I used to be a fairly decent runner without a huge amount of effort as I was fairly fit and boxed. Ran 5k in 21/ 22 mins and 10k in 45 / 47 mins. <div>Fast forward 5 years and I’ve put on 15 kilos and just started training again. </div><div>First month has been hard but feeling like I’m starting to improve and getting fitter but keep on getting niggles / injuries. For example my calf has a real knot in it and it hurts to the touch. So once again I’m having to take a few days off. </div><div>Mentally it’s been a struggle getting around the fact I’m so much slower than previously and as a consequence I’ve been pushing hard on the runs to try and improve. It’s also a pain that I’m having to take time off. </div><div>Is it the pushing hard which is causing all the issues? I’ve been putting it down to getting old (40) and not being fit. </div><div>Starting to reevaluate my tactics. Any advice or suggestions would be good. Thanks </div><div>
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15 kg is quite a weight gain, I'm assuming it's not all muscle So if you want to drop a bit of weight then eat healthily and watch the portion sizes, will help your running too.
Losing weight will make a difference, but that will happen if you keep going.
Good luck!
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The one thing I'd say is I had to get the love back for wanting to run/exercise daily. I was at a good fitness at the end of summer last year and as soon as the winter weather and dark days came in, I just stop enjoying it. Now much heavier with Christmas boxes of celebrations and Easter eggs all eaten, I'm sick of the belly and have started running again just to get outside once a day in lock down!
I started with a footpath route that got boring very quickly but that's lead me to find some local trails that go through woods along a stream and I love it! Don't care about my pace much, that's maybe the key to staying injury free, just happy to be out the house, not around cars and other people, it's ideal. It's full of up n down hills and uneven ground and it's building a good base strength in my legs and feet. Depending on the nature of your injuries? Start by just walking/hiking some routes, it's opened my eyes to a different world
Lastly, tracking is helping, even though it seemed like a right pain at first. I'm tracking all food with myfitnesspal and am currently using mapmyrun but going to have a play with a few apps.
When this niggle goes I will just go slow and steady and try not to worry too much about pace at all. Will just run with what feels comfortable.
whilst this niggle is ongoing I am going to cycle instead. Try and tick over that way.
</div><div>Structure your training plan to include easy days and hard days, finding the right balance between the two. More running = improvement, but you need to be sensible and specific to you and your strengths / weaknesses. Focus primarily on the longer aerobic side to begin with as you build a base, then gradually introduce some more race-specific training where you do reps @ race pace etc. But most importantly make sure you remember it takes time. There is not short fix and getting frustrated and pushing too hard will only work against you. Take your easy days easy, remember they have a beneficial purpose just as much as your hard days do. </div><div>
</div><div>If you need anymore help you can contact us at newerarunningcoaching.com</div>
warming up and warming down is making a difference plus foam rolling after.
im sure I will get where I want to be.
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As for the gradual improvements I think you're doing yourself a disservice. You've already taken 2 mins off of your mile pace and are able to jog for 5 miles. That is a great improvement. Hopefully it won't be too long before you can start doing Parkrun.
</div><div>Paul.
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And I suspect it won't be too long before you're running those 'amazing' 5 and 10k times.
Yes I think I can monitor my average pace times I have about 5 or 6 circuits I do from home with a mix of downhill and uphill routes so a good mix I think. I'll stick to the Jogg/walk alternate days for now I think and just try to see if I can increase pace little by little, its easier on some circuits than others, I've picked one route which is about 4.7 miles to concentrate on as there is a good mix of downhill and steady uphills with a good downhill towards the finish, so here, I can pick up the pace a little and not too long as to stress me out.
But I must say there is an incredible difference between fast walking and steady jogging, I couldn't believe the difference in intensity that even a slow jogg over a walk entails my HR is a steady 66% or so with the walking and then rockets to the High 80%'s, I think doing these different days should get my body used to both aerobic and anaerobic sessions so hopefully in the long run I will benefit as the recovery status on the Polar Flow app clearly shows - I know its only relevant to the previous day but if I can stick with the numbers from my Polar M430 at least its consistant.
Thanks AAgain Guarddog, Kind Regards.
Paul.
Paul. Can't find a way to edit my last ;post.
I have only just started jogging and I use a wrist based HR monitor and my average HR is around 88% but yes I'm just using the default settings on the watch which produce my zones and think my max is set to default but I think the readings are on the high side and not to take too much notice of them at present as I'm spending for my last Jog, about 14 mins in zone 5 which I know is probably not doable and not sustainable with my current fitness level, but I dont feel as though I am really working that hard, yes I know that I've been Jogging for an hour but I feel ok with no aches and pains to speak of.
Paul.
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They are just not accurate for individuals except by chance. It's like saying the average 30 year old man is 5 foot 10 tall. It might might work for the population of the UK but it doesn't mean it's any use in prediction the height of the next 30 year old who walks through the door.
The only way to truly know your max heart rate is to reach it, and that's not typically recommended until you're really ready to do it.
In my own case, I've gone from very unfit to very fit several times in my life, and I also can state that in at least my case, my max heart rate changes a lot too. When very unfit I can reach high 190s and now that I'm reaching close to a plateau I can barely reach 180. Some people will say that isn't the case, but it definitely is for me.
</div><div>Paul.
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