Week 9 (or NOT week 9) that is the question! ( apologies to Hamlet.. and possibly Shakespeare..

[Anaverageman]

SUBTITLED : Posts are like buses... you wait all week for one, then TWO come along in quick succession!!!

So now I face a dilemma. After finishing week 8 on Sunday (and actually having the coordination skills to take a vid and move my legs at the same time) I felt my Glutes sore/slightly tight afterwards…

I am eager to carry on and get to grips with wk 9 , but having cajoled my poor aching body thought wks 1- 8 so far ( and as a consequence never having a ‘Fail’ on my runs yet) … I hesitate to PUSH it forward onto 9 if there is something niggling…

So I know there are those who will say.. well did You STRETCH post run? ( yaa boo sucks to you..) But honestly, chaps, I GET to the end of the run, Laura says ‘ stop’ or ‘ well done’ or such like and my legs won’t do ANYTHING more.. asking them to ‘ stretch’ is not on the cards..

SO with tight glutes.. I thought ‘ go to a stretch’ class tonight ( last night , Tue)

Result? Went to class… Stretched..Glutes feel better ..Hamstrings now tight! Grrrr

(as an aside on this process : Was good apart from:

a.Being called ‘ Yogalates’ ( what an abomination of a name!!) if you had to combine Yoga and Pilates .. why not call it ‘ Poga’ ? or better still just YO ?? ( it is HALF yoga after all!)

b.Half Yoga.. why DO they give ‘poses’ names?? Do I CARE they are called ‘ downward facing dog’ or ‘ sun salutation’ ?? ( IF I want to ' greet the sun' I give it a cheery wave and say ' hello sun' I REALLY don't lie down and bend my back till it hurts!)

c.Half Pilates.. still enjoy the ‘precision’ of doing that…

So all told all right, but just trying to work out IF I should run first of my week (30 minutes finally ) tonight now ?? or wait till my glutes/ hamstrings loosen up some? ( it’s a rhetorical question )

OK rant over.. have a good day everyone, wherever you are on this big ball..

[GoogleMe Graduate]

Er, I think you know what we are going to say... try running more slowly...

If you prefer you could use the original terms for the asanas to disguise their meaning. I did a down dog the other morning with a cat hitching a ride on my back.

I rather like a modern made up one called Bananasana - does what it says on the tin!

You might though prefer to continue with Laura and the NHS who offer you another set of podcasts called Strength and Flexibility.

[Anaverageman Graduate in reply to GoogleMe]

lol Thanks.. well I have LOOKED and the ' strength and flexibility' .. and if I was to be honest they are way too simple/ easy ( OK for anyone who has never been inside a gym before but I've 20+ years gym experience behind me... I have only ' paused' the gym while i did the c25k)

Yes I was talking with my daughter ( a big yoga fan) and she said her instructor used Indian names for all her poses... which at least makes them unintelligible gibberish....

DO love the sound of Bananasana though!!! DO you DO it to the sound of Bananarama? AS sort of Bananasanabananarama?

Can you do this whilst eating a banana?

A bananabananasanabananarama? or done somwwhere with with a good view all around? A .. wait for it..

bananabananasanabananaramapanorama?

OK no I am talking gibberish.... *straps himself back into his straight jacket'*

ps IF i run more slowly.. I'll be going backwards..

[GoogleMe Graduate in reply to Anaverageman]

I do not believe your PS

Despite being a fellow 'non-poncing around after a run stretching' person, I also do not believe that your gym activity has necessarily been what your body needs to run comfortably - although it does sound as though video plus running may have been what has upset things this time????? Just the slight shift/tension maybe?

(I found S&F harder than C25K, thought I'd got it cracked and then nearly came badly unstuck on my 'graduation' workout... not as easy as I thought)

[Anaverageman Graduate in reply to GoogleMe]

Well, put it this way.. my PRE running exercise regime was as follows...

2 hours gym Sat ( ca. I hour cardio - mostly exercise bikes/ roiwing machines.. then 1 hours weights.. e.g. bench press 65 Kg, squats 90 Kg, etc.. ) Repeat Sunday, varying muscles groups worked on weights...then 1 hour stretch/pilates/ yoga every Tue.. ( and when given option ALWAYS did/do the most difficult level of exercise ) so strength and flex.. was not really ' difficult' enough when i looked at it.. (sorry but true)

but I agree... I am using different muscles more in running .. an as such don't MIND that I have occasional aches and pains.. it is to be expected..

[GoogleMe Graduate in reply to Anaverageman]

You might get better results from a more running targeted more 'feeling your way' than 'pushing it' programme and something you can do every day for 10 minutes. Does it have to be difficult to be doing you good?

But this tightness is bothering you enough to consider not going out for a run, when you are clearly no wuss....

The banana thing you can probably find by Googling. I did it from an Ekhart Yoga YouTube video. Very deceptive!

[Anaverageman Graduate in reply to GoogleMe]

true.. but I am NOT changing every part of exercise programme longer term just to suit 'running' soz but not gonna happen... Now listen to me VERY carefully. I will say zis only ONCE...

there IS life outside running.. and the ' flexibility' work as WELL as the strength work I already did is JUST as useful as the CV work being done in C25K .. my point was.. 10 mins every day.. nice idea not gonna happen... whole point was I HAVE a busy life already.. but the the 'strength and flex' stuff neither stretched me.. nor flexed me more than I already did... but I agree 10 mins every day MIGHT make a difference... also might NOT too.. no evidence either way.. or more correctly the jury still out re so much exercise regimes and what they DO actually produce in results terms.. in my experience already the WHOLE recommendations have change totally re stretching and exercise from that which i learned when I started working out..

[GoogleMe Graduate in reply to Anaverageman]

If it is all working for you, it's all working for you...

(And if you are too busy for 10 minutes stretching when you get up, you are absolutely right not to be doing that. It's 15 minutes plus meditation/relaxation that is required....)

My Dad's life has been dominated by running for something like 70 years... the one thing he will not try (he has RA, he has cancer, he's moaning he feels a bit tired after 3 exercises classes on the trot at 80+) is learning to chill!

[Anaverageman Graduate in reply to GoogleMe]

ok so I am not TOO ' busy' for 10 minutes every day... just cant be a*sed with that malarky!!

Good on your dad though!! I'm ALL in favour of ' growing old disgracefully'

[Pigivi]

"yogalates" always makes me think of a "latte" * made with yogurt

* as in the drink that you get only in English speaking countries (in Italy you'll be served a glass of cold milk)

[Anaverageman Graduate in reply to Pigivi]

once had a fantastic example of that..

Was skiing in Cortina , and sitting down with others in gorgeous apres ski restaurant in the town.. when loud 'posh' English people came in, made NO effort to order IN Italian ( grrrrrrr...) and said to waitress ' I'll have a Latte please'.... SHE returned ( quite sensibly) with a glass of cold milk..

I almost wet myself laughing.. still makes me smile at the thought!!!

[Pigivi]

Bend you back til it hurts? Well - stay away form that milkyogurt teacher! Doesn't sound much like yoga...

Better to do old school stretches and squats...

You may want to check this out -

kinetic-revolution.com

[Anaverageman Graduate in reply to Pigivi]

pigivi.. cant LISTEN to it ( Im at work) but will do.. to ME it just looks like MORE running!! but thanks........

[Pigivi in reply to Anaverageman]

It's not more running - it's about different exercises to run better, prevent injuries and so on

[Anaverageman Graduate]

i WAS being facetious. but thanks..

cargocollective.com/maggiem...

HOWEVER you describe it.. not the way I WOULD ' greet the sun' !!

[Ullyrunner Graduate]

Hey AAM - stop telling us why you can't / won't stretch and just get out there and do your run man! You know you want to...

[poppypug Graduate in reply to Ullyrunner]

Ha ha , you tell him Ully ! xxx

[Anaverageman Graduate]

yourfunctionalhealth.com/fu...

Quod Erat Demonstrandum.. ( actually an interesting article worth reading) but I DO take your point.. was merely talking aloud to myself as usual..

[ju-ju- Graduate]

sounds like you had fun, and I love the idea of a 'YO' class. you really should stretch after a run though, and get a foam roller to help tight muscles......

[Anaverageman Graduate in reply to ju-ju-]

Can i use my 'foam roller' to beat anyone over the head who suggests I need a foam roller? 😜😜

[FitnessFan Graduate]

May sound odd, but the post run stretches seem to become easier after time too. Were great for tight calf muscles.

[Anaverageman Graduate]

cool.. thanks, useful to know.. there is a ' cussed' part of me,, that just wants to go out.. run.. come back home.. and NOT have to worry about..

a. wearing the right shoes...

b. having their gait analysed

c. tracking their distance/time/speed

d. taking all sorts of paraphernalia with me.. water bottle check, phone check, etc etc.

e. stretching before/after

f . Using ' foam rollers'

etc etc

Did Pheidippides use any other these when he ran the first Marathon? (admittedly he did collapse and DIE afterwards)

Just seems sometimes you have to DO the right thing, wear the right clothes, monitor using the right monitor, run this park run , go for this 5 K , that 10 k... and I SOOOOOO wanna rebel when people tell me to do that... ( regular readers MAY have noticed this slight character flaw)