W6R1 Oooh Mustafa!

[Idolitorus]

I've done W6R1*big cheesy grin*, can't quite believe I have just said that. W6R1, there just said it again. I feel like the hyena from Lion King......

'Mustafa'

'Oooh, that makes me shudder. Say it again.'

'W6R1!!'

Just to ruin the overall wonderful ness, I have to admit to inflicting my legs on Joe Public again by running in shorts.

In my defence it was a nice warm morning when I went for the run but what possessed me I don't know but I wore that long sleeve running top again. DON'T DO IT.

I ended up looking like a packet of Uncle Ben's express rice, soft, soggy and all squidgy around the middle and bottom.

That top is banned until the weather turns decidedly cooler.

I have seen other posts of a similar nature asking this question but how can a run with walk intervals seem harder than the previous 20 minute non-stop run?

I wonder if I went off a little too fast. Not exceedingly so, but just a tad more than usual as I was feeling confident. I certainly reduced the pace slightly after the first one and that made it a little easier but I was still a bit breathless.

This is a bit of an epiphany for me though; I have noticed that whilst my runs are not getting any easier as the weeks progress, my ability to continue has really improved. Early in the program, my legs would be uncomfortable and I would get out of breath and I couldn't wait for the moment that the run was over and I was able to do the walk. Now though, my legs are stlll uncomfortable and I stlll get a little out of breath but I feel I could carry on for longer if I had to.

That's the change. If you are still in the early weeks and reading this wondering if it will ever get easier, my experience is yes and no. Will your legs magically stop aching and will you just bound down the road like a gazelle on acid? No, it will still feel like hard work but you get past that first bit of uncomfortable and it settles into something you can deal with and put to the background for longer than you believed. It's hard, but you keep going anyway. Looking forward to R2 and that oh so sought after R3.......Mustafa....ooooh.... *shudders*

[poppypug Graduate]

Hakuna Matata !

Brilliant post, ta for making me laugh

You did it ! Well done

Yes , Week 6 bit me on the bum too ! After the euphoria of completing W5R3 it does tend to come as a bit of a shock !

A massive Well done to you Batman !

Keep going , youre doing great and keep posting , you are funny ! xxx

[jamsammich Graduate]

It's Mufasa! I blame predictive text ! Lol

Well done on getting to week six!

You're braver than I am, even with that fancy lidl sale and now the choice to show the pins I've stuck to wearing the same comfy jog pants and rotating 2 tshirts for runs as good luck concepts lol

I've got Scar's song in my head now 😯

🎶but the point that I must emphasise is, you won't get a sniff without mee🎵

I find that during the longer runs it hurts to walk in the first 20 minutes so I have to keep a faster than walking pace even if I'm tired. It wears off at about 20 minutes or I am too pained everywhere else to notice anymore lol

I prefer a longer cool down than before even though recovery is definitely quicker.

I hope your run 2 is good!

[Idolitorus Graduate in reply to jamsammich]

Oops. *red faced*

Mufasa

Absolutely. Bloody predictive text...... *cough, cough*

[jamsammich Graduate in reply to Idolitorus]

It works with Mustafaaahhh

*inserts giggling hyena*

[gary_bart]

I run in what I suppose are rugby shorts (with a drawstring round the waist), and in one of the old, baggy T-shirts that I'll one day be sacrificing to the rag collection. The only stylish part of my attire is my running shoes, and those I got on a special for less than the price of el cheapo last-one-week shoes.

I must say I like my shoes, though. They're an almost neon-bright yellow with blood red soles. A homeless guy complimented me on them the other day, and was very impressed with the cheap price I managed to scrooge for them.

You'll need to work out some poses to strike if one day some passer by takes the time out from thinking about what kind of bread to get this time to stare at you. And in the place of that running top that reveals the squidgy bits, may I recommend some inelegant baggy T-shirts as the ideal thing for de-emphasizing (oh all bloody right, for hiding) the less heroic of your lines. If it doesn't work well for me, at least somehow it must help me not notice.

I think if ever anyone looks at me as I run, I'll punch my hands up into the air as if I've just achieved some momentary victory in something. That seems an assertive enough and yet friendly enough posture to adopt. And if I'm walking, I think I'll try and walk like either Jonty Rhodes (if I'm feeling energetic) or Vladimir Putin.

Hmm ... now there's an ambition: Learn to move like Jonty Rhodes. I'm sure it would make one feel all positive and energetic on the inside projecting all that Tiggerishness outward.

This sartorial crime you've committed in your terrible shirt has left us much to think about ...

[Idolitorus Graduate in reply to gary_bart]

That made me cry! So funny.

My wife hates that long sleeved top. Even with the positive effects of running, the sun behind me and wearing shades it just is not flattering. Which she reminds me of EVERY time I don it.

Strangely, I could not have started this journey without getting some kit. It was almost a reverse blackmail. 'Now you've gone and spent forty quid on trainers for yourself, you've got to do it to justify the expense.' Honestly, I really had to force myself to make that first step and spending money on something just for myself is very unusual. Especially for something untested with no guarantee of completion. So I've got to carry on. Especially if I go for gait analysis and end up getting another pair........

*Wip Wap* American Express, your flexible friend.

God showing my age now!

As for striking poses, I can only think of Ussain Bolt or Madonna.

As Bolt has been overdone, I am thinking of some Blue Peter effort with a couple of cardboard cones. That should keep the eye distracted......Mufasa!

[gary_bart in reply to Idolitorus]

When it comes to using spending money to trick yourself into then getting your money's worth, that's exactly what I did when first warned (effectively) that I was not just unfit, but pathologically so. What I did was join a gym. And I did it purely to deliberately trick myself into doing some exercise. Isn't that strange when you think about it? We can deliberately, and without any guile, trick our very own selves. It's all out there as perfectly in the open as anything could ever be ... and yet ... we fall for it!

[AvatheGardener Graduate]

Made me smile- thank you! Here I am dreading W3R3 having been away at the balloon festival hot air ballooning 😀 and not run for three days... Thank you for that slightly cheerful 'yes it's hell but it's do-able' thought...

Well done!!!