This is part of the river we go out on. A bit gloomy when this one was taken though.
We went out for 25 mins today and it was nowhere near as cold as last week. I think the water was a little warmer but I was a bit more used to it too.
And then went out for my first run in almost three weeks and the hamstring didn’t feel too bad. Still a little stiff on slight hills but good enough to start going out again I think.
@Thrillho ahh that's beautiful! Very serene (at least until the screams of cold water shock ring throughout the trees 😅)
Nice one on the run and in glad the hammy isn't giving you too much jip! Do you walk somewhere to run? Just wondering if you do it as a little bit of warm up before getting into it properly. I tend to do 3-5 mins walking first just to get away from the house but I think it goes a little way to warming up my legs at least. Is there anywhere that is flatter around your way so it's less stress on the problem muscle(s)?
Any progress from fellow forumers at the moment? I managed my second half marathon distance last weekend and came in under 2 hours again so pretty happy with that. First time running with a bag to take some water and energy drink with me and it didn't cause me any problems.
@ralphdibny Oops, sorry for not replying! I tend to go out to places near to me but have a minute or two walk before I get going (after doing some warm up stretches of course!). Not too many flat routes near me as I live in a valley and the only other ways out are along the A road.. Hamstring is feeling fine at the moment though so hopefully stay injury free for a while.
@Thrillho haha no worries! Nice one on the second half marathon!! I've run with a bag before (I ran to CEX as I thought I'd combine some exercise with senseless impulse purchases 😂). It wasn't great for me, the bag kept slipping down one shoulder so I had to tighten it up. I'd probably consider some sort of water bladder if I was doing half marathon distances as I think my bottle would be too bulky and painful to carry on my back
I haven't had much progress unfortunately. I was feeling down for a good 2-3 weeks which meant doing not a lot. Just sitting around in my pants until I got out of my funk. I think I'm out of it now, have been able to get out and go to work this week which was good to bring some money in.
My partner and I have been looking for places to rent and move in together. Seen quite a few, made an offer on 2 of them but one offer was too late by a day and the other offer got outbid unfortunately. We are looking for a 2 bed for a max 1000pcm. We know we are being a bit fussy about what sort of place we want to move in to but having seen two rarities either at that price or near that price, we are somewhat confident that something will show up soon that's to our liking.
I brought that up because I guess we would have been somewhat close to moving by now and I think I was hoping to get back into a regular exercise schedule once that happened. As it stands, we've made only progress in our experience of the house viewing process rather than actual progress towards finding somewhere to live. I'll hopefully feel like going for a run soon but I suspect I'll have to start off a bit light again due to being out of action for a few weeks. Probably some 3Ks and 4Ks to get back into the swing of things!
@kyleforrester87 so were you dude! Well done on the big ride. Just insane, I don't think I'd ever be able to make it as far as you did! Maybe I could on a tricycle, that has a motor, and if all the roads between Cornwall and Scotland were A. Downhill and B. Had no cars on them whatsoever. Honestly, just an awesome achievement, well done! 👏👏👏
@ralphdibny Thanks. It’s only a small bag (maybe 10 litres?) so easy to carry.
Sorry to hear about the last few weeks but good to hear you’re going to get back out there. And house hunting is always a nightmare; it took us over a year to find out current place (bought) after being outbid, gazumped, and all sorts in between..
@kyleforrester87 Ha, thanks! I’m in a good groove at the moment and enjoying it until the weather turns (although I look forward to it being a bit cooler).
You must be pretty chuffed with how the big ride went but gutted with how it ended. It looked pretty spectacular!
@ralphdibny@Thrillho Thanks - yes it's a bummer I couldn't do the last day but I was going really strong until I got what was apparently mild food poisioning and threw up/couldn't keep any food down for 12 hours. Even though I could keep a little food down by the morning I just had nothing in the tank for a final 100 mile ride on the last day, plus hadn't really slept, was dehydrated from throwing up and had a splitting headache. I've no doubt I could have finished otherwise, the final day was pretty easy compared to the ones before.
As for how hard it was, the difficulty came from just trying to stay positive, ignoring saddle sores, left knee pain which started around day 4 (and has yet to subside..), numb hands, getting up early, generally feeling like all you're doing is pedalling 24 hours day, rainy mornings, running out of supplies between pit stops, seeing 90 miles left on the satnav. Stuff like that. Also I had just come out of isolation with coronavirus and had a residual cough for the first few days which was really annoying. 100 miles is a long way, but once you've got the endurance to cycle that distance through training, it apparently isn't so hard to slow things down and do this distance every day, bar a few curve balls in the form of massive steep hills. You can always walk up those if you want - personally I love cycling up a monster hill, it's probably my strongest area since I'm a skinny boy! (I was thin before I started, but somehow lost another inch around my waste!)
The main thing I learnt is that Britain is really quite small
Looks pretty cool on the Strava Heatmap. That gap on the top will always annoy me a little bit though haha.
@Thrillho Good effort on getting the half marathon distance in, and a good time as well.
@ralphdibny Hope you manage to find somewhere soon and that you can get back into your groove. It always helps feeling a bit more settled in general but especially with being able to plan things and getting sleep. I find that a big thing really as if I haven't slept well then I don't function too well and the last thing I want to do is exercise.
@kyleforrester87 Congrats on getting as far as you did but really unlucky about that last section. You must have been gutted to have not been able to do it. Anything stomach related is quite debilitating as it totally saps your energy and the last thing you want is being crunched up on a bike. Think you'll want to have another go or are you drawing a line under that one?
I've been really pushing myself to get out more regularly the last few weeks. I did a mini mountain marathon a few weekends ago with a mate which was 3 hours (as it turned out) in the Peak District near Edale picking up points for reaching checkpoints. It didn't go brilliantly, but not due to fitness. I've done some of these mini ones before and they are usually 4 hours and hadn't realised this one was only 3. We ended up with 30 minutes left and a good 5km to get 2 checkpoints and get back to the finish. Had to abandon looking for the 2nd to last checkpoint as we couldn't see it easily without committing to going downhill too much only to have to come back up again and then found that the way back was through some really thick bracken so had to run as if being chased by a lion to make it back, eventually taking a small penalty for being late. You never stop learning on these things and it's always good experience for the next one. The next one will likely be a 2 day full scale event at the end of October with full overnight kit so going to have to start running with more weight in my back from now on so it doesn't come as too much of a shock 😆
@render The last hour of the last stage I did was the hardest physical challenge of my life, simply because I felt so awful lol. I was still convincing myself it was just fatigue at that point and I needed to recharge. Alarm bells were ringing when I got to camp and had no appetite. Went to lie down and an hour later made a big mess of my tent :')
Would I do it again.. I dunno man. It's only been 2 weeks and it's not a straight no so perhaps in a couple of years it'll be a big yes. But, any one of those days would be great as an individual day. I am just not sure how enjoyable they all are back to back. So much big scenery, it kind of got hard taking it all in, combined with the aches and pains of a multi-day event.
My legs are damn strong now though and my endurance will be through the roof. I need to try and maintain it if I can. Looking at a 200 mile single ride next year.
@kyleforrester87 That sounds pretty brutal. I've not quite ever been that bad but I've been at that point before where my appetite has totally deserted me during an event and then it's just impossible to eat anything and eventually my legs just give out. Everything revolves around getting fuel and if that bit stops working then you are basically screwed.
The scenery would definitely be a big plus for me, but I can appreciate being overwhelmed by it all. I've done the coast 2 coast years ago and that's similar. Starting and finishing near the coast and taking in some views of the mountains as you go through the lakes and pennines you get a good range of views. That's also why I like doing the fell races / mountain marathons as a big part of what keeps me going is the amazing scenery and always wondering what is over the next hill or round the next corner.
Yeah good point about Death Stranding, perhaps that's why I like the game so much. It is an extra challenge carrying the kit with you and makes you appreciate how much stuff you actually need to be self sufficient. It's a trade off between comfort during the day and comfort at night. I try and strike a balance as I don't want to be freezing cold or hungry, especially in the winter, but also don't want to get back and think that I didn't use a particular bit of kit or have much food left over as it's just wasted effort. Luckily I don't have to carry a BB or deal with BTs like Sam does 🤣
@render I keep toying with the idea of getting into fell running or something and I think there's a group near to me that do it.
I keep toying with the idea of a "lone wolf" run near me in a few weeks which is a 7k (moderately hilly) loop and you do the run on the hour, every hour until you're done. I'd just be interested to see how I'd do to be honest. No chance of winning it as the guy who did last year managed to go for 20 hours!
@Thrillho@render cheers peeps. Yeah hopefully! But stressed at the mo as I might be starting a new project at work this week (if they stump up the cash for it) but I don't know how I'll get time to do viewings with that going on. We'll see!
@kyleforrester87 the map certainly does look cool! It's mad how it's more or less like a straight line north once you get to the end of Somerset.
How many days/weeks did it take in the end to cycle?? I'm trying to work out whether I agree with Britain being small 😅. Obviously I have a limited perspective as I have been to very few other countries. I know I can drive to Glasgow in about 10 hours from London, Cornwall is about 5 hours away from me. Probably could drive the lands end, John o groats route in a 2-3 days but it would probably take me well over a month to walk it!
@Thrillho That’s an impressive number of laps. I’ve done a few 24hr events so can imagine how hard that is to keep the pace up. The nights are always the worst part as you slowly start to unravel mentally, especially when you are already exhausted.
If you like some hilly stuff you should definitely look into doing a fell race. There’s a good range of distances and I’ve always found most of the competitors to be a friendly bunch. I find most of the races on the fellrunner.org.uk and sientries.co.uk websites. One of the best things about them is the fact that they never charge too much for entry and some have great post race meals considering what you pay.
Even more than the fell races though I just love the mountain marathon format. It’s basically like orienteering but on a larger scale. There’s usually two options route and score. In a route class you are given a map with the checkpoints and you have to get them all but you can choose your own route between them. In score you get a map with loads of checkpoints on it and each one is worth different points so you just need to collect as many as you can in a set time - usually 6hrs on day 1 and 5hrs on day 2. As I’m a pretty average runner then I tend to find that I can make up for that more on the score class as you’ve got to not only be able to navigate between checkpoints but also decide how far you are likely to be able to run and which would be the best route to maximise the use of your time. It can get pretty exciting if you end up leaving yourself far from the finish with not much time as you get docked points for each minute you are over. Couple that with having to carry all your kit for a night camping and it makes for a good weekend out.
@ralphdibny well I struggled to get going when I posted. But the last 3 weeks I've been very strict about it. Tracking calories daily, haven't had any beer. Going out for walks more and generally trying to move more. I've managed to lose 4lbs in 3 weeks. I'm very happy to be on the path again, I've not limited myself too much either but I'm eating far healthier and can feel the difference!
I had to call my GP as I have been struggling with sleep. I haven't had a good night's sleep for so long, I can't remember when I was last well rested. I've got a blood test coming (purely precautionary), but I've downloaded a sleep app and found its down to some sort of disruptive sleep apnoea. Because my weight is so high, I sometimes have bad breathing and wake myself up a bit, so I never sleep through properly. So it's even more motivation to get myself sorted!
How are you doing with your exercise and diet regime my dude?
@NedStarksGhost nice one 👍 sounds like you are on the right path! Nice one on getting a GP appointment and follow up stuff too. In London it seems like no doctor will take you seriously unless you literally walk into A&E holding your own decapitated head in a bin bag. It's a real struggle to get doctors appointments over here!
I weren't really dieting as such but I have switched to certain vegan alternatives like oat milk. Great for coffee and tea but it needs a bucket of sugar for my shredded wheat to be edible with it so I think I might switch back to normal milk for cereals so I don't consume that much sugar. Still eating meat though because its what gets fed to me (still living with my parents). I suspect meat will fall by the wayside when I move in with my partner in the next couple of months. Apart from Bratwurst, I can probably live without most of it and/or just have it as a rare treat when a soft succulent pork belly with a perfectly cooked crackling that goes from rock hard to chewy is on the menu. That's rare though to be honest 😅
Works got super busy lately too so I've found it difficult to get out for runs and to do exercise. I hoping when I start my new role and move in with my partner that I'll be able to work out a decent schedule. So yeah, packed on a few lbs but I still just about fit into my work uniform so that's a plus lol.
Forums
Topic: The Health, Fitness and Exercise Thread
Posts 401 to 420 of 643
Please login or sign up to reply to this topic