Week 16 - The week I broke the 5 K barrier.
Last week was my 15th in my blog "The Long Run Back to Fitness". It was one of my most successful and I covered more miles than any other. I still think of it as my 13th as almost two of my weeks were wiped out by injury.
In the past, I've watched on TV where unfit people train for 20 weeks and then run a marathon and I've read the plan of Couch to 5K where people go from nothing to running 5 km in 10 weeks. I've taken 15 weeks so far and I'm still only up to running less than 2 miles without having to stop. I was very unfit when I started and was almost 8 stone heavier than my fittest weight. I've also worked really hard to get to this point. I know I've lost at least 2 stone so far, it's been bloody hard work, and I'm feeling very positive about this.
I know running, as I've been there before - maybe many years ago, but when I was really fit, I let my body speak to me. I let it tell me what and what not I can do. I'm very sceptical about setting out goals and some of the programmes set out by trainers. I don't really care how many weeks it takes before I can run a 5 K a 10 K or a marathon, or if I ever do run a marathon again. I'm just happy to continue trying to get fitter, loosing weight and get to a point where I can run a few miles without having to stop, and when I do stop, also feel I could keep going if I wished.
Anyway, back to the start of my 16th week in my plan (OK, I haven't got a plan, apart from keep going) to get fit again.
Sunday 23 July 2017. It was such a beautiful day. The sun was out all day, it was about 21 C, but not too humid. To me the perfect Summer Day. I done a few chores during the day, but mainly it was lazy catching up on The Open Championship, the greatest tournament in golf. Jordan Spieth tried his best to throw it away in the first 9 holes, but finished amazingly to win well. He's just 24 and has already won 3 of the 4 majors in the sport. Only Jack Nicholas had ever achieved this by that young age. Local player Rory McIlroy finished 4th, but was well off the pace.
By 7.50 pm I had showered, stretched and was on my way walking to The Glen. I jogged down to the footbridge over the river and continued on my first lap. I completed the lap, so a great start, a 1.2 km jog. After recovering I set off on my second lap, all laps were on upper footpaths. I managed to jog up the hills and the steep hill up after the car park, but my legs were feeling heavy. I continued jogging for another 200 m until the sluice bridge, but had to stop. It hadn't been going as planned as in the back of my mind I wanted to do at least 5 full laps jogging, and possibly up to 7. I ended up completing 4 laps with two short walks and a few stops recovering. I completed the last lap and then continued to the waterfall. After a longer break, I jogged back to the exit footbridge and all the way up the hill to exit The Glen + a few extra steps jogging past the exit - still uphill. Because of the tiredness of my legs, at the waterfall, I didn't expect to be able to jog all the way out of The Glen, but was pleased when I did. On the walk home I was very tired, but did stop to talk to the horse in the meadow. He came up to me and said hello. As I cooled down there was sweat dripping from my face. It may not have been the workout I was hoping for tonight, but what the hell, I had done a great session yesterday, to finish last week, and the effects of that must have still been in my legs. I was pleased with tonight's workout - as I say, listen to your body, and I did.
I rubbed myself down and walked to the local shop. When I got back my parents were pottering about. I'd thought they'd already eaten as it was late, but they hadn't. They said they were watching TV and weren't hungry earlier. So, as asked, I cooked them some chips to go with the steak pie I had cooked the previous night. They ate it all. I then had my first beer of the evening.
So one day of the week gone and just over 3.5 miles under my belt and over 75% of that jogging. I sit here hoping I can increase this to at least 20 miles and up the percentage of my workouts, from previous weeks, into running. I also hope the weight is still going down, but I'm not weighing myself again for a few weeks.
Monday 24 July 2017. I decided to give my legs a rest today and just go for a walk. I cooked Hong Kong Style Sweet & Sour Pork and had some before going out. By the time I set off it was almost 8.30 pm. I was armed with my cameras and a black bin bag. I walked around every footpath in The Glen and collected rubbish as I went. There were a few couples out walking, two men in a car and a man with a dog - all out enjoying themselves on a beautiful evening. I also took a few photos and videos of the river. I arrived home, via the local shop, at 10 pm and had walked just over 2.5 miles.
In the past, I've watched on TV where unfit people train for 20 weeks and then run a marathon and I've read the plan of Couch to 5K where people go from nothing to running 5 km in 10 weeks. I've taken 15 weeks so far and I'm still only up to running less than 2 miles without having to stop. I was very unfit when I started and was almost 8 stone heavier than my fittest weight. I've also worked really hard to get to this point. I know I've lost at least 2 stone so far, it's been bloody hard work, and I'm feeling very positive about this.
I know running, as I've been there before - maybe many years ago, but when I was really fit, I let my body speak to me. I let it tell me what and what not I can do. I'm very sceptical about setting out goals and some of the programmes set out by trainers. I don't really care how many weeks it takes before I can run a 5 K a 10 K or a marathon, or if I ever do run a marathon again. I'm just happy to continue trying to get fitter, loosing weight and get to a point where I can run a few miles without having to stop, and when I do stop, also feel I could keep going if I wished.
Anyway, back to the start of my 16th week in my plan (OK, I haven't got a plan, apart from keep going) to get fit again.
Sunday 23 July 2017. It was such a beautiful day. The sun was out all day, it was about 21 C, but not too humid. To me the perfect Summer Day. I done a few chores during the day, but mainly it was lazy catching up on The Open Championship, the greatest tournament in golf. Jordan Spieth tried his best to throw it away in the first 9 holes, but finished amazingly to win well. He's just 24 and has already won 3 of the 4 majors in the sport. Only Jack Nicholas had ever achieved this by that young age. Local player Rory McIlroy finished 4th, but was well off the pace.
By 7.50 pm I had showered, stretched and was on my way walking to The Glen. I jogged down to the footbridge over the river and continued on my first lap. I completed the lap, so a great start, a 1.2 km jog. After recovering I set off on my second lap, all laps were on upper footpaths. I managed to jog up the hills and the steep hill up after the car park, but my legs were feeling heavy. I continued jogging for another 200 m until the sluice bridge, but had to stop. It hadn't been going as planned as in the back of my mind I wanted to do at least 5 full laps jogging, and possibly up to 7. I ended up completing 4 laps with two short walks and a few stops recovering. I completed the last lap and then continued to the waterfall. After a longer break, I jogged back to the exit footbridge and all the way up the hill to exit The Glen + a few extra steps jogging past the exit - still uphill. Because of the tiredness of my legs, at the waterfall, I didn't expect to be able to jog all the way out of The Glen, but was pleased when I did. On the walk home I was very tired, but did stop to talk to the horse in the meadow. He came up to me and said hello. As I cooled down there was sweat dripping from my face. It may not have been the workout I was hoping for tonight, but what the hell, I had done a great session yesterday, to finish last week, and the effects of that must have still been in my legs. I was pleased with tonight's workout - as I say, listen to your body, and I did.
The sluice footbridge on the long flat path, taken at dusk.
I rubbed myself down and walked to the local shop. When I got back my parents were pottering about. I'd thought they'd already eaten as it was late, but they hadn't. They said they were watching TV and weren't hungry earlier. So, as asked, I cooked them some chips to go with the steak pie I had cooked the previous night. They ate it all. I then had my first beer of the evening.
So one day of the week gone and just over 3.5 miles under my belt and over 75% of that jogging. I sit here hoping I can increase this to at least 20 miles and up the percentage of my workouts, from previous weeks, into running. I also hope the weight is still going down, but I'm not weighing myself again for a few weeks.
Monday 24 July 2017. I decided to give my legs a rest today and just go for a walk. I cooked Hong Kong Style Sweet & Sour Pork and had some before going out. By the time I set off it was almost 8.30 pm. I was armed with my cameras and a black bin bag. I walked around every footpath in The Glen and collected rubbish as I went. There were a few couples out walking, two men in a car and a man with a dog - all out enjoying themselves on a beautiful evening. I also took a few photos and videos of the river. I arrived home, via the local shop, at 10 pm and had walked just over 2.5 miles.
River flowing over rocks at dusk in The Glen
On the way back from The Glen it was such a pleasant evening, the sky was a brilliant red and I thought it was worth a photo.
Beautiful red sky at dusk.
Tuesday 27 July 2017. It was such a beautiful day that I went for a walk at 6 pm. The horse looked happy in his meadow as I passed so I took a photo. Because of being tea-time, there were a few dog walkers in The Glen. There were also two ladies all kitted-out in their walking gear, chatting and charging around the paths. I just enjoyed the walk, took a few photos and collected and rubbish I passed. I was out for 70 minutes and walked about 2.5 miles.
The happy chestnut colt in his meadow.
As I was back late from my walk I was in two minds about whether or not to go for a run. I waited until 8.30 pm before heading off towards The Glen. The horse was at the fence and I said hello to it. It was also a lot cooler than earlier. On approaching the entrance to The Glen I jogged down to the footbridge over the river and then set off on laps on the top path. I was hoping to completed two full laps without having to stop. I felt good on the first lap, continued on a second, then a third, then a fourth. I finished by jogging the extra 120 m to the waterfall. I still felt good when I eventually stopped by the waterfall. So in total I jogged 4300 m (or 2.67 miles) without stopping. This was a huge step up my my previous longest without having to stop - almost an extra mile. After roaring a few times at the cattle across the river and a few stretches to cool down, I thought it a good idea to set off on an extra lap. I jogged slowly towards the footbridge over the river, uphill along the highest path. It felt tougher than the previous four laps. The downhill to the car park was enough to allow me to get the energy to climb up the steep hill to the disused reservoir. My legs were heavy, but I dug deep to run around the reservoir and all the way back to the waterfall. In the back of my head it's things like this which really make a difference. I had already managed to jog 4.3 km before stopping and then 1.2 km as a extra. It means I jogged 5.5 km with just one break. The extra was the plus as it took me to over 5 km and means if I done a 5 km race I'd now be able to finish after a short stop. Maybe soon I'll be able to do a full race without stopping. To finish the workout I jogged back to the exit footbridge, all the way up the hill to exit The Glen and 25 extra steps uphill along the road - 325 steps in total.
When I went out walking earlier it was hot, and even just walking I was sweating. Just over an hour later it was about 5 C cooler and, with a small breeze, the humidity had dropped also. I weighed myself before going jogging and was down to just over 15 stones, so I was feeling good about myself. It was a perfect evening for running, The Glen was completely empty all the time I was there and I started off at a very steady pace. Plus with having a break from jogging yesterday, everything seemed to come together to allow me to do such a great workout. In total I covered 5.8 km jogging and 1.4 km walking. In old money terms about 4.6 miles. One thing which amazed me was how quick I recovered after walking home. Almost immediately, I walked to and back from the local shop and am sitting here having a beer whilst writing this.
One last thought. I was wearing my old shorts tonight and the original Green Belt Relay T-shirt. Somehow I always seem to do a better workout when wearing these. I don't know why, maybe it's just a mind thing.
Green Belt Relay Inaugural Run T-shirt
Wednesday 26 July 2017. It rained heavily most of the day. So no exercise today at all. It stopped raining at about 8.30 pm, but that't the time I take my mother to bingo. She won £30 on a house. I got close a few times, but no money in the attic. Tomorrow the weather forecast gives lots of rain, but I'll be out running.
Thursday 27 July 2017. Again it rained most of the day. I headed out just before 6.30 pm walking towards The Glen. I stopped to give the horse an apple. I jogged down into The Glen and set off on my first lap. It did rain off and on, but it was pleasant. I managed to do almost 5 full laps when I saw two large dogs in front of me on the long, straight, narrow path. I was half way between the sluice footbridge and the exit footbridge. So, not wanting to have to go past the large dogs, I just turned around and ran back to the sluice footbridge. It meant I completed the full distance of 5 laps plus the 200 m down into The Glen. In real terms 5.2 km jog without stopping. After resting and stretching for a short while. I finished by jogging to and over the exit footbridge, all the way up the hill to exit The Glen and then another 50 m uphill along the small road. It was 450 steps in total. It had been a great workout and I did feel tired-legged after walking home. In total I completed about 4.4 miles of which 3.5 was jogging.
Looking back to the footbridge over the sluice.
This was the first time in many years I have ran 5 km without stopping. I probably could have gone further if it were not for the dogs. As for others tonight, I did pass a few dog walkers, but the dogs were all fine. Maybe the large dogs would have been fine also, but I wasn't willing to find out.
Friday 28 July 2017. I cooked bolognaise sauce in the afternoon - I do need some more pasta in me. Then walked to the local shop. There was a large crowd of people waiting outside a house waiting for a funeral procession to start. I also heard the news that the young woman who came just over a year ago with her two young children to collected our kitten had died. Really sad news.
At 8 pm I set off walking towards The Glen. It had just stopped raining and there was a rainbow in the sky. I jogged down into The Glen and continued to complete three laps, on the upper footpaths and all the way to the waterfall. I completed another lap plus from and back to the waterfall. I finished off by jogging back, over the exit footbridge, up out of The Glen and along the road to the top of the hill. In all it equates to 3.3 km, 1.3 km and 0.4 km jogs - a total of 5 km jogging. With walking to and back from The Glen it was a total of just under 4 miles. It was a satisfying workout.
The climb up along the highest footpath.
It rained part of the time I was in The Glen, although you don't tend to notice it under the trees. It was also drizzling as I walked home. The river was quit high because of the rain and I passed a young well-clad couple twice out enjoying a walk through The Glen - she was wearing a big duffel coat. On the last lap I also passed three young girls.
Saturday 29 July 2017. I intended to go for a workout today, then at tea-time I realised Armagh were to play Kildare in Croke Park, Dublin in the qualifier for the quarter-final of The All-Ireland Championship. It was on Sky, which I don't have. So at 6.30 pm I walked to my youngest brother's pub and watched the game. Armagh were underdogs, but won well 1 - 17 to 0 - 17, that's 20 points to 17 in real terms. I had a great evening in the pub, but it wasn't the workout I had originally planned.
So the total for the week was about 22 miles - so I'm happy with that.
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