Good morning and happy Monday, well I think it’s Monday. I hope that everyone who takes the time to read this strange combination of training and life-related thoughts had a great weekend. My weekend had one highlight, a socially distanced and chatty run with Ellen in Sutton Park.
Once again, I’ve decided to produce weekly updates as people have said that they enjoy reading my training (and life) updates. On a more selfish note, I live alone and have been finding the current situation incredibly challenging at times. Based on previous experience, writing these updates will help me. I hope that they show that it’s okay to not be okay. As always, I can’t guarantee that these updates will be interesting, but I promise to be completely open and honest.
I decided to start again with the Couch to 5k training plan I was following earlier this year. Due to a slightly irrational fear of leaving my house for extended periods of time, I hadn’t run the middle of March. As a result, I thought it would be sensible (and potentially less demoralising) to start the Couch to 5k from scratch.
Like before, I added a couple of cross training sessions and rest days into each weekly schedule and produced something that looked achievable.
The first week of my Couch to 5k training plan looked like this.
Each interval session started with a 5 minute walk to help me warm-up and cool down. Cross training sessions comprised of 30 minute training sessions on my exercise bike; Bruce. Yes, I’ve named my exercise bike Bruce!
Monday – 30 mins cross training
For me personally, working from home isn’t all bad, there are some positives. Not having to commute to Solihull means that I’ve reclaimed three hours each day. My 5:25am alarm has been replaced with a 7:00am alarm or WhatsApp notifications, it depends how keen my colleagues are feeling! My working hours now tend to be 8:00am to 4:00/4:30pm. I think it’s fair to say that my work-life balance has improved a lot.
Unfortunately, there are also some negatives; the most obvious include missing my colleagues, feeling isolated, and the technological limitations of working remotely. I’m aware that I’m incredibly fortunate to have a full-time job (until November) that allows me to work from home, so I try to remain positive.
After a slightly tearful start – spending any amount of time on social media is never good for my mental health – I had a productive morning and the time flew by. I even remembered to complete my time recording. I stopped for a quick lunch break and spent some time in the garden getting some fresh air. After a reasonably productive afternoon, I shut down my laptop, got changed into some gym gear, and spent an enjoyable but sweaty 30 minutes on my exercise bike. All in all a positive start to my C25K training.
Tuesday – 24 mins intervals (run 1 min/walk 2 mins x 8)
I always try to remain positive, but looking back, Tuesday wasn’t a great day. Sometimes being the only person on a fixed-term contract in a team of permanent staff is difficult. An awareness that I’ll be out of a job in November when my contract ends is growing increasingly stressful. I’d love to carry on working for my current employer, unfortunately, the introduction of a recruitment freeze means this is looking increasingly unlikely. Not being invited to dial into the WebEx which replaced a meeting I’d usually attend did nothing to make me feel better. A quick chat with mum after work made me feel a little more positive.
Back in February, when I headed out the door to complete the first session of the C25K my main concern was my knee. This time, my main concern was bumping into – not literally – other people. With this in mind, I didn’t leave the house until 8:30pm as I thought it would be a little quieter later on in the evening. I was wrong and it felt incredibly busy, during my five minute warm-up I was aware of footsteps right behind me.
Warm-up complete, I decided to head towards what I’d describe as a really wide road which is usually quiet. I figured I could always run in the road if I encountered anyone out walking. The first four sets of intervals were great, I had the pavement to myself and was able to run and walk as normal. The final four intervals were not particularly enjoyable as I had to run (and walk) in the road. Even taking the selfie above was tricky due to the number of dog walkers. At least my right knee didn’t instantly react to running. Early morning runs are clearly the way forward.
Wednesday – Rest
This weekly update is already turning into another essay so I’ll keep my Wednesday update short. I didn’t leave the house, had a productive day, did three loads of washing, and the mixed vegetable box I’d ordered from M&S was delivered. I live alone so found the large bags of onions and potatoes slightly overwhelming.
Thursday – 18 mins intervals (run 1 min/walk 2 mins x 6)
Colder than expected weather – I didn’t fancy running on icy pavements – meant that my 5am interval session didn’t happen. Looking at the long-term weather forecast, this shouldn’t be an issue going forward.
Work was work. I can’t go into too much detail. Highlights included my line manager telling me that some technical advice I’d given a colleague was correct and that I should have more confidence in my own abilities. I wish that it was that simple. I finished working at 4:30pm and spent an hour making carrot and coriander soup. The end product tasted reasonable but wasn’t exactly what I’d describe as filling. At least the recipe used the mountain of carrots included in the MS vegetable box. Just two large bags of potatoes and a bag of onions to go, I may end up chopping and freezing some of the onions.
In an attempt to avoid a repeat of Tuesdays’ not so enjoyable interval session, I delayed leaving my house until after 9pm. I figured that as it was getting dark; most sensible people would be at home. My theory was correct and except for another lone runner – hello Kate – I had the streets to myself and was able to focus on my training rather than having to dodge other people. Although I found the six sets of intervals enjoyable, my right knee ‘niggled’ a couple of times. I have a feeling that my insoles need replacing, hopefully, the Superfeet insoles I’ve been asked to try out and review will make a difference.
Friday – Rest
I’m not complaining as I feel safe working from home and know I’m incredibly fortunate to be able to work from home. However, you know lockdown life is getting a touch tedious when one of the highlights of your day was chopping up and freezing 12 onions. I also ordered a dress from Seasalt, it will be interesting to see if ‘tall’ actually means tall.
Saturday – 30 mins cross training
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll probably already be aware that my Saturday morning exercise bike session was a catalogue of errors. Five minutes into the session I felt far too warm and realised that the central heating was on, a couple of minutes later my laptop battery died so my virtual cycle around Lake Garda came to a sudden end, I ran out of water, and the motivational Madonna video I was watching on my PC was interrupted with an advert. At least my exercise bike held it together. I assembled the exercise bike myself and have a slightly irrational fear it’ll collapse mid training session.
The rest of my Saturday was what I’d describe as steady. I spent some time updating my CV, completed the first drafts of two product reviews, treated myself to a much-needed afternoon nap, and watched the 1981 London Marathon BBC programme I missed a couple of weeks ago. An enjoyable day but one which made me wish I could head to my nearest parkrun on a Saturday morning and the freedom of pre-lockdown life.
Sunday – 30 mins intervals (run 1 min/walk 2 mins x 10)
When my alarm woke me at 5am I felt shattered so I decided to treat myself to an extra hour in bed. When I woke for a second time an hour later, I still felt shattered but forced myself out of bed and into some running gear. I felt like I was sleepwalking during the five minutes warm-up and only started to feel more awake when I started running.
Heading out reasonably early was most definitely worth it, I didn’t see anyone else during the half hour interval session. I found the 10 sets of intervals incredibly enjoyable although running in areas of Four Oaks I hadn’t seen since March did feel a little strange. I even managed to time my walking intervals so I was able to capture some of the slightly more scenic parts of the route.
I got home, had a glass of chocolate milk, and then headed back to bed for an hour. I’d arranged to meet up with my friend Ellen for a socially distanced run in Sutton Park so had to make sure I didn’t oversleep. Getting the opportunity to talk to someone outside of my family and work was most definitely worth ending the morning with a slightly sore right knee. I was aware that with my injury issues, running twice was asking for trouble, but I felt that interaction would be more beneficial to me in the longer term.
The active start to the day which saw me hit my 20,000 daily steps target for the first time, was followed by a relaxed Sunday afternoon and evening. I treated myself to another afternoon nap, watched a couple of episodes of Chicago Fire, finished updating my CV, and generally chilled out. I ended the week with my now weekly tradition; a takeaway from my favourite local Chinese. Unhealthy but a huge improvement considering I used to treat myself to several takeaways a week.
The second week of my Couch to 5k training plan looks quite straightforward and I’m confident I’ll be able to complete all of the training sessions. I just need to remember to complete the personalised strength and conditioning exercises I was provided earlier this year.
Training totals
Niggleometer
Did you have a good weekend? Did you take part in a virtual parkrun? Did you meet up with anyone for a socially distanced training run?
Do you have a Fitbit? I’ve found the sleep tracking incredibly enlightening and now know why I feel tired a lot of the time.
Do you try to complete a certain number of steps each day? I must admit I was a little embarrassed the day I only completed 2533 steps. I do like the hourly reminders to move.
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I admire your determination and resilience Emma – you keep bouncing back after your various set-backs. You provide a great insight into your daily ups and downs, giving your posts some rare realism. It also reminds us that running and training never occur in a vacuum – they have to be fitted in around our other commitments and waxing and waning motivation.
I liked the bit about step counting. I have never been too worried about mine, but was shocked to notice that the other Sunday I clocked up 0.07 miles and 153 steps! Good to hear you are going to be posting regularly – you’ll soon be back to 5k! (exclamation, not factorial).
Thanks Derek, I hope you’ve been keeping well in these slightly strange times. I’ve always been fairly resilient, a good job considering how many injuries I’ve had over the last few years. My days are definitely a little up and down at the moment, judging by comments my colleagues made on a call earlier I’m not the only one. I managed a run at 5am yesterday morning and am planning on heading out at the same time tomorrow. I think I run better when I’m half asleep and don’t have time to think about what I’m doing! I managed over 10,000 steps yesterday; today it’s a slightly less impressive 2,933 steps. Yes, I’m hoping to post regularly, I find writing helps me, hopefully it helps other people too.
I have a Garmin something-or-other. But I have also had a jawbone and fitbit. None of them have measured my sleep correctly. I think they get utterly confused by my daytime sleeping, my unpredictable hours and sometimes 24 hour long sleep marathons. I gave up with trying to get them to work a long time ago.
3,000 steps is my daily step goal. It’s not much, but it’s a value I can normally reach even if I’m feeling mentally rough.
The main reason I’m commenting though is to sympathise with you about vast quantities of veg. Back at the start of the lockdown mum and I had to have some Morrisons food boxes to see us through. I have never eaten so much coleslaw in all my life! It came with every meal for a week or two as we were presented with yet another whole cabbage and bag of carrots. I suppose we could have made soup, or a vast array of other dishes, but coleslaw seemed the easiest at the time. I think you did the right thing with the onions.
I’m glad to see that you managed a run with a friend too x x
My sleep is most definitely confusing my fitbit. Having said that, I had an hour long nap when I got back from my early morning run yesterday and it added the hour to my sleep the previous night.
I’ve only reached 10,000 steps on a couple of days, my average is nearer 5,000 steps. Let’s just say I’m considering lowering my daily goal to something more achievable.
I’m not a massive fan of coleslaw so I would have struggled with the coleslaw diet. I’m down to my last few potatoes and now have a fruit box to work through. I prefer fruit so it’ll be less of a chore. I’ve already eaten a load of grapes, an apple and a couple of bananas.
My friend asked if I wanted to join her for a run today. I’m ashamed to say I declined as I don’t enjoy running in the heat. I also want to avoid running when I suspect there’ll be a lot of people out and about.
Stay alert (whatever that means) and safe x
Aw it’s so lovely that you met up with your friend and ran with her! I’ve seen a few people in my run club do this but the only one who lives near to me doesn’t want to because she is a hugger and will find it really tough to see people but not closely if that makes sense.
I am on a 10,000 steps per day streak and have kept it going for nearly 2 years now- the worst days have been days of being on a plane for a long day (remember those?) so having to walk around airports and whatnot to get the steps up! As I’m fairly active in my normal job (not the working from home distance learning) it’s been OK, and luckily I have a garden so if I’ve been sat at my desk a day I walk around the garden for a bit listening to podcasts.
Thanks Maria, neither of us are what I’d call huggers so there was no danger of that happening. Some of my other friends are huggers, I suspect they’ve been struggling! I did have to say no to a midweek run with Ellen as I don’t fancy melting in the heat! I’m definitely an early morning runner, my alarm is already set for 5am tomorrow.
That’s a seriously impressive steps per day streak. I’ve just had a look and I’ve only completed 2,933 steps today. I don’t think I’d be able to get up to 10,000 steps without wearing out the back lawn or carpets. I do love my fitbit and wish that I’d invested in one ages ago.