Mac's Running Diary - edit jan '21 cycling too - edit jan 23 back @ circuit training,

[mac11irl]

ok, so this i hope may act as encouragement for others who, like me up to a couple of weeks ago, manage to psyche themselves out of tying their laces and going for a run. But also as a way for me to track progress made.

 

so, a quick bio....

im nearly 37, weigh about 68-70kg, im 5' 6(.5)" tall.

i have always hated running with a total and complete passion. in school i would get cramps after a half lap of a track, and feel like being sick after 2.

but, at 16/17 i still couldnt run, i weighed about 55-58kg and according to the funky scales in the gym i had 6% body fat. i would happily stomp my way up a mountain at at a half jog and not be out of breathe at the top, or throw me in a swimming pool id go non stop for 7km until i need a pee.

then... college happened.

then workin full time happened.

 

all the gyming, martial arts training and swimming fell away. i never got fat, though i gained weight ( not much mind) 

eventually about 8 yrs ago i went back to the gym. i never really made mych progress, there no target that i could say i want to hit which meant i struggled. 

i then went HIIT circuit training, in a small group class, in a gym thats in the upstairs of a pub - rough and a bit industrial i love it, with guy who is a complete headcase of fitness.

the group made the difference, i stuck it out and pushed myself in every session, could only manage 1 night a week, but it made a difference i gained muscle mass, and fitness over 3 yrs that i never managed on my own.

roll on to 2019..

work was ridiculous in terms of nights - i wasnt sleeping or eating properly, i was exhausted to the point of being unwell by christmas. i had to stop training, and over christmas gave up caffeine due to withdrawals and sensitivity having developed. i was also convinced (anyone who gives up caffeine may understand the panic/paranoia) that i had a heart issue as i felt so crap. 

git the all clear end of Jan, just before spud jr arrived.

then my wife was unwell (still is)

then lock down.

and now we are here. im gone awfully unfit, still not sleeping and not exercising.... a new post will explain my change shortly, have to get sorted for bed now.

 

Edited 5 January, 2023 by mac11irl

[J.R.]

I am looking forward to the inspiration Mac.

 

I will tell you a little bit about my story because at present I have found myself back at the position that you are.

 

I could never run at school, we had to do a 5km mob race once a year and I was petrified of it and walked most of it.

 

At about 20 I tried it again with a pal and didnt do much better

 

At 26 I tried jogging around my house in the UK and managed about 30 yards before becoming exhausted, I never did any more than jog a few steps after that.

 

As the years piled on so did the weight.

 

Then 10 years ago at 51 I was invited to a free stay in boot camp starting out in France, I did so well that they invited me back on 2 more occasions, I started running, doing aerobics classes, swimming, cycling and eating healthily, I also gave up alcohol for good at the same time which was probably the most significant event.

 

I have been running with local running clubs for 10 years and in competition up to half marathons, my best time was 1hr 50 on our local vertiginous very hilly half marathon, during that period my weight was always at 71.6kg +/- 0.5kg, I am 5' 8" tall.

 

Last year I started training for a full marathon for my 60th birthday, I suffered a plantar fasciitus injury and because I carried on training it progressed to a knee injury (called the windscreen wiper syndrome in France) and then a hip injury.

 

I managed up to 32km in training but on the day the knee injury stopped me after about 25km and I joined the other cripples in the recovery wagon.

 

After that I gained maybe 4kg last year for the first time.

 

I stopped training when I returned to the UK to redo my house last November, in January I had an eye operation which was a disaster resulting in yet another detached retina (the 5th) then surgery for that in France in February, then I had to lay on my front for a month and make no efforts and no running for 3 months which I complied with.

 

Then came the confinement, I did a couple of runs alone but it was really hard so I cycled, with the loss of all my apartment rentals I dont do anywhere near the physical work that I did, my average calorie expenditure was 4500 per day before with all the cleaning and changeovers plus the running, it dropped to 2200 on my most sedentary days.

 

The result is that I am 10kg heavier than the last 10 years, training has started with the running club and I am doing about 30km a week but its really hard, I have gone from being one of the fastest runners, quicker than most up to 30 years younger than me to being one of the slowest, in the past after a 2 month break my VMA (max aerobic speed) dropped by 30% but quickly recovered, this time its very different and will be a long slog.

 

I look forward to hearing of your progress and may chip in from time to time with mine.

[mac11irl]

@J.R. chip in any time i encourage sharing experience 

 

inspiration to shift my arse.....

 

so, over the last couple of months, i started using spotify. 

i then went looking for a meditation podcast to help with the sleeping. 

found one, "mindful in minutes" m. and while i know Kelly's accent may be a bit... american.. it works, i am sleeping better.

i accidentally then listened to "The Blindboy Podcast" he is one half of "The Rubberbandits" who did a lot of stuff on youtube a few yrs ago. but i found the couple of podcasts of his i listened to (expecting slightly madcap stories etc) to be very articulate etc.

i went back to the start of his pod casts, and have been listening to them since - about 3 weeks at this stage. 

he talks a lot about mental health and stuff, and how he finds running really helps with his creativity and generally well being. 

he also said something i had never really heard - 

"running is f%&@ing horrible, for about the 1st 6 weeks until your body starts to get good at it"

i dont really know what about that made me make a decision, but i decided that i was going to try this running ****e and i had a target - get past the first 6 weeks and see what happens, get to running a 5k. so, on Sunday 19th July at about 830, i left the house with an idea, and a bottle of water.... 

[J.R.]

That sounds like me 10 years ago, I had 4 weeks from the first few running paces I had done for 35 years and gave myself what I believed to be the impossible target of the local 5km race in September, it may have been 6 weeks my memory is hazy, its unimportant.

 

Soon I was running 5km and thinking about possibly trying the 10km race, my docteur said definitely not which was all the encouragement that I needed!

 

Not long after I found that I could actually run 10km albeit with some stopping but 5km by then was relatively easy.

 

I signed up for the half marathon, my target time was 2 hrs 40 minutes and I did it in I think 2 hours 20 minutes and the time dropped each year after that.

 

I am up to 12k again but with several stops, a half marathon seems like a dream at present.

 

Your 6 week thing will be a good time to review my progress, I just hope that it gets back to feeling normal again because its hell at the moment but I have the mental knowledge that it will be better, the last time I started from scratch again was after sepsis, I was very weak but still an athletic weight, its the 10kg that is holding me back.

Sleep is very very important and good quality sleep as well, if you buy a runners watch or any fitness watch it will monitor your sleep time and more importantly how many hours deep sleep and how many light REM sleep.

 

I knew that I had not been sleeping well since the confinement, the isolation and also the money concerns, since I have finally got the government support and know that it will continue till the end of the year I am sleeping much better, last night I got 4.5 hours deep sleep as opposed to 1.5-2hrs normally and I can always feel the results the next day, any injuries aches & pains just dissapear whereas they linger and get worse when sleep is not good.

 

Editted, so much for the 6 weeks, its been 11 weeks since I restarted 🙁

 

Maybe I should count the 6 weeks from when I got my mind straight and my mojo back in which case its only been 2 weeks!

Edited 4 August, 2020 by J.R.

[@Lee]

Thanks for posting this, @mac11irl. I'd started going to the gym after many years of leading a sedentary lifestyle. Even though I used to regularly climb poles for BT/ Openreach and do quite physical work (I worked smarter, not harder  ) I'd become quite unfit. Last year I joined a gym and was just getting going and then BOOM! lockdown came and all that ended. I tried to motivate myself again but, ya know............
Following this for hints and maybe get some motivation back.
@ColinD, is it possible to move this topic to Roadside? Or even better, create a new sub forum called Health & Lifestyle. Strictly on topic to cover health including MH and, as this is mainly a male forum, mens health? Not that this will disqualifiy female member from posting or creating topics, of course.

Edited 5 August, 2020 by Lee01

[mac11irl]

Sunday 19th July 2020, 20:15hrs

"Right, im going for a run, ill be back... soon?"

 

i left the house, walked to the end of the estate, and started a stopwatch on my phone, spotify on some angry grunge in my headphones. walked another couple of hundred yards then kicked into a jog.

kept it going as long as i could - about 6mins.. then reverted to walking...

then back running, bit more walking.

i had no set distance, i had a location i was aiming for. i had no set times, it was just get there, and get home.

i got to my turning point, and lap timed it on the stop watch as about 17mins - irrelevant and meaningless, i just didnt want to end up taking way way longer on the way back.

i was pretty knackered, but had no choice...

 

i got home in about 35mins. it meant nothing, i was heaving, and only proud i made it home.

later that night i roughly mapped it on my phone as being about 1.5miles to the turning point. i had accidently picked almost a perfect 5k route.

 

i now had a distance, a route, and a target to beat - its never allowed take longer than the last time, at least until im able to run the whole thing...

every second night since ive been on the same route, at around the same time of day.. stay tuned for more.

 

Edited 5 August, 2020 by mac11irl
typos

[ColinD]

Good call.

 

I could never really run, not without it seeming like a lot of effort. I switched to 'minimal' shoes about three years ago, mostly for the idea of strengthening my feet for climbing. I found I could run, and easily. Turns out the big spongy trainers were encouraging me to heel strike, which is common wearing big clumpy mountain boots.  A friend, sadly passed, was an amazing fell runner; bob grahams and all sorts... He bounced everywhere, ran on his toes, actually to the point he could'nt really land on his heel even walking. Calfs like popeye. That was my dawning moment. Try it in the garden or park. Run 30m in shoes... take shoes off, run back 30m, then run back the other 30 to collect shoes. By the last bit your brain should of got you off your heels.

 

Got up to 10k ok, then stopped as I didn't want too much leg mass... mass, gravity all bad for climbing.

29.12.19 I went to far walking and hurt my leg. Still recovering and it f'ing knacks still when I tweak it. I'll add my own topic, as the plan I have for tomorrow involves 80squats and 400step up's and I'm only in day 4....it's brutal, but oddly working.

 

Good idea Lee. Will squeeze it onto my list for tomorrow. Big day... big changes, although hopefully unseen by many, but enjoyed by many.

 

I also found the couch to 5k app very handy, to get going at least.

[J.R.]

Mac.

 

I think you should concentrate on completing the 5k without stopping rather than trying to go faster, if you have to stop then you are probably going too fast, better still just concentrate on endurance, how far you can jog without stopping, go as slow as you need to, the speed over the 5K will come all on its own.

 

Last night I had to run alone, it was too hot for the 2 others who turned up, I deliberately kept to a slow pace and the only measure I had was my heart rate, for once I kept it out of the red zone and under 145bpm the whole time, my 100% is 159bpm which I exceed every time without feeling anything, I often pass 200bpm.

 

It was 29°c and no shade, I was only a little slower at 8km/h and did 9.5km of a fairly flat run, I kept the heart rate at 135bpm until the last half when I was feeling very good and went faster upping it to 145bpm.

 

The key to a good time is to set off slowly, my warm up is usually 4km before I am feeling OK, if I have gone too fast (and its very easy at the start) then the rest of the run is finished, there really is no point in trying to run a 5K against the clock until you can easily do 10-15k 3 times a week, listen to your body instead of looking at your watch.

[mac11irl]

Tues 21st - Run 2.

i timed things better, using the lap split to time my run vs walk sections properly so that the walks were definitely going to get shorter.. 

i knocked about 2mins off the time from Sunday.

 

Thurs 23rd - Error correction.

i realised when i remeasured the route on google using my laptop rather than phone that my route only 2.4km one way! i was about 200m short of 5k. Many swear words were uttered, but i spotted a way to add on the missing bit, by going around a building instead of in front it on each leg.

i did it in the same time as Tues. excellent.

 

 

[mac11irl]

@J.R. i have done the full route without walking 3 times now, I'll catch up on myself over the next couple of posts ☺

[ColinD]

Forgot to mention, look up 'rucking'.  In short, walking with weight. It's almost as good as running for cardio/cal burn, without the impact, but obviously not as quick.

 

Start of with up to 10% of your body weight in a backpack. Do the same route with the weight on, a couple of times, then without. SWMBO and our little 5km walk around the block, I'm up to 20% and I do know I've done the walk

 

Not forgetting some cooldown stretches for your calves, quads, hams, shoulders, triceps etc.

[mac11irl]

sat 25th

i forgot to screenshot it...

 

mon 27th

i managed to runn the full way to the turning point in 13m35s. ie lap one,lap 2 is a double tap short split time to mark the turning point.

i then kept running for lap 3... nearly 20mins continuous running.. another personal best.

 

 

[Warmonkry]

12 hours ago, ColinD said:

Forgot to mention, look up 'rucking'.  In short, walking with weight. It's almost as good as running for cardio/cal burn, without the impact, but obviously not as quick.

 

Start of with up to 10% of your body weight in a backpack. Do the same route with the weight on, a couple of times, then without. SWMBO and our little 5km walk around the block, I'm up to 20% and I do know I've done the walk

 

Not forgetting some cooldown stretches for your calves, quads, hams, shoulders, triceps etc.

You're joking.........................10% of my weight won't fit in a backpack LOL🤣

[ColinD]

Well all things need proper medical advice... I guess if you're carrying a few 'paid for' pounds already then, take that into consideration. We don't want to overwhelm joints and stuff. Everything in moderation as I always forget when cake is on the table...

 

I think the idea of rucking is to add some extra load/tension to your routine, without pushing you to run. I can get my heart up to 120/140 without running, I don't want much more. I'm also seeing a cardiologist who's trying to figure something out for me... so I'm cautious to go beyond what I know, although did the other week hit 180 which when I got home was quite relieved to see I was still here.

 

I stopped at 16kg, 8 bottles. Beyond that it felt like it hurt, and I ran out of space in my rucsac.

I began with 2x2L bottles of water for 4kg, then 2 loops I know I can walk.. then add another bottle, 2 more loops etc so over a week up to 5 bottles and so on...

I like water, because:

a: I can stop and drink it.

b: I could pour it all away if I began to suffer too much/pain flared up.

[mac11irl]

im due a run tonight, but im also nice and clean and tidy in mu suit right now after the christening....

 

 

im honestly torn !!

[J.R.]

Running club have cancelled all sessions during the canicule, I'm not a morning person so have to wait till the temp drops a tiny bit in the evening and after spending all day avoiding doing anything its hard to do.

 

I walked 6km up the steep hill to the airport and back last night, 5.5km/h average moving speed, usually 6km/h + on the flat and in normal temps.

 

Tonight I did a 27km bike ride setting out at 7.30 pm in 34° heat which dropped to 27° on my return, average moving speed 18.2 km/h well down on my usual 22km/h average but it included our very hilly half marathon course and the heat.

 

Its worth it to be able to sleep well at night.

[mac11irl]

wed 29th July

i did 29m 13s with only 1 2min walking bit.

 

fri 31st July

down to 28m 27s again with only 1 2min walk bit

 

both nights were alright, the walk was up the toughest bit of the climb near home.

 

[mac11irl]

2nd August..

no walk, a straight 5k. my first time ever in my life

youll note the return lap was even 6 seconds faster than outbound as i ran the last 200yds as fast as i could to crack the 28min mark.

 

4th Aug...

 

lost an entire minute running with a headwind and flogging rain..

 

 

 

[J.R.]

Set off slowly and build up, no matter how many times people explain it and no matter how much you believe & understand it if you start to run in competitions you will probably set off too quick just like me and learn a very humiliating lesson never to be forgotten.

 

We open our 400m track to invited clubs twice a year for Soirée pistes, I recall the womens 2k race (5 laps) one athlete was way ahead of the others on her first lap, maybe 1/3 of the course ahead, then gradually every one of them overhauled her and she may even have been lapped  by the leaders.

 

Save your sprint for the end and marshall your energy to save enough for the sprint at the end.

 

A good time though, I was down to 24 minutes but it feels at present like I will never again see your time, appreciate the early gains, they are really rewarding and get progressively harder and harder to make.

Edited 13 August, 2020 by J.R.

[mac11irl]

6th aug

 

skipped the 8th due to family event..

9th Aug

 

11th Aug..

 

its still dropping... that was a very muggy disgusting run..

[mac11irl]

13th Aug. thursday. 

delugr of rain after a 26deg high himidity day at 2015hrs. 

i didnt leave for my run until about 2115 it was a "Lightness into Dark" 5k. still 21deg, and there was a hot fog rising off the river. it was like running in a 5k long steam room.

no oxygen in the air which felt like it was at 167% humidity. i ran through the puddles to at least cool my feet down a bit.. it was the most horrible run yet... worse than even the first couple i did.

 

Edited 15 August, 2020 by mac11irl

[mac11irl]

and so tonight... i got out earlier, still teally warm and humid but at least no hot fog yet.

 

new Personal Best!

 

 

i am 83secs from my target time for the end of aug with 8 runs left 8n the month. so, i push myself for 15secs longer each night (doable if the humidity would ease off) i should be able to shave 11sec/night off the time.

 

then i plan to maintain that pace for a couoke of weeks and get really comfy with it before deciding how to push the challenge.

 

i may add a little body weight to it..

[J.R.]

On 08/08/2020 at 10:35, ColinD said:

Well all things need proper medical advice I can get my heart up to 120/140 without running, I don't want much more. I'm also seeing a cardiologist who's trying to figure something out for me... so I'm cautious to go beyond what I know, although did the other week hit 180 which when I got home was quite relieved to see I was still here.

 

 

My training session tonight would have freaked you out Colin and it was the beginners group, it was a 4km warm up jog then fractionné which is running as fast as you can sustain for 30 seconds then 30 seconds at a slower recovery pace, 2 x 10 minute sessions with a minutes pause between and after and then a short run back to the clubhouse.

 

My heart rate was already over 100% on the warm up so I knew that it was going to be an impressive graph.

 

My theoretical 100% maximum heart rate for my age is 159 bpm, my average for the 45 minute session was 168 bpm and the maximum was 206 bpm a personal best.

 

At no point was I out of breath or exceeding myself it was not that hot at 23° but humid.

 

 

[mac11irl]

does running in trainers that weigh about 1kg heavier than usual each count as weighted running?

 

a 5k in a yellow weather rainfall alert isnt really fun. 40sec slower than Saturday courtesy of all the standing water.. and all the water in my clothes.

 

ooooooo thats even shakier than i realised when i took it 😅

[ColinD]

@J.R. nice graph, my suunto and wahoo are not quite as granular as that. I’ve been toying with a less bulky, faffy setup for ‘day’ use.

 

a few years back I was on a long ridge walk in Scotland, big day 5 Munro’s... anyhow keeping the pace up, jogging the descents, my heart was nicely humming along at 140ish for several hours. A thunderstorm was brewing north. Fun to watch, listening to Stephen fry audio book on Greek gods... flash clap. Right on top of me, it had felt up the glen behind me. Dam, turn back into it, to escape, or carry on over two more tops to escape... forward.

 

the funny bit, I could skip the last top and boulder hop over it’s shoulder to the glen.... I put my pack down, and run to the top and back, grab my pack and beline to the glen, passing a 30’ tree... which was black on top from a previous strike... got even more of a wiggle on. My spikes during the escape section were in the 190’s. On The back of several hours sustained movement. No pinges....  get back to the car, a little soaked. Chilling out and the odd pinge... it’s so bizarre... and the cardiologist is slightly flummoxed... so I’m just carrying on, pottering, going for long sustained.

 

having data, whilst not really studying it, is helping me improve. Mostly via how much rest I should take.