It’s damn hard but finding my way back in now. Heels still giving me gip though and I’ll probably need a new pair of trainers. My current ones are tearing my heels to shreds after getting wet and drying to a bone.
I still don’t feel I’m back where I was pre holiday though. That cold has really knocked the stuffing out of me. I should have gone for a PCR test I think. But 8 days of lateral flow tests showed nothing. Just need to get a grip of the eating again. Worth noting my kidney function dropped a bit in that period.
Still happy to report that my VO2 max is in the top 25% for my age group. I find that hard to believe as I’m dying on a run but I’ll take it.
Have to say im disappointed in myself. Slacked off for 20 days and my speed has gone to 4.7km in 30 min.
In my defense , i am sweating a lot more and theres a temperature change from 24 degrees to about 35 degrees.
So not sure how much hydration is playing a factor in my loss of speed.
Also am doing intermittent fasting ( dinner at 9pm . followed by breakfast at 7-8 ) and then nothing else for the rest of the day. Stopped having rice for the most extent. Basically protein and oats / nuts etc for breakfast along with low faf milk).
And for dinner a couple of dosas (thin indian crepes made with pulses and rice , the amount of rice in each dosa is negligible)
So maybe im trying too many different things. Ill see if i can carry this routine for a month
One of the quickest adaptations you will make to changes in physical activity is plasma volume - the amount of water in your blood. It is primarily a an adaptation to help you better dissipate the heat you generate from exercise, but that expansion will also make your heart a more effective pump. You will see these changes occur as quickly as 10 days, but it will also disappear that quickly as well. That’s why after even only a short break when you start back up you will feel very winded like you’re dragging arse, but that will return just as quickly as it went away.
Been picking up my running again since the new year. Had a calf strain so missed three weeks of January but hit 100km in total for February.
To be honest, it was too much too soon. I did back to back weeks of 22 miles a week and my hips were in bits. Have dialled the frequency down and do 3 shorter but faster runs in the week and then either one longer slower one at the weekend or now the weather has picked up i’ll do 30-50 miles on the bike at the weekend instead. It gives the joints a break and means I get to see further than just places right on my doorstep. Managed to get up to a combined 200km in March which I was pretty pleased with and definitely less aches and pains from it.
Had four days off it all for family reasons last week plus an evening in the pub with friends. Amazing how those gaps make such a difference to how things feel. Still doing about the same pace on the quicker ones but it feels a lot harder work this week compared to last.
I don’t weigh myself but down a belt loop and nearing the second one. Can get into some stuff I’d have been very uncomfortable in before too so it’s doing what it’s supposed to.
I wouldn’t bother, but I am incredibly concerned about sleeping well. Even if you don’t feel like you’re sensitive to caffeine you could be compromising your sleep by having it late in the day.
There’s obviously a performance benefit to taking caffeine but I wouldn’t say it’s worth it just for a training run.
I would be about the same if not slightly higher… This was before the slacking off period in february ofcourse.
An average of 5 km a day for about 22 days in a month i guess… Generally give myself a one day break after 3 days of running.
Umfortunately in India , its difficult to do cycling. Especially w.r.t traffic pollution etc , i was never a guy who works out at gyms so that rules rhat out for me as well. Just something about them makes me feel uncomfortable
I am not a huge fan of caffeine anyway so i get your point. Plus even if my times were noticably quicker for the first 2.5 odd km… I got winded pretty quickly after that once the initial caffeine wore off.
Typically last night was the first run I’ve felt comfortable with for over 2 weeks after my illness lay off. Soon as that happens I then go and test positive for Covid.
Put some weight on during covid… too much time not moving enough, and basically just eating too much. Obviously a lame excuse, as you can always exercise and watch what you eat.
Anyway, getting back into better habits. Walked a few times, just for the pleasure, brisk, few miles. Started rowing again too on the concept rower, felt good.
Diet… does anyone have any knowledge or experience with 5:2?
Basically eat normally for five days and eat lower calories, about 600, the other two. They aren’t supposed to be back to back days, so you don’t go into starvation mode. I’m trying it this week, and if it seems flexible enough and convenient enough to do, I will keep at it to help get to desired weight.
Yeah I’ve tried it. It works to a point but incredibly difficult to maintain long term, simply because things associated with food get in the way. Birthdays etc.
In some ways it also was partly responsible for screwing up my relationship with food a bit. Being able to eat at the end of a fasting session has kind of set that habit into stone in my mind and I’m still struggling to shake that off.
With noting that on the fasting days I generally felt pretty good.
I’m doing the other form of intermittent dieting which is 16 hours of fasting with 2 regulated meals in the other 8 hours. I’ve found the results to be encouraging so far.
I’ve skipped breakfast today and had just protein for a late lunch. I’ll have some minimal carbs at the night. This is what i’m following for the past 4 days and it’s been good so far. I feel more energetic (always felt carbs esp rice made me lethargic)
Yeah, nothing magic about that sort of approach metabolically, it’s just an artificial constraint to limit calorie intake. For a lot of people who arent intuitive about eating, or dont have a very well calibrated sense of the impact of what they’re eating, it can be an effective short cut, but as you can point out can have knock on psychological effects. It is very common with these sorts of approaches to really overemphasize the feast side of the feast or famine duality and end up with some very disordered attitudes towards food.
Its really an extension of the fasting done by muslims during ramzan with slightly more extended fasting tmings with the caveat that you can have water and other 0 calorie stuff like cofffee (albiet not recommeded).
I suspect you can ask @Iftikhar as to the usual foods eaten by muslims when they break their fast and design your diet around those.
Its not like its something new like keto etc although the keto diet can still be incorporated into this.
To summarize , this is more of a change in eating habits than a diet. What you eat in those 8 hours is essentially what can lead you to lose or gain weight
I’m only in the first week of trying out the 5:2 diet, but so far, since you can choose the two days, I have easily been able to select two lower calorie days.
Big family meal the other day, incorporated no problem.
Work dinner on a another day, incorporated no problem.
Not saying it is the be all and end all, as I am just trying it out. But for me, so far, the idea of being careful for two days appeals, as that seems doable.
With this new diet , i am seeing some more weight loss by the way.
Switched to 2 eggs and 2 slices of bread for lunch to take care of my hunger pangs and protein as well
Took better care of being hydrated while running… My distance in half an hour is 5.3 today. This could just be a one off as i probably had a very clear running track with very little obstructions in slow moving walkers…
The weight loss after 5 days of this intermittent diet is 1 kg so far. Lets see how long i stretch this diet and run routine.
Will have a normal dinner and then run lesser distance at a faster speed tomorrow.
Have some unavoidable work in the evening… So went on a 45 min run plus walk today (25 min run and 20 min rather brisk walk). Was rather comfortable for me.
Managed to do 6.7km in those 45 min without really pushing myself at any stage. The main target for me is a 10k run in september which i aim to complete in less than an hour.
One thing pissed me off today. A guy who would barely be 4 to 5 years younger to me. In his 30s at any rate called me an “uncle” to remind me that my shoe laces came undone. Indians tend to take that as an insult.