I tried to do intermittent hard and soft runs.
Turned out i was switching off after completing 5.5 rounds of 7. Each round is 0.65km. I was completing the 6 rounds within 24 min , so my speed isnt a factor in me touching the 5 km mark in 30 min or lesser.
Ill need to hold the intensity for another round i guess or pace myself better. The funny thing is that i am not feeling that tired but my mind seems to be switching off automatically without trying to go the extra last leg
We can get very comfortable keeping a specific pace that is within our Steady zone. Try mixing in 3 different paces, so that you hit your Tempo and a little of your Threshold ranges. Don’t think of these Fartlek sessions as ones that you will gradually link the sections together to get to a new pace - a dedicated Tempo run at your target pace over a shorter distance is how you build your muscle memory of that new pace, having built up the aerobic capacity to sustain it.
Atleast i know that covid hasnt effected me as i feared. Its more me going into the comfort zone.
tWell thats the work out part sorted.
Need to work on my diet and thats easier said than done if you look at the rice intensive indian foods… And
Made a fish sandwich today. Just not sure how a batter fried fish fillet really gets to be diet worthy.
Yep, I’m still struggling with this. I can go all day behaving myself. I’ll even have a nice healthy evening meal. After that, if I don’t give my head a knock I’ll go nuts completely undoing any good I did over the day.
Just did another run, my usual work route but really concentrating on rhythm and maintaining an even pace. A comfortable 26 minutes 20 secs for the 2.65 miles. Garmin tells me my training effort was in the easy category. 
Just realised I’ve done exactly what @Arminius has advised against.
Nothing wrong with that workout. But if you want gains, mix it up with other workouts, do that particular one once a week.
interval training, to put it simply
I used to run sections of road that had telephone posts on them. I’d run harder for one section, then jog for three. change up the intervals. add hills.
Best spot for it was the running track at the high school. could mark out your intervals at 1/4 tracks marks (100m) at a time. but it’s been a long time since I’ve done that kind of workout.
hell, we used to do lines at footy training. start at the end line. Sprint to the 6, jog back. sprint to 18, jog back, etc…by the time you got to full pitch 100m sprint, you’d be pretty gassed.
Same principle, but the intervals that you are talking about are ones that will push you right out to the limits of your VO2max fairly quickly. Makes perfect sense for footy training. For distance running, you go for longer intervals at a lower zone, the ‘threshold’ at most, most often the ‘tempo’ zones, rather than a full-on sprint.
ahh sorry I lost context for what you’re discussing, I’ve never been a distance runner. Only ever did 5k max, even in a triathlon. I could ask my friend for some references, he started doing Ultras a few years ago. did this one in 2020 before he injured himself training.
@Arminius dropping truth bombs all over the place.
Variety is the key to improvement. I’d throw in consistency, too, and consistency depends entirely on recovery.
The foam roller/yoga/ice bath/stretching routine might not be the sexiest way to spend your time, but it will pay off in the long run far more than pushing yourself through another 8kms with stiff legs.
And what do you do with this foam roller?
Apropos of nothing but I’ve recently found dried figs and prunes to be excellent daytime snacks. Not entirely calorie-free/sugar-free but au naturale and tasty.
Self-massage.
I would love to have the cash for a personal masseuse, but ya know…
Anyways, not much you can’t get at with a foam roller.
That one he is using above I would not recommend…go for a long foam one rather than a short cylinder one.
I have both and the one pictured above is fucking hardcore. I don’t use it much coz it is so hard.
Get one of these…
I did consider one of those foam roller thingies to help with building some snowboard skills in the living room.
I’m trying to go a bit Rocky 4 these days to be honest. I really want to get away from amassing gadgets and “stuff” when the reality of things is that I need to give my head a wobble and sort my eating out. I’m making good progress on the exercise front but the diet is still a little too screwed. I just need to get my evening discipline sorted. Stretching and yoga instead of eating. No gear, just me, but I’m useless at home workouts. Always have been.
With regard to comments above on variety I think I’m ok. Running and trying hard to mix routes, terrain and difficulty. Throw in some cycling and as the weather warms a bit I really want to get back on the water with the kites and Sups.
With regard to consistency, I’m regularly finding my head stuck in the biscuit tin.
I did land a bit awkwardly during my morning run and the heel of the right leg is a bit painful.
Could do with a private masseur right now
Simple Zumba (r) choreo for men’s class and not only 
- YouTube
You might scoff here, but there was a guy I worked alongside that was always snacking at his desk and never really took his health/figure/stamina too seriously… (none of us really did), but then in a matter of months, literally months his whole attitude changed towards this sloth behaviour… while he never exactly become a health bore overnight, his appearance, moods and even personality really really improved.
I must be honest, but I never really noticed this change until it was pointed out… Some woman in the office happened to mention it and then went on to explain stuff… but apparently she was sworn to secrecy so she only told 4-5 of us :0)
Anyway, this guy had approached this ‘snitch of a woman’ because he was concerned about his wife, more to the point the cloud of depression that followed her round at all times… He said she had become obsessed about being (a tad) overweight and even though she went to ‘chub club’ once a week and followed all their advice, her weight continually yo-yoed, you know… never ever won slimmer of the week blah blah blah…
So the only advice this snitch of a woman could proffer to this guy was to do something together… maybe ballroom dancing, keep-fit classes, yoga or badminton stuff like that… The ‘snitch of woman’ also told him that she herself went to Zumba classes twice a week and he should come along and bring his wife… So apparently he did, and as they say, the rest is history…! The weight just dropped off the pair of them… For as this ‘snitch of a woman’ said " you never see a fat Zumba dancer do ya :0)
Needless to say… This guy realised we all knew about his secret new found passion when a Zumba record started blaring out from some laptop as he walked in this particular day… Didn’t bother him at all once he realised we all knew… In fact, everyone started to give him a miss because it was all he would bore ya with…! :0)
Speaking of which , id love to start picking up football again… Atleast 7 a side but india being what it is and me touching 40 soon , i doubt i can play regularly unless my company takes part in a corporate tournament or so
Fair enough…
But I promise you, a roller is far more valuable than a treadmill or WattBike. You can run or ride out there on your own, just you and your legs (and bike). Unless Mrs Noo Noo likes giving you daily, deep-tissue massages, or you want to pay for them…a roller is the way to go.
You can only be consistent if your body works, and a roller is something that will help your body work. Of course, you can just push through…that works for some people, but for the vast majority it stops them dead in their tracks.
And a roller ain’t about exercise, it is about recovery, which will set anyone on the path to being able to exercise consistently and optimally.
You listen to any pro talk and they will bang on and on about recovery. Doing all those little things that allow you to get the most out of yourself every time you train. That obviously means far different things to them than it does to us mere mortals, however, sleep, stretch, ice, massage etc etc…the top pros are fanatical about those things for a reason.
You should also throw your biscuit tin in the bin.
I do love a good biscuit, though…
