So its my turn to host this weeks installment of the T & H club from the bottom half of the globe, South Africa
It has been quite the running week with a lovely long weekend thanks to freedom day on Thursday and workers day tomorrow so will finally enjoy a late sleep tomorrow as the rest of the weekend has been filled with races and a parkrun. Photos include my running buddy Arno who has been training with me for our first HM, I unfortunately got my dates mixed up and now will no longer be doing the HM next week as I will be in Joburg helping another running buddy out with a Expo. So I have chosen a new HM which happens in July. In the mean time he will still be doing the HM so have been keeping up the training.
This weeks runs have included 13.5 km long evening run on Tuesday, 10km race on Thursday in Athlone (Photo on the right), Saturday parkrun - 5 km (Photo middle us going through Durbanville hills - they change the route to include more hills!!!) and today's race 10 km (Photo bottom middle and left - the hill in the photo was the one we climbed during the race!). Today's race took up up to Zevenwacht wine estate with some beautiful views, but a full 5 km climb to get there. The downhill on the way back was amazing! I must say after all of this I am quite exhausted
As for the week ahead aiming for 4 runs before I fly on Saturday as I will have 4 days away from home where I can't do any running.
How does your week look? Hope everyone has a lovely week and keep those legs going!
xx DM
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DiveMonkey
Restart Jan 2024
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Beautiful photos, and great that you've been doing so many great runs this week - I added up your Kms, and if my Maths serves me right, you ran a total of 38.5kms!!! Wow - Congratulations!!!
I know that you are now working towards doing a HM in July - and so there's plenty of time to fit in lots more training runs before now and then. Sorry however that you got your dates mixed up and can't run the HM next week as per your original plan.
I must admit to not having done any runs this week - I really wanted to, but my little toe has been playing me up - I had bruised it badly about a month ago, and I thought it had improved, but it was hurting quite a bit and swelled up for a while - so I've kept to walking instead.
Today is rainy and I've not even walked - but have done some Strength exercises indoors instead, so that was good.
I will however pledge to do better next week, and I will try to do at least one run - maybe on the treadmill at the gym, or maybe even outside. I really don't want to commit to more than that, as I am not sure if I'll manage it - so I'll just set myself 1 run, and hope I will maybe do more.
Wishing everyone a great week - full of enjoyable runs.
Thanks for hosting this Tortoise & Hare Club post, and wishing you success with your goals to do those 4 runs - impressive!!!
Sorry to hear about your injury, I think rest is probably the best thing for it and starting out again on the treadmill is always safer. If you are scared of loosing fitness you could always try running in the swimming pool at the gym if the facilities are available? My running buddy who I am helping in Joburg did this when she injured herself and has kept most of her fitness up. I must admit it did look abit odd her bobbing up and down in the pool, but it seemed to work.
I hope you get your one run in and take it nice and slow
Thanks so much for hosting the T & H today, DM, your running reports have left me almost speechless again!! Your whole life revolves around running! You're a total addict! I shall never, ever be able to match you, so will have to be content to be an avid fan
I've managed to up my distances this week, although rain has stopped me getting out as much as I'd have liked. I've done a 13.4K, a 13.2K (oddly enough, they were both run at the same place, but my Garmin gave me two different distances) and a 15.4K, so I've run a marathon, albeit it split into 3!
It's amazing what can be achieved when you put your mind to it Ruth, although, I don't run fast and that's the difference
My Garmin is just a basic one, so gives me speed, distance and calorie burn, no helpful beeps.
I'm actually very good at pacing myself and manage to keep to the same pace (dead slow), no matter what the distance and even the terrain doesn't make it vary much, although, I feel as if I've gone slower, when the going's difficult, where, in actual fact, I've just had to work harder to maintain that pace. Sorry, that's a bit garbled, I hope it makes sense to you
Wow!!!! All these ace runners!!!! My week has been a bit slower than before. I've got a pain in the butt (haha) and I went to dr and it's a runners butt. Gluteus maximus syndrome. Anyway, still working on it, it still hurts when I get to 20-30 min running. Also hot, so I've been running a lot slower. 3xtimes a week 45 min (with a couple of min of walk in between). I really hope that I can get rid of it soon. Anyone had this?
Thanks for hosting this week you are doing amazing with your running. Well my foot is better so no excuse for not running but alas this week was run free. It's amazing how easy it is to go from running and exercising religiously three times a week to doing NOTHING! Having said that I'm pretty full on with the garden so not actually doing nothing it just feels that way Really must get my mojo back...
Your runs sound and look incredible! Well done Good luck aiming for your four runs.
My HM training officially begins today with a 25m run, average pace of 6:05min/km, which I'm pleased with. I will do 5k on Weds or Thu then 7.5k at the weekend. I want to get back up to a comfortable 10k this month, then look at increasing to 12.5k in June.
Tomorrow I'll be weighing in for the first time in nearly a month. As I've mostly eaten bread for the past few weeks I'm expecting a significant weight gain, but I don't mind too much, especially due to the circumstances. In a way, concentrating on running, yoga and diet will give me a sense of control and focus that I've been missing for the past few weeks.
Thanks Hidden and moreless ! Unbelievably I have gained only 0.25 lbs in the past month! 😮 But I still feel quite bloated and I've gained at least half an inch on the waist so I can focus on changing what I eat (fewer carbs) rather than weight loss, although my 11st0 goal continues to elude me
Oh and it's the Cardiff HM I'm doing! It's not far from my hometown and a group of us will be running in memory of my mum ☺
I have been running my usual three times a week but not as many km as I had planned. Only a total of 18.7 km. It worries me a little because there is only 40 days to my next HM.
But I've been on a training weekend with my running club and we focused mainly on running technique and the mental aspects of running long distance. We also played around quite a bit - I'm sure that added up too. And we walked for two hours.... And I did my usual strength training Thursday...
We had invited a sports psychologist. Initially she talked about motivation to get off the couch to train, that was until she realised that her audience did not really have a problem with that. You don't spend your weekend with your running club if you are not motivated to run 😀 😀
Then she changed the subject and talked about beating the gremlins that tell you that you are not going to make it, that it is hard and that you are slow.... I know those gremlins very well!
She recommended visualisation before a race to boost your confidence. She suggested implementing self-affirmation and positive self-talk into your daily routine.
Specifically she said to create your own self-affirmation phrase(s) and spend 5 minutes each night before bed standing in front of the mirror repeating it to yourself. It could be something like "I am fit, I am fast” or whatever it is you have a hard time convincing yourself that you are.
I'm pretty sure I'll feel silly in front of the mirror, but I'll give it a go.
Another thing she said was to come up with your own easy to remember mantras that will help persevere through any rough patches during a race.
A mantra should use positive words rather than negative. For example, use "I am fit, I am fast", “I am strong, I can do this” or "relax and go" as opposed to “push through the pain, don’t give up”. The brain responds better to the former
Mantras must practiced both in front of the mirror but also during training.
She also mentioned two really cool techniques to use when you're getting tired during a race (or any run)
- imagine the runner ahead of you has a magnet on her back. Visualise being effortlessly drawn to her by the magnet's force.
- Imagine springs on the bottom of your feet, to imagine springing along with every stride. It supposedly gives you the feeling of running lighter, smoother and faster with less effort.
Both sound like a lot of fun!
I've heard other runners on Healthunlocked forums talk about mantras, but never got around to it myself. But now I'm thinking, why not give it a go!
I shall try this on my next long run and see how it works. I do talk to myself, but it's more along the lines of "Come on legs, you can do this!" I never really thought of it as a mantra.
My best coping mechanism, is to go into myself, so that I'm not even aware I'm running.
It's absolutely fascinating and I look forward to hearing how it's worked for you
It sounds like you have some sort of mantra there already. I have to figure out mine. It must find one that involves "flying", as that's how the whole thing started.
I read someone's description of running feeling like flying and decided to try that myself... In my case, it rarely does feel like flying though😆
You'll be fine, Iben, because you're a terrific runner and super fit! If I can do 3 HM's and never officially train for any of them, I'm absolutely certain that you'll be able to complete yours in style!!!
I'' being a bit of a brute and carrying on runnint. I'm terrified of losing what I've worked so hard for....but I'm taking it slower, -and it only starts to hurt after 30 min or so, and then I go slowly.
They said today that I can run up until tht point. So off I will go!
Is always great reading this post, lots of ideas and updates 😀
On the 1st I ran the Belfast marathon. Unfortunately my kids were stuck for two weeks (one still is) with a virus that gives lots of stomach problems and I got some of it the day...
And of course as any doctor would tell not to... I ignited it and ran...
It went well until mile 20 when my stomach started grumbling and I had to stop twice, not great are 3 hours and more running.
I had cramps (stomach and legs) but I managed to finish and even guy a personal best at 4h15'17'' which left me wondering on the fact that a sub 4h could be possible on a good day. . So I'm considering the possibility of running another mar in the autumn.. Dublin maybe???
Today will be the first day out running again... I'll let you know 😀
Just below 3 miles, expected pain in the legs, but not even to bad,.. Tomorrow I'm traveling for work (as for most of may) but I'll recover soon and enjoy running again 😎
PippiRuns thanks for your detailed reply - I was thinking of this when I went on my run today... and got a sub 30 5k for the first time ever! 29:58 to be precise... 14 seconds off my previous PB.
It was probably one of the most unpleasant runs I've done for quite a long time. It was difficult, I couldn't get myself to slow down and I did not enjoy it at all. But towards the end when I was thinking 'why do I do this to myself' I remembered Iben's positive thinking... I told myself that I'm fit and strong and can do anything! It is slightly cheesy but it worked!
I'm not expecting to repeat this miracle any time soon but at least I can say I've done it once...
That is amazing! Well done Lina! I am going to have to give it a go one of these days. I would really love to do a sub 30 5k and perhaps my new positive mantras will enable me to do it too!
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Really must get my mojo back...
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