PG, why not turn the running into HIIT? Once a week I do a 30-20-10 second HIIT – 30 seconds of walking, 20 seconds moderate running, 10 seconds sprinting. I’ll do 10 minutes, then take a 2-5 minute rest (walking) then another round. Last time I did it, I used MapMyRun, and my pace ended up being not that much lower than when I do straight running.
In my mere 2 years of running, I’ve been in races where the slowest 5K person took more than 1 hour to finish. I’ll bet if you check the results of that 5K you’re doing in April, you’d see some times like that. Many people walk. And some walkers walk really slowly.
As for hot yoga – my studio is heated to 90-95, but I’ve figured out where to place myself in the room where it’s the coolest. I cannot imagine doing yoga in a 105 degree studio.
Also, you don’t have to try and run a 5k each time out. Maybe just think about doing a mile. With walking breaks. You have no quotas you have to meet - except the ones you decide are right for you on a certain day.
Some days I don’t want to just RUN. Inside or outside. This morning at the gym I did what I call the Abasket 7k. Did I run 4.3 miles. No. I did 4 cardio activities for the time/distance a 7k would entail. 1 + mile running on the track. 1 mile Arc trainer. 1 + mile on the treadmill. 10 minutes on the rowing machine (10ish minutes is usually a mile for me running). All together = Abasket 7k. It fit my mental needs for the day AND my exercise needs. I go from one activity to another with less than a minute inbetween (wipe the brow, take a drink, walk to the next activity.
Ok the walking thing is not working for me today so instead I’ve done some arm work. Just very, very light arm exercises that were recommended by my PT, but I was able to do them with very light weights
Yeah … C25k is the same general concept as Galloway - run, walk, repeat. I don’t know why I get so intimidated! I did about a dozen 5ka between 2012-2014 and honestly my times were between 36 and 47 mins - I don’t really know if I can do more than a 12 min / 5 mph mile these days!
Re hot yoga - the class I take, the room is only heated to 80-85 - I could not handle a true hot yoga! I leave my yoga mat in my car so when I unroll it, it’s cold - my little trick! (I know it’s not good for the rubber but whatever)
No fears, PG! When I’m running outside I have the same fears of getting overheated, red-faced, out-of-breath…I’m giving myself permission to be slow (12 mm) and present with the above mentioned sweaty red face in public
Congrats MoWC and C3B!
I feel for you romani. I don’t blame you for needing the the release of letting go yesterday. I’d be that way too. You’re doing great with your determination while making so many changes, though. Glad you have the men in your life to help out, especially with the cleaning.
My DH wanted to go to the gym this morning. I cannot say no to that! I ran 7 miles on the treadmill–varied pace averaging maybe 10:30 to 11 mm. I started to get that winded tired feeling around 25 minutes in, but kept with it for the hour. We also walked a few miles later today, and washed the cars for which fitbit gave me a few flights of stairs, lol. Tomorrow we’re hiking the scrubby forest.
Still having my foot problems and not doing much. D yelled at me today and said I need to rest my foot and not to rush it. So resting and icing and Epsom salt soaking. Sigh.
PG, there is no shame in 12 minute miles and no shame in not running. Do what you want, not what you think you half to do. And if you walk that race, nbd. You won’t be the only one.
In exciting news here, S called today. He proposed to his girlfriend last night. We are so happy for them. No plans for a wedding but I think they will take their time planning. I also think they want to buy a house so that might be a priority lol!
Did a DaVinci Board 8-8:45. Stupidly signed up for a Barre class in the same studio at 9 but am too pooped to do it. Will do a yoga at 10:30 am in a different studio. MNK, welcome your thoughts on downtime between different classes. I’d like to have the endurance to go from one to the next but I don’t.
I guess everyone is different, but my opinion is that if you are working hard in a class, going to one right after is difficult and not a great idea- unless it is some sort of restorative class or uses totally different muscles. I have done restorative yoga after spin before (years ago), but that’s about it.
PG- You would not be worried at all about your 5K if you saw the times from my corporate team members from yesterday’s race. Many, many people walk 5Ks (and longer races)- and don’t walk particularly fast. For my team yesterday, no one but me was under a 14 minute mile pace. Granted, they were a little faster because the results were calculated on 3.1 and the distance was 3.26 or so, but still… My point is- the goal is to be out there!
Also, not everyone has to run. Many people don’t enjoy it. I do think you tend to psych yourself out about it. Being slow- especially as a new runner- is absolutely fine. I know someone who did an entire marathon by running 30 seconds and walking 30 seconds. Galloway is really different from C25K. Galloway builds in the walking breaks from the very beginning of the run and pretty much keeps them there throughout training and racing. It allows you to recover throughout the distance and permits going much farther than you could without the walk breaks. As a new-ish runner, you should not be panting and red-faced. You should be able to converse in short sentences. If that’s a 14 minute pace, then fine! Ohio and I have both done low heart rate training which yields 13-14 minute pace miles for us.
PG, the down time you need in terms of your ability to handle successive classes depends on the intensity of the classes, whether they involve the same muscle groups and your fitness level. As important, however, is refueling so that you have the energy sources to handle the second class. There’s no one size fits all rule about the former. You really need to evaluate your own fitness levels and the class intensities. (However, if you are talking about resistance training classes, for the vast majority of people, there’s really no good reason to do more than a single one hour class a day.) As you did, listen to what your body is telling you. There 's a big difference between doing, for example, a spinning class followed immediately by a Tabata body weight exercise class and doing a spinning class followed by a 45 minute stretching class. If you finish the first class and feel pooped and the second class is demanding, then give yourself an hour to recover and refuel and then evaluate whether you feel up to the second class. Also, keep in mind that there is a cumulative effect over successive days if you are doing multiple classes a day. Give you body enough down time to really recover and make sure you get at least 48 hours off between resistance training to allow your muscle tissue to repair itself and grow.
The refueling is a bit easier to quantify. If you are going from an intense class to a demanding second class, give yourself time to refuel with simple carbohydrates and some protein. Simple carbs will get absorbed into the bloodstream quickly and help replenish glycogen you will need for the second class. The protein will at that point help replenish lost proteins from the first class but it’s the simple carbs that you will really need to give you an energy boost for that second class. The biggest mistake I see people make is neglecting the exercise nutrition component. You can’t go from one intense class to another and expect to perform without refueling. Fruits, Cliff bars (or other similar energy bars) are good ways to refuel. Just don’t eat too much or you will feel bloated and uncomfortable in the second class (plus it’s easy to overeat your actual caloric need).
A while back, my wife and I went to a spa for a few days that was like overnight camp for fitness junkies. In addition to all the normal spa services, they had back to back fitness classes of all varieties all day long. I took a high intensity spinning class and the rushed over to a Tabata body weight exercise class 15 minutes later. Same instructor. She saw me grab just a handful of nuts in between the classes and spent the second class laughing at me (in good fun) because I was so glycogen depleted. I would have performed a lot better in the Tabata class if I had eaten an orange or two or an energy bar.
Thank you MOWC. Although your comment was for another poster I find this very helpful. My goal is to complete a 5K after my training, realistically speaking I will likely be walking some/most all of it. I am hoping more run than walk, but we will see.
I don’t think anyone should ever feel bad about not being a runner. I have always hated running. Even when I was running 5+ miles per day as a varsity athlete, I hated it.
On the other hand, I would live in a pool if I could. Everyone’s got their favorite exercise and no one should feel like they have to apologize for that
I slept through the night without waking up in pain! I am so happy!!
I also signed up for a fundraiser walk (for Lupus) that will be in June. Having these goals to work towards is so helpful… even if I don’t quite make it, it’s a motivator!
I have convinced a friend of mine to switch to the Galloway method. She is pretty excited about it now that she’s tried it, because she says she now enjoys her run/walks instead of just being miserable & wishing for them to be over. It’s also great for our group runs, because we can chat very easily & the time flies. She (and I when I started it) just had to get over the mind set of “it’s cheating”. Not only is it not cheating, you may find yourself putting up better times than straight running. I get passed in droves at the beginning of a race, but then I pass a fair number of people at the end of the race. If you must, think of it as an entirely different sport - some people run, some people run/walk. Our running group also has a pretty large group who ONLY walk & boy, do they have a good time!
