SPRING FEVER QUEST...MAY... Week 4

[Oldfloss]

Hi everyone...

the final week of the Quest! Wow, that went quickly!

I am still, slowy and steadily, getting back up to speed..ha ha... after a spell of non running and here at the coast for a while, the sea air certainly helps

The view in my photograph has not changed since I was eleven years old! I never tire of it, and I have hundreds of images of it!

So please feel free to join in if you have graduated. We will be running these Quests every month, updating weekly, so don’t worry you can join in any time after Graduation, it doesn’t matter when it is even if it is just for the last week.

Also please join if you have graduated and are on the IC, We have found reading and supporting other runners when we are on the IC helps to keep motivation up and helps to still feel part of this community so if you are on the IC put your name down, we will support you all they way back to your first run.

I can tell you, from personal experience that you will get back to your runs!

Here is the explanation of what the Quest is.

What the Quest is:-

The Quest lasts for a calendar month

You can join any time within that time.

The main aim of the Quest is to help you find a focus or goal that you would like to achieve by the end of the Quest period.

We ask that you are a Graduate .

The main reason we ask this is that while you are doing the program your plan is very structured, so we wouldn't want the Quest to interfere with that.

Most popular goals are:-

To run three times a week

To slowly increase distance

To train for a specific race

To add In Stretch and strength exercises

As you can see they are personal to yourself and it's totally your own choice.

Every week I will pin a new post where all the members of the Quest can talk about how things are going.

Our advice to you, is to make your goals achievable, as it is very easy to get discouraged if you aim too high. It is better to aim a little lower and feel great at the end of the Quest and add some more in for the next Quest. Motivation is at its best when you feel a sense of achievement through something you are trying to do.

Please don’t forget that all the forums are here for your benefit. They are set up to help with questions and queries as your progress on your running journey. Feel free to join any or all. You will find different levels of help on each forum, so well worth a look around.

We have the Bridge to 10K - this forum is for runners who need a little bit more technical advice than that, offered on the C25K.

healthunlocked.com/bridgeto10k

We have the Marathon Running and Race support.

Again this is another step up in the type of advice that is offered and it is there if you should ever need it.

healthunlocked.com/marathon...

We have the Strength and Flex forum, which is set up to help you with the NHS stretches and Strength workouts. Squats, lunges and the like are all in these programs.

healthunlocked.com/strength...

We also have the Active 10 which used to be called Walking for Health. It is a great forum for sharing your walks on your days off or if you are on the Injury Couch.

healthunlocked.com/active10

Please feel free to have a look round all the forums but also keep in mind we need your help for new runners, so you can support and encourage them on the C25K forum as they learn to run, so they can come and join us on these Quests once they have graduated.

Happy running to you all... stay safe and stay running

Oldfloss, Realfoodieclub, & Roseabi. X.

[lexiemcd Graduate]

I can see the pinned posts regarding the Quest but can't see where the weekly posts are or where I could join. I'd be quite interested as it would give me the structure and motivation I need .

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to lexiemcd]

Sorry... I am not sure what you are asking me? You are here on the Quest now. so are able to post your reply with your goals and as you get any replies to you they will be flagged up to you. If you want to see the weekly posts for What is your Week, the same applies

[lexiemcd Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Ah I see - thank you - didn't realise I was actually on the Quest doh !!! I'm aiming to do three runs a week as my goal and will start tomorrow .

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to lexiemcd]

That is super.simple,straightforward and achievable...😉 post your runs as normal.. then come onto quest to say how it is going! X

[LiisaM Graduate]

Dear Oldfloss, I feel like my leg pains have healed! ...and I'm ready to resume running. Now to schedule, which is my major hurdle what with our household.... (e.g., getting some folks to take their baths, feeding them, doing their laundry, and on....) So my objective is to run three times this week, legs/scheduling allowing!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to LiisaM]

Running again.. any distance for any time will be good for you...three times a week..maybe..but if not...even once will be fine Hang in there... I have messaged you too xxxx

[GoogleMe Graduate]

As I've just achieved my 16 days of yoga practice, I am feeling good about this month's Quest. The goals were quite modest this time but what with one thing and another they have still presented a challenge.

So - 16 days of yoga practice (ie more often than not) and I aimed not to do what I've done for a few months in a row which is to end up with something like a week of no practice. This time the longest gap was 4 days. I've mixed personal practice with online classes and focussed on core work.

I had a very modest swim goal which was simply to get back in the water and continue my virtual Derbyshire Wye swim, and I achieved that.

Running has been a challenge between Google's sudden blindness and various disagreeablenesses over things I thought would be resolving (plus the importance of walks with my husband). I aimed to do some longer runs and did get one of those in... achieved a bit of fabulous bling. Not so good since, but there's more bling in it (any any distance one but I'll be ashamed to claim a medal for one run of less than 30 minutes so I really want to get out today or tomorrow)

Weight loss - all over the place, down, up, so I shall be glad if the scales tell me even 100g less tomorrow morning for the last day!

[Hatman Graduate]

Hi OldFloss.

I believe I have completed my May Quest. I completed C25K a couple of weeks ago with a ParkRun, albeit a slow one at 46’48”.

I then repeated W9 as consolidation. I am lucky to have parallel roads running from home to the next village. The lower one ends five minutes walk away, and the co-op used to be my halfway target. The bus route terminates by the co-op, so there is often someone waiting at the stop. There’ll be a bus in less than 30 minutes. Now I played Beat the Bus as I ran the second half. How many stops can I pass before the bus passes me? 4 stops and 25 metres is my record! Stops me thinking! This is not scientific!

This past week, I found Laura again. NHS C25K+ Stepping Stones.

Doesn’t suit everyone. I have no thoughts of doing a 10k. Running for about 30 minutes, three times a week, is my current target or Quest. Then running BETTER. Getting rid of my “Dad Running.” Breathing easier, stepping lighter, relaxed shoulders, elbows 90 degrees. That kind of thing. Laura talks about all that then puts me through a strict timed run, at 150, 155 & then 160 steps per minutes with lots of reminders of Up2,3,4. 1,2,3,4! Keep in time with the beat!

During consolidation I was running 50 metres beyond the corner of the road that I aimed for and reached in W9. Today I got there as Laura said 2 minutes to go. So my distance has improved, but not my time.

Not totally certain that the Strava free version figures are very accurate while Laura is chatting too. But then in March, I could not have dreamt of running a ten minute kilometre.

May Quest complete. Three runs/week! Distance improved!

June Quest could well be more of the same, but work on that first ten minutes breathing where gums, lips and tongue stick together and I try to desperately breathe with either my nose or my mouth

or both. I have been breathing for a long time. Why is it so difficult all of a sudden when I change pace?

That still leaves two more podcast episodes of C25K+, (with the orange running person logo, rather than green). One on Distance and one on Speed. Will they last until the next Quest?