At the risk of bringing down the wrath of the ... - Couch to 5K

Couch to 5K

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At the risk of bringing down the wrath of the forum...

30 Replies

...I would have used the F word in conjunction with that run, except for a couple of factors. But not the F word I was hoping to use, which is Fartlek, which I was going to have a go at today. Fat chance as it turned out!

Clearly I run better at 5 in the morning after 3 hours sleep than I do in the middle of the afternoon and well rested.

Maybe it's because I ate buckwheat pancakes three hours before the run and could feel them, still, like a stone in my middle. Certainly my breathing had a LOT to do with it: I've been coughing over the last two days and my chest is more rattly than it's been for a while - one of the dogs is moulting like mad at the moment and I'm allergic to his hair. I was out of breath just walking up the steep hill to where I sometimes begin to run, and normally it doesn't bother me. I never got my breath back. I was going way slower than normal (the bit where I was going at 4.31min/km was down a massively steep hill). I had to walk a couple of times because I was panting so hard. A route that I would normally consider well within my capabilities was a huge struggle. I only managed 22 minutes in the end, including about 3 minutes of walking.

But...but...wonder of wonders, my VO2 Max (yes, I know it should be measured with treadmills and oxygen masks while you are driven to the point of a near death experience! but it's some sort of guideline) has increased up one point from utterly abysmal to merely faintly embarrassing, the second increase in a week. And I have a massive case of runners' high.

Oh, and my new On Cloud running shoes are a gift from the gods.

Now for a Badedas bath (you never know, a bloke on a horse might arrive beneath my window - as per the 70s ads).

30 Replies
ebcroquet profile image
ebcroquet

🤣🤣

SC1472 profile image
SC1472Graduate

Flick - a run is a run it sometimes doesn't go to plan. By the sound of it you may be coming down with a bug so take it easy and don't be so hard on yourself. Enjoy the bath but watch out for the strange man on a horse.

in reply to SC1472

This I know, and I told myself before I went out that it didn't matter if I didn't manage my usual 30-40 minutes. I was vaguely disappointed because i was looking forward to trying out my new shoes properly, but there will be other days. Meanwhile into the Badedas and look out for the mysterious stranger (I wish...) ;)

dindy profile image
dindyGraduate

Hi FlickM3. Since you have graduated you have been going for it which is commendable.

I sense you are not the sort of person to let anything stop you and a middle finger to anything that does. But those hills are very hard work and maybe it may be time to do what Iannoda Truffe & others advised me to do,just step back.Take a extra day`s or even a whole weeks rest from running. If you read on the web this weeks rest from running is widely supported.

I took 5 days off completely and filled my self up with protein and whatever I thought was doing me good. Believe me it does work. I took the time to read up all about fartlek and tempo etc and by the end of the 5 day`s rest I was rearing to go.I did not start with a bang but eased into it. I doubt if there is many who have recently graduated and even ore experienced who could cope with the hills you have 3 days a week, me included.

Go shopping for some new gear,well maybe not,bills to pay(-:

in reply to dindy

Thank you for your very kind post. Please don't worry, I am not overdoing it, in fact I'm doing a lot less than others who graduated around the same time.

Lol, go shopping for new gear he says. Have you SEEN my recent posts on the subject.

I take my rest days, believe me I do. Sometimes two or more at a time my diet is a very healthy vegan one.im currently doing around a 40 minute, a 30 minute and a 20 minute run spread over a week. This is normally not a problem for me. I'm probably doing a lot less than you are. I still haven't managed more than 4.3k in 39 minutes, so both my pace and my distance are a lot less than yours.

My problem is my breathing. Without my inhaler I can't run at all. The dog us moulting. There is black hair everywhere. It messes with my breathing.

You are quite right about the hills, I have a love hate relationship with them, but I think they are responsible for strengthening my legs and for the fact that, normally, my chest is a lot less congested than it was when I began c25k.

It's funny how nobody has picked up on the tongue in cheek tone of my post 😊

I do appreciate your response a great deal, especially what you said about the challenge of the hills. X

dindy profile image
dindyGraduate

Hi FlickM3,yes I have seen your posts about new gear and could not resist winding you up in a nice way for a bit of fun,feel free to do the same to me if the need arises. Good that you feel comfortable with your running workouts. I have only just gone further than you in distance but often I look at your posts of how fast you are running uphills as well!!

I keep on kicking myself saying come on you old goat (that is me not you(-:) FlickM3 is one year older than I am and she is like a she is a cheetah. Wish I could run at your speeds, I am going to sulk now(-:(-: I immerse myself when running with Bob Dylan and blues harp so perhaps I should concentrate more on running than singing the songs and stop getting out of breath (-:

in reply to dindy

Are you sure Im one year older than you? Youre not 70 are you? Honestly Im not very fast. Im pretty sure most of my speed comes from the downhill bits.

As for kit, dont tempt me. I now have four pairs of running shoes, two trail and two road - if you dont count the Ghosts which are going on ebay shortly, and the Mizunos which I am going to use as everyday trainers; I think as they are giving me serious leg pain now my runs are longer (a 12mm heel drop is clearly too high for me).i would love some more On runners! And I need some more shorter running leggings for the summer, and how about some proper running knickers (as opposed to the incontinence pants Facebook keeps offering me 😳).

Pm3eak profile image
Pm3eakGraduate

Hi Flick

I hope the mysterious chap on the 'oss showed up. I worry more about four horseman arriving here on Poverty Bank with my name on a scroll...and I thought Badedas were an inferior brand of trainers, but there we go.

It sounds, by the description of your pre-run breathing, like you were going to struggle anyway: it was just going to be one of those days. And that is before tackling those Cotswold hills-which I couldn't, not without a ski lift at least. I get a nosebleed reading about your runs. Just look what happened to that Grand Old Duke of York...hills did for him! Nursery rhymes don't lie you know. So just file it away in the 'Doesn't Matter' folder, rest up and look forward to the next one.

Anyway, main point of post: as you know, I have an atypical asthma caused by acute sensitivity to certain substances ( predominantly burning plastic, coal smoke, diesel etc). I struggled for years and years until, following an asthma review, I was referred to a specialist. He completely changed the preventative inhaler I was using to a newly available type. Result: much better control. I would really recommend getting a full asthma review...it really worked for me and it is recommended anyway.

Luckily, our dogs don't shed, which is great. The downside is trying to find a groomer that will take on grooming 52 kg mega- hairy dogs; they mostly do it once.

in reply to Pm3eak

Haha, things happen after a Bededas bath: plague, war, famine and what was the other one?

I think I will go back to my GP tell her about the breathing, ask what my options are. Mostly Im ok now as long as i take the inhaler before I run, but this time I felt off before I went out. Alas, such is the vanity of having new running shoes that I just couldnt wait. I still cant wait, but I think I will force myself to have two days rest and not run again till Monday, and not then if I feel iffy.

dindy profile image
dindyGraduate

Running knickers!!! What on earth are running nickers?? I heard of running bras. I personally go commando(-: Perhaps some running pants???

in reply to dindy

Running knickers are a thing - for us girlies anyway. Erm, dont you get chafed?

Rignold profile image
Rignold

How do you test your VO2 max?

in reply to Rignold

Lol, dont start! Im well aware that the Garmin VO2Max is just a guideline, since I havent been chained to an oxygen mask and driven to the point of renal collapse (did you not read all of my post?). But it does give some indication that Im getting fitter slowly. 😜

in reply to

Or even cardiac failure (sorry about that - I think the threat of the incontinence pants Facebook keeps offering me has finally got to me)

Rignold profile image
Rignold in reply to

I wasn't going to I was just intrigued. I wanted to have it done when I was running seriously but could never justify the cost. They do a thing at UWE I think where they do a whole battery of sports performance tests but it is around £200 I think, Cheap enough for what it is but I always spent the money on race entries.

Rignold profile image
Rignold in reply to Rignold

and running shoes, obvs.

in reply to Rignold

It sounds like a proceedure akin to torture. Im not sue I would want to subject myself to it.

Rignold profile image
Rignold in reply to

Much of my weekly routine involves procedures akin to torture.

in reply to Rignold

Thats my boy! 💪🏻

dindy profile image
dindyGraduate

Forgot to say,yes I am 70 only just though in December 2017. Just seemed to creep up on me. Must admit never been one to be swayed by numbers as far as age is concerned. I know someone who to be fair walks 1/2 mile a day but will not do any more because he is 62. He thinks I am bonkers running as I am and doing too much.It seems more & more "seniors" are taking up more energetic activities than walking.Read about a lady who sadly died in 2014 who was 95. She won 750 yes 750 gold medals doing all sorts from 100 m to javelin & discus throwing and 30 world records,some lady.

in reply to dindy

I get that from people too, - asking if it’s wise to run at my age.

dindy profile image
dindyGraduate

Nah, do not get chaffed ,nothing to get chaffed(-:(-:

pollyp1 profile image
pollyp1Graduate

What's wrong with that (by which I mean: time, distance and hills, not all the travails that attended it)? (and they still make Badedas? Now I'm feeling nostalgic!!)

in reply to pollyp1

Just that I normally run that route easily, uppy and downy bits and all, but this time it was impossible.

Badedas, hell yeah, still smells exactly the same, and the only thing that doesnt make my skin react violently - and you get the additional bonus of the bloke with the horse 😂

pollyp1 profile image
pollyp1Graduate in reply to

I think I might have to track some down, do like a good bloke on a horse!

(your next run'll be better).

in reply to pollyp1

Thank you, I think so too, the run I mean (and the bloke with the horse 😂).every time Ive had a bad run, the next has been more than fine.

pollyp1 profile image
pollyp1Graduate in reply to

Indeed - but I understand how easy it is to get sucked into the negativity when things go wrong (or not as right as we want!).

Theziggy profile image
TheziggyGraduate

That was still a good time Hidden

in reply to Theziggy

Really? I seemed to be crawling along on my hands and knees. Horrible sense of powerlessness...

Thanks all for support and advice. It was definitely the breathing. During dog walking this morning, I was panting and out of breath just walking up slopes and hills I normally run up. Ill be making an appointment with my FP for further investigation into my breathing problems. My chest is congested again. Mic, my partner, has said he will get the canine culprit clipped soon.

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