I have been waiting for today for a while 😀

[Realfoodieclub]

Pre Run...... For some it starts when shoes are laced and your stepping out the door.

For me it starts a lot earlier. It starts with looking the BBC weather app and deciding which days of the week to run. Don’t get me wrong I am happy runner in the rain and I have lost count of the wet runs I have had but it is the ritual I have.

Then after that is decided and the night before the run a check of my Garmin, phone and MP3 player batteries. A look to make sure I have clean running socks and they are the correct left and right ones 😀. The day before checking my hydration so I am sorted for the run, not as important for the shorter runs but it is a habit I have formed while HM training and it just sticks with me. By the time I get up in the morning I have colour co-ordinated my running gear in my mind.

The morning of the run good breakfast and time for it to settle and this wonderful feeling of anticipation about how the run is going to go, you never know what sort of run it is going to be until you start but you will always know however it goes you will be so pleased you got out there and did it, so if it is a good or bad run that is irrelevant, IT WAS A RUN. 😀. This revelation comes after graduation and honestly you could kick yourself for not learning it earlier as it makes running so much easier and less stressful 😂.

The Run today .....An easy way to sum up today’s run for me was BRILLIANT.

It was my first run outdoors since 11 March, I have missed my outdoor runs so much . The treadmill has its place and I was a bit lost the first 7 weeks of lockdown before it came. A run for me is so much more that the amount of time I am out the door, there is a whole thought process and identity to being a runner and that is available to everyone regardless of pace or how many times you run, it becomes deep rooted. It felt great to feel the fresh air as I ran, feel the undulating pavement, hills and slopes under my feet and watch the world happening around me rather than looking out the widow at it while I ran on the treadmill. I will continue on the treadmill as it also gives me something different on the fitness training level but unless another lockdown comes back I will start a weekly outdoor run again and it does feel so good to be out there again. The upshot of all my treadmill running is a surprising increase in pace since lockdown, I am now 15 seconds faster per Km than I was pre treadmill running, so that has to be a bonus 😀.

Back after the run.......Turn off the Garmin, kettle on and up for a shower. Cup of tea time and time to sit and look at my stats for the day. Sometimes it is wow look at me go, ( yes I am allowed to say that about myself, just because I am slow doesn’t mean I can’t be fast for me ) sometimes it is just mmmmmm. And sometimes, Oh you could do so much better, but always it is, yay I got out there.

If anyone was wondering how I kept fit over the months here is the link to my S&F post.

healthunlocked.com/strength....

Happy running to you all.

Rfc x.

[Raspberrypink Graduate]

Well done on your brilliant run. Glad you enjoyed it after all this time 👍🏼

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to Raspberrypink]

Thank you, it felt so good. Rfc x

[GoogleMe Graduate]

So glad you are outdoors again at last!

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to GoogleMe]

Thank you, hehe I can feel it slightly differently in my legs now 😀. Rfc x

[GoogleMe Graduate in reply to Realfoodieclub]

I'll bet - we soon find out what our bodies are used to don't we? I certainly knew about it the weeks I was running round the house

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate]

Brilliant news and effort! I'm with you on the anticipation front, and agree an outdoor run is just the best thing!

The feeling on the cool down walk takes some beating .😊

Here's to many more ventures running outdoors now you can safely do so. 😘xxx

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to Bluebirdrunner]

Thank you, I have spent many weeks trying to convince myself I was not missing it but you should of seen the smile on my face on the warm down walk 😂. Rfc xxx

[davelinks Graduate]

Nice one! I also ran today with the missus, I found changing my run time to early morning before breakfast works much better for me, just up to 5k anyway, and feel I have more energy to keep on going, funny really, I thought it would have been the other way round as I was giving 2-3 hrs after eating brekkers.. And we have also been getting caught in the rain showers which were welcome & refreshing..

So keep on with the outdoor runs. 😊

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to davelinks]

I have a nice time organised, not too many people but just enough to feel safe. I can do Parkrun on a banana but by the end of a 5km without anything my stomach is grumbling. I read somewhere that some people really respond to exercise on empty stomach and it can give lots of health benefits, hehe it would be I was in the other band who don’t get on with it, I would love to jump out of bed and run then have the rest of the day to feel all the benefits. Nice to see you are both still out running . Rfc x

[davelinks Graduate]

After 5 years I've only just found this out, my digestion must interfere with performance..lol Always wondered why I was struggling, am now starting to get PBs again although not yet back to my best times, I'm working on that.. 😁

Be nice to see Parkrun startup again I have some unfinished business on there like getting to the 100 milestone.😉

Have been doing the (not) Parkruns for now..

I know you donated a kidney a while back, have you had to shield during lockdown or are you as per normal now?

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to davelinks]

I didn’t have to shield for me but I could either live separately in the same house with MrRfc or shield with him. As soon as we could go out for walks we did. When we go out together we wear masks and don’t go indoors yet as our consultants have said we (he) are still at risk. It is strange times. I thought long and hard about outdoor running but my logic brain argued that people ran all through lockdown without masks and seem to do that safely, so I thought it was safe, I wear a buff in case I come across a situation that makes me feel nervous I can just pull it up. My health is just as good as before donation, I’m not sure anyone calls me normal 😂😂😂.

[davelinks Graduate in reply to Realfoodieclub]

😆 I meant physically not mentally!

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to davelinks]

😂😂😂.

[Sybilw Graduate]

Sounds perfectly normal to me! Great that you’re back outside. The start of some normality at least. Little steps.

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to Sybilw]

Thank you. Hehe my quads this morning! My treadmill is flat my run has hills 😂, boy am I feeling it 😀. Rfc x

[skysue16 Graduate]

How wonderful it must have felt to run outdoors again 😀Well done for the increase of pace, great run 👍

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to skysue16]

Thank you. I am just getting over the run now, I might of just been a

Little too enthusiastic 😀. Rfc x

[CBDB Graduate]

Just thought of how you’re doing and if you’re back to running or exercising? Sending you my get well and get even better wishes! (I enjoyed your S&F posts so much, but that’s some time ago)

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to CBDB]

Awww that is so sweet of you to ask. I started running outdoors again last week and have a couple of runs under my belt now. The journey back to outdoor running has not gone smoothly ☹️

My thyroid is kicking up a right storm with my meds at the moment and make high intensity exercise really hard but I am back to it again now. Over a year and they can’t get the meds sorted for the sake of 25mcg, I’m either well over or well under. You know how the thyroid can be!

Always keeping going with my S&F work. 💪. The VR is such fun and I have upper body muscles like I haven’t had since I was in my 20’s.

Rfc x .

[CBDB Graduate in reply to Realfoodieclub]

Upper body muscles 😃😃😃 I know what you mean.

So good to hear! Running and S&F.

Yes, we thyroid-challenged have some extra things to consider and I had to also adjust my medication upwards due to running. But I feel so much better for it!

So good to hear! And at some point in the future I’ll have to try a VR headset! 🤣😅

💪👏🏻🙌🙏💃🏽🏋🏾‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to CBDB]

VR is mega fun. Who would of known I love hitting things😂, boxfit is brilliant . Thyroids, I would say who would have them but as I only have half and that is causing the trouble maybe I wont 😂😂😂😂. Take care. Rfc x

[roseabi]

Congratulations! Lovely post, and hello you! xxx

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to roseabi]

Awww, hello you too 😀. I’m getting there, it has a been a bumpy road back to be honest. It was the push of the final call for my free place HM in May that pushed me back, I had almost convinced myself I wasn’t a runner anymore ☹️. I might do a post on bridge later as it has really surprised me. Hope you are doing ok. Rfc x

[roseabi in reply to Realfoodieclub]

Definitely a runner 😍

I'm fine thanks, except I'm working on a flute exam this week - have to video myself playing four pieces, it's a nightmare!! 😂

[Realfoodieclub Graduate in reply to roseabi]

Good luck with that, it is a lovely instrument. Hope it all goes well. Rfc xxx

[roseabi in reply to Realfoodieclub]

Not sure it is when I play it 😂 Thank you!!!!! xxx