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?

Can I join ?

I ran two half marathons early this month but I haven’t run since . This happens most winters . I love running in the Spring and Summer but as Winter approaches I loss my motivation . I also lose my fitness and have to start all over again . Plus I put on weight as I keep eating like I’m running and then Christmas doesn’t help .

To keep me going I signed up for the Brighton Marathon for April 2nd 🫢

Oooh well done @AllThatAndMore I'm only braving a half in March and yes post away. Do you just run or could you add something else in the mix like a class, gym or home workout? Might be helpful to have a different option for those days that are just so bloody miserable a run isn't going to happen and stop you falling completely off the wagon.

@lechatnoir I don’t really do anything else other than run. I love at home workout videos and occasionally do those but if the motivation isn’t there for running I don’t find it’s there for much else lol . I have thought about signing up for some spin classes at my local gym though . Maybe I should look into it .

Races are definitely a good motivator.

I find I normally have a couple of lulls through the year between race clusters/ life, and actually for a short time that's quite healthy for recovery and preventing overuse injuries. Maybe not a whole season though 😂

I did learn in 2020 when I didn't have those usual cycles of races and life that it was really difficult and unnatural to try to run consistently without goals and my motivation had phases of crashing even harder than it normally would.

I've had a strange term. The DCs' health has been erratic which had affected plans at late notice and consistency, so I'm hoping that I'm over the hump of that and can get more regular milage and strength work in after half term. Plus I'm still in the late stages of recovering from injury so still cautious about speed in particular.

I have a race in about 3 weeks. I've already covered the milage at a gentle pace so it's doable, and a couple of decent longer runs should do the job. It's a nice base milage for my spring marathon training.

Back from holiday - didn't exercise every day but did 3 good gym sessions and then got back to my usual gym today. DH is going to take the kids climbing tomorrow so I'm going to go and do Parkrun and set a baseline time to improve on. Races are tricky for me at the moment as while I have a lot of spare time in the week I have virtually none at weekends as DH works abroad and the DC have loads of stuff on.

Can I join? I;ve been very off and on over the summer but have just landed a place in the London Marathon so need to really get my arse in gear. I can usually get myself up to HM speed in 10 weeks or so but haven't really tried anything beyond 15 miles so the marathon is a real step up. I'm trying to run 3x a week with a long run on Sunday and non strenuous swimming on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm wondering if I need to do some form of strength or stretch as well though.

Can I join too please?

Like @londonmummy1966 I got a ballot place in the London marathon and I’m determined to use that place as the kick up the arse to get myself going after Covid - I ran a half in the spring but then the heatwave sapped my will to live never mind run and I need to snap out of it!

Me please! I’ve just signed up with a personal trainer and started dance fit after a very long break.
I’m also wanting to quit smoking!

Coming on this thread gave me the motivation to get out and do a short run. As its dark I ended up doing three laps of a short loop - I suspect I am going to be very familiar with it by April. I tried to mix it up a bit with two fastish laps (one in the reverse direction) and one with longer run intervals (I Jeff) at the end. DOes anyone have any other ideas for trying to make endless loops a bit more interesting?

Hello, can I please join, in a low key way? I did C25K earlier this year and was comfortably running 30 minutes straight, then developed bloody plantar fasciitis in august which has knocked me off my feet. I’ve been having physio and shockwave therapy but it’s a slow game.

I’ve seen “healthy for 30” on TikTok a lot lately so my plan is 30 days of yoga, 10k steps a day, and I know I should do something drinking-water-related but suspect that will be the hardest part. I will start on Monday although that feels out of whack with Tuesday being the first!

I started HRT in the summer and would like to get shot of my peri middle. I’m still the same dress size 10/12 but not enjoying having a fleshy tummy!

Welcome, new people!!

@Judystilldreamsofhorses another PF sufferer here, currently waiting for physio/ shockwave therapy (which I'm hoping isn't as scary as it sounds!) - the physio did tell me that I could exercise in the meantime but not overdo it, but how do I know when to stop?!

I have no idea about TikTok suspect I'm too old to understand it but is 'healthy for 30' a 30 day challenge? I'm guessing with the idea of if you can do 30 days, it's become a habit and you'll keep going?

October has been very busy and stressful, I'm hoping to get back on track in November and tackle my fitness goals - 3 stone to lose

@ScarlettMcCain I found the SW really painful. I paid for three sessions which is what works for most people, and had the last one last week, but I don’t feel like it has helped very much. (It was £££ too!) I’ve to wait six weeks and then can do another three if I need to. I was told to stay off my foot as much as possible but it’s impossible as I don’t drive - most work days I do about 18,000 steps.

Yes, exactly that re healthy for 30. Most people do three things - steps, yoga, water, for example - and they can be whatever suits you. I need to make up some sort of tick chart. (I don’t do TikTok in terms of posting videos but I know a chart works for me!)

No running yesterday but we did do a climbing session with the children which I am feeling this morning in my sides and shoulders 😬. I need to be out early for running otherwise it just doesn’t happen, past 10 am and my motivation just drains away.

Will try and push myself to get out tomorrow morning and hopefully again on Monday after drop off as I’m working from home. Tuesday and Wednesday are office days so no running but I do get some decent steps in to and from the station.

I was in a good routine of 2 exercise classes per week, but then went on holiday and didn't go back. Ready to go back now and this post has given me the motivation to actually go back. Thanks OP!

I haven’t read this thread in its entirety but I am in. Need my mojo back. Used to love running and be quite good at it…. Not fast but could do at least 10 miles every weekend….

First Parkrun in god knows how long (many years) today. So far off my PB it was embarrassing but I did run all the way without stopping which I was worried I wouldn't be able to do. So much easier with lots of people as pacers.

A variation on loops that I like is a "compass run" basically running in a + shape so I park up somewhere fairly central and run legs of out and back. I love it for 10 mile runs as I'm never more than 1.25 miles from the car, especially if there's something like injury doubt, poor weather or restricted time where you may want to cut short.

I've made a return to parkrun too. It's been about 4 months since I've been to my local. I'm still having to be cautious with my achilles and speed is worse than distance. I'm jeffing my long runs, but trying to run-all on my short ones.

I managed to fit in another 3 miles today. Still jeffing (3 min run, 1 min walk) but hoping to up the running over the next couple of weeks.

I need this thread in my life.

I've spent the whole year telling myself I'll start exercising next week and now the year is nearly over and it's 8 weeks till Christmas.

I want to get started TODAY

I get quite impatient with running though as I realise it takes time to build up but I just want to go and do 3-4 miles starting from now.

Has anyone else taken this approach and been ok? Thinking walk/jog but just get the distance done?

@christmassyqwerty EVERYONE needs this thread in their lives... tell your friends . I am a bit like you and it's always "oh after half term it'll be easier because X" but that time never comes as there's always another curveball. So now I've just given myself a kick up the butt to get on with it.

I did Parkrun yesterday (5k) and haven't run in ages (months). I ran the whole thing but just took the pace really easy. I don't want to generate laundry for less than 5k. So I think you'll be fine so long as you listen to your body.

Morning,

Much needed rest day yesterday (gentle cycle to the shops aside!) after a run and off road cycling with dc. I'm due a run today and really should have gone before breakfast so now need to find the energy to get out

Just looking at my plan for next week:
Monday: weights (YouTube growingannas session)
Tuesday: 30 mins jog
Wed: 20+mins stretch - yoga/Pilates
Thurs: weights similar to
Monday

Friday: 30 min jog
Saturday: REST
Sunday: longer run (45 mins might need a couple of walks)

Feel like I need to up things a bit - muscles felt a bit sore after the weight sessions but definitely didn't feel like I was challenged or on any sort of mission! Maybe look for more than 30 min workouts, up the weights ever so slightly?

I've replied on your other thread, but if you do it as a walk with running bits as you feel like it, you'll be fine. Just getting out there and starting will feel good, and it doesn't take long before you can increase the running.

Better to do something that interests you than chugging along a less motivating conventional way (says she who's done C25k again this year)

@christmassyqwerty I prefer to work to a time commitment rather than distance unless I'm following a specific training program (definitely not right now!). But as another poster said the important thing is to just get out and do it. Try half an hour & jog as much as you can, walk when you need to and then restart the jogging.

Thanks @BogRollBOGOF compass runs sound like a good idea as nights close in.

I managed to get 10 miles in today in just under 2 hours so I was quite happy with that although the thought of scaling that up to 26 is quite daunting. For those run/walking and worrying about increasing the run time - I now Jeff everything at ratios of 90:30 or 60:30 and have found that this makes me faster rather than slower than if I ran all the way. (And less achy afterwards)