Health + Fitness

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

1 minute ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Sounds similar to the shark steak I ate in the much less impressive surroundings of Lowestoft. Really chewy as well. Chewy fish. Not in a rush to eat again.

Oh, whale wasn't particularly chewy on this Svalbard cruise, the taste was just unlike anything I'd had before and I wasn't exactly enamoured with it anyway. Seemed to smell similar to steak, but I think that might have been the char from the cooking as that disappeared on first bite and then, for me at least, it defied categorising. I didn't eat all of it, which for me is pretty remarkable.

Would still hang around for a crack at hakarl if I get to Iceland, but Iceland will be on the travel agenda next year at the earliest. This year's already fully planned unless the Prishtina half-marathon pulls its finger out and isn't - too - close to the other trips abroad (but if it's September again we'll have issues as I've already got Praski and Odense lined up).

That said, the Faroes is probably the place to go for whale. Miss TGS is a pretty adventurous eater (much more than me) so if there's a chance of it being landed I think she'll go for it.

[The Raptor 1,211]

26 minutes ago, TheGunnShow said:

Depends, if it's part of a cooldown or an active recovery session between intervals, it makes perfect sense.

That does make alot of sense. It just looked like they were ambling along having a chat tho!

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

1 minute ago, The Raptor said:

That does make alot of sense. It just looked like they were ambling along having a chat tho!

Better using manual treadmills for that if the gym has them. Those are absolutely brutal. 

Put it in perspective. My idea of a gentle plod for a half-mara (21.095 kilometres) on a traditional, electric treadmill is just under 2 hours. Decided I'd go long on the Woodway Curve manual treadmill a few years ago and after two hours I'd gone just under 16 kilometres, so more than five kilometres less in the same period of time. And I was shattered, unlike after a gentle two-hour half-mara plod on a typical treadmill. 

It's almost like running on a yielding sand dune. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that it was equivalent to running on an 8% uphill gradient or something, but I might have the figure wrong or it might have been an equivalent.

Either way, walking on that will definitely get things moving for those who want to build fitness up.

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

Prague half-marathon done yesterday morning and done in 1:43:38, chip time. Third best run over the distance. Would have been better if:

1. The Garmin had actually worked properly, the timer worked but the time/distance thing didn't, so I only had the roughest idea of pace.
2. People actually stayed in their ****ing groups instead of piling forward (possibly a supervising issue). First half was crap as I was weaving in and out past people far, far slower than me who should have been starting behind.
3. There had been enough loo roll in the portable khazis. Had a massive nerve settling dump before the start, and no loo roll. Any underwear riding up the Marmite motorway was a bit more uncomfortable (and stinkier) than usual!

Should be pleased with the run though. Even with no sense of pacing, my running from 5km onwards was quite remarkably consistent, and especially with medieval cobbles and a headwind down the last three miles.

[The Raptor 1,211]

Ace running! I love Prague as well. Great city.

As for me I actually managed to run round parkrun without stopping to walk for the first time in ages. Knocked a minute or so off the time of the previous one last month.  Next Saturday off is in 3 weeks. I'm determined to keep running between them this time. Still a long way to go before I can get anywhere close to my 21 minute record. I was 7 years younger and 3-4 stone lighter then...

Im gonna stick at it. I enjoy it after five minutes or so when my breathing settles down!

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

On 02/04/2023 at 21:12, The Raptor said:

Ace running! I love Prague as well. Great city.

As for me I actually managed to run round parkrun without stopping to walk for the first time in ages. Knocked a minute or so off the time of the previous one last month.  Next Saturday off is in 3 weeks. I'm determined to keep running between them this time. Still a long way to go before I can get anywhere close to my 21 minute record. I was 7 years younger and 3-4 stone lighter then...

Im gonna stick at it. I enjoy it after five minutes or so when my breathing settles down!

This is more for the travel thread I started, but if you go back to Prague and want a decent hotel, and don't mind paying a bit, the Boutique Hotel Constans in Mala Strana should be well worth considering. Both Miss TGS and I were absolutely thrilled with the comfort and hospitality provided.

Indeed, I plonked in this review on Booking.

 

Edited April 3, 2023 by TheGunnShow

[kick it off 1,952]

On 20/08/2022 at 18:29, kick it off said:

I put about a stone of what I lost back on over the last year. Had a horrific run of stuff going on, including a breakdown of a 10 year relationship and my new partner's mum passing away less than 4 months after a cancer diagnosis so im not being too hard on myself about it. Still lighter now than I was at 17 (and in about 16.5 of the 18 years since then!). Planning to smash it back off again in September once I've moved house. I reckon I can take the stone down in 6 weeks.

So been a while since I posted on here - Alot has gone on in my life since this. 

- Moved 100 miles

- Started a new job - hated the new job - got another job

- "New" partner relationship broke down after 2 years (some hope of reconciling though).

In terms of fitness progress...

- My heaviest was 15st 8lbs (March 2020). My lightest was 10st 8lbs (Dec 2021 - too skinny though). My ideal weight I reckon is about 11st 5lbs. I had gone back up to 13st 2lbs in Feb 2023.

Since relationship broke down a month ago, I've lost a fair bit and back to 11st 10lbs this morning. Not quite my ideal weight, but well and truly in the "acceptable range". 5lbs to go!

[The Raptor 1,211]

Waiting to watch other people run is almost the same as doing it yourself right?

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

Clocked up another personal best half-marathon time in Riga this weekend. Old personal best of 1:40:46 in Verona from February got lowered by another 37 seconds as my chip time in Latvia was 1:40:09. Missed a new 5K PB by five seconds the week before as well, running 21:24 with a personal best of 21:20.

None of the official photographers seem to have caught me in Riga though, annoyingly.

[The Raptor 1,211]

Good work Gunn Show. 

I completed week two of my running comeback this morning. Week 2 of couch to 5k completed. 

Still a long way off your times. 1.45 was my quickest half time and I was 7 years younger then! It would be nice to do those distances again!

[GodlyOtsemobor 2,321]

Much smaller accomplishments compared to these (but massive for me)

but the last 2 weeks I've been out every day for walks as part of my recovery! 14 months of complications from the surgeries and now I'm able to walk or do 20,000 steps (my goal per day) Monday - Friday, instead of sitting around and  "taking it easy and letting my body heal and recover" 

Keeping that up for the next 6-8 weeks (all being well) then will start bike rides again then the aim is back to work before Christmas!!! 

Edited May 8, 2023 by GodlyOtsemobor

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

22 minutes ago, GodlyOtsemobor said:

Much smaller accomplishments compared to these (but massive for me)

but the last 2 weeks I've been out every day for walks as part of my recovery! 14 months of complications from the surgeries and now I'm able to walk or do 20,000 steps (my goal per day) Monday - Friday, instead of sitting around and  "taking it easy and letting my body heal and recover" 

Keeping that up for the next 6-8 weeks (all being well) then will start bike rides again then the aim is back to work before Christmas!!! 

As I tell new/returning runners, comparing to others/your old self is the worst thing you can do. Probably did myself down for a long time after my IT band troubles thinking I could get back to old half-marathon times when my PB event was Freckleton back in 2012 (1:43:47). 

Didn't get a half-marathon PB for seven years after pinging my IT band in early 2013, cracked it in Warsaw in March 2019 (1:43:33), put weight on and had two shockers (1:52) in Lindau and Barcelona, then the pandemic came around. Restarted after a fair bit of training in the Spreewald in April last year after 26 months of no half-marathons and went under 1:46 after fading in a headwind and after a trail section, then totally amazed myself by running another PB in Torshavn (1:42:20 a hilly and pretty windswept course, but a gorgeous one) on the back of a good, consistent block of training. Sent that down twice more this year in Verona and then Riga. Torshavn will be revisited next month but there's no way I'll beat Riga's time with less than a month to go.

Love that you wrote "instead of sitting around and taking it easy". I'll maintain from my experience that most people make the mistake of completely resting when very gentle exercise would actually yield better results, speed up recovery from harder training sessions, and in doing so make it better for you when you come around to do tougher sessions. Keeping the training going really is key.

Walking is criminally underrated activity when it comes to getting/keeping fit.

[Mason 47 1,380]

Wasn't expecting to see this still going, nice to hear about everybody's various progresses.

I myself am about to finish another 100-day weight loss project which looks like it'll end a lb shy of 40. Not bad going all in all, but the fact I did this already at the start of the thread colours the achievement a little bit 😅

Ironically, since dropping under 16st I've developed an injury susceptibility at the wrong end of the Byram scale, which is not how I was expecting things to go. But, I can fit into my player-fit shirts again... win some, lose some.

[Canary Wundaboy 1,359]

I'm currently at a 5 year low in terms of weight, gym twice a week and at least 1 round of golf (always walking, never a buggy) is helping to keep the pounds off. My 3 year old daughter keeps me busy running around the house and acts as motivation to stay fit and healthy, wanting more distance on the golf course pushes me to do strength training etc. It's nice to put aside the larger-waisted jeans and trousers and get back into my old pairs, Thank God for WFH as it enables me to fit so much more activity in during the week.

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

Question for everyone: would anyone be interested in seeing my training log for this year?

[The Raptor 1,211]

From what you've said it would just make me feel lazy! 

Well not that lazy as I'm typing this while on an exercise bike at the gym!

 

[Mason 47 1,380]

19 hours ago, TheGunnShow said:

Question for everyone: would anyone be interested in seeing my training log for this year?

Do you do anything particular to keep your knees in check, given all the miles you do?

Now I'm at a manageable weight I've been trying to increase my activity but it seems all the fat was holding my knees together

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

3 hours ago, Mason 47 said:

Do you do anything particular to keep your knees in check, given all the miles you do?

Now I'm at a manageable weight I've been trying to increase my activity but it seems all the fat was holding my knees together

Most of my training is on the treadmill, gradient set at 1 degree. So I don't do much road running at all, it's nearly all indoors and indeed with the exception of my football training, all my training runs are indoors and only the races are not. The gradient is to ease strain on knees and also to protect against shin splints. It also has the benefit of somewhat replicating air resistance when being indoors.

I also take cod liver oil capsules and fermented liquid turmeric shots. Find both are excellent at keeping DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) away.

[The Raptor 1,211]

Longest run for years. (4 miles) and the longest timewise

Hour in the gym.

Now enjoying a nice cold pint. Can't be too healthy. Don't want to overdo it 😉 

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

Funny - well, annoying incident in the gym today. 

Context: the David Lloyd gym, where I train at, is having a major refurb and a lot of new equipment too. They had two different types of Life Fitness treadmills, an older model and a newer one with a touch screen. Both have disappeared at the moment, I guess the touchscreens will reappear. But at the moment we just have an upgraded version of the old ones (but at least you can go for over one hour at once on them without it cutting out into cool-down mode).

Picture the scene. Just over 90 minutes gone, not putting much pace on it, just want a long run out that's a fair bit beyond a half-marathon. I'm on 16.4 kilometres at this point, feeling pretty grand and very comfortable. And... I somehow manage to dislodge the emergency stop feature with my thigh.

What a pi**er!!!!

[dylanisabaddog 4,931]

On 16/05/2023 at 11:31, Mason 47 said:

Do you do anything particular to keep your knees in check, given all the miles you do?

Now I'm at a manageable weight I've been trying to increase my activity but it seems all the fat was holding my knees together

A bicycle? Quite dangerous though. The way cyclists in my area are treated by car drivers is terrifying 

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

Another funny one. Did the half-marathon in Riga earlier this month, after the issues in Prague re. the toilets running out of loo paper I decided to take a toilet roll with me in case I had to have a c-r-a-p minutes before the start.

Well, the official race photographers managed to miss me in the race photos, but they caught me near the House of the Blackheads with a bog roll in my hands. And they've just used it on the Riga Marathon marketing page on Facebook.

I can't say that was the race photo I would have had in mind with a personal best, but ...yeah, it's certainly unusual.

Tell us it’s Rimi Riga Marathon weekend... - Rimi Riga Marathon | Facebook

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

DNF in the Faroes when the left hamstring tightened up (hilly hiking the day before in Mykines was not a good idea in hindsight). Luckily it just needed a good massage to put everything back where it needed to be, so didn't miss any training.

28km on the treadmill tonight. Longest run I've done in one shot in over 9 years. At most I tended to only go 15miles/25km when training half-marathon. But I have my favourite half-marathon (Polmaraton Praski) coming up at the start of September, but have never really performed my best there. Should have done last September but made a right mess of my pacing. Heat aside (2019 was one of the worst events I can remember for heat), Praski's a fast course ran at night.

They pretty much made it perfect when they reversed the sequence of the course and slightly redid it so the crowd support gravitates towards the second half. And I will make damned sure I'm ready this year.

📣 Mamy to! Z dumą prezentujemy oficjalną trasę... - Półmaraton Praski | Facebook

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

Bumping back up. Cancelled three of the four planned trips abroad for the rest of this year as saving up to emigrate. The one remaining trip is to my 20th country for running a half-marathon, namely the HCA half-marathon in Odense, Denmark (Steen Nedergaard's home club).

So, having not covered as much ground as I wanted due to a boiling hot German gym and work, I decided to tackle a half-marathon in Lancaster just to see how fit I was.

Still waiting for the official gun time as it was only a small event with no chip timing, but I've broken 1:40 for the half-marathon for the first time ever. Garmin's a bit out on the eastern side due to it being a heavily forested path, but even allowing for a few seconds with gun time, I've broken my personal best, which used to be 1:40:09.

Garmin Connect

[Canary Wundaboy 1,359]

15 hours ago, TheGunnShow said:

Bumping back up. Cancelled three of the four planned trips abroad for the rest of this year as saving up to emigrate. The one remaining trip is to my 20th country for running a half-marathon, namely the HCA half-marathon in Odense, Denmark (Steen Nedergaard's home club).

So, having not covered as much ground as I wanted due to a boiling hot German gym and work, I decided to tackle a half-marathon in Lancaster just to see how fit I was.

Still waiting for the official gun time as it was only a small event with no chip timing, but I've broken 1:40 for the half-marathon for the first time ever. Garmin's a bit out on the eastern side due to it being a heavily forested path, but even allowing for a few seconds with gun time, I've broken my personal best, which used to be 1:40:09.

Garmin Connect

Well done, congratulations!

You've inspired me to see if I can actually run 5km in the gym tomorrow as opposed to my usual "stop after 20 minutes".

[Canary Wundaboy 1,359]

On 07/08/2023 at 10:52, Canary Wundaboy said:

Well done, congratulations!

You've inspired me to see if I can actually run 5km in the gym tomorrow as opposed to my usual "stop after 20 minutes".

I gave it a good go, a minute warmup and then ran for 3km straight which is a new PB. Had a walking break for 200m and then struggled to get going again, couldn’t find the rhythm that I’d had to start and legs gave up at 3.7km. However I beat all 4 of my previous records so I’ll give it another shot in a couple of days.

 

[ricardo 7,395]

11 minutes ago, Canary Wundaboy said:

I gave it a good go, a minute warmup and then ran for 3km straight which is a new PB. Had a walking break for 200m and then struggled to get going again, couldn’t find the rhythm that I’d had to start and legs gave up at 3.7km. However I beat all 4 of my previous records so I’ll give it another shot in a couple of days.

 

I can walk up the stairs without hanging on to the hand rail.

[The Raptor 1,211]

In an attenpt to motivate me to start running again Ive entered my proper race for more than 6 years. I've also arranged to meet a mate who lives there for a pub lunch and a few beers after. Can't get too carried away!

[How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,187]

So far this year:

My left wrist swelled up with indescribable pain, possibly due to the type of blood pressure tablets I was taking

Gout and/or arthritis in a variety of joints

Regularly waking up at 3-4 am

Last Monday I  bent over to pick up my bags to take to work and my back went. It's been bad up until today, but now seems to be on the mend.

Yesterday I woke up to find half a tooth missing. God knows where it's gone, I swear it was there the night before. It doesn't hurt as such, but has left a really sharp edge that cuts my tongue. I found some dental gum today that seems to be a decent temporary fix until I get to the dentist. 

Marathons: 0

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

On 08/08/2023 at 14:26, Canary Wundaboy said:

I gave it a good go, a minute warmup and then ran for 3km straight which is a new PB. Had a walking break for 200m and then struggled to get going again, couldn’t find the rhythm that I’d had to start and legs gave up at 3.7km. However I beat all 4 of my previous records so I’ll give it another shot in a couple of days.

 

Out of interest, what pace did you go at when you went for 3km straight?

I ask simply as people who are new to running don't always have a sense of pace. Miss TGS had always tried on the treadmill at 7.5km/h but could never go more than 10 minutes. Told her to drop it to 7, and she's been over 30. And even I don't run all half-marathons if the course becomes hilly or the headwinds become serious - I'll happily drop to a power-walk.

Prime example, I had a PB in the Faroes last year for a half-mara (which I've broken three times since), and I slowed to a walk on at least three occasions, if not four. Still ran 1:42.

Most important of all, congratulations on the new PBs and beating 4 previous records.