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?

KEEP GOING EVERYONE 😃

@cantforthelifeofme just do it - start tomorrow and hopefully before too long it becomes second nature. I'm only a few weeks in but have already gone from 'can't be arsed/press snooze' in the morning to 'must get up and do workout'. I've made myself a training plan with either a run or workout everyday bar 1, printed it out and stuck it on my fridge and enjoying ticking them off (plus helps me plan as if I know I'm out one evening I can work around it before the day).

I managed a ridiculously wet 6km run yesterday and very happy it was an indoors workout today - 30 min weights albeit still only 3kg

12km steps is great @SydneyCarton and definitely all helps. I struggle to get to 1k some days when I'm wfh so needing this exercise regime before my muscles all seize up 😬

Absolute fail on YWA today. I fired her up and found it was a 30 minute meditation which isn’t my bag, and gave up after about ten minutes.

However I did a sort of Bollywood dance workout before for ten minutes, then found a hip hop ten minute one and did that, plus went for a short wet lunchtime walk. 10k steps done. I’ll do some yoga stretches on my own later.

@lechatnoir we have a big calendar in the kitchen and I have been doing smiley faces to check off my days. I do one “mouth” per activity :-))))

Gym this morning, then some YWA this evening. My legs were not happy with me this morning, but I did it 💪

I think I need to join please.

used to run half marathons, about 5y ago but got injured and just cannot get motivated.

ive recently lost the 10kg I put on because I wasn’t running but did that with mainly diet and lifestyle changes. I am so damn unfit still. I do some LMOD — mainly weights and core stuff but want to run again. If only for my mental health.

Gym this morning. Still haven’t started YWA because I watched I’m a Celebrity Instead- don’t judge me!! Running tomorrow.

Owen pisses himself?

Sorry wrong thread 😂😂😂

Half hour run for me yesterday. First in absolutely ages and certainly since I've lost about 12lb. I can't believe how much lighter I felt running. My pace was quicker it must be due to this as I don't have the fitness.

Was absolutely pissing with rain when I dropped the kids off this morning but I KNEW that if I went home with the intention of going for the intended 8k run later I would not go. So I told myself if I braved the elements I could just do 5k. And I did- in line with my mantra of not letting perfection be the enemy of getting shit done. Then when I got home I felt like I had the whole day had of me and powered through a really satisfying admin binge :-)

I’ve gone off piste a bit today. 10 minutes of YWA - this was a beginners’ workout and I should have done these at the start. I did a Bollywood dance workout for 30 minutes this morning before work, then a 3,000 steps walking workout afterwards. 10k steps done, which I am pretty proud of since I have not left the house!

Loving the sound of Bollywood workout @Judystilldreamsofhorses.

Very true about something better than nothing @illiterato so well done on running such awful weather. I didn't make it out first thing but my running buddy did drag me out at lunchtime - there are definitely some perks to wfh!

@pokeball well done on losing that weight it definitely does make a huge difference for running I'd say far more than most other sports (cycling/swimming etc). Sadly I've gone the other way and suffering with an extra 1.5stone and it is so much harder.

m.youtube.com/c/DanceWithDeepti/videos

it’s this channel, @lechatnoir and anyone else who is interested. I am ashamed to say I had no idea we had You Tube as an app on our TV (despite it being about ten years old) until a couple of weeks ago, and it is a whole new world.

Gym this morning 💪 yesterday I did some YWA & a 30-minute tabata cardio routine. I will try squeeze another YWA in this evening.

I don’t work on a Wednesday so did 35 minutes of Bollywood dance, then 22 minute walking “get fit with Rick” followed by 10 minute YWA. 11k steps now at 3.30, and I am off to have a bubble bath!

Tomorrow I am in work 9-5 then an appointment so steps will be good but realistically it will most likely be a 10 min YWA and nothing more at night.

@lechatnoir thanks. You have inspired me.

I have just done 15 minutes of rowing and 45 minutes is weights and floor exercises.

Feel great. I might just do it again tomorrow.

Thanks for the push.

Have arranged with DH that he relieves me from DDs hospital bed at 7pm so I managed to get 1km in the pool last night and a 12k Jeff this evening. The Drs are talking about letting her come home on Friday so things might be a bit more back to normal at that point (and she will no doubt have me running up and down stairs all day long...)

@Manchmal - if you are keen to get back to running after a break perhaps look at the Jeff Galloway method (discussed up thread). It is a mixture of running and short walk breaks which means you can get back to distance much more quickly than a straight run programme and many people find they end up faster than if they did run everything.

Quick 2-mile Jeff after the school run this morning - ideally would have aimed for a 5K but I had a 10 am meeting and not enough time to get back and look presentable for Teams cameras! Every little helps.

Couple of errands to run, or rather walk, at lunchtime, then school pick up and Brownies later so on course for at least 10K steps today - currently on 8K

18k steps done today so just did a quick 10 minute YWA tonight. My PF is really bad today after yesterday’s dance workouts which I stupidly did in my bare feet.

Morning run today 5.5km in 32 mins which didn't feel easy but any stretch but is getting closer to my running pace of old. Busy day at work and out in the evening so had a rejig on the schedule and doing a Weights session first thing before I start work.

Did my first exercise class yesterday.. I can no longer move 😆

Yes @rockingbird everything hurts here too but I'm still glad that I did it.

Well done

Well done to the ones up and out this morning.

I will try to do 2-3 miles this afternoon.

I've been keeping an eye on the thread the past fortnight, I joined in on the first week and have been on rest since then following minor surgery. I started back this week
Mon: 10 min jog intervals on treadmill & 30min weight training
Tues : 50 min brisk walk
Wed: 10 min jog intervals treadmill & 30 min weight training
Thurs: yoga class
Today: 10 min jog intervals & 30 min weight training.
I need to make a training plan for the next couple weeks aiming to sit down and do this tomorrow, or maybe I should try some PT with local gym.
I'm drawing great inspiration from this thread and it has helped me pull myself together this week 😉

Well done everyone. Seems like we're all "keeping on keeping on"

@lechatnoir seems like we're pace twins. I finally got my 5k below 30 mins today for the first time in quite some time. 29:18. Wasn't quite red lining by the end but quite happy to see the carpark.

This week I did weight training Monday and Wednesday and then ran Tuesday and today. Yesterday got away with me, I have to confess, partly time and partly vanity as I got my hair done in the morning and wanted just 24 hours with nice hairdresser-styled hair. Will try to run tomorrow and Sunday.Tricky to get to the gym at weekends as DH works overseas and my kids aren't quite old enough to leave on their own (well, I will leave the older one on his own but not add the younger one in as they will have a huge fight).

I'm trying to fight the feeling that I should be doing more and being comfortable with maintaining consistency and enjoying what I'm doing. Chatting to my old trail racing friends, it seems that many of them now pushing 50 are finding previous training loads exhausting rather than empowering. I'm nowhere near that level (used to do 60km a week with 2000m of elevation) so plenty of room to increase, but I am mindful that I shouldn't necessarily be trying to do what I was doing at 35 when I'm 49. I'd love to get my 5k "race" time down closer to 25 mins (PB 21:30 but lolz to ever seeing that again) but I am really enjoying the shorter runs that just slot into gaps in my day and feel no huge desire to go back to very long races.