Run got me down, tips and hope please!

[IfIwasablackbird]

I used to run a good 20 miles a week. Would do 10k no bother at a good pace…

I managed two miles at 12 minutes a mile today and I just feel shit. I feel like I’ll never get my fitness back or my body. I’m three stone heavier and just so disappointed in myself.

Any tips on a good way of eating and getting back to running would be so appreciated. Got myself right in a slump.

@timeforanotherusernameyes Did you get out in the end?

I used to be like that until I set my alarm to go first thing in the morning. Don't wait until you feel motivated, because sometimes that doesn't even come until after you've ran the first mile.

Yes I did thanks aimed for 2 miles and did about 2.5. Really snapped me out the groggy feeling I had all day so well worth it.

Rubbish at warming up and stretching after so that's another aspect I need to improve.

I like the idea of getting it done in the mornings and think that could really help me.

If I’m struggling like you describe I pretend to myself that I’ve already done 20 miles and am persevering through the last bit. That way my success is that I managed to continue, even when it was tough. So kind of mental or stamina training rather than physical. Hopefully not all days will be like this. Well done.

How are you getting on Op?

@IfIwasablackbird are you me???

i too used to run regularly but nothing for the last ten months and then , hod knows why, after a fourteen hour day - ended with a virtual parents eve- I decided to run to the polling booth on Thursday night.
it was less than two miles
felt knackered! Walked up a hill that is challenging but I could always do - as part of a 5/6 mile route- and even had to take ibrufen for a very painful knee the next morning!

I’ll be honest, makes me feel old and quite depressed!

but I’m going to give it a few days and try again. You and I both know it will get easier over time -muscle memory maybe?

i am hopeful!

@hermana really well thanks!
I am so slow but I’m getting out there and I feel great. It’s not so agonising anymore. 😂

The resetting tip has helped, my garmin congratulated me on my fastest mile yesterday…. At 11 mins !

How is everyone else getting on?

I’ve also lost 5lbs through the exercise and being more conscientious about what I’m eating.

@Mumstheword2022 I’m sure my body is remembering now. I even get the pre run buzz. My VO2 is better.

We can do this!

Plus the views on my runs are good for my soul.

I love the clearing the garmin tip. I've just done mine. I have no idea how I used to run as fast as those records I've just cleared feel like I've got something to work on now there's no 6:30 minute mile to beat, when I'm building back up to a 10 minute mile Thank you

Glad you posted your initial thread and the feedback is that you're preserving and not feeling down about it anymore. It's always a battle between the body and the mind with running!

When I started running, a PT friend said if you are tired take smaller strides and slow right down but never to walking pace (so not the C25K method - always be running even if it is a light jog). She was right. It was the quickest way to build stamina.

I also found I liked to focus on different aspects of technique, like foot position, breathing, chest and hip positions, arms and hands. Rotating what you are thinking of stops you thinking about being tired. Also focusing on different foot strikes and strides. But I am a natural geek. Might not work for everyone.

The best advice I can give is that it is about turning up and compounding.

You can have 5 great sessions and then one bad one. The bad one is really good because it means that you turned up for it and you have not lost the compounding of the previous 5. This means that the 5 great sessions improved your health (fitness, strength etc.) and the 6th one kept the improvement in place rather than not turning up which means you start to lose that compounding. A bad session is equally is good as a great session for that reason. You are building a habit and the focus is better being on the benefits rather than the session itself.

A stone mason might want to break a stone and the first 99 hits look like they have not done anything and on the 100th the stone breaks. It didn't break because of the 100th hit it broke because of the previous 99.

Turning up and compounding was a revelation to me and when I have a 'bad session' at the gym I still feel good because I turned up and kept hold of the gains I had made earlier.

hth

well done @IfIwasablackbird sounds positive!

well I'm on week 4 of couch to 5k. Now I can run for 5 mins, woo! But I'll take that. I wore my old running jacket the other day as it was raining - couldn't zip it up! So my aim is to be able to zip it up in 3 months time.

Do a couch to 10K programme it’s so much easier to achieve than just jumping in and gives you more focus.

@Wargghhhh i’ll join you and aim for three months for my running jacket! Leeway before winter though 😉

@VintageGibbon I think staying upright is enough to keep me. I have tried to improve my cadence.
I’m not great at the walk run mix I don’t think so I go shorter or slower. If I walk I find it makes it so hard to go again.

@IfIwasablackbird that's a lovely view for a run - whereabouts in the country are you?

North East, that’s Hardwick park, near Sedgefield.

I want to run up Roseberry topping (brutal hill in North Yorkshire).

Be sure to report back your progress every few weeks and keep going with it. The advice from the previous poster about compounding is a perfect example for the c25k

We’ll really hard and slow and ‘bad’ run this morning but it’s not is it! Compounding. 😅

Not sure it’s just me but being pre menstrual always makes for the hardest runs. Even at my fittest a few days before my period I would feel like I couldn’t run at all.

Have you ran this weekend @Wargghhhh ? Hope it’s going well!

I’m away with work this weekend so might wait till Sat to run but maybe have do a Jillian Michaels type thing indoors when I can to keep my motivated.

Tempted to do a few of the 30 day shreds as they used to massively help with building muscle.

I LOVE the concept of turning up and compounding! It helped me on my terrible run this morning 😁

The other thing I like is when I get back from a bad run and moan to my DH about it, he always tells me “well it might have been a bad run but you’ve still done better than 99.9% of the population who can’t be bothered to even start running today” Fact!

12 mins a mile is good! I'm not much quicker and I've been running for years!

I Googled something the other day as I used to be faster too but there is a direct correlation between being overweight and being slower. It sounds obvious really but it made me feel better knowing that! I've got some weight to lose still too - you're doing a brilliant job and you really are quicker than you think!

Oh and in the comparing with how fast you used to run…my tip there is convert to metric…I now run in km and weigh myself in kgs and I have no idea how that compares to when I was fit and training for marathons in miles and lbs…plus knocking out a km takes less time than a mile and so you get that little boost of nailing another distance marker more often and more frequently which I find motivating.
also saying…oh I just ran a 10k sounds better than oh I just ran 6.2 miles 😁

@IfIwasablackbird yes I went out on Sunday morning, still on week 4 runs but moving to week 5 of couch to 5k. Most I've run continuously is 5 mins, but at the end of week 5 it jumps to 20 mins. I still can't believe I used to run half marathons but I need to stop thinking like that!! At least I am back running.

Glad you have managed to get out too, like another poster has said "well it might have been a bad run but you’ve still done better than 99.9% of the population who can’t be bothered to even start running today” Fact!

30 day shreds are so hard but worth it if you have the motivation!