Beardys running log - Ct5k

[Polar Bear]

Not quite sure where my running mojo has suddenly gone.  For the second week in a row I have failed to get out as per plan.  I am trying to ignore the negativity nibbling away at my brane and pretending that my body knows best.

Perhaps it's related to me setting myself another target which I have niggling doubts about?  I'll scrap the target and just get back to running I think.  My brane seems completely fragile when it comes to a little "pressure" and has xonenzo for a while.  No point in loading it upon myself I guess.

[Beardy]

It’s obviously been transferred to me. Either that, or you’re subconsciously feeling bad for showing me up and have eased off in a (vain) attempt to let me catch up

It comes and goes PB, you’ve been there before and you’ll be back before you know it. You obviously want to understand why it’s gone, and changing something is always a worthwhile thing to do. Hang on in there

[chrisbainbridge]

I think many of us are going through these sorts of things, perhaps more so at the moment.  Alasdair Humphreys linked to this today.  It is from 2018 and I had not seen it before but it I think encapsulates what a lot of us have tried to articulate at times.

https://thenextchallenge.org/adventure-cycling-depression/

As part of our preparation, we decided to cycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats. We had done several cycle tours before but thought that we should see how it felt to go away, knowing that the experience might be extended for a year or more. On the second day, however, Laura looked over her shoulder to see me pushing my bike uphill. She was perplexed. I had never needed to get off and push before.

‘You alright, love?’ she asked.

‘I just don’t seem to have the energy.’

This was odd because I rode my bike all the time and had recently set the Guinness World Record for the longest distance cycled on a rickshaw. That had involved pedalling a huge, iron tricycle 1,000 miles from Scotland to London. As such, cycling up a hill, even a Cornish one, should have been fine.

When evening came, for some unknown reason, I could not face camping. Normally, I viewed camping as an opportunity, not a hardship. I loved nothing more than sleeping on top of a hill beneath the stars, but that night, I could not bring myself to do it. I was almost scared of it and Laura eventually had to find us a hotel.

We started on our bikes again the following day, but when we reached a town, I told Laura that I could not cycle any further and needed to sit down. She went off to get me some food (knowing that hunger was often the source of my problems), and by the time she got back, I was sitting on the floor with my head in my hands, crying.

I prided myself on never giving up. I was constantly looking for challenges and always driving myself harder. In Oman, for example, I used to ride a loop of the local oil compound every morning before breakfast and cycled so hard that when I slumped over my bike after achieving a personal best, passers-by would stop and ask if I was OK.

But that had started to feel futile. What was the point of riding my bike in circles, just to beat my own time? And what was the point of riding a bike across Cornwall? Why bother riding a bike at all?

Those feelings had been building for several months. Years of working at home, on my own, had been taking a toll. I often had no human interaction for days at a time and I had not been making a lot of money either, which, combined with the recent loss of a key client, ate away at my self-esteem.

These issues all came to a head in Cornwall, and the only response I could muster was to sit on the floor, crying.

[Beardy]

I think that the upsetting thing about that is that anyone would be surprised that a person’s inner self is as capable of breaking as their bones. But if he’d sat on the floor because he had a broken leg no one would think him weak whereas many people seeing home sitting there with no visible injuries would judge him unkindly. Why can’t society get past that?

[mrcharly-YHT]

I think that the upsetting thing about that is that anyone would be surprised that a person’s inner self is as capable of breaking as their bones. But if he’d sat on the floor because he had a broken leg no one would think him weak whereas many people seeing home sitting there with no visible injuries would judge him unkindly. Why can’t society get past that?

Quite.

It reads like systemic, devastating depression. Awful.

[Beardy]

Run day. I wonder how long it’ll take me to get out this morning.

[Polar Bear]

OK Beardy: I have promised myself that I will run today.  It was raining stair rods at 6:00a.m. so I am currently in the folding phase of bread making.  I intend to get out at 11:00a.m. for an hour of low hr.

Will you beat me out of the door?

[chrisbainbridge]

Nice steady 7km. 

I recovered from my pulled Achilles and got out again about 2-3 weeks ago but found my HR spiking on every run.  I put it down to detraining and kept going.  Now had 5 days just about lying down after my body hit me with a lump hammer on Friday.  Woke this morning feeling much better so set off to just be gentle to myself.  Set the HR alarm 5 beats lower, accepted I would probably be walking and was pleasantly surprised.  HR back to predictable, pace down a bit but felt easy again.

Amazing how our bodies try to tell us we are unwell and we (I) just do not listen until we have to.

[Beardy]

Ok, Pb, I’m back so you need to put your running shoes on. 

I’ve embraced Uncle Jeff whole heartedly and am now trying to expand my lung capacity. It’s certainly the thing that seems to be holding me back. Given the amount of running I’d done this year up until a week or so ago, Id lost a lot of my fitness, but it’s obviously lurking just below the surface because I seem to be regaining it quite quickly.

Another Jeff’d run of 5k and again overall a little faster again. Recovery is also seeming faster with me already feeling great for my run.

I need to apply some SCIENCE though, so need to read MAF and other stuff to decide how to progress.

[chrisbainbridge]

As you know I am a whole hearted MAF nerd enthusiast. If you do not mind walking and have a hrm then it is so easy it makes running enjoyable. Fundamentally it is just a way of making people do slow running at a suitable pace with a very simple rule. Turns out it is almost identical to the HR zones recommended by almost every other long slow distance LSD type training.

Take 180- age. Take off another 5 if you have been overtraining or ill. Add 5 if you are over 60 or if you have trained for a while with no injury.  This is your absolute do not exceed maximum.
Set your HR alarm on the fenix 6 for about 3 beats per minute below the maximum.
Warm up and run at a pace which stops the alarm from beeping. When it alarms, Walk, until 3 beats below alarm. Start running it on the flat or continue walking it on a hill. Do this for 60-90 minutes. Repeat as often as you wish.
After one week find a flat 5km path. Warm up thoroughly then start watch and execute perfect MAF run. That is your first MAF test. Repeat same 5km every month to see improvement.
After 3’months add in some speed or hill work.

[Beardy]

Thanks Chris, that’s very helpful. Bizarrely, the most difficult part of that is going to be finding 5k of flat in Suffolk! Still, I think I’ll start that next week.

[Polar Bear]

Good man Beardy.  Challenge accepted and completed.

I did my 1 hour low hr session and performed really badly.  It was the worst one that I have done in terms of both pace and distance and I struggled to keep my hr below the upper limit.

I blame myself entirely.  I have had two lazy and inconsistent weeks and I have paid the price.

The most bizarre outcome was that I should have reached 100km for April but missed out by 0.1km simply because I'd let things slide and missed too many runs in the past two weeks.

Lesson learned.  😔

Still:  I did get out so that's a positive.  🙂

[Beardy]

Well done PB. Any run is a good,run, just some are better than others.

Some good returners this morning, which is good to see. I think this thread helps keep running current for us, even when we’re not on our game. I know it helps me.

[chrisbainbridge]

Well done PB. Any run is a good,run, just some are better than others.

Some good returners this morning, which is good to see. I think this thread helps keep running current for us, even when we’re not on our game. I know it helps me.

Massive help. Without being rude there are so many good athletes who make cycling and running low for k easy, who seem to enjoy hard sessions which leave them vomiting and who think that max HR should be average for a session. Whereas this thread is for people who want to enjoy being fitter, struggle with various aspects, do not judge and are generally supportive. Really helps me.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Well done PB. Any run is a good,run, just some are better than others.

Some good returners this morning, which is good to see. I think this thread helps keep running current for us, even when we’re not on our game. I know it helps me.

Massive help. Without being rude there are so many good athletes who make cycling and running low for k easy, who seem to enjoy hard sessions which leave them vomiting and who think that max HR should be average for a session. Whereas this thread is for people who want to enjoy being fitter, struggle with various aspects, do not judge and are generally supportive. Really helps me.

I joined a 'trail and ultra' running group on facebook (dunno why, I rarely run over 10km. Well, sometimes I do bogs).

Multiple people on the group said that trail running removed the pressure they'd felt to go fast, and they'd rediscovered a love of running.

Very accepting group; there are people on there who think that averaging 4:30 for 50km is taking it easy, and people who only just manage to sustain 10m per km. All welcomed and encouraged.

[Ashaman42]

Ugh. Hungover and only four hours sleep. I'm still going to run but I think it'll be this afternoon rather than this morning.

[Feanor]

Multiple people on the group said that trail running removed the pressure they'd felt to go fast, and they'd rediscovered a love of running.

^^ Very much this.

[Polar Bear]

I'd love to live somewhere near say the New Forest, Thetford Forest, Cannock Chase etc. So that I could run around woodland track and paths instead of running around the concrete jungle of Rugby. 

[mrcharly-YHT]

Short gentle trial jog this eve. Very deliberately didn't turn on Strava - this was just to see if my achilles will let me jog again.

Qualified success - only slight twinge, probably due to running along the rocky beach.

Will give it a few days then try that again.

[Beardy]

Slowly slowly catchy monkey MrC. Hope it continues to improve.

I’m in bed nice and early but I’m somewhat aware of the beer I’ve consumed this evening. It was a very nice example of the genre which did lead to an inadvisable quantity to be consumed. It’s unfortunate that the sg was a little bit higher than recommended for a session beer. Did I mention how nice it was?

For those that might be interested it was Woodforde’s Norfolk Nog Old Ale. It’s very tasty if I’ve not already mentioned it.

Hic.

[Polar Bear]

Another morning, another internal battle with motivation.  😔

I was up at 05:00 but somehow couldn't muster the tuits to put the running kit on, do the warm up stretches and get out.  Now the sun has risen and is scorching the earth contrary to the MET Office forecast of a cool and cloudy day.

I'll have to work on lifting my arse and my mojo off the sofa now.

[Ashaman42]

The malaise hung around all day yesterday so I didn't get out in the end. Didn't even do any exercise bike but I managed a spot of yoga at least.

We've got the shopping to do first but then I'm aiming for a 6k after breakfast. The weather is nice for it at least.

[chrisbainbridge]

Got my 10k done. Then did my Airofit.  Shower and breakfast now.
I could be so much fitter if I did not work!

[Polar Bear]

I am now dressed to run.  There is still a big question mark over whether I shall though.

One ToJ silly potential motivator is that my run will meet my Garmin daily steps goal (10,000 in my case, the default which I never bothered to change) which will mean that I have hit my steps goal for 30 consecutive days and will earn 4 points.  Whoppee doo!!!

[Beardy]

I am now dressed to run.  There is still a big question mark over whether I shall though.

One ToJ silly potential motivator is that my run will meet my Garmin daily steps goal (10,000 in my case, the default which I never bothered to change) which will mean that I have hit my steps goal for 30 consecutive days and will earn 4 points.  Whoppee doo!!!

I’m up and pondering my options. I don’t have a hangover, which is good, but I do feel very hungry. If I try and run fasted as normal I’m confident that I’ll bork due to lack of energy but if I eat before I run I’m fairly sure the food will sit in my stomach like a rock and I’ll feel awful.

A compromise maybe food then a walk.

A cup of tea while I ponder I think.