Motivate Me: The HEXUS Excercise thread : post your pain ;-)

[Knoxville]

What's your goal Knoxville? I haven't read the whole thread because I am lazy.

This time around my goals are mostly to do with aesthetics... A few years ago I trained my way down from being 350lbs+ to just under around 175lbs before I knocked full bore training on the head. It was a hell of a tranformation, especially in under twelve months. My focus training wise was to build strength in the weight room and lose fat at the same time. I achieved both of those goals but was extremely disheartened by the aesthetics I was left with. I'd lost a lot of weight and built some good strength but the loose skin and subcuteaneous fat I was left with was no more attractive than the beer gut and bingo wings I'd shed. I'd fought a massive uphill battle only to find a cliff face at the top.

This time around my goal is purely aesthetic, a proper balance between shoulders, chest, arms and waist as well as a flatter stomach. I know from experience that no amount of hard work will actually get me where I want to be after my last time round though, having been up around 350lbs it just isn't on the cards.... Well, it is, maybe, but I can only see two ways that's going happen. Either I go under the knife once I've dropped some fat again, or I gain enough mass to stretch the skin into a different shape and drop the fat. The former costs a lot of money and I'm not a fan of surgery, actually the latter would cost alot as well because it would mean packing on at least 100lbs of muscle mass.... So massive food and supplement budgets, possibly even steroid cycles just to get there. That's not to say you can't build 100lbs of muscle mass naturally, but a lean 260/270lb physique is pro body builder level stuff, a decade of work even with "extra curriculars" and I'm old enough that it's probably not going to happen naturally before my joints start to give out. Plus, that's not how I want to look.

So, while I do have small goals built into what I'm doing i.e build better endurance as well as power for my lifts, get my body weight back down to an acceptable range etc. my overall goal is, as far as I can see, nigh on impossible.

[PorcupineTime]

I know that excuse, that's the one I use for my mate beating me by an hour at Outlaw.

Shush you!

I've put my Iron Distance desires on hold at the moment, but have friends who've done the Outlaw. They speak very highly of it. I figured a marathon might be less taxing than IM and I love Paris...

Stop convincing me!

[Zak33]

Sunday 27th of September I decided I needed to go for a run.

Don'#t know why... it just struck me as it sometimes does.

So I installed RunKeeper on my phone, plugged in the headphones, stretched for 10 minutes, which alwayus helps my energy build, laced up the Nikes and ran up the road.

1/2 mile... felt ok.. pleased.
1 mile.. lungs working hard, no muscle issues.. remembered advice on here, lean forward a little, shorten my step so I don't heel strike. average speed just over 7mph. which is fast for me so I slowed a little
2 miles.. speed at 6.3mph average so I think I'm at 6mph bang on, which normally suits me
2 1/5 miles, decide to turn and return same route.
3 miles... same as previously... outter knee pain starts. run through it... then it starts again. Then it hurts a lot.
3 1/2 miles still "running" but speed down
4 miles.. had to stop and crouch,... knee pain immediately gone... ran on...
4 1/2 miles... pain returned with a vengeance...

made it to 5 miles to the front door... with various crouches required to make my knees work.


posting my pain.

it was immense

[MaddAussie]

Ok be gentle guys.

For those that don't know I have some physical issues, which stemmed from a congenital condition that meant 10 years ago I at the age of 34 I had my right hip replaced. I have never been particularly fit, before I had the hip swapped out I couldn't walk very far at all. Consequently I've always been a little over weight.

So I have decided to get myself a little fitter, I've started by watching what I eat and I've got a FitBit to try and motivate me a little more. So in the first month of my new 'regime' I've lost just over 4kg (although I put a little back on while in London at the weekend) and am now trying to walk a lot more.

[PorcupineTime]

Losing 4KG is a great start already.

I've certainly found that dropping weight is largely diet based, which is why I find it so hard to drop the last few KGs myself, I just love the cake! Eating a little better and moving more will see you well on your way.

[scaryjim]

Ok be gentle guys.

... in the first month of my new 'regime' I've lost just over 4kg ..

Weight loss at around 1kg per week is actually pretty impressive - the 5:2 diet only aims for half that (I managed to drop around 10kg in a year on 5:2).

I think most weight loss is actually a balance - when I'm very active I can eat pretty much anything without putting weight on (that's how I dropped as low as 13st when I was 18), when I'm less active then I have to watch what I eat really carefully. I've found 5:2 easy to stick to and very effective for steady and persistent weight loss, but tbh it sounds like currently just being a bit more active is doing you the world of good

Well done, and keep us informed!

[b0redom]

@Zak have you had your gait checked? It sounds like the trainers you have are not suitable. I suspect you over pronate and you're not getting the support you need.

I am a mild over pronator, but bought a set of trainers on the cheap which I reckon must've been for under pronators and they completely knackered my knee and ankle for a while.

@PorcupineTime Excuses excuses

[b0redom]

I recently failed massively at Xterra, an off road triathlon. It took me over 2 hours to do the first 15k lap of a 2 lap course and I ended up giving up.

This weekend though I went under 3 hours for a hilly Olympic triathlon at Hever Castle.

Bore yourself senseless with my blog.

Has anyone done an ultra? I presume the only person likely to have is Fuddam, but you never know. A mate has suggested the London to Brighton 100k.

[fuddam]

Yep. First formal one was 42 miler in Brecon Beacons (Dec 2012), then 50 miler with the Scouts in Feb (orienteering in the Chilterns), then did Lakeland 100 in July (2013). Done more since. Nowadays is more just going out and doing a long one with my buds, instead of entering an event. More interesting. Usually overnight orienteering from A to B, at speed.

I think it's easier to do a long event if you've never done the route before (repetition makes me a reluctant finisher). That and curiosity - keeps my mind fresh. Can I get there, what's around the next bend, will I crack up? Just a mental game.

[Butcher]

I've more or less managed to continue running since my summer start. Did 7 km today, experienced hitting the wall properly for the first time, at around 6k, quite unpleasant!
Pace is definitely improving; my original goal was sub-30 minute 5k by Christmas, I'm now at a 28:30 ish 5k and it's only the start of October. Think I need a new goal.

[PorcupineTime]

I recently failed massively at Xterra, an off road triathlon. It took me over 2 hours to do the first 15k lap of a 2 lap course and I ended up giving up.

This weekend though I went under 2 hours for a hilly Olympic triathlon at Hever Castle.

Has anyone done an ultra? I presume the only person likely to have is Fuddam, but you never know. A mate has suggested the London to Brighton 100k.

I've always fancied an Xterra race, which one did you do?

What was the big difference between doing an Olympic distance tri and the off road one? I don't have any experience on single track/ off road so that would be a killer for me on the bike.

I have done no ultras but read about them lots, so I'll sit this one out, quietly eyeing the conversation from afar.

[b0redom]

Xterra UK: https://ferroustom.wordpress.com/201...-at-xterra-uk/

The bike was very very technical and full of mud. Also just noticed a typo up there ^ should have been under 3 hours for the Olympic. I'm not that fast.

[PorcupineTime]

I did wonder - under 2 hours is properly fast. I'll have a read of your blog now, sounds like fun.

[b0redom]

@fuddam - how do you train for an ultra? Same sort of thing as a marathon? Couple of long runs, some speed work and a tempo/week? Double run days?

A 100 miler is probably pushing it a bit in terms of time available, but given I can do a 5:19 IM Marathon, and 4:42 one fresh, I would like to think 100k should be achievable in about 12 hours.

[fuddam]

@b0redom: yep, pretty much. I don't often do long double runs, if that's what you mean (though I prob should). Your speed sounds similar to mine.

Very important: train walking. It was quite a disappointment when I found out most ultra runners walk sections, but the truth is, esp on a hilly course, that's what happens. Esp something like the Lakeland with real mountain passes. And walking efficiently, at speed, is a particular skill that is often taken for granted. Have to train those (different) muscles. Plus, a walk/run combo is often faster than a plain runner.

Have a very skilled ultra friend, who wins 100 milers. He does the Rodopi race in Greece, which is a hardcore trail adventure. When he won that one, I asked him at what point he started walking. His response: not before 85km - epic! He did the Lakeland in under 24hrs, IIRC, with no walking, though he bonked big time due to a technical glitch.

Anyway, I think the main point with an ultra is a positive mindset, and the logic of relentless forward momentum - just don't stop. I typically transition at aid stations in a minute or less.

[Butcher]

Just over 5 miles through the hills on muddy trails in the rain today. Think I'm getting the hang of this running lark.