just looked back on a blog id written a few weeks ago about how to stay motivated post grad, and realised im in exactly the same place i was then, but probably worse aagghh.. the old lazy me has well and truly surfaced again, and a run last night proved just that..
i hadnt run in 10 days, (nor had i done any form of excercise) .met with 3 friends for a run (theyre all graduates) they do a 5k 1-2 times a week so joined them yest eve.. started off fine but after about 15mins i was totally winded, and feigned a sore ankle so i could stop and walk the remainder!! how bad is that!!
Have a confession to make.. i am a smoker ;( and i cant seem to kick the habit no matter what i've tried, and lately due to change in work hours and place, ive been smoking way to much.. add that to ALOT of comfort eating and lack of excercise and its a recipe for disaster..
so lied to my friends about ankle as was too embarassed to say i couldnt run on, and also lied to OH after run who has been nothing but supportive..
and reading back on community blog and everyone is doing so well, just made me want to confess my sins!!
am i doomed to lazy fat smoking eternity??
Seriously need a swift kick up the proverbial
Written by
scavo
Graduate
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First up well done for graduating, you can't be that lazy if you did it. The cigs will click eventually i woke up one day and decided that was it, went cold turkey and i'm off them 3 months.
No you are not doomed! Come on now! Get out on your own and build up your stamina again, it wont take long and you will feel much better. Thanks for confessing, it just goes to show how important it is to keep going out despite stress in our lives. Comfort eating just makes you feel worse and its a shame to undo all your hard work!
thanks Gridlet.. its almost like while i had being doing the C25k programme i was so determined to complete it, it gave me something to focus on, a goal to reach, and i did it, then i did a 5k run to challenge myself, ticked that box, and then.. then.. then.. there was nothing.. which is ridiculous to even say that i know.. i should be challenging myself to work towards 10k, but if im honest i found the 5k run tough so 10k? think im just in a bad place right now.. and i really want to get out of it..
The other thing you could do is go back to interval runs of say 3 x 10 mins with 1 min walk in between. That might help you build up your stamina again. Must admit since graduation also feel going backwards and much slower than before.
However, don't worry about everyone else and how they are doing so well, this is all about you.
Hey so I only graduated yesterday and have been thinking about how to continue on. So first of all:
Don't let all of the work you did disappear! Remember all the times you had to drag yourself out of bed to complete C25K! You owe it to yourself to continue!
Now, I think, in all honesty, that I will also stall if I didn't set myself another new goal. I'm aiming to go for 10k, and I'm going to make little playlists for myself that run for progressively longer times. To start with, I'm going to increase my time by about 3 minutes each week (following this plan, so the first week would be 3 runs of 33 min each, week 2, 3 x 36 min etc). For me a large element of this has been the challenge, which I suspect might be the same for you. So set yourself a new challenge! So I guess maybe get yourself back up to running at week 9 (perhaps go from week 7 again and repeat) and then set yourself new goals.
Re: cigs, can't help you there but given that you did c25k with them I don't see why they should hold you back now!
Well done on graduating, but think how hard you'll kick yourself if you just let it slide. You know you can do it!
Just read your above comment so as a PS, maybe don't worry about 10k for the moment. That's my ultimate goal but in the meantime I'm just going to increase my speed a little bit each week. We've been doing it for so long, there's no reason why another 2 or 3 min is going to kill us!
And try not to be too down about it. Trust me we all have off days, you're just honest in talking about them Remember what you have already achieved!
I quit the fags 5 weeks ago so I can understand the cig situation, it's blooming tough! I've made it this far with the aid of my pal Champix I agree, one day will be the right time for you to quit. It took me 21 years to get here!
I also understand life after the programme can quickly slip back into old routines, I've had to join a running club, do the Parkrun and make an effort to run other days. Some days I think I can't be bothered but I always feel better if I go do it. It is a very conscious decision to run or not and for me it's about my 10k goal and about losing the fat I've gained from eating instead of smoking (that was a temporary habit I quickly lost but the damage is done = snug clothes). I still have the bug it's just life can take over sometimes
You know what you need to do and we are all right beside you every step of the way. Good luck and keep us up to date with progress, you can do it!
I think that you might have gone off too fast because you were running with the friends and this, on top of not running for 10 days, just proved too much. Don't beat yourself up about it; it's just a tough time at the moment.
The new podcasts will be out soon and these should give you a helpful target to reach, and with Lauras help too
Can I suggest that you do week 5 run 3 a few times in the meantime? It's a really upbeat one and I always go back to it if I'm feeling down in the dumps and rubbish at running. Laura is particularly encouraging in it.
Please don't compare yourself to others on the site. It might sound as if everyone is doing well but there's a lot that goes unsaid. I've had a rubbish week this week and just can't summon up the energy to do anything except eat chocolate I ran yesterday and only managed 15 minutes, and I really struggled to go out at all. It just happens like this sometimes. The main thing is to keep it ticking over, even with short runs, and you can then pick up again with targets, when you're ready.
thanks TJ.. everything you have said is so true, and i suppose when you have a good moan on this blog, you realise that you're not the only one struggling at times.. i got out today and did wk9 0f podcast and managed it, struggled at times but ran the full 30 mins, and felt good afterwards.. some days i just cant motivate myself to do anything and these day have increased of late.. im just full of pathetic excuses..
thanks Tj, not for the first time you have given me some sound advice and its much appreciated xx
ah thanks gypsydepp..went out this afternoon and did wk9 podcast and managed it fine.. think i was pushing myself too hard.. wish the new podcast would hurry up tho,
yeah i guess i constantly compare myself to others, and truth be known, i run better on my own and no pressure to keep up with others..
thanks so much for your very kind words of encouragement xx
thanks so much everyone for the kind words of support and encouragement, really dont know what i would do without this group to moan to, and total upfront honesty. having sat feeling sorry for myself for hours this morning, smoking too many fags and drinking too many cups of tea, having had a good moan on this blog, i decided to take the bull by the horns (not literally as i dont own a bull and if i did i certainly wouldnt go doing that ha)
i got my fat ass in gear and went for a run, went back to using podcasat wk 9 and thought what the hell, ill give it a go, and you know what, i did it (not saying it was easy and did struggle a bit) but i did it..
so rather than putting pressure on myself to do longer distances, and longer times i, think i will stick with that till im happy running again..
@anonymous.. how are you finding the Champix? havent tried them yet so might be worth a shot..
@carcossone.. yeah its true i have managed so far while still smoking, so its no excuse to let it get in the way of progress.
thanks everyone.. you've really helped me today xx
Hi there Scavo. You could always go back to W4 where Iam and we can do it together! You would compare very favourably with me! We should be renamed RA (Runners Anonymous) on here! Good Luck. X
I quit a few years back and found this really useful: smokefree.nhs.uk/why-quit/t... It reminded me that every little thing I changed, every cigarette I didn't smoke (even if I had another one a few hours later) had an effect. And how fast the positive physical changes happened. I went cold turkey after cutting down how much I smoked, and it was a horrible process. So horrible that I never wanted to go through it again! So that's how I managed. I think it's amazing that you can run 30 minutes while you're a smoker - that's something I could have only dreamed of - so do see that as encouraging! One thing at a time - don't get disillusioned.
Dont be too hard on yourself, but once you put your mind to kicking those fags in to touch I bet you will succeed at that too, just like you succeeded in completing this programme!
I signed up for a 10k charity race after I graduated cos I was losing a bit of oomph. I told loads of friends and colleagues I am doing it so I cant back out! I then downloaded a training programme from Runners world which has done the trick, I am sticking to it cos I dread making an ar$e of myself in front of 100's of others on June 17th lol!
I'm a smoker too but have certainly been feeling it since starting this programme. I'm on week 9 now and a fortnight ago I changed to E-Cigarettes. Not brave enough to give up completely yet so this seemed like a good middle ground - I'm still getting the nicotine hit so that I'm not craving, but there's none of the other 'nasties' that you have in a normal fag so i'm starting to feel the benefit when i'm running.
Of course giving up completely is the goal but i'm finding this a good stepping stone (it's also a lot cheaper!)
Let me know if you want any more details.
Well done for getting back out there. I'm having a tough week too and reading your post re-assures me that I'll be back out there too!
I did c25k last year and really struggled after week 9 without a program to follow so this time I have set myself up a 9 week program to follow myself, (see one of my blogs for what I have planned), basically one 30 min run, one speed up 30 min run and one longer run at the weekends. I will blog here at the end of each week to keep me on the straight and narrow.
Have never smoked even one puff behind the bikesheds -(fathers chainsmoking put me off!) but I am struggling with a weight loss programme - I think one of the keys is habit changing - i.e. if you always have a ciggy after lunch change it so you always do some exercise straight after lunch or always clean the bath straight after lunch or whatever.
For me the equivalent is instead of always having a biscuit with coffee at 11.oclock - have a diet coke instead - because I normally wouldn't eat biscuits with diet coke - habits take a while to change but its worth putting in the effort.
my best advice for you is to keep blogging on the site because everyone will encourage you to continue after graduation. Everybody finds it tough sometime and thats when you need the feedback from the other c25k-ers
I had a couple of really bad runs outside recently and wondered if I was cut out for running at all, had to go back to the treadmill to prove I could run and I had a great treadmill run on Friday. My problem was comparing myself to others here who run really fast (or so it seems) and I felt like a bit of a failure.
So I'm trying to learn not to compare myself to others and just do what I do. I also don't like running with other people even my OH!
Thanks everyone.. aparently the new podcast is to be out at the end of the month, so that'll be something new to focus on.. means so much to be that you have all gone to the trouble of replying ans sharing your thoughts, and to see im not the only one struggling makes me feel less of a failure.. im hoping im back in the zone now, felt great yest after my run and started believing in myself again.. its detrimental comparing yourself to anyone else, but seems we are programmed to do jjust that eh..
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