fireman and works shifts so was off to work. So it was a visit to the zoo instead. Still got a workout because edinburgh zoo is on a hill and I was alternating between pushing a pram and carrying a 2 year old up the hill. At 5pm took them home and went over to run the park run route with Davie, my husband. I really tried to push myself and did it in just over 33 minutes. I would dearly love to get under 30 minutes once in my life...
Hehe I put the heating on yesterday as well, it felt quite indulgent but I was cold. I am sure you will hit the 30 min, 33 is such a great time already though.
There are some really new fast girls in our jogscotland group now Beth but at least you and I get good old chat running together at the back . I was feeling really negative at park run and whole pacer thing just didn't work out for me . Zoos brilliant hill work . We now get bus to top and walk down as buggy seems heavier and heavier. See you wed
I was trying to be careful with my legs and overdo it, so did a gentle 5k on wed and 6.3k trail on sat in preparation for trail event next week. Legs seem ok. Managed an additional short run on sunday morning, husband had to pick someone up at 8.30, so I went along and ran back home. Turned out to be less than 2k - the world seems to have shrunk since I started running, places don't seem to be as far away as I used to think!
Started cycling to work as well on the days I was on the office (i tend to be off a couple of days most weeks during the summer hols).
My hope for the next two weeks - more sunshine please!
I agree I am always so surprised how short things are, when I was trying to find longer runs for the HM everything was closer than I thought. Well done with getting out in the bike.
Couple of weeks ago I ran 11k in one go. Longest ever. But my legs hurt so much I had a problem running for several days. Did a short run wednesday, but stopped because of shin pain. Tried again thursday and did a nice slow 5k.
Decided to volunteer for parkrun on saturday, but they had enough volunteers so I ran - slowly. Felt good and I chatted to another runner the last half lap - first time I've managed that.
In a few weeks my parkrun are gonna do 8 parkruns in a day (=marathon ish). I volunteered to join the slower runners and do 3. Saturday afternoon I went out and finished 2 more parkruns, so 3 parkruns and 15k in one day. Not sure whether it countsas a long run or not - took me 12 hours!! But it proves I'll be up for 3 parkruns on the day.
thx. Strangely enough my legs weren't too bad. I think because of the gap for dinner and seeing the in-laws. I've also found that having a protein shake after running helps.
Did 2 runs last week , Park run and Running Club, but then had a short spell on the IC as my calf felt very tight .
Did Parkrun on Saturday, calf felt okay but then tightened up later - Pah ! I am going to Running Club tomorrow and see how I go on. It feels okay at the moment , fingers crossed !
Need to get back to Jillian Michaels, I have no rug at the moment as one of my pugs threw up on it and I had to bin it as it was getting a bit manky anyway, but now I have a hard floor and not very comfortable to do exercises on
Good Luck to all fellow questers and a big hug to all those on the IC , another day nearer to recovery xxx
I had a very sucessful week this week, mainly because I completed my virtual triathlon and so did both a swim and a cycle this weekend as I aimed to as part of my quest. I also managed to get a long run in and extended it to 9km which is my longest to date! I know what previous posters mean about the world shrinking - I ran 4.5k from home and then turned round to run back and managed to run through my village and two neighbouring villages to the point of running out of pavement! I always think of going to that village as a drive!
My hope next week is to take the final step up to 10k, but as I also have to work friday and saturday nights I will see how I feel about that!
A difficult week. I posted a new PB in the ParkRun on Sat 18th (but sadly still outside my 40 minute target). I then had a slow run on Wednesday with my usual route impacted by the visitor area for the Portsmouth Americas Cup event. Then on Friday, I tripped and fell heavily (on tiles, not during a run) and have a sore and bruised kneecap. I couldn't run at the weekend, I managed my normal Monday swim today so hope I can run again once the heavy winds clear back out.
I hope the knee heals fast, I must admit I think I am more prone to falling since starting to run as you end up more protective over your joints. I hardly ever wear heels anymore. A PB for Parkeun that's fantastic. Time will help get you under 40min but don't forget to pat yourself on your back for the achievement you have just made.
Getting wee bit worried about HM in sept as feel I am not getting any faster or fitter. It was our park run 300th run on Sat and they were going to have pacers so I thought perfect as I go off too fast and then get slower and slower at end. Secretly was hoping to match my PB. But I really really struggled right from the start and had to stop following my pacer at 1 k then the next 2 passed me ! Wasn't feeling great and then I had talk to myself. Decided although it's good to push yourself a bit I didn't want to feel that bad I wasn't enjoying myself . So ditched all thoughts of time and just really enjoyed the rest of run. It was slowest parkrun I have done for over a year and I was tiny bit disappointed / grumpy at end. But do you know what 2 or 3 minutes either way really isn't that important in the scheme of things.
Take it from me HM training takes it out of you and without realising it you will be feeling the effects. Your right 2/3 min is nothing here and there, you did the right thing to protect yourself and get an enjoyable run out of it. Be nice to yourself.
I loved the achievement of the long runs it gave me a real buzz. I am sure you will hit your target no problem. My longest run before the HM was 17km and it took me the total of 2:37. It took so much out of me training for that length. That's when I knew a marathon wasn't for me. Happy running.
I believe 2 hours is the cut-off - once you get past that its not about the "fitness" per se but about just improving your endurance. Who knows what time I will do the HM in but who cares, just to do it is an achievement!
I feel silly I finally went to see the chiropractor with my dislocated bum/pulled muscle and she hmmmmed at me and said, 'It's not your glute at all, or you hamstring. It's your pelvis.' Several clicks later I walked out of the door! Considering I've been hobbling for nearly a month, this was great, but if only I'd gone earlier. Not only that, but this chiro isn't my usual one (who was most inconsiderately on her holiday ) - but has done C25K. When I asked when I could start running again, she said, 'Tomorrow!' I have to take it easy, so I have done a 5-min run, a two min walk and a 5-min run, then an 8-min run, a 5 min walk and an 8-min run. My hamstring and glute are still uncomfortable but she has given me some exercises to do and things are improving. So I am - gently - getting back out there. Hooray!
My upper body exercises are progressing as well, so at least I feel I'm doing something. I won't go swimming until I feel that my leg is much better because I don't want to undo all the good work. Sadly, I've put a couple of pounds back on and I'm eating too much junk food so it's a bit of a mixed bag here, but at least I can lace up again
Happy running to all Questers, and a fast recovery to all those on the IC x
Got three runs in last week...just ( it was still pretty warm,though we've had a bit of respite from it these past few days thankfully ).
I went back to my old favourite,the Speed podcast ...well,maybe ' favourite ' is a bit strong 😝...and added on a bit at the end to finish the circuit ,covered 3.3 K .
Two days later I did the Stamina podcast after a double length warm up walk as my muscles felt a bit stiff that morning.
Anyway I misjudged my route a bit resulting in ending up almost back home just before the final ( quickest ) bit .
Any other time I would have veered off in the opposite direction just to complete it, but it seems I didn't have the stamina for 'Stamina' that morning...the heat was taking its toll...still covered 4.6K in all.
Sunday morning started a fair bit cooler,so I ran 6.3 K which I was quite happy with ,though I have to say I'm still finding every run a bit of a trial at the moment.
Yeah..sorry....but it's been an incredibly hot summer over here ...I'm in SW France ( Charente) and 30C plus has been the norm, with temperatures in the early 20's by 8 -8.30 am ...and staying up in the high 20's/early 30's right into the evenings .
It's totally energy -sapping and makes for very difficult sleeping at night ( unfortunately all our bedrooms are up in the roof space so it stays very warm upstairs) so after a broken night I find it pretty hard to get up early enough to beat the heat too !
Fortunately,this week is turning out to be a lot cooler ...but it's supposed to be back in the 30's by the weekend and most of next week 😣
Oooh, no - far too hot! I'm most impressed that you're doing any running at all in that. I hope it cools down a bit for you and you can get a couple of nice runs in before it heats up again. Roll on autumn for you!
I had some great runs last week, Like CaroleCal I am also in boiling hot France, I also did Speed & Stamina and my first trail run. Got a PB on the Stamina run, continued a bit after it was over and did 5K in just over 36 minutes. Delighted with that! My trail run took me up 100MTs of elevation,and was very exhilarating!
This week I am not running, I have a runny nose, coughing and sneezing...not a cold but the same weird thing I noticed over winter. If I really push it I seem to get these cold-like symptoms. I'm asthmatic and won't run again until my chest feels better. Sods law really as my part of France has suddenly cooled right down. Cooled down too far really, this morning was impenetrable fog -good job I wasn't planning to run!
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) - but has done C25K. When I asked when I could start running again, she said, 'Tomorrow!' I have to take it easy, so I have done a 5-min run, a two min walk and a 5-min run, then an 8-min run, a 5 min walk and an 8-min run. My hamstring and glute are still uncomfortable but she has given me some exercises to do and things are improving. So I am - gently - getting back out there. Hooray!
