A New Approach

Although I’ve previously mastered (some) distance in my running, my speed was distinctly average at a pace of 10:10.

Over the past couple of months my running has been patchy with the odd illness, general apathy, new tattoos (I’m up to five now), and - most recently - UDS Karmic and AllHands.

But yesterday seemed like a good day to start again, and I repeated it again today. Instead of my usual route of 4.6 miles, I opted for a shorter one of 2.4 miles and pushed myself. So far my average pace is 08:53 - a big improvement. I’ll keep going at this pace/distance until I can do it comfortably (or even faster), then add some more miles on.

It’s made me realise how much I missed running though.

Going Cold Turkey

It’s amazing how quickly you get out of shape.

One of the side-effects of me not running for a while was that I noticeably put weight back on. Thinking back over the 19 days (19!) I wasn’t running, the amount of rubbish I ate was quite bad. So starting…now…I’m kicking off an experiment.

This isn’t a diet – I don’t want to lose weight per se, just get into shape – it’s a change of direction. For the next seven days I’m only going to:

We’ll see how I do…

Overcoming Inertia

A few weeks ago I was running almost every day, and thoroughly enjoying it. Then I stopped. I stopped for a fairly good reason – I came down with a summer cold and really didn’t feel like running so I thought I’d pick it up again in a few days.

This was 19 days ago!

I kept saying to myself that I’m going running today, or I’ll start again tomorrow but it just didn’t happen. I don’t know why – it wasn’t a conscious decision, something just kept getting in the way and when I did get time I had no motivation (“tomorrow” is so easy).

Even yesterday which was an absolutely glorious day (although probably too hot) I couldn’t overcome the inertia. As with all procrastination, I knew I was putting it off and was frustrated with myself for doing so but didn’t actually do anything about it. I decided enough was enough, and this morning I was going to get up a 6AM and go for a run.

Of course this didn’t happen. I got up, reset the alarm for 7AM and went back to sleep.

However once my wife took the Schwuklets to school I grabbed my trainers and headed out. Now I feel great, and I’m really looking forward to running again.

The nice thing about inertia is that applies to rest and movement.

So now I’m running again I’ll keep going until something ‘trips me up’.

The other thing I re-discovered is that I really enjoying running. Even though I’m listening to something (was podcasts, then music, now I’m back to podcasts) my mind is free to wander. I don’t need to think (too much) about the actual act of running, so I’m free to think about anything else and I’ve had quite a few ‘lightbulb’ moments this way.

Physical and mental exercise – what more could you want?

Why I love to hate The Chemical Brothers

Intentionally skipping the weekend, over the last eight days on six I’ve run 2½ miles per day in an average time of nearly 24½ minutes. This is skewed slightly because the first of the six runs was accompanied by my dog, and I ended running for a total of 32 minutes. If I ignore that result then my average is just under 23 minutes which is much better.

Todays run was completed below my average time, and involved only one stop! When running my circuit clockwise there a flat of about 140 yds then a downhill of maybe 200 yds. I started running my circuit clockwise because when I originally ran it anti-clockwise I hated this hill at the end. It’s better getting it over with at the beginning, but it’s still awkward, especially trying to tackle it with any speed. Today though I treated it as a warm up – I went at an easy pace until I got to bottom, did some more stretching then tackled the rest of the run. I’m not sure if it was because of doing, or general improvement on my part but I didn’t feel the need for a break on the rest of run which is a great progress.

I drove the circuit last night, and it looks like my pedometer is slightly out, but not enough to be concerned about. I’ll correct it at some point.

Lessons learnt so far:

Insert interesting, pithy title here

Unfortunately declaring that I was no longer ‘attempting’ running has left me without any ideas of what to use as titles for my ‘runlogs’. I do have an alternative plan in the works though, so you’ll just have to indulge me for now.

Another run today. Practically same time and distance as yesterday. I felt I hadn’t done as well because as well as a couple of (< 10s) breaks I had a couple of very short walks. I think the reason it panned out was because I introduced some Fartlek. Nothing serious, I just made sure that a few stretches were run at a much faster pace than normal.

Overall I’m feeling pretty good – I’m running faster and more consistantly, and I’m feeling (and seeing) the effects. My legs are a bit sore after todays run (more than yesterday or the day before), so I may skip tomorrow to avoid any injury, but I’ll see how I feel in the morning.

Sixth (and final) attempt

Bright blazing sunshine. Hour long lunchbreak. New running shorts. What else could I do?

This post marks the sixth and final attempt to go running. Why final? Because I’m enjoying it enough that I’m no longer attempting it – I’m just doing it.

Sticking to the shorter circuit is paying off. I know that I’ve done it, but I’m not dead after doing it. This meant that I could go the day after my last attempt. I know that’s not advisable, and I probably won’t be doing that when I’m onto the longer runs but I want to make the most of the good weather.

I ran the same direction as yesterday, and the pedometer claimed practically the same distance (just over 2½ miles) although I was quicker today. I still haven’t re-calibrated it – I’m going to drive the circuit (it’s all road based) to see how it compares before I do.

I’ve a now added a few additional items to my list:

Let me explain each of them.

Read the rest »

Fourth and Fifth Attempts

Nine months after my last attempt I decided it was time to pull on my running shoes again.

This time I decided to start a bit more gradually so I cut the second, third and fourth sections off my circuit to make a shorter one. Unfortunately this means running over a mile along a busy main road – not ideal. My plan is that when I can a) run the short course in under 20 minutes and b) complete it without stopping/pausing/walking then I shall move back onto my original course.

My fourth attempt took place about two and a half weeks ago. I took our dog with us – he thoroughly enjoyed it – and I felt I did fairly well. 2.6 miles in just over 23 minutes (of actual running). I had the best intentions of going again a few days later, but they came to nothing. I was stiff for a few days, but not too bad.

My fifth attempt was the morning. I ran the route in reverse (to avoid the hill at the end) and again took the dog with me. Schwukette drove past about half-way round and she took the dog in the car leaving me to complete it on my own. Even though I felt I did better my pedometer claims I ran less distance in more time (and burned less calories) which just seems wrong so I’m not posting any stats until I’m sure that the pedometer is calibrated properly.

The weather is fantastic at the moment so I asked Schwukette to pick me up some running shorts in town. I might as well get a tan whilst I’m out!

Taking the dog with me on the runs seemed like a good idea, but it’s not. He has to be on a lead and will frequently stop to smell the flowers (or somesuch) and mark the route in his own special way. I’ll try the next couple without him and see how I do.