Recently been reading about how cold it is in Australia now from those there and I sympathise as I know how hard it is to get going on those cold early mornings.
Here it is the end of the monsoon season about 30 degrees and 90% humidity. Running it this is certainly a challenge and it's only comfortable between 3 and 4AM. Still we all have our crosses to bear ;)
I fell off the high mileage wagon last week with a BBQ and hangover and a bit of ITB pain I thought I'd better have a bit of a rest. So now day 4 without a run and not only do I feel out of condition, I feel a cold coming on. And to top this off I've put on close to 2kgs in 5 days!
It's really a constant battle , isn't it? Just got to keep moving to even stay in place. Well no matter what I'm back into it tomorrow I can't let this go on too much longer as I don't like feeling like this anymore. Now I can't be happy unless I feel healthy and fit. I fear the consequences of inaction and I'm no longer much tempted by the lure of inactivity.
Better make that a big piece of cheese!
ReplyDeleteThe high mileage wagon is certainly a precarious beast that takes a fair degree of discipline and control to stay astride. I feel pretty excited at the moment because I feel I have come up with the "The Way", well, not that I personally have come up with it, but I think I finally really understand the Lydiard/Hadd approach and the secret to great gains through high mileage without breaking. It comes down to running within your limit, but not too far, and lots of it. Eagle's post on his sub three at GC exemplifies it. I am all of about three days into !! :-)
So cold here, Scott, that I've vowed, after being out in a freezing gale yesterday, to go to the gym & use the treadmill until spring comes around!
ReplyDeleteHave you become active again? I don't much like the sound of you being inactive...I'll check back here in a day or two so get going....now!
Are you suggesting that you have actually been running between 3 and 4AM?
ReplyDeleteAs for the weather here it is 7PM now and 5 degrees outside. No morning runs for me right now.
But the fire is pretty nice - if I can get J to move aside that is.
Nothing wrong with a little 'mid-course correction" there when it comes to running Scott. It's just our bodies way of coping with the demands we sometimes place on it "...wot, you wont me to run that far this week"???
ReplyDeleteI ran in -7 degree temps yesterday here in Canberra, which was a personal record for the coldest conditions I have run in. I survived.
Keep the high k's up but as Stephen says build into slowly so no damage is done. But it does not have to be fast - at the base building stage you are just looking for k's in the legs not speed. Just keep moving at a good steady pace and you will soon see some gains. As I said in the early stages it is a matter of k's not speed - oh and at the same time the kg's will come off.
ReplyDeleteMy family all lives in Brisbane - if I hear one more whinge about a low of 8 degrees.... I've been riding my bike to work in 3 degrees, and we here in Adelaide ain't got nufin on Canberra! Not sure I'd like running at 3 am either.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on the horror of inactivity - it just feels wrong. Can't wait to start up again this week (now that the physio says I can), even if I've been limited to under 20 km per run (better than nothing, right?).
It is a constant battle, the battle of the bulge. I'm sure the 2kgs will soon disappear once you're back in action.
ReplyDeleteIt's not cold in Australia, well not for a pom anyway, although I do remember a bit of a whinge last night when i was standing waiting for a taxi.
You haven't heard me whinge about the weather ... unless you can hear me from Japan :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm seriously contemplating the high mileage thing too. Eagle should start charging for advice.
You're so right about the whole inactivity thing and how bad just a couple of days of no exercise makes us feel. Wonder if we will ever feel comfortable doing nothing. Doubt it. What have we done to ourselves!!!
Many are bearing much heavier crosses than us Scott. I often think of Steve's mate Eric in Nth Dakota.
ReplyDeleteCloser to home, an old running buddy of mine used to live at Tennant Creek. The only times he could run were at 3am, or midday with the sun directly overhead, under a big hat.
Yesterday I was chatting to a Lydiard disciple (now in his 70s) who followed his book (Running to the Top) to the letter when he started running at 35. After 2 and a half years, he ran sub-3 after 'blowing up' and walk/jogging the last 8k.