Onwards and sideways with my revisit of runs from the original programme as part of my physio-enhanced niggle improvement system. (Yes, there's an acronym in there somewhere )
Today it's a run from Week 4. I remember Week 4 being a real toughie the first time around. I was suffering from catastrophic man flu and had to repeat at least one of the runs. And running for 5 whole minutes at a time? Madness and beyond the capability of any human being, surely? Memories of sweaty, breathless hell notwithstanding, I'm fitter now, my leg's well on the mend and I'm ready for this.
Complicated work arrangements and Dad-taxi-ing mean I need to leave for work at 6:45. Crawley will be bereft if I'm not there by 8. So my alarm goes off at 5am.
It's dark. I drink my tea hoping for a glimmer of light and sunshine. No such luck. But my legs are feeling good. So it's off to Sheepstreet Lane for me.
Tech faffing and walking. My wife told me endless times that "It's a hill you know". I think trying to make me feel better about my initial heart-popping outings. It might not be a hill, but there's definitely an incline. Even in the semi-dark. Dumbly I've put a running jacket on, more for visibility than comfort. You never know what rural cove will come thrashing down the road at daft o'clock.
Laura keeps warning me about having completed all the runs before. I feel slightly guilty. Then she tells me that this will be hard but doable.
The Boss kicks off "Darlington County" for my first runny bit. One day my rear end will be as toned as his on the cover of "Born in the USA". Delusional probably. I sing along. I'm not tired enough yet to gasp. Enjoy the singing while you can.
i walk for a bit to that evergreen favourite of 70s Dutch pop music, "Sylvia" by Focus, that kept every record-pressing factory in England busy the first time the band appeared on Top of the Pops. There is some mad falsetto vocalising in there too. I fear my nether regions will not cope with singing those bits. Maybe after the Op
I walk for a bit. Getting lighter. Leg feeling fine. A single car eases its way around me. Cue "Dancing Days" from the cheeriest of all the LZ albums. Legend has it they were so happy with the first version they recorded they ran outside and jumped up and down on the lawn. These days they'd slump in front of their PS4 or something. No jumping for me tho. I'm getting myself ready for my first 5min run for some time.
Nice and slowly, but keep those feet fastish. I'm looking at my watch a bit. Sweating a bit. Laura keep jumping out at me and giving me time checks. I'm there. Not really that bad. But difficult to believe that a few weeks ago I was taking 40 minutes in my stride. But physio rules and common sense dictate slow and steady. And I'm proud of my knee for keeping up.
Last walk. Turn around. All a bit downhill-ish from now on. Another 3 minute run. Chugging along nicely now. The studio version of "Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp" keeps me on my toes. Everyone should run to a song about a dog. I pant in sympathy. Then walk a bit more.
Last 5 mins coming up. "Gallows Pole". My perennial favourite from LZ3. All folksy acoustic guitar and mandolin until JPJ kicks in with his walking bass and then Bonzo nails it with with virtuoso drumming. In the old days by the time the Hangman had made his victim swing and the lads had started their "Ha ha, ha ha ha ha" I'd be sprinting for the finish line.
But not today. Today I was a sensible boy. 30 mins done. 3.72 K in total. 2.3K of actual running. Kept my feet light, upped my cadence and all mid- and forefoot running. Elmo's pleased for me. The EJBs have crooned themselves to sleep in my pocket.
Nice session. W5 coming up on Thursday. The epic 20 minute run. Time to dust off my original playlist. But today's good and I have Crawley to look forward to. Life doesn't get any better than that. Apart from the Crawley bit. Not so much Creepy Crawley as Feral Crawley
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sallenson
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Love that photo Stephen yes that acronym, I'll not dwell on that and say that I am so glad you are getting back to normal, my hip is completely better and will fully start back at week 1 very early in September, like you I'll hopefully get all the runs done by the end of the month. Yesterday I went a walk around Linlithgow Loch, the one that I did week 5 run 3 back on the 21 May. then it was a 20 minute run on Monday I only ran for two minutes just to test my legs, everything seemed OK
Doing great! 😃🏃♂️❤️ Am loving seeing your T-shirt collection. You’ve got me thinking I should branch out from technical black Tshirt mode!
And don’t feel guilty when Laura talks about all the runs you’ve done before - you HAVE done them all before! Good luck with the 20min jump. Sounds like the knee is doing well and is ready...🤞🍀😃❤️
Time for me to unveil the faintly abusive tees now methinks, lol.
I was undecided about whether to do one of the early runs from W5 or just go for the 20 minute job. I'm gonna go for the 20 minute job and be prepared to stop if my knee starts weeping at me
😂😂😂 I noticed you were getting a bit braver over here with your acronym mention... guess you’ve got folk ready for dodgy T-shirts!
It’s a tricky choice for W5, but you know best how your knee feels. Just remember your “slow and steady” mantra, and keep listening out for any issues. ❤️🐌🐌😎
With life’s busy and important stuff going on, you just expect to keep running towards a brick wall and crash right through it and keep going.🤔
Have not run for 3 days now having successfully made my second rookie mistake since starting running this year.
I have got to try and keep clarity of judgement and focus to recognise the brick walls🙈
Hey ho, back at it perhaps tomorrow, more mistakes to make, more learning ahead and more enjoyment to be had from this running magic and fabulous forum.
When you need a lift this forum never fails, it is just right here.
The latest C25k Newbies are lucky to be getting this repeat performance from you, yes and we all wish that was not the case.🤔👍
Keep up your good work and take good care of your sustainable progress.💥🏃♂️💥👏👏
Fantastic - the run and your post 😄 I am doing the same run this afternoon! At the moment though I am sitting in a comfy armchair with doggie asleep on my lap 🐶💤. I need to get motivated.....
Ha ha well done 💪😃👍 I was thinking Sylvia’s Pillow Talk would have been preferable at that time of the morning . I like my mornings to be more mellow. I go for Colours by Donovan and something gorgeous by John Martyn to wake me up gently.
Hi Stephen I’ll be redoing wk 5 run 3 on Thursday been catching up after 6 weeks on the IC fell downstairs and injured foot. Will make sure I have gallows pole on the playlist. By the way I saw Focus back in 1973 and LZ in 75 🤗
He used to live in Hastings, so not far from us. After his heroin and leg amputation thing. Not the finest period of his life. But "Solid Air" is a cracking album
Really enjoying your posts and whistle stop tour through the programme. I'm on week 4 at the moment so could relate to this one. Good on you for jumping straight to the 20 minutes in week 5 (that's the one I'm dreading!!)
I hated W4 with a passion. Found it really, really tough.
My memories of W5 are a bit hazy, but I did cry buckets at the end of W5R3. Tears are obligatory for that run. It's the big triumph of "mind over legs".
I've had a look through the other W5 runs and thought "Should I ease into R3?" and thought "Sod it. I've done it before." I'll see how it goes on Thursday. If it gets anywhere faintly near hurty I'll just have a rethink.
Don't dread it. Just take it nice and slow. I have an especially slow playlist for that one
Glad to hear it's going so well and your knee is not complaining 👍 Good luck with W5's 20 minute run on Thursday.
As for Crawley - I seem to remember that there were a large number of ants' nests in the car park of the Hawth Theatre, and I'd always manage to pitch my tent on one of them 🙄
I've not yet explored the possibly nicer fringes of Crawley. So the Theatre and Tilgate (?) Park remain a mystery. The bit where I am just seems to comprise cracked and broken paving stones, down-market shopping opportunities and piles of dog pooh. Living the dream
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