This week was all about running 5ks to get back in to it. I started the week off on a high. I went to work on Monday and spent most of the day going through emails and catching up with where I left off before going on holiday. I came home eager to get on the treadmill and knock a 5k out. I found myself running with fresh thoughts of the holiday which made the run go fairly quickly.
I went in to work in the Tuesday and went to a 9:30am meeting to find out that I am now on a 30 day consultation period as my job is at risk of redundancy. This is the time when you think ‘oh Christ, that’s all I need’. I was told during the 30 days consultation period that I will not be required to go in to work. I went home in disbelief that this was happening and decided to jump on the treadmill to do a 5k run, I’m sure you can appreciate this run was not full of thoughts of the nice views at Santorini, it was full of work. I found that run went by quickly but was hard due to the heat.
The following two days I have done 5k runs with thoughts full of work. Both runs were hard due to the heat but went by fairly quickly. I have now put a fan in the room to try and get some air movement as just having the windows open is not having much effect on its own.
Until the temperature gets a bit cooler then I can’t see myself getting past 5k. I really have found them difficult with not much energy left afterwards.
I wonder what next week brings.
Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 1)
Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 2)
Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 3)
Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 4)
Friday 29 June 2012
Monday 25 June 2012
1st run since coming back from a break at Santorini
I have spent a couple of weeks away from the treadmill and found the first couple of days in Santorini (Greek Island) I had aches and pains. During the course of the holiday the aches and pains went away. I did notice that a few people were running early in the morning, but even in the morning it was still hot. I did take my running gear out there just in case I wanted to do just a couple of miles, but looking at the people running it just looked too painful and they looked a lot fitter than me. I did quite a bit of walking around and swimming so I was reasonably active as I only put on 4-5 pounds of weight over the two weeks.
Not been looking forward to jumping back on the treadmill, but I thought the longer I leave it the worse it will be. I got myself ready and jumped on the treadmill for the warm up walk which seemed to go by very quickly. When the Garmin beeped and buzzed I knew it was time to up the speed from 4mph to 6.2mph for a steady running pace.
I found that I was running a bit stiff but after 5 minutes I seemed to relax and found myself thinking ‘this is just great running without any aches or pains, I wonder how long this will last’. The run went by fairly quickly due to getting lost in the thoughts of the place I visited and the views on Santorini. At times I got so lost in the thoughts I felt like I was still there, with short bursts now and then back to reality of the running.
I finished the run feeling quite tired, so I am hoping that as the week goes by the runs will get easier. I am not planning on doing anything more than 5k runs this week to get back in the swing of it.
Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 1)
Not been looking forward to jumping back on the treadmill, but I thought the longer I leave it the worse it will be. I got myself ready and jumped on the treadmill for the warm up walk which seemed to go by very quickly. When the Garmin beeped and buzzed I knew it was time to up the speed from 4mph to 6.2mph for a steady running pace.
I found that I was running a bit stiff but after 5 minutes I seemed to relax and found myself thinking ‘this is just great running without any aches or pains, I wonder how long this will last’. The run went by fairly quickly due to getting lost in the thoughts of the place I visited and the views on Santorini. At times I got so lost in the thoughts I felt like I was still there, with short bursts now and then back to reality of the running.
I finished the run feeling quite tired, so I am hoping that as the week goes by the runs will get easier. I am not planning on doing anything more than 5k runs this week to get back in the swing of it.
Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 1)
Friday 8 June 2012
Last week before going on holiday and goals achieved
Today has been sunshine and showers, so I thought will it be cool enough to run 5 miles or should I stick to 5k. If I do 5 miles today and 5k tomorrow and the next day, then will I be injured for my holiday. If I don’t do 5 miles then will I feel I have failed and will it be too long since the last time I have run that distance by the time I get back on the treadmill, I have had all this going around in my head all day long.
As usual I made the decision when I got home and was ready to do the run. I decided to try 5 miles as last week I could not finish the run due to the heat. It was fairly warm in the room at 22.5c (72.5f) even with all the windows open to create a breeze.
I started as normal with the 5 minute brisk warm up walk at 4mph, I noticed my heart rate was slightly higher than normal at 95bpm (average). I thought maybe this is down to the heat and it might also be down to me feel anxious about the 5 mile run, should I be doing it or not.
Once I got to a mile in to the run I felt like I was running at a nice pace (6mph), but felt like I was starting to get a bit hot. I had a sip of water and carried on wondering if I will have to give up due to the heat.
2.5 miles in to the run I felt this was a good time to run through a few checks and have a mouthful of water, I am now half-way through the run and I am on the home straight.
At 3.5 miles in to the run I was feeling really hot, mouth was getting dry and I had to keeping sipping water. I was really hoping that I could carry on to the end, all I had to do was 1.5 miles which is around 15 minutes.
When I reached 4 miles I started to keep checking the Garmin, I was watching the distance remaining slowing diminishing. Every tenth of a mile takes around 1 minute, I just seemed to be willing the time away. I finally finished the run and did a cool-down walk for 5 minutes at 4mph as usual.
I felt good for finishing the 5 miles, but glad the ordeal was over, I felt so hot. After looking at the stats on the Garmin Connect website, I can see my heart rate was higher than normal and I also burned more calories as well.
Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5 Mile
I have now completed both 5k runs without any rest days. My legs do feel a bit sore, I expected that and I am sure the aches and pains will disappear in the next couple of days.
Both runs were done in a similar heat to the 5 mile run, I did not find them that easy but I felt I had to complete the goal I set myself.
Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 1)
Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 2)
My task at the beginning of the year was to lose 1.5 stone and for my waist to go from 40 inches down to 37 inches, this I have achieved. I my other goal was to complete the ‘couch to 5k’ and then to build up to a 4 mile run. I have exceeded that goal by running 5 miles and also gaining a personal best 5k time. I feel happy to have got this far in 6 months and aim to improve on the distance when I come back from holiday and before the year is out.
I have kept a log of all the runs/walks I have done on a spreadsheet so that I can keep an eye on how I am doing.
Here are a few stats:
As usual I made the decision when I got home and was ready to do the run. I decided to try 5 miles as last week I could not finish the run due to the heat. It was fairly warm in the room at 22.5c (72.5f) even with all the windows open to create a breeze.
I started as normal with the 5 minute brisk warm up walk at 4mph, I noticed my heart rate was slightly higher than normal at 95bpm (average). I thought maybe this is down to the heat and it might also be down to me feel anxious about the 5 mile run, should I be doing it or not.
Once I got to a mile in to the run I felt like I was running at a nice pace (6mph), but felt like I was starting to get a bit hot. I had a sip of water and carried on wondering if I will have to give up due to the heat.
2.5 miles in to the run I felt this was a good time to run through a few checks and have a mouthful of water, I am now half-way through the run and I am on the home straight.
At 3.5 miles in to the run I was feeling really hot, mouth was getting dry and I had to keeping sipping water. I was really hoping that I could carry on to the end, all I had to do was 1.5 miles which is around 15 minutes.
When I reached 4 miles I started to keep checking the Garmin, I was watching the distance remaining slowing diminishing. Every tenth of a mile takes around 1 minute, I just seemed to be willing the time away. I finally finished the run and did a cool-down walk for 5 minutes at 4mph as usual.
I felt good for finishing the 5 miles, but glad the ordeal was over, I felt so hot. After looking at the stats on the Garmin Connect website, I can see my heart rate was higher than normal and I also burned more calories as well.
I have now completed both 5k runs without any rest days. My legs do feel a bit sore, I expected that and I am sure the aches and pains will disappear in the next couple of days.
Both runs were done in a similar heat to the 5 mile run, I did not find them that easy but I felt I had to complete the goal I set myself.
Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 1)
Garmin Connect - Treadmill - 5k (Run 2)
My task at the beginning of the year was to lose 1.5 stone and for my waist to go from 40 inches down to 37 inches, this I have achieved. I my other goal was to complete the ‘couch to 5k’ and then to build up to a 4 mile run. I have exceeded that goal by running 5 miles and also gaining a personal best 5k time. I feel happy to have got this far in 6 months and aim to improve on the distance when I come back from holiday and before the year is out.
I have kept a log of all the runs/walks I have done on a spreadsheet so that I can keep an eye on how I am doing.
Here are a few stats:
- Days of exercise: 71
- Total distance run: 159.8 miles
- Total time run: 1 day, 2 hours, 11 minutes
- Total distance walked: 94.5 miles
- Total time walked: 1 day, 50 minutes
- Calories: 26,360
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