Outdoors: This was one of the hardest runs I’ve ever done. Quite simply I was knackered pretty soon into the run and as it was my first outdoor run for a few months my legs felt heavy and achy. But…I finished it. I screamed at the Nike Run Club app head coach Bennett as he has a tendency to make you check in with yourself and how you’re feeling. Well guess what? When you feel like shit and your legs are heavy you just want to hear ‘keep going well done’ - not ‘are you tired, are your legs heavy?’ - of course my legs are heavy this is the fourth day in a row I’ve run (ok I shouldn’t have ignored the rest day) and ‘yes im tired - it’s 6am and I’m 58 years old with a fat stomach, what do you reckon?’ I got a few dirty looks from the cyclists around Regents Park as I shushed them for shouting at each other as they went. It is quite extraordinary how oblivious these people are at times, if you want to get Green about it, then runners are as green as it gets! Anyway, yes I was bad tempered and testy but it was hard going and I thought I was going to stop at least 10 times. I ran the last 2K around Primrose Hill as I got tired of the said cyclists and other traffic around Regents Park. Intolerant and bad tempered as I am, I finished 8K and I’m just a little chuffed with myself. Only another 13K to do for a half marathon 🤮🤪😭
HHM Training - Week 3 Day 6 - Fun Beyond 10K & ...
HHM Training - Week 3 Day 6
Well done for completing it! Does your plan have some rest after this?
Thank you. Yes it does. Rest day tomorrow. It’s now a couple of hours after the run and my legs don’t feel too bad. I’ll have to decide whether to play football on Sunday or not. My massage gun really helps me deal with the aches and pains. Even though it was a struggle, I took it at a steady pace and just tried to keep going. Considering the weight I was carrying (slowly coming down) and the struggle with my lungs and various niggles, I have to be delighted with just completing the distance. The NRC app is very good (though they could replace some of the jabbering with encouragement) and the variety in the training has allowed me to progress faster than previously.
I'm more flexible in my HM training. (I almost got there in late April.)
Today was planned to be a 5k run for me. However the light showers originally forecast for this morning turned out to be very heavy showers instead. Instead I'm moving my long run forward a day to tomorrow morning and resting today.
Very sensible. The reason I rushed this week - ie skipped a rest day - is that I’m working very early tomorrow and I want to give myself a chance of playing football on Sunday. If I was playing at any kind of decent level it would seem foolhardy but I tend to spend a lot of my time in goal and don’t run around all that much most games. I like to mix my running up with football and swimming (though it’s a nightmare booking a pool in London at the moment).
👍🏻🤣 not sure you'd appreciate my singing out loud then! 🤣 and no, I can't sing 🤣
Well done. I agree, sometimes "checking in" is the last thing you should do to get the job done!
Yeah. This was one of those runs where I had to grit it out. I’ve realised that jabbering in my ear can distract me. Not always, but if I’m really needed to just concentrate on getting to the end. I ended up turning his commentary down and just having the music play for the last quarter.
When it's really tough I find step counting helps, when you lose count, or at a hundred just start again 🤣
😂 music seems to guide through. Not sure my phone battery will last 3 hours though.
I got me a power pack that my phone slots neatly into Or rather my husband got it me 🙏. It’s a boon 🙂
And yet you did it…..💪
I dug deep. I really thought I was going to stop. I need to get mentally even tougher for the longer distances. This was a good start but the longer distances are going to challenge every ounce of my resolve.
I must say that music provides me with distraction on long runs but everyone is different and some people prefer silence and their own thoughts.
You’ve been running on a treadmill therefore I think that’s brilliant training for mental toughness. It’s harder, mentally, to run on a treadmill than outside. You’ll be absolutely fine 🙂
Thank you. I prefer music, helps me get in the rhythm and makes the time go quicker. Yes, now that I’ve been running outside for a year, the treadmill does seem boring. Mind you, I think I’ll come to loathe Regents Park. At the moment once around seems to take forever, I’ve got to do it four times plus! Next week and the week after I’m running 10K which will be ok and then it goes up to 8 miles which I’ve run once before and then it’s into new territory. Watch this space!! What’s your advice on when to start fundraising? I’ve got exactly 3 months until the run.
I can’t imagine ever loathing Regents Park but I know what you mean about the monotony of some runs.
Can you go the other way just to mix things up?
I guess the earlier you start fundraising the better! 🙂
Yes I could run the opposite direction. Good idea!
Could you find some trails? Far from the madding crowd sorta thing 🙂
I watched that film again (2015 version) the other night and it was magical. One of my favourites 😍
I love Mathias Schoenarts- great actor.
He’s brilliant 😍
I’ve not seen it I’ll have to check it out 🙂
Regents Park is as rural as it gets in London.
I have a music selection for long runs, which helps no end 🙂
Me too - punk rock and folk punk for me
Moral of the story: do not ignore rest days.Well done on completing it though!!!
Thank you!
I'm going to read your posts with vested interest...as I follow in your footsteps to the Hm goal.. I think you have to cut yourself some slack and take the rest days as a gift!
Good luck, you can run a HM
Hmmm, not too sure about that. It's the idea of running for at least 3 hours that I find daunting.i think I need to download some drama to help distraction after the first hour of music..and then go back to the Beatles for the last hour. Just going to do between between 10 and 14k for my long run for a few weeks. Need the air to be cooler before the big one.
You’ll get there! By drama do you mean podcasts?
Yes. I download radio 4 plays...
Good shout
Well done Dodgylungs on completing a very tough run! You had to mentally dig in and you did, brilliant. Cyclists 🚴♀️ aside, it sounds like a nice route, I remember eating my lunch in Green Park centuries ago as I worked very near by. Mind you, don’t get me started running past people who’re smoking, I get really cross! It’s very, very difficult to keep going when you’re body’s screaming at you to stop, but you did, so you should be very proud of yourself. 😊🤩😊🤩😊
Thank you. Yes, I too hate running past smokers. Regents Park is a good route, I just wish there weren’t quite so many cyclists there and I wish they’d converse quietly 😂 I went through a stage of stopping when my body screamed at me, now I scream back (unless I’m injured of course) and I won’t let my mind derail me.
I’ll lend you the little sergeant major who sits on my shoulder and screams at me! He’s not real, btw 🤣.
That’s funny I have one too!!
I love Coach Bennett 😁🥰
Did he grind your gears then 😁
You’ll be fine next time out. Well rested, fed and hydrated, and in a better mood 😎👍
I think I’ve caught up now as I missed a week I did the hill intervals yesterday. TEN of them 😱. It was ok actually as they were mercifully short
Good luck with the next run 🙂
He certainly did grind my gears with his jabbering. I actually played football today after yesterday’s rest day and I’m definitely getting fitter. This is the end of week 3 and there has been significant improvement in my fitness levels. The next 3 weeks should see even more gains and hopefully significant weight loss. Then the football shuts down for July and I’ll have to go swimming instead of more running to enhance my fitness.
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