3rd Comeback of the year - the good, the bad and the ugly

[thinnerandfitter]

Well, here I am, mid February and just back from my 5th run since Christmas! Let's hope the comeback lasts more than 2 runs this time.

So to put it briefly (oh yeah?)....

The Good: It was sunny and about 8 degrees (YESSSS!!!!). I was out there and not on the couch. I did not have any coughing fits (unlike at the aerobics class I tried last week - the extra 6 days helped a lot there).

The Bad: I only managed 15 minutes of Stepping Stones, a distance of 2K which is OK at the very slow 150bpm pace. Last comeback I did 20 mins so that fitness must have ebbed away somewhat. However, 15 mins is stil 15 more than I could have attempted in September last year

I'll try Stepping Stones again on Sunday with a target of 25 minutes (ie all except the last fast bit).

The Ugly (and you may wish to look away now): I have a pair of Adidas capri length tights. They are a specific colour that I had to order online (long saga but my daughter gave me a t-shirt that doesn't go well with black etc etc and now I have 2 shirts and the tights in this grey/blue colour). HOWEVER...... when I run in them they start to fall down in a "builders bottom" kind of way. I'm pretty sure they are the right size (ie quite tight) but they only have a thin strip of elastic around the waist. Of course it's the kind of elastic that's sewn in all the way round so I can't just make it shorter. As I run further (pulling them up as I go) the "problem" improves (doubtless a feature of the wicking material if that's not TMI) but the first 10 minutes really aren't a pleasure and this by itself probably shortened my run more than either legs or lungs. I suppose I'll have to ring Sweatshop for advice but any ideas from here also welcome...

One PS which is a Good consequence of the Bad (short run) - when I got home the dustmen had just arrived in our street 4 hours earlier than usual - and so I had a quick sprint home to get the bin out (much to the driver's amusement). If I'd done a longer run I'd have missed them and in the land of 2 weekly collections you really don't want to do that

Hope everyone's having a good week - at the moment I don't feel that I deserve the Graduate badge but hopefully I will again soon.

[greenlegs Graduate]

I know the solution to your tights problem - put them on, and spray them with a plant spray or stand in the shower! Simulated sweat!

Or you could try running along Fingalo's beachfront in the dark and the horizontal rain, two minutes one way, then two minutes back, until you're just nicely damp everywhere!

[swanscot Graduate]

Good - great to read you are running again and you had a run in the sun.

Bad - don't dwell on the distance of this run, but look forward to the next.

Ugly - how annoying about the elastic of your capris. Hope you get an answer.

[thinnerandfitter Graduate in reply to swanscot]

Morning Swanscot! It seems that gradually we are all emerging the other side of illness/injury/bad weather and that can only be good. I wish we could be sure that winter is behind us now but in reality at mid Feb that must be unlikely. As a fairly recent (less than 2 years) returner from foreign, much warmer climes it's still a shock to my system! I'll just enjoy the sun while it lasts

Has all your snow gone again now? And are you back to normal with your leg or at least getting there?

See you around the message board!

Ann

[thinnerandfitter Graduate]

Hi Greenlegs - have you asked for your green badge yet?

Thank you for your constructive suggestions re the tights. I think that starting with wet tights would be counterproductive in terms of warming up (don't really want to run in a wet suit - I don't do water unless really warm).

However, since I got the standard "haven't had any other problems" reply from Sweatshop I've had another look and I reckon I can run a second (wider) length of elastic around the waist and make that a bit tighter. My other tights (M&S) have much wider elastic and definitely don't fall down even though I've lost almost 3 stone since I first got them (of course I've managed to lose 3 stone from my face and "upper body" but not where I needed to - legs, tummy and bum). As you can see, I really want these Adidas tights to work out so I can wear my two tops that don't go with black!

Now onto the next "kit" problem - need a waist pack or similar for phone and ipod. Then I'll be able to pension off the old fleece with handy pockets. Just don't want to be spending 20 quid on one, which is what the local sports shop wanted.

Sunny again - have a nice morning - I'm off to aerobics with my achy leg (I can feel that first run today

Ann

[Anniemurph Graduate]

Hi Ann, the good is great, the bad is good (in my world, anyway) and the ugly - hmmm, I hope the elastic solves the problem And the weight loss is fantastic - well done! In terms of the waist pack, I use a travel money waist pouch thing which I got from Boots for a couple of quid. It's isn't as sleek or fitted as the official running ones, but it does the job.

Hope aerobics goes well. I'm off for a run in a few minutes, I hope!

Annie

[thinnerandfitter Graduate in reply to Anniemurph]

Hi Annie - the travel pouch sounds a good idea - I'll have a look over the weekend. when I'm shopping for elastic

Have a nice run this morning - it looks bright if cold here. I'll be back out on Sunday I hope - see if I can manage 25 mins.

Ann x

[AnnieW55]

Good to have you back.

I may have misunderstood but if you are going to thread more elastic through the tights why not use cord, or something similar and thread that through, you can then tie as tight as you need or thread a toggle on to draw it tighter.

[thinnerandfitter Graduate]

Hi Annie - we seem to have a bit of an Ann/Annie collective going on here don't we

I'm glad to be back - just hope I have staying power this time! A cord sounds like a good idea too - I've looked at the Adidas website and there are certainly other people with similar problems who've mentioned that a previous version of the tights had a cord. Right now I'm thinking in terms of wider elastic (my M&S ones have probably inch or inch and a half wide and are very comfy). The construction of the tights is pretty strange (no proper waistband) and it'll have to be immediately below the existing (narrow) elastic, maybe with a few stitches to hold it in place. I will look at drawstring possibilities as well though. I know I got them in a sale but I'm extremely stingy where running gear is concerned and not prepared to give up on this one!

Ann