Hello Strong Flexible friends 👋 👋

[cheekychipmunks]

I thought I’d come on over as per the recommendation of Realfoodieclub and Oldfloss , so here I am. 👋👋

Having run my first ever 10k (any race actually) in Bristol and loving every moment, I know now I need stronger legs. No excuses.

I set off pretty fast (it’s all relative) for me, and did a good strong 5.5k or so before my legs started to wane. The course was predominantly flat, but every little incline felt like the North Face of the Eiger! I didn’t walk once I’m pleased to say, but my final 4.5k were considerably slower than the first part of the race, all due to jelly legs. They managed a sprint finish and I even got a PB, but it could be so much easier. My heart and lungs could have gone on and on!

So - exercises. Here I come! 💪

[AlMorr]

Welcome cheekychipmunks to the forum of Strength and Flex, UnfitNoMore is also on this forum.

At the moment I am working on one of the challenges he has set, namely the

"100 push ups a day for a month challenge " I have so far managed to get so far now 6 days. It take 18 minutes to do, 10 reps every two minutes with 9/90 second breaks, I hope you have recovered from yesterday's wonderful 10K run.

[cheekychipmunks in reply to AlMorr]

Hi Al, wow that sounds brutal - well done you for doing it! 👏👏

Yes I’ve completely recovered from yesterday thanks. 👍 Slightly weary quads, but I’m going for a nice leisurely walk (which might conveniently have a pub lunch at the end) shortly. That’ll help loosen them up. 😀

[Elisabeth3 in reply to AlMorr]

Where can I find the push-up challenge? Still on to join? Thanks.

[AlMorr in reply to Elisabeth3]

It was one of the challenges mentioned among many by UnfitNoMore, however, my advice to you would be to have a look at the many push up, press up videos that there are on YouTube before doing any, like any excersise you have to begin gently.

There is a slightly different way to to do a press up for a lady, you can have your knees on the floor, for all beginners that would be the way to start. Google press ups for beginners for professional advice.

[Elisabeth3 in reply to AlMorr]

Thank you. I have checked a video on YouTube. It can be tricky and not to start with 100 right away. I can anyway do the ladies' version only.

[AlMorr in reply to Elisabeth3]

👍

[Oldfloss Administrator]

Hi there you!

This is a great place and there are some terrific links put up here by Realfoodieclub and UnfitNoMore ...the exercises are really useful...

I try to keep on track with my goals here, but I do use normal everyday exercise to supplement if I cannot do all I intended...

E.g...

healthunlocked.com/strength......

[cheekychipmunks in reply to Oldfloss]

Absolutely brilliant! 👏👏

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to cheekychipmunks]

All tidy now too...yeayy! X

[UnfitNoMore]

Welcome. Strengthening for running really helped me and now I can feel the legs strengthening through the running too, and it helps us avoid injuries. Great job completing your first ever race and the 10k distance. I’ll be posting up the weekly update on our monthly challenges soon, and we have the personal markers in the pinned posts for short to long term goals.

[cheekychipmunks in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Thanks UNM! It’ll be fun seeing how getting stronger improves my running. 😀👍

[Elisabeth3]

Congratulations on the 10k!

[cheekychipmunks in reply to Elisabeth3]

Thank you Elisabeth, I’m still on a high 2 days later! 😀

[Elisabeth3 in reply to cheekychipmunks]

How long did it take you from scratch to 10k?

Have you registered for your next race?

[cheekychipmunks in reply to Elisabeth3]

I started C25K in June last year and did my first 10k distance in November. It’s very doable as long as you don’t try to rush it and risk injury. 😀

And yes, my next event is Race for Life 10k at the end of June, as well as the Severn Bridge 10k in August. Plus I entered the London Marathon 2020 ballot. 😅😳

[Elisabeth3 in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Wow! Nice stuff. I did many (for me many) 5ks, a few 7k and once a 10k. Never officially raced, though, on these distances. As I am slow compared to a racer.

[cheekychipmunks in reply to Elisabeth3]

I highly recommend entering a race Elisabeth. The atmosphere carries you for lots of it! And as for being slow, I’m a total snail, but there were still 4,000 or so runners slower than me at the huge 13,000+ runners Bristol 10k last weekend! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃🏃🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃🏃

[Elisabeth3 in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Thanks for the encouragement. If there had been 13000, I would have been 12990+. As my time is too slow, it doesn't encourage me to enter any race. Too competitive for my speed.

I agree with you on the atmosphere, and I have been doing fun runs and parkruns.

[cheekychipmunks in reply to Elisabeth3]

There’s no hurry to enter one. Give it time, and your time can improve if you’d like it to. Lots of us incorporate intervals which help. Or if you’re happy tootling along at your pace, that’s totally fine too! 👍😀🏃‍♀️

[Elisabeth3 in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Well, time has been given. Talking about a few years...

No improvement of pace, but it's okay. I am simply no good runner.

I accept that and am happy to be able to run at all. It's all by the grace of God.

I would, though, support you in your racing! 😊🏃🤸

[Elisabeth3 in reply to cheekychipmunks]

What exactly is 'interval' training?

[cheekychipmunks in reply to Elisabeth3]

Incorporating bouts of speed work into your runs. For example, lots of us use a fab app called JogRunSprint, which you can customise, but basically it’s 30-20-10 seconds of jog, run, sprint (x 3 in my case) with a minute’s walk to recover before repeating it all.

I personally do 4 sets of 3 intervals, but like I say you can set it however you like! It’s fun - hard work though!

I tend to run a kilometre before starting and also when I’ve finished to make it into a more meaty distance!

Might be worth a try if you’re interested. 😀

[Elisabeth3 in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Thanks. I am certainly interested.

I have seen so many things on this forum that I'd like to try.

When one gets to the runs beyond the C25K, there will be those intervals, won't be?

[Wimborne]

Well our parallel lives continue Cheeky 😂😂. I spent this morning exploring strength excercises and glute excercises too. ‘If we are going to go longer we need to get stronger’ is our new motto. So get excercising girl. We will be booking our HM soon 👍👍👍👍

[cheekychipmunks in reply to Wimborne]

Yay Wimborne, there’ll be nothing stopping us now! We’ll be lean, mean and speedy - wait, you already are! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

Exercises here we come! 💪💪💪

[skysue16]

Welcome, cheekychipmunks! I am working on upper body strength doing standing press-ups, kneeling press-ups and planks. I cannot do a straight legged press-up, I find my wrists really hurt but maybe one day! I am not keen on doing exercises so this forum really helps with motivation!

[cheekychipmunks in reply to skysue16]

Good for you skysue! Sounds like you’re well on the way to becoming a stronger you! 💪 I’m looking forward to these exercises helping me too. 😀

I do yoga fairly regularly, so my wrists are fairly strong. It took a while to get them that way, but you’ll find yours strengthen over time.

I know what you mean about the forum being a motivator. I’d never got as far with my running without C25K or B210K. They’re amazing! 😀

[skysue16 in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Yes, I think some yoga or Pilates would help me.