If you've lost your exercise/running mojo, come on in for a Christmas countdown .....

[lechatnoir]

I've not done any significant exercise for the past 9 months, have put on 1.5 stone, taken up smoking again after years away and feel like shit as a result plus add peri-menopausal symptoms Working from home , lack of money and general feeling of negativity everywhere hasn't helped and I'm sure I'm not alone.

In a fit of madness I signed up for a HM for next March but need a kick up the arse and a serious overhaul before I can even start to think about following a running plan. Ive got 7 weeks before I start training but think 8 weeks is more realistic and will also tie in nicely with the festive season (right now I just want to hibernate not party).

So aims are:
Get basic fitness levels up and gently resume running
Build some strength and flexibility
Stop smoking (day 3 and counting)
Include some proper self-care - early nights, hair colouring more regularly, just a bit of pampering occasionally.

Get back in the habit of regular exercise with some sort of weekly timetable.

Anyone want to join me and post for support, encouragement, ideas and give each other a proverbial kick up the arse along way?

Right, I need to get my arse in gear and get back exercising!

I was running 5-10k three times a week, weights 3 times a week and yoga with Andrea most days. Knee injury during the summer stopped everything though and now I'm just being lazy.

I have terrible anxiety and have been through a patch of depression too, but I really found exercise helped.....but I've been stuck in a vicious circle of feeling down so then won't do any exercise, but this then makes me feel worse.

Anyway, time to do something about it as I've put on a stone and a half!!!! A couple of posters say they mark off on the calendar their progress, I was doing this for a while in my diary so will go back to it!

I hope you don't mind me jumping back on here?!

3 gym sessions & 2 swims this week. Plus Yoga with Adriene most days (is anyone else following Center?). I had hoped to go to the pool this morning but it’s closed for a swimming gala.

@LemonFrosting - it can be hard to exercise when you are feeling low - I usually just tell myself I'll go for 10 minutes and see how I feel and usually after that I'm fine. I'm slowly decreasing he dose of antidepressants at the moment so have days when my head is in the wrong place - missed a run on Wednesday.

I managed to get a run and swim in on Friday and 14 mile Jeff this afternoon. The Thames was really high though and the Thames path was impassable in places which meant I had to divert onto a busy road. I did get to see some Oxford and Cambridge teams out though presumably gearing up for the Boat Race which was exciting. Planning on a huge cottage pie with lots of veg tonight to refuel.

@londonmummy1966 thank you for this. I'm on antidepressants and have been considering asking gp to up my dose, but then I know once I start back exercising that mentally I will be feeling better. So I just need to get back to my routine of exercise!

No running at all last week as I was beset by ill children - 2 out of 3 DC came down with diarrhoea and were at home, so difficult to get out for any exercise and usual routines all out of the window. Only 1 left at home now though, and she has gone to MiL and will be back at school tomorrow, so I have just been for a not-very-quick couple of miles, trying not to break a limb as the pavements are quite frosty.
To motivate me a bit I've been on The Ordinary website and put some skincare bits in my basket (never tried their stuff, but I keep seeing it recommended on S&B) which comes to £35.60. I'm not going to checkout until I've run the same amount in miles, by which time my skin will have taken a good beating in frosty winds so I'll need it! 2.25/35.60

Welcome back @LemonFrosting . I love it when people come back to threads. And many of us have been less than consistent so you’re in good company.

@londonmummy1966 great advice. I also trick myself into 2k runs that turn into longer once I’m out. Do the same at the gym.

@SydneyCarton i love their stuff. I find it v good although I also find the kiehls ultra facial cream is good for winter face- it’s pricy though.

12k run for me this morning. Just testing where my comfort distance ends and I reckon it’s about 15k at 6min km- ie that’s where I’d be counting down the last couple of km in increasing desperation :-). My hip is a bit niggly which I know is because I don’t stretch so just done a good 10 mins in pigeon pose or as close as I can get with my lack of bendyness.

ordered myself a new pair of cut price Hoka’s. I’ve got big feet so I can usually get a sale pair on last season’s colours.

@SydneyCarton - heir stuff is fab - you can also get it at Boots if you want the Advantage card points....

@illiterato - join the niggly hip club - hope it is just minor. I find clamshells with a resistance band help.

Good to know about The Ordinary stuff @londonmummy1966 and @illiterato . I normally get things from Beauty Pie - in fact one of the reasons I set a target for ordering the other stuff is that I just spend £50 on a BP box so thought I'd better hold off getting anything else until I'd worked through that a bit! I've got the squalene cleanser, multi-peptide serum, amino acids serum and a hyaluronic acid moisturiser.

I bought The Ordinary lactic acid a couple of weeks ago and it is brilliant after a run - can feel it doing its stuff and its nice to apply.

I'm on a running roll this week - 6k yesterday and then 10k today. My new Hoka's arrived this morning so will road test them tomorrow after I drop the kids at school. Hip less niggly following pigeon stretching

Got a swim in tonight, long course (50 metre pool). Love how different it is to the standard 25 metres. Good for endurance!

@illiterato - jus love Hoka's they are so easy to run in. @FlySwimmer my local Lido is 50m but at the moment that seems a bit unattainable compared with a nice warm indoor pool...

Today should have been 12km but after a longish walk, a 5k run and a swim yesterday I was just drained. Hoping that I can make the distance up tomorrow but just back from a Burns Night dinner so not sure how tomorrow will go.....

Yes first proper exercise class last night. I have been using my home gym but this was an abs killing escapade. Looking forward to the class next week.

@londonmummy1966 Yeah- I feel like there was a lot of Hoka hype a few years ago which then died out when people realised that heel striking wasnt quite as much of a problem as it had been made out to be, but I'm a die hard fan. I started wearing them as I always got a lot of foot pain towards the end of trail races in Salomans and someone told me about these crazy new shoes with a built up sole. For the running I tend to do - mix of road and trail- you cannot beat the Challenger.

Brisk 6k this morning after an unscheduled day off yesterday.Friends here for weekend but will try to get out Sunday late afternoon so the weekend isn't a total write off.

Having had a couple of days off due to feeling very drained I managed my fastest run for a long time 11k in 65 minutes - really chuffed as it didn't feel that fast and I thought my sub 1 hour 10ks were behind me. I shall credit my new Hokas @illiterato as they do seem very bouncy at the moment. DD2 was irritated when they came out as she had designed a trainer with springs in the heels for a Yr7 DT project and was told that that was a silly idea.....

Having thought myself lucky last week that only two children had the diarrhoea bug, the third succumbed to it last week. Again hardly any running as he was at home so it was all we could do to keep an eye on him and fit work in as well. Fortunately he’s on the mend and should be back at school on Monday so I can get some running in on my WFH days. Managed a couple of miles today while they were at football which brings me to 4.53/35.60

Sorry to hear that @SydneyCarton but hope this week is a bit easier all round.

I woke up on Saturday with a pulled muscle so took a couple of days off and did my long run today - 18 mile Jeff with some nasty little hills at the end of it but I pushed through and ran most of the last kilometre. Happy to have got back to where I was before Christmas.

15k this morning- longest run in a very long time. Did a circuit rather than an out and back so I basically had no choice but to continue. First half was lovely, second half was somewhat urban but still ok. Didn’t get out over the weekend or do any exercise bar some light tenpin bowling :-)

@londonmummy1966 hope this isn’t a rude question but why do you jeff, given your running pace is pretty fast? Do you find you go faster jeffing vs running the whole thing or is in injury prevention?

Thanks @londonmummy1966 and well done on the long run, that's impressive! DS has one more day at home today 🙄but back tomorrow. Of course he's then off Wednesday because of the teachers' strike.... Hopefully my mother in law can take him then, and at least my older two are still in school. I'm in the office tomorrow but WFH Wednesday because of the train strike, so fingers crossed I can get a quick run in. It's frustrating when the usual routine gets knocked on the head

@illiterato not a rude question at all. I'm faster Jeffing than straight running and as I'm not that young its kinder on my joints as well.

And just as DS is recovered DD2 has thrown up and had diarrhoea AGAIN 😫They are always completely fine in themselves but have to stay off school anyway. Fingers crossed today is her last day and they will all be in school tomorrow. Got out for a very slow couple of miles which felt pretty grim, but every little bit helps. If I can do the same tomorrow and Saturday that should build my fitness back up a bit 6.64/35.60

@SydneyCarton - oh no - its awful when they're sick but not sick if you know what I mean. One of mine learnt to make herself sick to avoid going in. 😠

I managed a swim and strength session on Tuesday that ironed out some niggles and then a 5k Jeff and physio exercises yesterday and a 10k today so reasonably happy with how things are going.

Hello, just popping in to say I am keeping on keeping on with my daily steps/yoga/workout - I can’t believe I have been consistent since 1 November. #tiktokmademedoit Well done to all of you who are doing proper exercise!

Well done@Judystilldreamsofhorses - it is oftne harder to stay on track when you don't have a big event you've told everyone you're doing to focus your mind.

The word "marathon" is certainly directing my motivation at the moment!