Park Run

Didn't do it - I just went on a recce for work. I am planning on doing one though. It's a tough course at Ashton Court: all uphill then a turn and back down the hill. Lovely scenery if you can see it through the red mist.

Zombies are tough

I decided I would go round the downs this morning, just for a change. I reckoned it's about 5k around there which is would-like-to go-to distance these days (it's a work thing)
But I was so unfit.
Note to self - when you've lost the 10+ lbs you wanted to (and felt SO good about) don't just pile it straight back on.
Idiot.
I had to walk 3 times; once cos the zombies made me run too hard and I lost the ability to breathe. And I didn't outrun them once.
It's all very depressing to be honest. I know it's nature and it's not exactly unexpected, but I had no idea it was going to be this hard to get back up to anywhere near the quite feeble levels I was operating at before...

It was more than 5k - nearer 7.2
So, still not at the 5-mile marker.
I will get there though - I feel it's something which will make me feel an awful lot better. It may stave off the depression now I'm off the tablets.

Zombies; ran!

OK - I have a grouse about the app - I can't get it to work while there's music playing. I expect it's my fault, but there you go.
I spent the 1st bit of this morning's run listening to the Stranglers - but no zombie news updates... I turned off the music and the zombies came back. They also chased me fast up a hill - I know I was running for my life, but I absolutely knackered myself. I am so unfit these days. I'm hoping that it's going to be a FITT thing and the pain will be far outweighed by the good it does me.
I had planned to do 5k so I can tackle a parkrun soon (it's a work thing) but I missed the start probably by about 1km and then I decided running up hills was making me pant like a - zombie? - so I went home.

zombies

I have a new app. It's called Zombies; Run!

The premise is that you've survived the zombie apocalypse and are now heading towards the safe zone. But the helicopter's been shot down by a surprise rpg attack and the only thing left to do is run back to safety.
Along the way you're directed to pick up useful things - because as the nasty lady says - people have to pull their weight or they won't be lit into the safe zone. The nice chap was in love with your predecessor - it'll be interesting to see how that plays out

It's an ongoing tale of everyday zombie adventures

I found myself wondering if I should be saving my energy slightly for when the news comes that the zombies are getting close and I have to up the pace a bit.

FYI I did get back safely.

So that's where I'm at now. It saves your route and all that but where it saves it I have no idea - my phone is a bit of a mystery these days thanks to various unwanted updates...

I have to up my running game: going part-time will make a difference I'm sure...

Sunday run/crawl

3.04miles in 30' 29” 
10' 01” a mile 

That's 4.8km 

I am going to work up to 5km and keep that as my baseline doable and repeatable run. 
I'm blaming anti-depressants on being so bloated and unfit. But I actually know that's just me in denial... 
It's quite nice running from home - I keep discovering little alleys and routes behind houses and so on. Not exactly urban exploration but it make the run a bit more interesting 

A dreamlike state

If only.

Still - a run is a run. And I managed to go a little over the 5k distance. (Distances sound better in km - the numbers are bigger...)

Not fast, not spectacular other than nearly face planting the pavement for no apparent reason. And sweating so much that a kindly lady near the church felt sorry for me.

It may be the beginning of my new push to get fit again. I have a journal to fill out with my goals and what have you - one of which is to lose weight and this includes getting fitter. Perhaps with the right push it will motivate me to persevere.

'Motivation follows action'

oh, the effort...

I haven't been for a run for weeks and I have put on weight and generally not taken very good care of myself. So it was a struggle to go out for a run this Saturday. A proper, hardcore struggle.
I knew I wasn't going to go far or fast but I wasn't expecting the sheer agony of rudely-awakened muscles the next day...

It's almost enough to make me question (ever) venturing out again - but all the advice is that it gets easier. Do I believe that? I still view myself as someone who runs - self-delusional perhaps - so I have to get out and actually pound the streets from time to time. A parkrun? never done one, no reason not to start this week. It's 'only' 5km...

Stats from Saturday... unavailable right now cos Mapmyrun has got some interminable advert for Fred Olsen Cruises which has crashed... 

Ah, here goes - 2.04 miles in 20m 24s exactly 10-minute miles...

But that's only just over 3 1/4 km... perhaps I will have to build up to a 5km parkrun...
I can't believe I'm thinking that... I once ran a 1/2 marathon you know

at least I went for a run

Whitstable is my favourite place for a run - all that fresh sea air, relatively unknown surroundings, pretty flat - just perfect for a PB

Except - being hung over and over weight did not allow a pb. Far from in fact.
10min 11 per mile, I only managed 3.11 miles and I was struggling.

But I did go for a run and I didn't stop.
So yay me.

tough

OK I had to drag myself out this morning - it's a bank holiday and I had lots of wine last night. But no excuse not to go
I am glad I went, let me get that clear from the start
God it felt tough, though. Then when the mapmyrun lady piped up it was to say I was running miles in under 10 mins. Like, wow - I was pleased cos it explained why I was so tired

3.46 miles, 9m34s per mile - and that's the fastest I've been for months.

So I just have to keep doing it. I find it hard to believe I ever ran further - I know I'm overweight (again) and don't run much but I used to run 6 or 7 miles quite regularly. Perhaps I will get there again. Perhaps I will want to go that far again one day - for now, 3 or 4 miles is fine

new route

Well, it was a run - short and strenuous enough to leave me very red-faced. I've discovered about a mile of back alleys and off-roading routes to make the effort interesting. All I need to do now is up the distance to about 5 miles, up my speed to 9 30 a mile and I will feel I have progressed. But for now just getting out of the house for 30 mins is an achievement.
I trained for the 1/2 marathon from this place in Bishopston - how did I ever run 7 miles before work? I did though.
11 years ago now...

Don't blame the app

The app actually had saved my run - and the next one

3.73 miles, 9m 55s per mile

But the next one on Sun 7th...
2.51 miles and 9m 44s per mile - but I was knackered - totally puffed. I've put on some of the weight I recently lost, plus I did have a hangover - so there were mitigating circumstances... But I was mortified about how hard it was

So - do I stop running and save myself the pain and the exhaustion - or put this behind me, get out there and enjoy the experience (honestly it's possible) and just take heart from the fact I'm in my 50s but still running. Kind of.

Colleagues did the 10k at the weekend and did it in under 50 mins. So glad I didn't sign up - although if I had done long enough ago I would have been motivated to get training, right?

Motivation then - nothing difficult to understand there.

Back on track.

Well, back on the road/pavement etc etc

Not proud of my record this year - it seems to get harder all the time. But it's more mental than physical. Or perhaps I just have to accept I'm getting older and it will get tougher to keep going. But that's not the issue. The point is getting out there and 'enjoying' it. I do get the feeling of freedom and achievement though. And that is enough. Any more than that is pushing it - but then I do have the old '5% extra' thought along the way which gives me a little bit extra in reserve.

My bloody app - it doesn't seem to save my runs. The last one was 11 March - which is truth is the last time I ran - but I definitely saved yesterday's. I know it was over 10 mins a mile but there was a nice route I wanted to have a look at today.
Technology - it can be amazing but sometimes it just shortens your life,

Achievement

Well it's nothing to write home about but the very fact I've gone for a run seems worthy of note.
Second one this year...

And when I set off I felt amazing. I guess I've lost a stone in weight over the last year which helps - and just getting out of the house seems like a win. And the prospect of a different route - especially when I found a new lane behind the games field - it all fell into place.
Then I got a bit tired and my left hip began hurting.
But I kept going and I can now proudly hold my head high and say 'I went for a run'
Well done me

Just have to keep going now...

Also I could get some new running kit as a treat.
Or I could just keep wearing the stuff I already have., The perfectly good stuff I already have...

stats- well, mapmyrun has failed. I'm sure I saved the thing but it's not there. . the live feed suggested 9min 30 ish a mile which is OK - but -I need to up it to about 9min miles to keep under the hour for the 10k

seriously unrunny

Well, new year's day was the last time I went for a run. And it's now 7 Feb. I keep visualising myself running (isn't that what you're supposed to do to motivate yourself?) But no matter how much I think about it - I haven't been for a run since then.
My therapist recommends running for depression (to cure it not trigger it) and my head knows it's the right thing to do. But I've moved house and it's all wrong... Except no of course it isn't 'wrong'. Something is stopping me getting out there - perhaps it's the cold, the damp, the time it takes... Perhaps I need to motivate myself, to make not running worse than getting out there.
Some of my colleagues are going to run the Bristol 10K and I may just enter but not tell anyone so when they compare times I won't feel obliged to admit to taking over an hour... 6 miles. I should do it under an hour.
Sounds like I've convinced myself.
Troubling.
It sounds so easy of course - but it won't be,

Happy New Year

I have a lot of work to do...

I did go for a run on 1st Jan which I was very pleased about - even though I had a massive wobble. I got up to the downs and it began spitting, there was a huge black cloud in the distance so it didn't bode well. I actually turned around and was starting to drive back when I saw in the opposite direction the sky looked lighter. So I went for it.

Well done me

It was awful. Obviously there was the Christmas belly to contend with but also I've been doing so little running I have become quite unfit.

But at least I ran

Once

This year...

(so far)

All Uphill

It's getting harder to get out and running. I know it's getting colder which doesn't help but that's not the main thing. I think there is such a psychological aspect to running that I have to change my frame of mind to get me out there. It's why boyf runs with a club - as he says, he hands himself over to them and he just runs. I seem to spend a stupid amount of time psyching myself up.

But I did go for a run and it didn't kill me.

The new route round the allotments is nice - quite uphilly once I'm down in the valley but that's part of the challenge. I still ache and so on but I assume it's doing me more good than harm.
I feel better for going but it does kind of let me off the leash to spend the rest of the day lazing around. And eating too much. Or worse.

But - I have to keep going. And without the benefit of very expensive Sweaty Betty kit. It won't make a difference having £90 tights will it, even if they promise to be warm but wicky. I am just as likely to run in old leggings tbh - it's down to the state of my mind, not the state of my kit.

oo, that was quite deep.

Depression

Yesterday was a challenge.
As well as the usual effort required to get kitted up and out the door, I was buried under an overwhelming wave of depression. It makes me slow down to the point of catatonia; I need to cry, to turn myself off, to disappear.
Even my new bouncy shoes made no difference.
But I had 2 things on my side.
One is the accepted wisdom that exercise and especially outdoor exercise - ie running - is hugely beneficial at these times.
Two - bf was there to give me a proper hug and boot me out the door.
And it was the right thing to do - both the hug and the run. I felt a lot better for it.
The depression doesn't go away, it's not zapped out of existence like an infection blasted by antibiotics - but it becomes softer, more malleable and can be kept in its box.
Perhaps I will have to keep my running shoes at work and head out at lunchtimes for therapy (probably healthier than endless coffees) This will make me an elite something by Christmas. That plus the Headspace sessions will make me a superbrain ready to tackle anything and everything life and throw at me.

I live in a world of fantasy and fancy.

I. Feel. So. Bouncy

New Shoes!!!!

Nothing special, just got new shoes and they have changed everything.
Well sort of.
They're very much an improvement on my old ones.
But I had to swap their laces (bright neon pink) for my old grey ones. It seems like all shoes are now, by law, bright, fluorescent, nauseatingly colourful.  Apparently I like dull shoes. Who knew? (I refused to even try on the Barbie-coloured pair...)


More to the point - I ran like the wind. A slow breeze sort of wind...
4.5 miles - 9 min 41 a mile

last week, to compare:

28 sept: 4.5 miles 9 min 48 a mile
25 sept: 4.4 miles 9 min 49 a mile

like, crikey it's as though i have rockets on my feet....

I still can't believe I ran 13 and a bit miles once. Only once.
 

2 runs

Am I getting a bit ocd about these posts? I mean - no one cares if I do one after every run or not and it's not like it changes anything... But in truth I do like to look back and see what previous runs have been like - and how much pain I was in, that sort of thing...

so - the last 2 runs (not exactly over doing the commitment to running...)

4 sept
4.4 miles - 9 53 a mile

17 sept
4.53 miles - 9 min 55 a mile

so nothing life-changing - but nothing too shabby either

The most recent one (today) - I actually went a different route -  I went down past the allotments and along the railway line for a little while and then back up to ashley hill. It was disappointingly not very far as it was a lovely route (very green and no traffic) and then I just did the normal route. But changing is good.

Pains and so on - well, my hip is still troubling me a bit but the pain might be in a different place, or does the stress put on it by running helps it repair??? I don't know. Plus I tried to engage my hamstrings a bit more which engages my glutes which is something I really need to do more of.
So that's all good.

And it's all done in a fasted state so hopefully an effective weight-loss thing as I'm not eating until midday at the earliest - a 16-hour fast which is something I've been doing for a few months and have lost 10-12 lbs. Feel much better for it. Would like to lose a little more fat to feel a bit more angular. The main downside is that as I'm quite short it's extraordinarily hard to find clothes which fit. Perhaps I should try children's - they seem to grow quite large these days....

More pain...

Working on the various pains...
1. heel - just putting up with it I guess. I know rest is important (I'm good at that...) and stretching will come into it at some point - but there is a level of pain there which puts me off making it any worse. It hurts when I walk, mostly when I've been off it and then walk on it. Running seemed to be OK - it wears off fairly quickly. Not sure if that is a good thing or not
2. Hips - my osteopath is working on me. The foam roller is a main element in the rehabilitation process - never has anything self-inflicted hurt so much. I can only hope it's working. It hurts far more on the bad side so I think the principle is sound, and the pain is lessening - or my threshold is rising.
3. toe joint - no change but I am constantly aware I have to make sure my Glutes are engaged when running which sometimes means I have to feel I'm twisting. I just wasn't made very well...
But I did run this week - another turn around the downs. I would be very happy if I could get myself up there without the need for a bike/car. I know my limit is about 5 miles - it used to be a regular 7 but that was a lifetime ago - and so the downs run is a treat. Perhaps when I'm back at work I will cycle up at lunchtime... could only do that if it's very cold as my face turns beetroot when I run. Not sophisticated really...

stats
4.35 miles
9min 58 a mile - so not too shabby for me... (under 10 mins a mile is a triumph in my book)