The Fitness Thread

[Aikiwolf]

Just completed a Garmin coach 10k and I've managed to take 3 mins and 3 seconds of my previous PR! It's now 47.04 and I'm absolutely delighted!

 

[Pablowolf]

Two mates of mine are running the London Marathon via a couple of those bonded entries, so they've got to raise £2k each or they make up the difference. Anyway, they got in contact with an ultra marathon runner for hints and tips and now he's mentoring them both!

Not bad, considering they only started via couch to 5k in November.

 

[Aikiwolf]

Two mates of mine are running the London Marathon via a couple of those bonded entries, so they've got to raise £2k each or they make up the difference. Anyway, they got in contact with an ultra marathon runner for hints and tips and now he's mentoring them both!

Not bad, considering they only started via couch to 5k in November.

Good luck to them! Plenty of time for them to train up to a marathon, especially with some expert advice.

 

[Tredman]

Just completed a Garmin coach 10k and I've managed to take 3 mins and 3 seconds of my previous PR! It's now 47.04 and I'm absolutely delighted!

Good work! I’m down to 54 now, but got a bit stuck so have been focusing on running longer distances.

Think I’d go insane without running, pretty much the only time I get which is entirely free.

 

[Aikiwolf]

Good work! I’m down to 54 now, but got a bit stuck so have been focusing on running longer distances.

Think I’d go insane without running, pretty much the only time I get which is entirely free.

54 mins is a good time! The Garmin training programme helped me to do things I wouldn't have normally done and pushing me out of my normal routine has really improved my running.

It had me running up to 9 miles regularly (along with sprints and hill work).

I've got the GNR booked for September so I'll push my mileage up and start training for that from around mid June.

 

[Tredman]

54 mins is a good time! The Garmin training programme helped me to do things I wouldn't have normally done and pushing me out of my normal routine has really improved my running.

It had me running up to 9 miles regularly (along with sprints and hill work).

I've got the GNR booked for September so I'll push my mileage up and start training for that from around mid June.

I’m building up to a half marathon, 12 is my longest so far, but I’m running 35+ miles a week - so should be easy enough to reach. Aiming to do the Stafford half in September too.

 

[The Saturday Boy]

If you have already done 12 miles, completing a half will be fairly straightforward. My longest run before my first half was about 10 miles. After that I was running a half marathon distance 3 or 4 times a month...and then I stopped running after an injury and I have never got back to that distance since and I miss it.

 

[Tredman]

Yeah, I don’t think it will be too much of a stretch. Though I did a very hilly 11 miles route last week and was in bits by the end. Going for a long run along the canal tomorrow, so might try and push for 13 what with it being flat

 

[Aikiwolf]

I’m building up to a half marathon, 12 is my longest so far, but I’m running 35+ miles a week - so should be easy enough to reach. Aiming to do the Stafford half in September too.

If you can do 12 then you've got a HM in the bag!

 

[Tredman]

This thread has just inspired me to actually do it, and I am now signed up for the Stafford half.

Need to think of a time goal now

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Still not been able to really get back into running with any great conviction. Wasn't helped by the snowing weather for a few weeks but I've got back into the routine now of going out every other day but not getting anywhere near levels of performance I had when I used to go previously, perhaps 18 months ago.

Use a route which is probably about 4.5km and got to a point before when I'd plod around that fairly comfortably but now I'll maybe manage 1.5-2km tops and I just lose all heart to push through it. Thought about trying to drop back to a shorter route so at least I'm doing a full loop at a steady pace and see if that gives me a bit of a mental boost then build up the distance again gradually.

My shorter loop options are still a bit weathered at the moment though so for the time being I've switched to doing intervals of jogging, sprints and walking along my tried and tested route to shake things up a bit and at least get a bit more benefit out of it than the jog half way and sulky walk back.

 

[Aikiwolf]

Still not been able to really get back into running with any great conviction. Wasn't helped by the snowing weather for a few weeks but I've got back into the routine now of going out every other day but not getting anywhere near levels of performance I had when I used to go previously, perhaps 18 months ago.

Use a route which is probably about 4.5km and got to a point before when I'd plod around that fairly comfortably but now I'll maybe manage 1.5-2km tops and I just lose all heart to push through it. Thought about trying to drop back to a shorter route so at least I'm doing a full loop at a steady pace and see if that gives me a bit of a mental boost then build up the distance again gradually.

My shorter loop options are still a bit weathered at the moment though so for the time being I've switched to doing intervals of jogging, sprints and walking along my tried and tested route to shake things up a bit and at least get a bit more benefit out of it than the jog half way and sulky walk back.

When I learnt to run (and when I had loads of injuries and had to relearn to run) using a run/walk method was hugely beneficial for me.

Hell, even a sulky walk home is faster than being sat on the sofa!

For me, running is all about a routine, once you get into the groove of lacing on certain days and heading out then it becomes much easier.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

When I learnt to run (and when I had loads of injuries and had to relearn to run) using a run/walk method was hugely beneficial for me.

Hell, even a sulky walk home is faster than being sat on the sofa!

For me, running is all about a routine, once you get into the groove of lacing on certain days and heading out then it becomes much easier.

I've stuck with the routine really well for the last 3 weeks or so it's just the performance I'm struggling with. I don't think it helps that I find running to be something of a chore when it's without purpose, I'd run for hours on end playing football but plodding along down a footpath just does nothing for me.

I think without that level of enjoyment it becomes really difficult to push yourself to doing more of it and so improvement becomes very difficult. Got to have some real willpower to battle through something you don't really want to be doing.

At least my improvised interval routine is still allowing me to utilise my more pleasant route in my pre-work window, I'd happily just go down there for a stroll but it'd make me late to work every day at that pace. The interval training might actually be a bit more useful for conditioning for a hopefully imminent return to football too, at which point the need to force myself running becomes a little less urgent.

Just frustrating at times reading other people's successes when you're struggling to put in a shift that would make a pensioner sweat.

 

[Tredman]

I've stuck with the routine really well for the last 3 weeks or so it's just the performance I'm struggling with. I don't think it helps that I find running to be something of a chore when it's without purpose, I'd run for hours on end playing football but plodding along down a footpath just does nothing for me.

I think without that level of enjoyment it becomes really difficult to push yourself to doing more of it and so improvement becomes very difficult. Got to have some real willpower to battle through something you don't really want to be doing.

At least my improvised interval routine is still allowing me to utilise my more pleasant route in my pre-work window, I'd happily just go down there for a stroll but it'd make me late to work every day at that pace. The interval training might actually be a bit more useful for conditioning for a hopefully imminent return to football too, at which point the need to force myself running becomes a little less urgent.

Just frustrating at times reading other people's successes when you're struggling to put in a shift that would make a pensioner sweat.

What Aiki said - I started with run / walk. Never really pushed myself too hard at the start. After a while it just gets easier to run further and soon enough you’re not walking at all.

 

[Pablowolf]

This thread has just inspired me to actually do it, and I am now signed up for the Stafford half.

Need to think of a time goal now

Don't give yourself a time to go for, just aim for the top 10 finishers.

 

[Dennisons Wrong Foot]

I've stuck with the routine really well for the last 3 weeks or so it's just the performance I'm struggling with. I don't think it helps that I find running to be something of a chore when it's without purpose, I'd run for hours on end playing football but plodding along down a footpath just does nothing for me.

I think without that level of enjoyment it becomes really difficult to push yourself to doing more of it and so improvement becomes very difficult. Got to have some real willpower to battle through something you don't really want to be doing.

At least my improvised interval routine is still allowing me to utilise my more pleasant route in my pre-work window, I'd happily just go down there for a stroll but it'd make me late to work every day at that pace. The interval training might actually be a bit more useful for conditioning for a hopefully imminent return to football too, at which point the need to force myself running becomes a little less urgent.

Just frustrating at times reading other people's successes when you're struggling to put in a shift that would make a pensioner sweat.

It definitely helps to have an end goal - a distance, a time, etc. Sometimes we have to redefine that goal - eg as we get older or put on weight. And in the same way that success breeds success, failure (or the perception of it) breeds failure. If you are accustomed to running non-stop and then one day you either slow to a walk or stop completely, it just becomes easier and easier to do that again and again. So even if I cannot run at the same pace as a year ago, I have to persuade myself that I can still run faster than yesterday, or that people much older can do it, or that x miles a week earns a treat.

 

[Aikiwolf]

I've stuck with the routine really well for the last 3 weeks or so it's just the performance I'm struggling with. I don't think it helps that I find running to be something of a chore when it's without purpose, I'd run for hours on end playing football but plodding along down a footpath just does nothing for me.

I think without that level of enjoyment it becomes really difficult to push yourself to doing more of it and so improvement becomes very difficult. Got to have some real willpower to battle through something you don't really want to be doing.

At least my improvised interval routine is still allowing me to utilise my more pleasant route in my pre-work window, I'd happily just go down there for a stroll but it'd make me late to work every day at that pace. The interval training might actually be a bit more useful for conditioning for a hopefully imminent return to football too, at which point the need to force myself running becomes a little less urgent.

Just frustrating at times reading other people's successes when you're struggling to put in a shift that would make a pensioner sweat.

Haha! There's always someone faster than you! I know some people who run regularly near 6 minute miles. When I was overtaken by people in fancy dress on my first GNR I realised I should only compare my runs to my own runs! (I did overtake someone wearing a Dave Edwards shirt though!)

No matter your pace you're faster than if you stayed at home and after a month or so you'll be faster than you were today.

 

[Tredman]

No matter your pace you're faster than if you stayed at home and after a month or so you'll be faster than you were today.

That’s pretty much my biggest regret - I spent years being too embarrassed to run, thinking that everyone would be laughing at a fat mess trying to run - when really it absolutely does not matter. The years I’ve wasted when I could have been out running

 

[Dennisons Wrong Foot]

The people I most envy are not the quick runners, but those who are hugely overweight but yet are willing to go out there and give it their all. They keep going (however slowly) mile after mile.

 

[Dire Wolf]

Haha! There's always someone faster than you! I know some people who run regularly near 6 minute miles. When I was overtaken by people in fancy dress on my first GNR I realised I should only compare my runs to my own runs! (I did overtake someone wearing a Dave Edwards shirt though!)

No matter your pace you're faster than if you stayed at home and after a month or so you'll be faster than you were today.

My partner, who is a 3 and a half hour marathon runner, was overtaken at the end of the Liverpool half by a bloke running in flip flops...