runners | Weekly check-in

Week 4 day 2 finished! \o/

Today I focused on running slowly, using the "you should be able to hold a conversation" rule. It worked! I really felt the burn in my quads, but my lungs did not hurt and I finished the run with plenty of energy and enthusiasm.

I'm unsure how to handle a trip I'm going on next weekend. I've never done two recuperation days in a row, but it might be a good thing! Still, I'm really looking forward to week 5 with its new program for every day.

The short-term goal I'm most excited about is learning to hold the plank position without trembling or wobbling. That will feel like a major victory :-D

Regarding two recuperation days, I find there's a huge difference in my performance after two days of rest. I was wary the first time, too, but it really made a positive difference. Go for it!

And congratulations on your conversation speed!

Thank you! I'll look forward to a boost in performance, then, rather than feel like I'm slacking :-)

I agree with

littledrop, I'm doing much better with two or even three days between runs.

Thank you, that's really good to know. I'm scared of losing momentum, because I'm an out of sight, out of mind person, but on the other hand I don't want to ruin the experience for myself by pushing too hard.

I know *exactly* what you mean, because that's kind of my personality too. A couple of times through the years I've pushed myself too hard and it's resulted in pain and stress on my body that really derailed my training plans. . .I'm *really* trying not to push myself too hard anymore.

Yikes. I hope both of us can succeed in not pushing too hard.

Today, after reading a lot of horror stories about c25k week 4 horror stories, and after having a frustrating and difficult week 4 day 1, I reined myself in and jogged as slowly as I could manage. Now I feel completely wired, like I didn't get enough exercise.

I should take a leaf from your book and do something fun and energetic which doesn't stress my legs. Maybe a bike ride...

I've abandoned C25K! I've had high blood pressure for a couple of years and I've been taking it really slowly. I've repeated every single week, but eight minutes to twenty just seemed like too much of a leap. I enjoy running but I don't want to die! (I worry too much, yes. *g*)

So now I'm doing this:

Sunday: Nice and chill. I get up later, and add two minutes to my previous run time. That's my plan, now, to increase by two minutes each time until I reach thirty minutes.

Tuesday: Speed work. I do sprint intervals, jog up some hills and run back down them to try and build speed. I don't stress about times too much, how far I go or how long it takes, I just have fun running like a little kid. It's great.

Thursday: I consolidate the week's running and add another two minutes if I feel up to it, which I usually do. The speed work really makes a huge difference, as do the two days off between Thursday and Sunday.

So I'm excited by my new plan, I guess. I can now run for sixteen minutes without stopping, at a decent pace. Decent for me, anyway. Fourteen minute mile! :D :D :D

Congrats on listening to your body and devising a play that feels right for you! A training plan is a good place to start, but you know your body best. . .

That sounds like a good plan. Fun and right for you :-)

Sixteen minutes without stopping! That's very good going :-D

And I forgot to add, I'm also excited about my new headache-avoidance strategy, which basically involves drinking a lot more water and eating more after I finish running. Thanks again to everybody who made suggestions the other day.

I hope it works! I read the replies to your question with interest, and have also been following the advice. I haven't been having headaches, but I also don't want to start having them ;-)

One thing I did find is that I sometimes get tension headaches right after running, which is probably entirely different from your headaches. What works for me is to focus on my posture, because I have a tendency to push my head forward.

Great!

Last week was kind of rough for me and I missed a scheduled brick and a run day, but I did get in a 40 minute/3.3 mile run on Saturday. I really think I needed a lighter week, because I felt like my energy level was better than its been for a while.

This week we'll be on vacation, but I'm planning on a brick on Tuesday (40 minute bike, 20 minute run), a short-ish run on Thursday, and 40 minute run on Saturday.

What is a brick? Is that a thriathlon expression? I'm glad the relatively lighter week worked so well to boost your energy. Good luck with scheduling your excercise during your vacation, sounds like you already have a good plan in place :-)

Yep, it's a triathlon expression - it's a training session where you do two sports (usually a bike/run, but sometimes a swim/bike). The transition from biking to running can be a little weird, since you're using different muscles, so most tri training plans include bricks to help prepare you for that transition.

Our vacation is going to be super laid back (we're renting a lakehouse and spending the week canoeing, fishing, and swimming with long stretches of sunbathing with a good book and knitting while watching tv) and I'm excited about having the time to run, swim and bike without feeling rushed or exhausted from work!

And thanks for the comment on the icon - my husband took the picture after my first triathlon and my first thought was that it would be a fun icon!

Oh, I see! Triathlon sounds like a lot of fun, especially the idea of going on with different muscles after the first set you used are good and tired.

That sounds so nice, your vacation plans. Very relaxing and invigorating.

I figured there must be a story behind your icon :-D
It's not only fun to look at, it's also sort of a trophy!

I'm really enjoying training for triathlons - I used to run pretty much exclusively, but my knees don't do so well with regular running. Cross training on the bike/swimming keeps me training regularly but prevents over-use injuries. . .

I'm excited about my 40's - I think they're going to be awesome! ::grin::

I bet they are :-D

Oh, and I forgot to add, what a great icon :-D

I reached my goal by simply keeping to my schedule. Running on Wednesday and Sunday, swimming on Friday. I stuck to the late evening/early morning hours to avoid the heat, and it worked fine.

Again, I managed to reduce the walking and increase the running part.

Same goals for this week.

Great job :-)

It's so good to have a schedule to follow, to keep you on track and give you a realistic and healthy benchmark.

Ugh, the heat. I've been trying with more or less success to haul myself out of bed early, so I can run before it gets too hot. How do you find running mornings and evenings compares? Does running in the evening keep you awake at night, and do you miss the energy and mood boost that a morning run would have given you?

I started my Wednesday run around 20.30h and was home about an hour later, which for me means almost bedtime. It took me a while to calm down enough to go to bed, though. Not pulse and breathing, that's down again by the time I walk back through the door, but all the rest.

My Sunday run started around 06.45h, and I was again home about an hour later. Felt a lot better - as you said, mood and energy boost. I definitely prefer running in the morning, or at least not quite as late as on Wednesday. Although the scents of the evening air are very nice, too. *g*

Yes, the evening air is so lovely this time of year. I miss my usual evening walks fiercely, but I can't both walk and run, it's too hard on me.

If you prefer running in the mornings, I'm sure I would feel the same. Thank you for sharing your experience :-)

I... haven't really run in two weeks. Gosh, moving is exhausting. I'll try to run this evening.

Moving sounds very stressful, especially to a different city so many hours away. No leisurely shuttling back and forth between the old place and the new place with small loads for you :-(

Good luck with your run this evening. I hope it will be a nice stress-reliever for you :-)

It's certainly been exercise, though not a lot with the legs :)

Let's hope I have the energy for at least a 20-minute run in an hour or so.

Edited (20, not 120!) 2010-07-06 04:03 (UTC)

Word to the "moving is exhausting" comment. I moved today and have been packing for two weeks prior. I'm still not totally done.

For me, I've used the running as an escape. It worked pretty well, but I'm lucky enough to be able to escape for that time period.

And I ran for 25 minutes \o/ :)

I've started week six of couch to 5k now. I've got the second run tomorrow. I haven't had any great problems with stepping it up -- the program has worked well for me, pushing me a bit further each week, but not unbearably. I think I was actually fitter before I started than I expected to be.

I'm doing squats (two hundred squats) as well, though, and those are not going badly, but I hate them more than any other kind of training I've ever done. *grumble*

That sounds really tough. I hate squats too, so I sympathize. I hope you get the effect from it you want, even if the process is not so fun :-)

Ran a 5K at 8:30 am yesterday, finished in 34:20 despite it being about 85º F--which is 5:20 shorter than when I ran the same race last year, which makes me happy.

Today the forecast is 101º, I think I'm taking a rest day.

Congratulations on your fine time :-D

5:20 faster on a 5km is quite an improvement!

More than a hundred degrees, that's just too much. Drink a cool drink in the shade for me, will you, I feel hot just thinking about it ;-)

In the past two and a half weeks I've moved to a new state, and I've joined a new gym. I'm really focusing on core and upper body strength right now, but I definitely haven't forgotten about running. I'm doing interval training instead of my normal just flat 2 or 3 mile runs, so I'm running a little less distance for the moment. But I really like doing the intervals, so we'll see how it goes.

If you enjoy the intervals, that's good. But really, you will make more improvements by running more miles rather than running formal intervals.

*nod* I like the intervals, but I'm alternating runs with them and just regular runs. My trainer has me doing incline, not speed bursts, to build stamina as I'm not worried about speed. Right now, I'm having a hard time just finding a balance again to be able to keep adding distances. But I'm still settling in here.

Managed the long 11.5K run on Wednesday, swam 30 minutes on Friday (heatwave!), and will head out for 5.8K run later tonight as it cools off. Might even get to run in the rain...

As for short-term goals: running a 5K with my

ell the weekend after next and hopefully overcoming my nervousness at running with someone who could be so much faster than me but chooses not to be because she wants to be with me. ♥

I just ran a race (didn't "race", just ran it) with a friend who is very very much faster than I am. She assured me that she would just run alongside me - and she did! Totally classy, and she even let me cross the finish line ahead of her.

I have had a friend visit who I'm much faster than, and who was nervous about running with me. But we went for a lovely run, and I totally didn't mind running at his much slower pace.

I finished Week 1 of C25K this morning! :) I felt really good overall - getting new headphones that stay in my ears helped a good bit too because I could focus on breathing and posture and so forth rather than keeping the ear buds in my ears.

Going to do Yoga Meltdown in a little while.

The rest of the week will be DVDs and starting C25K Week 2 on Thursday (Thursday, Saturday, Monday are my running days for the program).

I did laugh today at the gym when a coach who was technically working with someone else started giving me tips as well (they don't really technically have personal training sessions, but there are coaches around to help people out who need it), and he was talking about arms and how to hold them. His description of what they should be like was "Think tiny little t-rex arms - how they just kind of hang there and stick out. That's what you should go for." Hee!

About 15.5 miles in five runs this week. I'd hoped to do more but things getting in the way included locking my keys in the car at the park, flying to another continent, and lots of rain. I'm still feeling pretty proud of myself.

I'm impressed at your continuing to run while traveling. It's hard!

Finished C25K Week 4 and *nailed* Week 5 Day 1. I ran outside on actual streets (not a track). There were hills. I ran without my running partner. I ran while on vacation in a different state.

I feel *awesome* about my run, but I'm having some knee problems that I may post about and get some advice.

Congrats! Go you!

Managed only 2 runs last week, Intervals on Tuesday and a 5 k race on Friday. 100 miles on the bike total and only 1 swim. Not my best week for big effort...

I was at a conference last week so got in some high-altitude runs. A friend talked me into doing a 5.7 mile trail race with her, and even though I am still recovering from my tendinitis, I have been feeling pretty good, so I ran it and had a lot of fun. Finished about mid-pack, which I don't mind at all.

This week I am hoping to bring both my longest run and my total weekly mileage to new post-injury highs.

BTW, that's a great quote for running, even if it wasn't originally about running. Most people, when they race, aren't really "racing" - they are time-trialing, trying to beat their own previous time.

Weekly check-in

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