W6r2 and still on a steep learning curve!

[ktsok]

I have felt a bit under par these past few days. A bit of a squiffy stomach with the odd cramp here and there. I went climbing yesterday and found myself sluggish and yawning, even on a cool wintery sunshine afternoon. Got back late and what with getting the school stuff ready and so on, didn’t cook myself a proper meal (error number 1), instead downing a few Ryvita with brie and cherry tomatoes and dates (😋).

I had a banana on the school run and because I felt hungry and wanted to eat breakfast, I didn’t wait for it to digest but put on the running shoes and left the house (error number 2).

Oh yes - and I had washed my thin beanie for running so wore a slightly thicker hat and put on an extra top layer for some reason - perhaps because I was feeling colder as under par and under fed (error number 3).

Perhaps I should have waited another day, but I am not back at work until tomorrow, so had this wonderful free day in which to run and afterwards luxuriate in a bath, rather than dash about... I didn’t want to waste it.

I thought I would walk/run 5k today, to try and get a gauge for the distance. I thought I would start the Nike Running Club app at the beginning of the warm up walk and just see how it went (error number 4). Of course in my mind the clock was ticking and I was walking at a ridiculously brisk pace. And although I thought I was running at a sensible pace, again, I went off too fast and set a new PB of 6’23”. This is too much for me at the beginning of a run. I burn out and the run becomes a real slog, so it really wasn’t my intention. I thought I was going to have to stop at the 8-9 minute mark of the first 10, my tummy was cramping and I was blowing hard. I was thinking maybe it would be a good lesson to accept we have to stop sometimes, and that’s ok... but kept telling myself I was in the toxic 10 and it would get better. I had put on Eurythmics greatest hits to help me out but the music was just a mess in my ears today, I’d have been better off without it.

The recovery walk was wonderful, I was so relieved, and a bit unhappy that after today’s run, we wave goodbye to this oasis. I know I can run 20 minutes solid, but I couldn’t have run 10 minutes more after today’s 10 minutes without that break.

The last 10 weren’t easy, but they were easier and I found a more sensible pace of 6’45” for the last km. That seems to be my happy ‘pace’ at the moment. I was really cross with myself for messing up again and turning the run into such hard work when I want to enjoy it! But also gave myself a pat on the back for pushing through what felt a sizeable wall today. I am feeling good now it’s over, and I don’t mean out of relief. It’s a sort of glow of achievement, I guess, and the afterglow of aerobic exercise. I found myself wondering today whilst running about how to keep motivation alive once I don’t have a voice in my ear telling me ‘one minute to go’, or the lovely people on this forum who have been/are on this journey. I would have given up at 9 minutes today without you guys.

Oh! I saw some other runners today! There was blonde lady, an activewear vision in black and pink, cruising along the dirt tracks. She looked in complete command of her extremities and I was dead impressed.

For those if you who like numbers and for my own record, it took 36’55” to cover 5k, 20 of which were jogged.

[E27M14 Graduate]

Well done. You completed another one! 37 minutes sounds pretty good, I walked 5k in 55 yesterday, so you definitely jog faster than I walk! (In fact I think you jog faster than I jog too but I justify to myself that’s because you have done other sports in recent years. The only sport I’ve done in the last 25 years is archery and that’s done standing still 😂)

I’ll be out doing this one later today, then it’s all long runs for us both from here to the finish 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

[ktsok Graduate in reply to E27M14]

36’55” thank you!!! Haha, just joking. That’s the problem with putting up times, it leads to unwanted comparisons. I guess I am partly using this forum as a running diary, so it’s kind of interesting for me to log where I am at. I may stop putting them in - really don’t want anyone to feel they need to justify anything! But yes - I climb every week, almost always outdoors which involves walks with backpack full of climbing gear, have done so for nearly 20 years. I did gymnastics seriously for 5 years as a child and used to dance and golf regularly, until about 10 years ago, when I had a child and less money and had to be more selective about my pastimes... it became just about climbing, where a baby can lie on a rug, a toddler can waddle about and a child can climb trees and make dens. So I guess the body infrastructure is there, but my running legs and lungs (smoked throughout teens and adulthood) are still very much in their infancy! I am struggling with these runs, more so than I should be I think, perhaps more than you are, a combo of being strong but not running fit. My best runs are slower, when I get into a groove. I want to be like a metronome and am happiest when the splits look the same and I finish the run with a bit left in my legs. My cheeks had an unhealthy purplish pink hue post-run today, you really would feel smug about your superior pacing skills if you saw me then! Good luck later 🙂

[E27M14 Graduate in reply to ktsok]

I like that you put the times in. I am way behind you pace wise but it is nice to have something to compare to, but definitely not compete with (yet!). I am naturally quite a competitive person so I will be comparing my times to others in a year or so when I am a fully fledged confident runner, but for now I am just constantly amazed that our bodies are able to do this!! I have walked the children to school and walked with my dog but otherwise I am about 3 stone heavier than I should be and have been very lazy for the last 25 years. It’s really quite something that I can train my body to go from that to being able to run (albeit VERY slowly) in such a short space of time!!

[ktsok Graduate in reply to E27M14]

Oh good. We should be feeling proud of ourselves, not dispirited! I love your statement: ‘in a year or so when I am a fully fledged confident runner’. I really hope to be there too 😀

As scary as graduating might be, it could also be liberating. A runner friend said to me the other day that he enjoys just running, without being conscious of times, walking for a bit if and when he feels like it. It sounds good. I think the time targets are really helpful at the moment, but I hope there will come a day when I can throw away the stabilisers and just run with the wind in my hair!

Re weight: I was carrying an extra 2 stone way past the stage I could blame it on the baby - he could walk and talk and sort himself out on the toilet 😂 Climbing motivated me to lose it - the strain on your finger tendons when you are carrying too much weight is horrible. I can vividly recall the ‘snap’ like a stick breaking in two as one of them went. So I did a hypnosis app (Easyloss Virtual Gastric Band) and the weight slipped away quite quickly, just by drinking more water and the suggestion in the relaxed state of ‘hypnosis’ that you don’t want to put food in your mouth which your body doesn’t need, or want. Worked for me in a way that calorie counting/restriction doesn’t...

[E27M14 Graduate in reply to ktsok]

Haha, my “baby” is 13 so I really can’t use that excuse! I think the main problem was that I didn’t really care about myself very much. But since I went back to work full time and left my husband, I have a new found self-confidence that I hadn’t noticed I had lost. I am doing this for me, no-one else, and I’m loving it. It’s really great to have someone at the same stage as me to go through it with too.

[ktsok Graduate in reply to E27M14]

Wicked. And snap. I left the other half a few years ago and it was a good decision for all of us. I’m glad your confidence is back! Running helps with that empowerment, too.

See you out there! 🏃‍♀️

[ktsok Graduate in reply to E27M14]

How did it go?

[E27M14 Graduate in reply to ktsok]

Just posted...... it hurt but I did it! No more walking breaks for us now!

[ktsok Graduate in reply to E27M14]

Yay brilliant, well done! 😀

[ktsok Graduate in reply to E27M14]

Did w6r3... my son was at athletics club at the stadium so I had an hour to kill with a track... you are going to love it 😊... going to rest up and not run til Friday now...

👟👟👟👟