W5r1 - take tu-lip!

[RainbowC]

I was admiring the wonderful array of spring bulbs as I was doing my warm-up walk, so apologies for the pun

It’s now a full week since my last run, and I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer if I wasn’t just giving up, so after work out I went to restart week 5. My legs have been feeling very stiff this past week, so I knew I wasn’t going to be fast, but wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, I could keep going for five whole minutes at a time.

My warm-up five minutes seemed to set the tone - it felt ok but was definitely slower than usual as the first run started around 100m sooner than normal! Oh well, at least the first bit of hill is fairly gentle... Plod, plod, plod, how is this only just halfway??? Plod, plod, plod, ah phew!

The second run was a bit easier, took me to a bit short of my usual halfway point at its half time, so back I headed. And the third run was blissfully all downhill. Still feeling slow, and definitely not just relaxing into it the way I sometimes have.

But I did it. Week 5 run 1 complete. And to my utter confusion, marginally quicker than when I did it a couple of weeks ago!

I think I’m going to do it again before moving on to run 2 - I have a lot of battles to fight with my mind, and given how stiff and achy I am at the moment, really don’t want to push too hard. The main thing is to get out and run - at the moment the target of 30 mins is so distant as to be irrelevant. I just want to be running again, to whatever level I can while enjoying it and not hurting my poor feet.

And having found that the first few weeks of running eased the feet aching which is a side effect of my cancer treatment, the tender heels are back with a vengeance this week. Ouch!

[VPOLLIE67 Graduate]

Wow you absolute star⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I can’t tell you how proud I am of you - that sounds so patronising but I am truly impressed and chuffed for you. You will be pounding out that final week 5 run in no time 🎉🎉🎉🎉

Enjoy a sense of how brilliant you are and a wee r&r this evening.

I feel totally lazy this evening but I’m going for a walk with Ollie shortly and will be heading out tomorrow morning for my 1st run this week. I’ve had work all week but I’ve kept walking every day so I can’t wait to get running tomorrow.

Enjoy the afterglow ♥️♥️♥️♥️

[RainbowC Graduate in reply to VPOLLIE67]

Not so much afterglow as just collapsed-ness! But I’ve managed to do the online shopping ready for tomorrow’s delivery so it’s not been wasted

[VPOLLIE67 Graduate in reply to RainbowC]

Hooray for online shopping hahahahaha. Just back from walking Ollie and following your inspiration, I decided to try a very brief jog and managed 5mins!! Very chuffed and now really looking forward to a proper 5/1 tomorrow. Thank you for being the wee positive ear worm in my ear 🥰🥰

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

No need to push....just go with the flow The weights on our mind, sometimes make it feel much harder than it is. You are doing incredibly well, and your sheer determination and positivity is going to support every step you take... as will we.I found my Week 6 Run 2 harder on Tuesday, not for the same reasons but, nonetheless , hindering.

Just move on gently and pamper those sore heels and yourself... know you can do this, and as I am, just head towards Week 9.

You will make it

[LolaBobs Graduate]

I honestly found week 5 the hardest mentally, having always told myself I can’t run, the step up from wk4 to wk5 just felt mammoth to me. I am now halfway through wk7 and actually enjoying it so stick with it, once your head believes you can do it, your legs will just do as they are told! I had a lot of aches and stiffness at the beginning so introduced some stretches after the cool down walk which really helped, I also take a glucosamine supplement which seems to have helped my poor old knees. As the runs have increased, my aches have decreased. Good luck and stick with it