Weekly check in

[ell]

Happy Monday runners!

I hope everyone had a fantastic week last week and another coming up.

Today's quote is from Amby Burfoot:

I run because I enjoy it—not always, but most of the time. I run because I've always run—not trained, but run.

I find that more and more of my inspirational quotes are coming from Amby these days. Who are the people who inspire you?

Comments

[dancing_serpent]

Last week went very well for me, despite (or maybe because of) two weeks of not training. To my great surprise and delight I did so good on my Wednesday run that I decided to push a bit on the Sunday one. Turned out so well that I have to re-define my goals again. *g*

So, plans for this week include reducing my walking phase again and leaving out one of the stretching breaks.

[ilanarama]

Rest is as important a part of training as running is!

[dancing_serpent]

It is! I didn't expect it turn out as well as it did, though.

[temve]

Last week? Running kept me sane, and kept my appetite from disappearing completely. Also, it made for a very good valve - just going out and running for 45 minutes or so helped clear the mind and calm the body. Still doing the just-over-20K-a-week routine; it's become a comfortable one.

Who are the people who inspire you?

I think that one's pretty clear, even if you leave out all other aspects of life and focus that question solely on running: you.

[ilanarama]

Aw! ♥♥♥ You two are so sweet. :-)

And running is an excellent way to stay sane.

[yvi]

I think I may have started running again :) I went out yesterday, despite the rain. I am of course nowhere near where I was 5 weeks ago, but I could run for 10 minutes, take a break and then run 10 minutes again.

[dancing_serpent]

I was able to catch a break between rainfalls and it was awesome. I love the rich moist air right after it rained.

[marinarusalka]

I ran my 5K! My time was 45:09, which isn't exactly speedy, but it was nearly two minutes better than my best practice time. And I felt great when I finished. I feel more motivated than ever to keep running, and to sign up for more races.

[ilanarama]

Congratulations!

[sophinisba]

That's awesome! I'm glad it went so well for you.

[cyphomandra]

Woo hoo! Go you for your first 5k, and yay signing up for more races!

[temve]

Yay you! And yes, races do that for me too - I'm not a fast runner either, but I've done my fastest running at races, with others around me and people cheering. It's magic :)

[sophinisba]

I ran about 16 miles in five runs last week. It was a lot less than the previous week and less than I'd hoped/planned, but I don't feel too bad because I also did some good swimming and biking. (And also because this week has started out really well, so I know I haven't lost it.)

[cyphomandra]

My Saturday morning run didn't work out (puppy woke me up hourly from 3am!), but I had two other good runs - one group with sprints, one hill - as well as the gym, and I'm feeling pretty good about running at the moment.

I did, however, have a rather creepy experience on the hill run. It's basically an uphill climb through suburbs to a park, and the last km or so is through bush, with an elevated path to the side of a road. I was running up the path very slowly, with no other runners or walkers, and a guy came into sight walking down the road. When he saw me, he stopped, and climbed up off the road to stand waiting by the side of the path ahead of me. This freaked me out, as not only was there no-one around, but the trees came right up to the path there, so he would have easily been able to push me off the path and out of sight. So I stopped and pulled out my phone, while conducting an extensive internal dialogue with myself, and fortunately a male runner then came up the path behind me so I ran on through with him. And then turned around and came back with some dog walkers - the guy was still standing there, but he didn't say or do anything either time.

It occurred to me halfway down the hill that I should have taken his photo with my phone just in case (I'd say "next time", but I'd really prefer there not to be one!). It's put me off the final segment of that run, though, so I'll probably just do an earlier turn around next time unless I'm with someone.

[littledrop]

Ugh, yes, that's horrible. Take no chances. You have my sympathies. I had a similar experience recently and since then I've varied my route and routine a little bit. Not that anybody should have to, or that it would matter if anything did happen, but I feel safer doing it that way.

Creepy guys. Horrible.

[gnomad]

Last week was a heavy training week for me after so many weeks of skimping on workouts (8.75hrs of training zomg). Even so, I still only had 2 runs to do. They went well? I got to run with others both times and that always makes me happy no matter what happens otherwise. I really am such a social exerciser, it's pathetic.

Who inspires me? People who I know started started slower and then worked their way up to fast. It gives me hope that I can do the same.

[littledrop]

I was sick last week. I went out once and had to cut it short because the illness exacerbated my asthma and my gasping for breath irritated my sore throat. So I basically had seven days off, because that one day was so terrible I don't count it. :)

Yesterday I was able to go out again, and I was absolutely prepared to suck. And, yeah, my endurance was kind of shot. But my speed! For some reason, I got faster! I ran an eight-minute block of speed. Well, speedier than my usual snail's pace, anyway. I was very surprised.

I'm due out again tomorrow, so I think I'll just see how it goes. The body, it is doing unexpected things. *mystery fingers of ooooh*