The Running/Keeping Fit Thread

[Buzzo]

My plan was pretty simple.

2 short runs mid-week on tread mill (more forgiving on joints and helps avoid injury), starting at 1 mile and building up to 3. Looked at pace on these.

Long run on Sunday starting at 3 miles, building up to (I think I got to 15 miles).

It is all about endurance, but the time commitment is substantial. You also become expert at converting KM's to Miles dependant on the type of kit you have. Mind you smart watches handle all that now. I ran with a CD walkman it was that long ago FFS

[wiw]

Just noticed the London Marathon is now in October, was wondering how the **** you were going to squeeze a 6 month training schedule in by April

From my memory you have to train up to being comfortable running at least a half marathon in training. But I wouldn't go over 18-20. No matter how much you train the last 6 miles are purgatory. London is a good marathon though, totally flat all the way round and (at least used to be) well attended by fans.

Definitely give up the tabs

Also, I ran it twice, and the buzz as you run done the mall, massive crowds screaming you on, is second to none embrace the challenge and try and enjoy it. The challenge is the training and staying fit, if you do that the day takes care of itself.

Thanks for the tips

Yes it's in October - would be fairly ****ed if it was in April

Have you not done one for a while then?

Care to share the plan?

Were similar age right? I guess not similar weight. But 6 months seems reasonable to be able to run that distance.

Of course - PM your email?

[Buzzo]

Thanks for the tips

Yes it's in October - would be fairly ****ed if it was in April

Have you not done one for a while then?

19 years apparently FFS That made me feel old realising that. Ran it in 2002 and 2003.

When I first ran there was a guy getting heart massage after three miles and he looked about ten times fitter than me.

I'd say finding your stride and economy of movement are pretty key. On the day it can be a bit tortoise and hare, I was passing loads of people that had gone out hard over the last 6 miles. You crave sugar after 18 miles (there is science behind this) and there are people lining the roads handing out jelly babies - you will take them .

The other massive bit of advice I learned from year 1 - 2 is to put your name on your shirt. It is amazing the boost you get from people screaming 'cmon Mark (that's right) you can make it. And when everyone else gets it and you dont it sucks.

Also after half way the track heads out to canary wharf to double back on itself. Unless you are a sub 2 hour runner you see people at the 18 mile mark absolutely sprinting and looking much better than you whilst you are at 12

I recall being massively motivated to get past a guy in a Mr Tickle costume towards the end feeling that he was taking the piss out of my own endeavours.

You will love the day itself if you have trained. It is sensory overload in the best way.

[Buzzo]

I had a few people watch me along the route and my Mum and Sister went down at the time.

At the finish line when I found them (they saw me at about 4 points on the day) my Mum came out with the classic line to me "You've got no idea how hard it was to get around London today".

[spud_gun]

I've not done any serious exercise since my kids turned up.

As a result I'm hideously out of shape.

Over the last week or so I've got stuck into the back garden and i'm feeling pretty good as a result.

I've lifted 2 large patioed areas of the garden and dumped the contents in a skip, moved 2 ton of top soil and 2 ton of sharp sand and I've got 6 ton of chuckies still to move along with move and position a dozen or so 2.4m railway sleepers.

I could hardly walk after working in the garden for the first couple of days but feeling great now. The endorphins are pumping, no doubt.

Trick will be to continue getting similar exercise / work out when the garden is done and dusted.

[luke]

One bit of advice I received from an accomplished runner..When your running a lot or just starting, try incorporating the kettle bell Russian swing into your off days, really improves and stretches your hip flexors (which get ruined by running) and will prevent a lot of niggling injuries.. plus it will improve your cardio.

[Norbs]

One bit of advice I received from an accomplished runner..When your running a lot or just starting, try incorporating the kettle bell Russian swing into your off days, really improves and stretches your hip flexors (which get ruined by running) and will prevent a lot of niggling injuries.. plus it will improve your cardio.

Better do it quickly before it's sanctioned

[bacon]

My plan was pretty simple.

2 short runs mid-week on tread mill (more forgiving on joints and helps avoid injury), starting at 1 mile and building up to 3. Looked at pace on these.

Long run on Sunday starting at 3 miles, building up to (I think I got to 15 miles).

It is all about endurance, but the time commitment is substantial. You also become expert at converting KM's to Miles dependant on the type of kit you have. Mind you smart watches handle all that now. I ran with a CD walkman it was that long ago FFS

I'd agree with that plan - two shorter runs during the week - one faster than the other plus a long run over the weekend - build the long runs up slowly - increments of 2km or 4 km over the previous week - I got up to 36km - take a break from long runs every 4th week.

Also on the long run try and negative split so the 1st half of your run is slower than the back half - this helps you learn to conserve energy for the killer back half of the run.

If the London Mara is less than six months and you've never done the distance - I'd be starting now! Enjoy ..

PS - the 1st one I did I trained with a running/charity group - it helped a lot!

[Saveloy]

6km walk this morning.

Hoping to get to 10km by the end of the week - my chances of this have improved as my wife is going back into the office Tues/Thurs

Hoping to start couch to 5k again in August if my consultant agrees.

[Doc_Piptorious]

6km walk this morning.

Hoping to get to 10km by the end of the week - my chances of this have improved as my wife is going back into the office Tues/Thurs

Hoping to start couch to 5k again in August if my consultant agrees.

6KM already?

WOW!!


Just be careful mate that you do not overdo things, no point rushing into going too far too soon.

Consolidate at a set distance for a few weeks just to make sure the ticker and all the linked parts are doing what they should be doing before putting them under extra pressure.


Genuinely delighted for you though, you might not think you are a warrior but hells bell if you do not have that mentality to you.

[Saveloy]

Cheers Jaco. I have been inspired by your tales of late night walks with moody music

It's a good point on pacing myself. When I left hospital they advised not exercising to the point where it's difficult to talk and to be wary of my heart racing or feeling light headed. I've not got to that point as I'm walking at an average pace of 13mins per km.

The recovery is sometimes difficult to judge as the post-operative advice tends to be skewed more to the elderly or obese or people who were ill in the run up to surgery and so were quite restricted in their activity.

I've dropped the congenital cardiac team an email today letting them know what I'm doing so that they have the opportinity to tell me if I'm being a dickhead! Thanks for the prompt

[Doc_Piptorious]

Cheers Jaco. I have been inspired by your tales of late night walks with moody music

It's a good point on pacing myself. When I left hospital they advised not exercising to the point where it's difficult to talk and to be wary of my heart racing or feeling light headed. I've not got to that point as I'm walking at an average pace of 13mins per km.

The recovery is sometimes difficult to judge as the post-operative advice tends to be skewed more to the elderly or obese or people who were ill in the run up to surgery and so were quite restricted in their activity.

I've dropped the congenital cardiac team an email today letting them know what I'm doing so that they have the opportinity to tell me if I'm being a dickhead! Thanks for the prompt

I love those. They are ok this time of year but come into their own between October and March with longer nights.

Day time walking needs music with a higher tempo for me, but the moodier stuff always kicks in when it is a tad dark out. Arab Strap's When Days Get Dark gets a lot of repeat plays when night walking.

Try a bit of Space Afrika if you go for a walk at night this week or next. Honest Labour is the name of their album. The new album by Working Men's Club is out Friday and has a big Gary Numan/Tubeway Army Vibe going on.

The debut Classless Act album (out a week or so ago) if you want an 1980s hard rock sound or the new (out Friday ) Black Midi Album, Hellfire, if you want something a bit more off the wall.

There endeth my music talk away from the safety of the Music thread


Should have mentioned as well the obvious bit about being careful walking with the temp higher than usual too. Hot weather can start the heart racing as the body is working harder than usual to combat the higher temps. Plenty of water but plenty of a decent isotonic drink as well.

[Saveloy]

8km walk yesterday and 10km today

That's my milestone reached so I can stop posting about it, as these posts are dull

[Norbs]

Weighed myself today for the first time in a couple of months and I've lost about 5kg without really noticing. I've not exercised for ages and so it must be cutting out booze coupled with getting lots more sleep. I might even start running again soon and see if it's easier. I'm still well over weight at 14st and a size 36" waist but I have noticed very slightly that my clothes aren't as tight

[wiw]

Well in Norbs. 14 stone doesn't sound too bad.. how tall are you?