Author Topic: Beardys running log - Ct5k  (Read 143081 times)

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1275 on: 27 February, 2021, 09:06:45 am »
Well done PB - I’ve had my first coffee, a micro lot from Thailand:) - but haven’t run or cycled yet...

HF - would that be a run as well as a 50 mile bike ride or instead?


Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1276 on: 27 February, 2021, 09:17:23 am »
I really enjoyed my early starts last year.  The first one was at the end of March 2020 so I am a whole month ahead but it ry felt good and I'm almost literally bouncing.  What surprised me which is different from recent runs how I was able to keep my hr lower for the entire run without impacting pace and how quickly I had recovered post run.

And, it was a fasted run.  Didn't notice any issues there either.

On this day in 2020 I was still in ru /walk C25K territory.  It was run for 5 mins, walk for 3, repeat a few times.  I recorded 4.99km and got the hr way up.  A steady 8km today with a significantly lower hr than this day last year.   👍

I suppose that's why all these Garmin metrics are useful - I can now directly compare myself to this time 12 months ago and appreciate the progress even though sometimes it doesn't feel like I am making any!

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1277 on: 27 February, 2021, 11:32:20 am »
Strange day as I had a recovery day yesterday and expected to do a long run today but even after a good sleep woke up tired and listless.  Eventually forced myself out into the glorious sunshine and ran but never flowed.  Mangaed 12km and the pace was a couple of seconds faster on average than usual so I must be getting fitter. 

PB, This time last year I could not even run!  I do not have any Garmin running stats until august although I believe I started the C25K in July.  My first 8km run was at 8.23/km pace so a massive improvement since then.

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1278 on: 27 February, 2021, 12:31:54 pm »
Looking back to July I did my first 12k then and I was slightly quicker over 6, 8 and 12k than I am now but I was also working the hr a significant amount more.  My recovery now is an awful lot quicker so I'm pretty sure that I have made real gains.

Starting next week I am adding in a slow MAF style run, a basic intervals session and also setting an upper hr limit for my long run each week.  I'll hopefully be getting out four times a week instead of three.  I often manage to miss one a week at the moment too which perhaps partly explains my performance drop off recently.

The idea is to get to the end of May before getting all critical with assessments.  After that I need to slowly stretch my long run in preparation for half marathons in October but I will want to keep some of the new elements of my workouts if I can see and feel any positive progress. 

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1279 on: 27 February, 2021, 12:39:21 pm »
Well done PB - I’ve had my first coffee, a micro lot from Thailand:) - but haven’t run or cycled yet...

HF - would that be a run as well as a 50 mile bike ride or instead?

Thai coffee?  They must have started getting into quality, because it used to be the sort of stuff that would keep you awake all night. Ditto Vietnam.  Laos has had amazing coffee for a long time.

Did 45 hilly miles on bike this morning, but I'm bike unfit, so it was a slog.

Going out on the trails later to see what my knee does when I run. Won't be a long one, maybe 6 miles if knee agrees.

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1280 on: 27 February, 2021, 02:30:29 pm »
Well done PB - I’ve had my first coffee, a micro lot from Thailand:) - but haven’t run or cycled yet...

HF - would that be a run as well as a 50 mile bike ride or instead?
Did 45 hilly miles on bike this morning, but I'm bike unfit, so it was a slog.
I am internally worried about getting back on the bike.  I know that is stupid but I set myself goals which are unachievable and then castigate myself when I do not achieve them.  Normally by now I have commuted all winter on spiky tyres and will have had a 150 if not a 200.  The running has been so enjoyable though and the pressure not to go too far that I have run instead of cycling to commute and only cycled on the turbo.  Partly as well because I am becoming increasingly risk averse (2 broken collar bones with metal work in) so see the spike tyres as an emergency safety thing rather than a daily commute enabler.

I have a really nice 75km ride which I can do in under 3hours usually and I have my nice new lightweight bike which I have not ridden since October as I refuse to put mudguards on it.  I also want to get out this summer and do some cycle touring and rough camping.  I had hoped to be LELing and perhaps some trips to Tenerife and France but that will not be happening this year!

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1281 on: 27 February, 2021, 02:41:25 pm »
Well... normally I too will have commuted all winter (bar ice days), and will have probably done three 200k rides.  I haven't ridden a 200k for a year and the truth is I dont think I could do it comfortably. So I won't. I will accept that I am less fit, accept that I can't judge myself by normal standards because in terms of my riding this has not been a normal time.  A big part of it has been general innactivity. Normal life for me is leaving the house at about 6.45am, 13 mile fixed gear smash, with another at the end of the day, but importantly almost no sitting down in between and quite a bit of walking.

I've been sat on my arse/lying on my bed for most of the past 2 months with a run every other day. Of course I'm not going to be as fit. The key for me is a routine that doesn't make getting fit seem like a chore, so I'm looking forward to resuming my 'normal' life in 5 days time.

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1282 on: 27 February, 2021, 02:44:38 pm »
...   I set myself goals which are unachievable and then castigate myself when I do not achieve them. ...

I am world-beating at this.  It's all I can do to try and reset but my eternal over-ambitious nature leads to much disappointment. 

Not sure how to break the cycle except to stop doing whatever is the current root cause and that by it's very nature is an even bigger aelf-destruct mechanism. 

Feanor

  • It's mostly downhill from here.
Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1283 on: 27 February, 2021, 05:57:35 pm »
It's almost a year since I wrecked my ankle on the Clachnaben Hill Race route.

Today was the first time I've done that route since.
Ankle is mostly OK, but taking it very carefully, particularly the technical descents.
14k, and really feeling it now.

Forestry work has made some sections more difficult now.
The ground is chewed up and scattered with tree-debris.

https://www.strava.com/activities/4860140005

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1284 on: 27 February, 2021, 06:18:49 pm »
It's almost a year since I wrecked my ankle on the Clachnaben Hill Race route.

Today was the first time I've done that route since.
Ankle is mostly OK, but taking it very carefully, particularly the technical descents.
14k, and really feeling it now.

Forestry work has made some sections more difficult now.
The ground is chewed up and scattered with tree-debris.

https://www.strava.com/activities/4860140005

Blimey - are there AAA points for running?  ;D  Within spitting distance of Cairn O'Mount so hills no surprise, but some of those gradients....  :o
The sound of one pannier flapping

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1285 on: 27 February, 2021, 06:19:06 pm »
Just back from 8.5 mile hilly run. Straight up from the valley floor to the top of the Cotswold escarpment the along the edge of it through the woods back up to top, then down into a hidden road less valley through the forests and past the empty gothic mansion and lakes.



Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1286 on: 28 February, 2021, 11:29:02 am »
Lovely sunny day for a run. Loads (at least for round here) of runners about. Shocked to realise it's only my third 10k of the year. Slacking!
"No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everybody on the couch."

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1287 on: 28 February, 2021, 06:55:02 pm »
5 hours at the allotment this morning - not digging - then ran home from mum in Laws in Wetherby this afternoon - 10 miles off road. Ready for a bath.

HF - the Thai coffee is really good. Small farm with a younger couple focusing on quality. Natural process. I’m rationing to one filter a day, then it’s back to espresso based drinks thereafter.

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1288 on: 28 February, 2021, 07:36:11 pm »
Interesting. Must get back into filter coffee. It's been years since I've had any. It'll be from the north near Chiang Mai, I'll wager. Must be less hassle than growing opium.

10 miles today, mostly off road. An extended version of yesterday's run up the escarpment and through the hidden valley, but in reverse for a less brutal start. Annoyingly I've got small blisters on the ends of my toes, so I'm thinking I'll have to sell these new wonderful shoes and go up half a size.

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1289 on: 28 February, 2021, 07:53:38 pm »
Interesting. Must get back into filter coffee. It's been years since I've had any. It'll be from the north near Chiang Mai, I'll wager. Must be less hassle than growing opium.

10 miles today, mostly off road. An extended version of yesterday's run up the escarpment and through the hidden valley, but in reverse for a less brutal start. Annoyingly I've got small blisters on the ends of my toes, so I'm thinking I'll have to sell these new wonderful shoes and go up half a size.

Yes, the farm was planted with coffee 30 years ago as part of an opium replacement program sponsored by the then government. I suspect to replace opium you really do need to focus on quality - commodity coffee prices are pretty criminal if you’re a farmer.

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1290 on: 28 February, 2021, 08:10:19 pm »
I'm a bit out of touch with the quality coffee world at present. There is robusta up there, in northern Thailand, but nothing like the frankly unbelievable quantities the Vietnamese now produce. I've never actually been to northern Thailand, despite having entered the country 8 times. Been on coffee plantations in Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar though.Ooh and Indonesia too. The whole scene has changed over the last two decades with the demand for premium beans and experimentation with different processes. Anyway, I think that by the time my children reach my age decent coffee will be a distant memory, so enjoy it while it still exists.

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1291 on: 01 March, 2021, 08:34:07 am »
Fri I had a go at running offroad (as in, trackless bog and rock).
Blimey, that was hard!  I know my legs are pretty feeble these days, but still . . .

3km felt like 10km on the road.

Very impressed by Feanor's hilly run.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1292 on: 01 March, 2021, 09:35:22 am »
Do you know what? I find it easier. Tracks through the woods with tree roots and sharp turns round trees are my favorite. It's a boredom thing. I've not many issues with fitness but I have a huge one with boredom. Its the same on the bike, which is why I find flat rides harder than hilly ones.

Mind you, trackless bog. No thanks.  I ran across several fields yesterday that were still slightly moist and had ubiquitous hoof holes. It was horrendous.

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1293 on: 01 March, 2021, 10:23:54 am »
Nearly time to start stretching.  I always feel a tad apprehensive at the start of the month.  The first target for each month in 2021 is to run further than in the same month last year.  I did 62 kms in March 2020.

So far so good this year. 👍

I am planning to repeat my run from Saturday but in reverse.  That is, not backwards but ...  😉

Did a recce along the old railway yesterday.  Mostly dried out and the surface looks to be fine for trail shoes and my ability levels.  If it stays that way I will do my first MAF style session there this week.

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1294 on: 01 March, 2021, 11:45:50 am »
Do you know what? I find it easier. Tracks through the woods with tree roots and sharp turns round trees are my favorite. It's a boredom thing. I've not many issues with fitness but I have a huge one with boredom. Its the same on the bike, which is why I find flat rides harder than hilly ones.

Mind you, trackless bog. No thanks.  I ran across several fields yesterday that were still slightly moist and had ubiquitous hoof holes. It was horrendous.
I think a lot of the difficulty that I was having is just down to not having the leg strength. Precipitous slopes, rock and hummocky grass/heather. Anything that isn't a 1:2 slope is a bog.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1295 on: 01 March, 2021, 12:17:34 pm »
Yeah, almost certainly. The one aspect I do find a bit alarming is the need for sudden lateral movements. Its great cross training, but I wonder how much the relevant muscles used have had any sort of action in recent years. I feel quite nimble but that is just a feeling.  Bog, though. Fuck that shit.

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1296 on: 01 March, 2021, 12:29:58 pm »
That's another one in the locker and I'm feeling good again.  It feels a lot cooler today but part of that is the relative humidity.  Still wore shorts though.

Time for a hot bowl of minestrone with extra pasta and a chunk of fresh sourdough.

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1297 on: 01 March, 2021, 12:43:21 pm »
Yesterday was a good day. 13km run first thing in the Dawn frost followed at lunchtime by a leisurely 12km walk with my wife.
This morning was Pilates.
Lunchtime just now I put on a pair of old trainers and climbed 25 floors in the hospital. 5 up 5 down and repeat. Hoping that a few sessions of this will improve my hill climbing. Hopefully get a 10k in tonight and tomorrow which will give 100k in 10days.

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1298 on: 02 March, 2021, 07:46:13 am »
Blimey Chris: and here is me thinking that trying four run sessions a week with a projected 30km plus total per week is pushing things.   

Respect!

Re: Beardys running log - Ct5k
« Reply #1299 on: 02 March, 2021, 08:00:41 am »
New trail shoes are heading back to Nike this morning for a refund. They offer a 30 day return, even if you've tried them, if you are a member (free). I've scrubbed the mud off them, but there is a bit of grey staining on the inside from my socks. Makes you wonder what the profit margin is on these things...