How have your running/cross-training/resting adventures been going down this past week?
I have been getting some sea swims in this week - yay! The sea is full of dangers, and my mind has been churning with thoughts of jellyfish, great white sharks, marauding stand-up-paddleboarders, jet-skis, hypothermia, dizziness, rip tides, and you-name-it as I swim*. Here is a picture of me next to a swim buoy (and wearing a matching hat, fabulous) - those things REALLY creep me out 😄😄😄
Have you faced any fears recently?
Sometimes we don't feel like putting a whole post up but just want to share something small, so this is a great place for doing that during the week. Please join in the discussion!
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Happy running!
Sqkr & roseabi
XXX
* I do enjoy it really 😊😊😊
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roseabi
Ultramarathon
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Haha. When you put it like that sea swimming sounds terrifying! The title was made for me this last week! A good week with lots of cycling, seated cardio, mindful eating and drinking and losing a bit of the weight I put on in the first month on the IC; it will be great if I can keep those habits up when I can reintroduce running. But the dangers part includes a flat tyre on one outing, followed by a carpark shooting minutes before my next ride (the two vehicles involved were blazing round and out of the car park as I arrived)! All rather unnerving, and being overly superstitious, I'm trying to convince myself my foot was the first bad thing and that now completes the set of three!
Scary Linda! Similar thing happened to me and my son on a walk last summer. We crossed over a road bridge and a woman said "you can't go that way I've just been told to turn round by armed police" 😳 We had to walk back across the fields with the police helicopter circling overhead while I did my best to contain my own fears so as not to frighten him. Never did find out exactly what was going on x
Oh my. Very scary when you have your child in tow. From the police report one man in a mask got out of his car, fired on another car already parked up, then both cars drove off. I was driving through the car park as they were - me arriving, them leaving!
Hypothermia or heart attack from sudden immersion in cold water is my fear in relation to sea swimming. We go to the lovely Isles of Scilly every year at this time, but you really need a wetsuit....and then it is like swimming in an overcoat(albeit a buoyant one). My OH is braver/ dafter than me and just wades in, with me as reluctant life guard in case things go wrong. Think I will stick to my weekly class at our local pool. Warmer and more fun messing about with all four strokes! Scilly is great for running though; lots of lovely hills 😓
I don't like sea swimming myself, but well done you.
For me its just more of the same over the summer x3 runs a week. However, I have noticed when the weather cooled down that my pace has improved. Love the summer, but love to run in the winter!
I did a little solo triathlon this afternoon, getting out of the pool and biking and/or running in a soggy swimsuit - that helps keep one cool! I don't suppose I'll be able to tempt you, though 😊😊😊
You know what, come to think of it a pool might be better than the sea. One with a poolside bar. Somewhere in the mediterranean. Yeah, I could happily wave you off on your triathlon from there! 😂😂
I used to love swimming in the sea. My dad learnt to swim in the sea off the south west coast of Ireland and loved it which he passed on to me. As an adult I’d love to go on holiday and swim in the sea until one day in Greece whist just having a sit on the beach someone started screaming as some poor person who had drowned was washed up about 20 feet away from me. They were not a pretty sight and now I’m terrified something like this will bob up next to me 😳. And if seaweed tickles my leg I’m a wreck. So I don’t really go in much unless hubby is right next to me which is laughable as he can only just swim whereas I’m a much stronger swimmer. Maybe this year I’ll follow your example and face my fears.
Meanwhile I’ve been facing my fear of hill reps and reaping the rewards of faster running. Yaaaaay!!
I live farthest from the sea in all directions so it’s not something that happens very often I got into difficulties in Cyprus one year but I got myself out of it much to my relief. Strong current and swell 🤨. It was getting colder and windy 😕I’d gone out too far and then Had trouble getting back. I had a nine year old with me too so I’ve kicked myself ever since and am now a chicken as regards sea swimming I do like it. I just don’t go out very far 🏊♀️
Morning Roseabi that looks awesome i would be hanging onto the buoy. Sadly no sea here in Middle England but plenty of events. I have got the plan together for the rest of this year Stratford 10k in September Alcester 10k early October finishing with the Rugby HM end of October. All look pretty scary to me from this distance. Gave myself a gentle week after Compton Verney and so starting up the plan again this week with 2 short runs 5 and 6 k hopefully slowly upping the distances and staying injury free. First run at Lunchtime today it's nice and cool here. Looking forward to it. Have fun and Congrats to all those who did the Leamington HM at the weekend. Brilliant. Have a good fun week.
I was in Criccieth this weekend loads of people in the sea but only a paddle for me . I did run along the prom and along a footpath and glorious it was too . Tuesday I’ll be doing the long run of the week . Good luck to us all and well done on your sea swim !
Hello hello! I don't think you've posted here before - a huge warm welcome to the forum!!! xxx
Criccieth! I went there once when I was very little and all I can really remember was the excellent ice cream, but I'm very envious of your run and paddle 😊😊😊
That looks terrifyingly far from land! Well done you! My open sea swimming experience was mostly in the Med when I lived in Cyprus as a child. Lovely buoyant salty water - it was a shock to the system coming back to England and swimming in a pool, promptly sinking because the water wasn’t holding me up.
I’ve posted every day of my HM training, so I won’t bore you with it again here except to say I think my HR is set too low: it’s exceeding zone 1 by quite a lot just walking, and most of my runs have always been in zone 5 even when I’m not tired or out of breath.
I reset it this morning to what I felt it was, then Linda gave me a different calculation, and it brought it bang on the nail the same as I set, and 17bpm higher than the usual 220 minus age. So no more prancing pony for me, hopefully!
You are a brave one Abi. Never been a great fan of swimming, let alone sea swimming after a couple of incidents when I was younger. But never say never.
The heat wave has finally broken so cooler running is in the cards this week. Still trying to maintain my longer distances. Have a trail race next week. Its a short one but it should be fun with a number of people from our run group attending. Have a great week everyone!
The worst thing is the mouthful of sea I seem to get each time I go out! 😄 Apparently our sea isn't the cleanest, so I should probably be more worried about that than anything else...
Perhaps a snorkel tube is in order? Awhile back, I saw a fellow running with some kind of aerator mask on - he looked like a Stormtrooper. Maybe there is a water version? Oh the run this morn was so refreshing compared with last week.
We have a rather cool snorkely thing, which I like to use now and then - wouldn't be allowed in the triathlon though 😊😊😊 It looks a little bit rude, and that's all I'm saying 😄
Well, it kind of is. In spots it was actually proper warm, and I felt fine fine until I got into the shower at home, and then I started to feel really cold! I am a bit of a wimp though - I've waited til July to start my sea swimming 😊
I went to Pells for the first time ever, a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t think it was too bad until I’d swum to the shallow end, at which point my teeth started chattering. Soon warmed up though, and it was lovely not to have sore eyes by the end.
I’m on the IC this week after popping a hamstring at the fen gallop yesterday 😒. Physio session booked for tomorrow morning. Hopefully will recover in time for the next ‘event’ - a fell running weekend in 6 weeks time in Snowdonia. ⛰🏃♂️
There was definitely a clunk, followed by pain! I did try limping along after resting it for a bit, but I’m resigned to financially supporting the physiotherapy community for the next few weeks, I think 🤔. I expect I’ll need to do strengthening and lengthening exercises as part of the rehab. On the plus side, now I know why I always got an ache in my hamstring after running!
I used to live in Australia, I'm terrified of sharks, if I was swimming in Blackpool I'd be scared of sharks and they actually have them in Australia. So when I went into the ocean, I stayed very close to the beach, I reckoned if I could stand up, I could kick one of them if it came for me 🤦♂️
My Australian father-in-law is very athletic and very competitive. He asked me to go for a swim with him, I said I don't like going too far out because of sharks, he said you're more likely to be killed by a coconut, I said that's b*ll*&Ks, I don't sit under coconut trees but I'm about to swim in shark infested waters. Anyway, I gave in, what can I say I'm weak, and started to swim out. It was like a horror movie, I hated it.
I said "That's far enough, I'm off back"
He said "Nah we're nearly there"
I said "Nearly where?"
He said "I swim to the shark net and back"
I said "SHARK NET!? THEY HAVE A NET!? FOR SHARKS!? Sod that."
LOL!!! Sorry 😊 That was pretty damn brave actually! My husband told me that Great Whites have been reported around the UK recently, but I didn't really believe him... 🙄
I like sea swimming but am not partial to seaweed or floaty bits 🤣
Just consolidating the longer runs this week. Struggling to route them long enough at the moment and trying to avoid the overgrown paths to reduce bites/stings to my poor legs which are starting to look more normal now 👍🏻😁
Wow, very impressed roseabi - and that’s a great pic! So having completed the Porthcawl 10k on Sunday, the HM training started today, in line with my “modified abiplan” 😀 Today was just a gentle “Easy 5k”, my long run this week (aiming for about 12k) will be on Saturday.
Hot off the press! 🗞A shiny new marathon plan has been unfurled. It’s crisp and clean with no gravy stains or coffee spills. Pristine and flat sitting on my desk
Wow Abi! I'm a terrible swimmer so I'm in awe of that 👏👏
Not facing a fear as such but I have just signed up for Beachy Head Marathon 😳
Went on an 8 mile training run with my club this morning which took in some of the course and I loved it. I've no desire to "run" a marathon but the challenge of Beachy really appeals to me. It's just not fully runnable (unless you're some kind of superhuman 🤣) so I feel the pressure will be off. I intend to treat it as a grand day out x
How funny you posted this, roseabi ! I was just telling my husband about you and your sea swimming the other day. Because of all the moving around as a child, and my busy parents, I never learned to swim properly, so I don't swim in the sea. I think I'd like it, though.
I'm on an emotional rollercoaster with my running. I did 14 km last week at a good speed, and was really pleased, but dreaded increasing my distance this week. So when I set out on Tuesday, I just couldn't get my head in the right space. I had planned to run somewhere where I was going to do a spot of urban orienteering, if you could call it that. You use an app and scan posts around the city. So I ended up taking public transportation to the neighborhood I had planned to visit, then ran as best I could to the different posts, and ended up doing a fairly slow 11 km. I was pretty down in the dumps about it, so I decided to give my long run another go today. I actually managed to get up early and finish my run before 9:30. I did 16 km - with a good deal of walking for the last 4 km, since I realized that it was time to tackle my fear of hills and return to that dreaded long hill I've mentioned before.
We're off to western Norway this afternoon, and doing parkrun in Bergen. I'm hoping to meet some Scottish tourists we met at parkrun in Grimstad, in the south, last week.
Ha ha, always feels strange when someone says they've been talking about me 😄
Urban orienteering sounds interesting! I'm glad to see you're getting on with your runs and hills despite not really feeling it! My head hasn't been in the right place either the past couple of days xx
Hope you manage to track down those new parkrun friends! 😊😊😊
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