This fifth run, and the final run for the month of April, saw a 40 second improvement on the previous time. Apparently I finished 20th in my age-group, but whom I kidding, it's still a slow, shitty time!
I think by the end of May I'll at least be done with the 30's, which means getting down to bringing 6 minutes/km down to 5, which is where the real business of running begins.
Today, May 2nd, I did my first Tuesday training run in a while. Blazing sunset, nice, cool Autumn evening, plenty of animals about. The group have a different workout now - running single file, with the runner at the back sprinting to the front, easing off, and then the next runner sprints forwards and so on.
Since I'm about to wrap up my 71st book, The Murder of Vincent van Gogh, as usually happens at this stage of a book, my sleeping patterns are completely messed up as I try to integrate every scrap of relevant info into a compelling climax. It's too bad the insomnia has hit while I seem to improving my fitness; I just need to try to hold it together, and try to continue training while the sleep pattern re-adjusts back to normal. This tends to be associated with gaining weight, though, so I don't know. I don't even know if I'll be able to wake up for #6. So far 5 in a row, improved 4 of those, but writing makes it very hard to be a consistent runner.
After this book I need to take a full week off, and if the gods allow, 2 weeks.
Above is the "no bullshit" version of the crap that's gone on for the last three weeks.
After improving my time by more than a minute during the first week in April [#2] over the last Park Run in March [on the 31st] , and maintaining regular training, on the 14th of April [#3], disaster struck.
My calves cramped up early on; it felt like they'd locked up completely, and shortly after hitting 3km I was forced to walk. After walking 1.5km they were still locked up. The progress from the first two weeks was suddenly, horribly, switched around from a 1 minute improvement to a 3 minute + slide backwards.
It didn't many any sense!
Also, after 3 weeks of training on a daily basis my weight was stuck at 100 + Kg. That didn't make sense either.
To be honest, I was so despondent going into week #4, I started to skip sessions for the first time. On a 3km run on the Tuesday, I ended up walking at least half of it. My calves were tight, sore and locked up on virtually no training.
What was going on? It didn't many any sense!
But then I started to figure it out. Although I'd committed to not writing at all in April, I decided to start work on a pet project about halfway through the month, or two days before #3. In those two days I was sedentary, and sleeping badly, and in fact on the morning of the 14th, I wrote for an hour or two before the Park Run. The impact of that was immediate.
The lesson is this:
1) No matter how much you've trained in the past, you CANNOT transition from sitting for hours at a time to running!
2) If you sit for hours on any particularly day, and you don't exercise on that day, your fitness doesn't remain stable, it goes in reverse - your muscles weaken. You have to make up for these reversals.
3) Sometime during the last 3 weeks I raised my chair, which actually caused more tension on the back muscles, and also caused a greater weight on the calves because they're effectively hanging in the air. Worse still, the edge of the chair was cutting off circulation because the hamstrings were pressing against the edge of chair. All of this must be considered in a scenario not of a youngster, but an older person, heavier who is sitting for hours at a time. You simply CANNOT sit like that and expect your legs to be functional, let alone ready to be run, the moment you decide you're finally ready to stand up and go running.
The dilemma of course is, if you write/sit to make a living, you can't wave a magic wand and simply stop working. The trick is to combine both, to find a balance that works.
Going into week 4, I tried a few different things.
Firstly, I lowered the seat, secondly I tried to maintain exercise in the last few days leading up to the run, and thirdly, I made sure I wasn't sitting at all on the morning of the run.
I also happened to sleep a lot better during that week.
I was very nervous for #4 because a slow time would basically mean back to the drawing board; possibly me having to quit writing [quit work] until I could rehabilitate my legs. As you can see from the screengrabs up top, #4 was a 12 second improvement on #2.
One reason I think played into this improvement was my weight dropping, from as high as 102/103kg the last few weeks, down to 97/98kg this week.
So as it stands, for April, and there's 1 Park Run to go still before the month is out, I've already improved 1 minute 12 seconds. In other words, I'm on schedule in the first month in terms of carving at least one minute off each month, every month.
For next week [#5] I'd like to get close to 31:15, simply because by the end of May I'd like to be under 30 minutes. For all this self-congratulation, I'm still very aware that anything slower than 25 minutes for 5 kilometers is very average, and slower than 30 is embarrassing. Sitting excessively and out-of-whack sleeping patterns are clearly the unknown factors in this whole equation. Without them this project would be tough but doable. With them part and parcel of the equation, it means quite a lot of exercise is undone during work hours, and that not only complicates progress, but slows it down.
So that has to be factored in as well.
If I hit a ceiling in a few weeks, or months, and I imagine I will, the answer will likely be to cut out work/writing/sitting completely, until that ceiling is breached. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
As I stand here on April Fool's Day 2018 [and I am literally standing while typing] I'm tipping the scales at a smidgeon over 102kg [about 225 pounds]. That's a record I'm not proud of, and after three weeks of training, I've realized the time has come for some real effort to turn the tanker around. By blogging my progress I'm holding myself accountable, and perhaps this record can provide some use or value to others in a similar position.
In that spirit, I'm taking the entire month of April off work to dedicate to training. April 2018 represents month #1 of 12 in an effort to carve 12 minutes off my current Park Run Time.
In the two weeks prior, I did the 5km route in close to the same time, 32:48 and 32:38 respectively. Like my weight, running 5km in almost 33 minutes is nothing to be proud of. Some friends of mine are doing it in 21, 22 and 23 minutes, and I know I could be, and should be there too.
In April my goal is to go under 32 and if possible, 31 as well. By April 2019, I hope to do what seems unthinkable right now [weighing 102.5kg], and that's run close to or just under 20 minutes in a Park Run. Since I've run a 37 minute 10km inside a triathlon [after swimming 1.5km and cycling 40km], which translates to an 18:30 5km x 2, I know I have the legs to do it, or I did it once upon a time. Can I do it again 20 years later?
My current Park Run record is 24:12, set in Durban 2 years ago, which means to achieve my goal, to improve #12minutesin12months I have to improve my current PB by 4 minutes. That's unknown territory, and will probably require trimming down from over 100kg to under 76kg. This implies losing 12 minutes in 12 months requires losing 24 kilograms over the same period [2kg per month].
To that end, I've implemented a few changes on the home, work and exercise front.
1. More standing while at the computer. Sitting must be on a Pilates ball.
2. Planking at least once a day [current record is 1 minutes 15].
3. Exercising twice a day at least 20 minutes per session [currently exercising once a day and not losing weight].
4. Increase pullups by 1 each month [currently at 7, record is 12].
5. Increase leg raises by 10 each month. Currently at 50 in 1 minute].
6. Cutting out chocolates, carbs and junk food.
7. Watching less television.
My goal for the next Park Run is to go under 32:30. After being stuck for three weeks at 32:45, it's time to see some improvement.
By the end of April I hope to bring my weight down to below 100kg. I'll report back on progress on Sunday April 8th.
My concerns in terms of consistency:
1. How long will I be able to maintain office work standing up?
2. What are the chances of getting injured?
3. Being unable to sleep at night [last night I struggled to settle down and sleep,]
