Diary of a dilettante (or slacker)

[badhairday]

Ok, boring self-serving blog coming up.

On the basis that some oI the most useful posts on here fall into the "that happened to me!" category, I might as well record some of my ups and downs here in case it's of passing interest.

I'm 49, female, and physically fftt, convinced (as of a few months ago), that I was congenitally incapable of running - it was literally never going to happen. However, I read something somewhere about these c25k programs (OK, it was Charlie Brooker in The Guardian), and having a shiny new smartphone with no <cough> 'apps' thought I'd give it a go - see how far I got.

Kept it quiet, only went out after dark (easy in the winter), but oddly found I was going out every other night *without exception*. First few runs were dreadful, legs of lead and lungs of fire, good runs interspersed with bad ones, but it did get better.

So, fast-forward a few weeks.. I've got a few 5k+ runs (jogs) under my belt and am feeling smug. Then the drive disappears - I've done it now, I've run for 40 minutes, or over 5k, so the motivation to go out and do a bit better just isn't there, so I ease up, take few days off, give blood, have another couple of rest days, and then when I go out again, on Sunday, it's a horrorshow - run for 10 minutes, then collapse gasping. Start again, run for 2 minutes and give up! Have a break, squeeze out another 2.5 minutes! Drag myself home most unhappy.

Two days later, go out again, all unprepared and flustered, run for 25 minutes uninterrupted, cover 3.5 k, and am a happy bunny again - all is not lost it seems!

SO, I now know that I need the next generation of podcasts to hold my hand/kick my backside, and I also know that I can still have shocking days, no matter how smug I'm feeling, but on the flipside, even when it all seems to have gone to pot, tomorrow is another day, and without rhyme or reason, it just might be better than today.

Blimey, that was all a bit deep and meaningless - blame the merlot!

Night all,

bhd.

[gypsydepp Graduate]

I loved this mssage. I'm on wk8 r2 tomorrow and have been panicking since wk5 about 'what am i going to do after wk9 without laura!?! pathetic, but i need to know i'm improving.

Have been toying with the idea of a parkrun and improving my time for 5k (havent even run that far yet) but really need laura and her chums to come up with something that goes between 5k and 10k.

Stick to 3 runs a week and just enjoy it. I'm looking forward to running to parallel lines by blondie (showing my age). Let me know how you're getting on badhairday

[Hidden in reply to gypsydepp]

There are some new podcasts coming from Laura in May - I've tried a pilot that aims to get your speed up rather than run further, but Googling will show a number of other options - one called bridge to 10k.

But aside from that, Blondie's "Maria" is great to run to as well!!!

[bethisrunning]

It's so hard running without te motivation of a plan and I also find not running for a few days really sets me back. Good luck with future runs! x

[gypsydepp Graduate]

p s more of a pinot grigio girl myself!

[mair99 Graduate]

Oh bhd, well done! As a fellow graduate of the podcasts I too know the motivation that is required to continue the running journey. You are so right about there being good runs and others that are much more difficult. I found the recovery time after colds and illness the most difficult. You have to be kind to your body (39 years isn't a spring chicken) but you don't want to go backwards with your running. I am lucky in that I enjoy running and the time to myself so each run is something I look forward to. My longest run is 8km in 50 mins, something I would have thought impossible even 3 months ago. I am up for my biggest challenge yet- just had gall bladder surgery and have to take it easy for a week or 2. Which is hard cause I am going in a 12km fun run in June...

So yes, without rhyme or reason, all runs are different. But the sense of satisfaction is amazing when you do your very best, even if it's not quite what you planned.