Just back from my second (very) short jog in two days. The 20km of last years seems a dim and distant past, and the concept of 40km seems somewhat challenging to say the least.
The latest plan is to run first thing in the morning as Sands is going to the gym now most days at 9.30am, and the cats are at their most playful, so I am meant to get up and run and be back at about the same time that Sands goes to the gym. That way the cats bless them don’t get left alone when they are at their most playful, and we can leave the roof open which is where they like to spend the early part of the day before it gets too warm.
This actually seems to be working well. Is nice to get back knowing that the exercise is done and I have the whole day ahead of me. Is nice temperature to run in so hopefully wont get the dehydration issues of last summer, and is lovely to come back and eat breakfast on the roof and play with the cats.
Means that I ‘start work’ around 11.30am every morning which isn’t so bad either.
As for the actual training though – boy have I got a long way to go!!!!
Get a Wii fit, helping me get fit!
I’m starting to get back into it after a few weeks out of action and I must say that for some reason I’m finding running really hard. Probably a bit of mental adjustment to done in all fairness, but I just wondered what you were doing in terms of setting goal for the next few weeks and whether you’re making wholesale changes to lifestyle and diet.
I see that Nike+ has added a so called ‘training aid’ to their site / system which I think is borrowed from nikerunning.com, but to honest I’d rather get advice from real people.
[quote comment=””]I’m starting to get back into it after a few weeks out of action and I must say that for some reason I’m finding running really hard. Probably a bit of mental adjustment to done in all fairness, but I just wondered what you were doing in terms of setting goal for the next few weeks and whether you’re making wholesale changes to lifestyle and diet.
I see that Nike+ has added a so called ‘training aid’ to their site / system which I think is borrowed from nikerunning.com, but to honest I’d rather get advice from real people.[/quote]
Agree!
It is all about Lifestyle really. You can ‘Get Fit’ but that is all about one off stuff and in my experience is a bit boom or bust – boom you go all out, make loads of changes and yeah ‘Get Fit’, but a month or so later you bust again.
So for me the initial focus is all bout creating the right habits! Initially I just want focus on running every morning at around the same time for a pretty short distance. It isn’t about how far I run at the moment, it is about the frequency that I run. As such I don’t want to wake up knackered from the previous days run and give myself the excuse not to run. Regular short runs to create the habit are the order of the day. I am lucky in that I can allocate the mornings to this, but my advise would be that whatever time of the day you decide is right for you make that your focus.
I am not dieting as such as again that is a pretty drastic measure, and wont leave me with the energy to run! I am eating sensibly which means what I eat and when I eat! I don’t want to wake up feeling hungry or lethargic so for now no booze at all, and basically only ‘good foods’.
Typically I am eating a banana before I run, then a bowl of muesli for breakfast when I get back. Snack around 12 is fruit and some brazil nuts, almonds (nothing salted). Lunch is the main meal of the day (basically vegetarian at the moment so a lot of rice, pasta, pulses vegetables, salad etc). Dinner is a sandwich and fruit, or a salad. Then just before I go to bed I am having plain yoghurt, with fruit and seeds, and maybe a bit of honey – basically so I don’t lie awake hungry and I don’t wake up starving!
I am giving myself two weeks to get into this habit, and then I will start to increase the running in terms of distance, and then add in a bike ride and some sport (hoping to start planning tennis once a week, and 5 a side football once a week)
Failing all that I may have to get the Wii Fit 🙂 but I like being outside exercising.
Let me know what you decide to do!
All sounds pretty sensible and I think I am falling fowl of trying to start off where I left off a month or so ago. My own worst enemy you could say! I definitely need to get myself more hydrated throughout the day as I prefer to run later in the evening (but reading your posts, maybe the morning would be better).
Just out of interest, what do you class as a short jog? I’m trying to start back out with a 1.5 mile run (with a few minutes walk in the middle) 3 x a week? Too much? Not enough?
[quote comment=””]All sounds pretty sensible and I think I am falling fowl of trying to start off where I left off a month or so ago. My own worst enemy you could say! I definitely need to get myself more hydrated throughout the day as I prefer to run later in the evening (but reading your posts, maybe the morning would be better).
Just out of interest, what do you class as a short jog? I’m trying to start back out with a 1.5 mile run (with a few minutes walk in the middle) 3 x a week? Too much? Not enough?[/quote]
Short jog for me is about 3km, so not to different. I am aiming for 5 times a week though. I will then go to 5km, 7km, 10km and then stick at 10k for a month. Then I will start doing a couple of longer ones each week ……..
My body really doesn’t like running in the mornings which is something I am having to educate it to accept. What I do like is that nothing gets in the way i.e. don’t get sidetracked, and is a great feeling to have actually got it out the way as well. I tend to find easier to be healthy for the rest of the day when I know I started of being healthy!
Hmm… seems like an awful lot of work to me! 😉 My motto is exercise kills. Never hear of the 50 year-old dying in front of the TV do you? Nope. Hear an awful lot about the “fit” 50 year old keeling over from a heart attack while on his daily 10 mile jog!
All kidding aside, I simply don’t have the stamina, ability, (big one for someone who should have a wing named for them at the local hospital,) or desire to do what your doing – but I do have to give you the respect for actually doing it! Good luck.
Sadly we had a friend who was in his early 60’s that was found dead collapsed at his Mac. No one has seen or heard from him for a day or so.
Not very pleasant at all – I think I will take my chances with the exercise 🙂
Well… Took your advice Chris and headed out for my first morning run today. Just got back from a leisurely mile and half around the block and I must say that I’m impressed… I need to take more consideration in terms of hydration and food energy levels, but you’re dead right, it’s out of the way for the day, I feel much better for doing it now and there’s no chance of having to time later on tonight.
Glad that seems to be working for you 🙂
I went for a run this morning – that is 4 this week, no alcohol, pretty good diet. Starting to feel better!!!!
I played football again tonight. The first time in 5 months no thanks to an ankle injury. Came through unscathed, though I couldn’t trap a bag of soot> The match fitness will come back in time (though at 50, that’s a luxury haha)
Hopefully the weather will change for the better to allow me to get back on the bike.
Anyway Chris, how do you manage the no alcohol thing? Especially in Spain! I wish I could do that. The healthy eating is great, I have a vegetarian wife so that is not a problem for me.
Keeping hydrated is a big factor. Anyway, keep up the good work.
I played tennis yesterday morning and don’t feel so bar today which is a pleasant surprise!!!
Not drinking is an interesting one. I am not a ‘regular’ drinker in that I don’t go to the pub in the evening for a ‘couple after work’ and we don’t ‘just open a bottle of wine’ of an evening. I never have. I tend to ‘go on one’ from time to time, so in a way not drinking is pretty easy – it is just a case of avoidance! If I don’t go down to the Marina in the evening I don’t drink. If we don’t go out for lunch I don’t drink!!
So at the moment I am limiting my visits to the marina to during the day i.e. pre lunch or later afternoon and having a coffee. I did have a fair few drinks on Friday as was our wedding anniversary, and on Saturday I had to fix two Windows Notebooks for a neighbour so had 3 small bottles of beer – but who wouldn’t after 4 hours in front of vista!!!
I am meant to be sorting out a UK 5 a side team to play against my German friends team ..