W6R1 - Fade Away and Radiate

[Preserved_Moose]

Well that went about as well as it could since I haven’t run in like... 10 WEEKS???

That would explain why I’m currently crawling around the garden leaving a trail of burnt grass behind me. I better keep moving before the earth turns into clay.

So why the long break? No real reason, I felt a bit off for a few days and it’s a really easy habit to fall out of. Since then life got busy again, boy’s back at school rendering this lockdown pointless and I’ve been looking for a job.

We’ve had a few covid scares, at one point we even drove out to a testing centre, which had a nice post-apocalyptic feel to it. That was not an easy test to do, especially with my overly sensitive gag reflex and a six year old who really doesn’t like having stuff shoved up his nose. I don’t know how it is where you are but we had to stay in the car and do the tests ourselves. I don’t know how well we did it but it came back negative at least and that was a while ago.

However, pretty much every other school around us is reporting cases and I’m amazed our school has gone so long without it. I can’t help thinking it’s just a matter of time until it gets hit and I really hope it isn’t his class. I know we all hate this lockdown but we really need a solid strict one like before. I say do it in September so we can all stay home and have a month-long Christmas.

So I’ve had pandemics and unemployment in my mind, along with various other family things going on and I just haven’t felt like running. I did have a really promising job interview, followed by a really promising courtesy call, followed by a brief email saying sorry but no. Back to square one, except with less money than before! I’ve applied to sign on, let’s hope they’re in a charitable mood.

Anyway, more recently I’ve been thinking about running again because I need the exercise, I never wanted to give up and I really need to finish this thing. I didn’t want to start from scratch again because that would mean my last attempt had failed again so I decided to take it back to the start of Week 6 where I left it.

I knew it would be a struggle but Run 1 is broken up into nice manageable chunks so I thought it would be a good point to see where I’m at with this. It was not an easy experience.

I wasn’t in great shape before, now I’m even more out of practise and I’ve put a little more weight on in the meantime. Either that or the scales are playing a hilarious joke on me. I’m up to 170lbs now, which isn’t *that* much, but then it’s more than a short guy like me should weigh so it definitely shows.

Anyway after a few failed attempts to run at the weekend thanks to some crazy weather that I didn’t feel brave enough to take on, I saw an opportunity today and went for it. I decided to go with Blondie again since they always did a good job of motivation me.

I headed out to the back garden, which also hasn’t been mowed in 10 weeks, and as delighted to see that the next door neighbour was doing some gardening so I’d at least have an audience to watch me struggle.

It became very clear to me during the first five minutes that this was going to be a tough one. Not even halfway through it and my chest was tight and painful (fortunately my hypochondriac brain is getting good at reminding me it’s not a heart attack) and I was really out of breath. But I had to do it! So I pushed on through and puffed my way to the first walking break.

These are never long enough! But it definitely helped, which raises a question. In these broken up runs I usually find the first section the hardest before I settle into it, which is fine because once the first walk is done I can really get into it. I guess that happened here but barely, the next two sections weren’t much easier.

But my question is, if it takes a short run and a walk to really get going, should I maybe do this for the longer solid runs? I’m thinking when I get to the 20+ minute runs, I could do a few minutes first, walk a bit and then get on with the main run. Is this a good idea or a really horrible one that will cause my legs to retract up into my body and knee me in the brain? Should I stick strictly to the run as it is on the app or can I play around with the structure?

Anyway the second part was easier, initially, but of course it was longer and I really felt the difference. It wasn’t as painful as that first one but I was ridiculously out of breath for most of the run and it was hard to get a satisfying deep breath in. You know the ones that feel like they’re timed just perfectly and fill up every corner of the lungs? I don’t get that as often as I’d like at the best of times so it was rare during the run.

Not sure if I should be worried about that. I get out of breath pretty easily at the moment.

Despite the struggle I powered through, walked for a few minutes according to the app but it must have been lying because it felt like seconds, before finishing with the last five minutes, which took FOREVER. By the end it was barely even a run, more like a jog on the spot while the Earth moved ever so gradually under me, which maintained the illusion of movement.

So it was really hard but I did it and while I’m still really struggling to recover from this one, I at least know I can do it. However I need to get more comfortable with it so I think I’m going to stay put at the start of Week 6 and keep repeating it until I don’t feel like I’m dying at the end of it. I think it’s a good place to stay for now because it still adds up to a pretty decent workout. I don’t think I’d get much out of Week 1 at this point, as easy as it would be.

But here I am, still standing, still running and having a healthy-ish lunch of fruit and yoghurt (I’m sure I’ll cave sooner or later and feed my angel delight addiction). Now I’m going to go and drill holes in the wall and hopefully not mess it up because like most things in life I have no idea what I’m doing.

[Blondefox Graduate]

I'm so glad you are still alive and nearly kicking! I did wonder what had happened to you. Not sure about your question on a short run as a warm up. Do what suits you and helps you, I say. I always find first 10 mins really hard, even though I'm now a "graduate". They never get any easier.

[Preserved_Moose in reply to Blondefox]

Thanks, good to be back! I think. I haven’t felt right since the run and I don’t feel well now so I’m either coming down with something unrelated or that run broke me.

[Tartancat Graduate]

Sounds like you're coming down with something - between that and not having run for 10 weeks its no wonder you found it hard.

Could be a good plan to do that run again (when you feel better). The first 10 minutes are always the hardest. I found the best way to get round it is to have a really good warm up - get the blood pumping before you start.

In the meantime, treat yourself to some angel delight!

[Preserved_Moose in reply to Tartancat]

I worry I’ve over exerted myself, I’m still light headed and a bit out of breath, also a bit nauseous and still got a rush of adrenaline! Should I be worried or will this pass on its own?

I may need to rethink the next run but we’ll see. As for angel delight, I could happily eat it all day every day but then it won’t be long before I’m just rolling around the garden.