Wk10R1

[pinkaardvark]

w00t! First consolidation run in the bank. Was so hard to get the motivation to go out the door and felt crappy for the first 5 mins, but it all fell into place and I managed to up the pace in sections and cover an extra 100m or so in the 30m so pushed it just a little bit further and let my body and mind know that there was a little bit more gas in the tank.

I definitely agree with others who have said just cover the 30mins again for a few weeks as that feels exactly what I need to do to build a base where I can get comfortable with that time.

My big weakness is my calves.. every run I come back feeling like someone has kicked the $£%^ out of them, whereas I very rarely feel out of breath and only get too hot if wearing too much. Any tips on improving calves would be gratefully taken..

Thanks for listening to my ramble..

[misswobble Graduate]

It's all in the calves! Cross training! Sorry to say. Resist the temptation to go too quick til your running legs get built, which can take quite some time to achieve. Slow running builds running legs fortunately.

Swim, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk some more, strength training for your whole body I do exercise to DVD's at home but you can use the gym or youtube at home. Have a look for Millionaireho (I think his name is) Folks here like spinning too but I've not had a go at that yet

Pilates, yoga, yogalates, exercises using your own body weight. If your calves are weak you overload them if your upper body and core is not strong enough. You can get the dreaded shin splints if all your running comes from your calves.When we run we use our arms and upper body and core so our puny calves are not doing the lion's share of the work

You can find specific exercises for your calves, which you do at home or when your're out and about if you prefer but having stairs is handy. Slow heel drops with calf raises, foot lifts. These need doing properly so you might need to see a film clip, which will be online

[pinkaardvark Graduate in reply to misswobble]

Thanks for the advice misswobble. I am doing weights at the gym 4 times a week together with cardio and include lots of squats and calve raises etc and crunches for core workout. I may even be doing a bit too much as my calves are often a bit sore prior to a run as I suspect i'm not getting enough recovery time. I will try to build in more stretches as that's definitely something i'm not good at doing.

Also good to know that it's a problem that can be solved by more running and that injury aside it should come good in the end.

[Whatsapp Graduate]

Stretch your calves, not just after a run, but 2-3 times a day - even on non-run days.

[pinkaardvark Graduate in reply to Whatsapp]

Thanks whatsapp.. i'm gonna try to do exactly that and see how I go. Stretching now as I am running tomorrow morning early

[Shelby1973 Graduate]

I had this trouble and went for a gait analysis. Since getting new trainers it’s honestly not been a problem x

[misswobble Graduate]

I walk quite a bit post run, even walking backwards for calf stretch purposes 🙂. I usually finish runs aways from home do I can do the stretches on the walk back home

[RuthL Graduate in reply to misswobble]

Walking backwards? Sounds like a great way to stretch your calves. Thanks for the tip 🙂