Cycling

[robin]

Update on my 'running' ... Have been running more or less daily building up fitness so as to hit the 30mins continuous running. This week I have run 30 mins twice, as well as some shorter runs in between. 4.95km both times . So now know to put in a bit more a bit earlier and will break the 5k/30mins on my next run.

Challenges for me are hills (insert fat boy running up hill meme) and stride length - need to take longer strides!

My bike arrives this month. Am hoping I can use the pedalling to beef up the legs a bit and this will help with the stride.

Hope everyone still enjoying their activities and for anyone thinking about starting running, if I can do it, you can do it too so long as you want to!

Cheers
Robin

[C7Steve]

Keep up the good work Robin.


Steve.

[ed]

What he said! Fantastic effort!

[campbell]

Update on my 'running' ... Have been running more or less daily building up fitness so as to hit the 30mins continuous running. This week I have run 30 mins twice, as well as some shorter runs in between. 4.95km both times .

Think I’ve said before. 5km in 30m is highly respectable. Even if on the flat.

Introduce your gradients gradually. Change breathing rates and stride lengths to help.

Have fun and problem-solve

[hendeg]

Great news Robin. Mixing up your exercise will really help and I prefer being outdoors so the cycling is great.

Hills will always be tough and they're just as much a mental as physical challenge. There are all sorts of things you can do to help like breaking them down so you have targets to aim for as you go up. I just like counting in my head to keep a steady rhythm. Start slow, finish strong.

As we head towards autumn/winter it's easy to look out the window and decide not to do that run. The old adage that there's no such thing as bad weather definitely applies - to the running anyway. Just make sure you've got the kit to keep you warm. Running in the rain and snow can feel amazing. I actually really like running in the dark with a torch.

I had to run to the car when I was out yesterday. I've done very little running recently and it showed. I need to get it back into the routine - it's only needs half an hour ffs!

[campbell]

Great point about the weather, Gary. Layers, hat, gloves, grippy trainers, good earbuds and the right tunes. Sorted

[Scottish Scrutineer]

You’re making progress Robin, suddenly you’ll find you’ve made a great step forward and either you’ll get faster, or hills won’t seem so steep, or you’ll increase your distance. Using something like Strava or Run Keeper will help track your progress.

I found similar with cycling, I was always at the back on hills, but could just about hold on the flat, but seemed to run out of energy on longer cycles, needing regular refuelling. Since lockdown I’ve found I can cycle for longer without having to fuel and my hill performance has improved significantly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[campbell]

Great point re app

Highly recommend MapMyX, where X is Walk, Run, Ride. I think they are all the same core app just different colours?!

MapMyWalk here - but can change activity type to MTB, road cycle, run, hillwalking etc.

Will auto-start a chosen playlist or music. Maps your route (and lets you find other routes based on locale if away from home - this was game-changing when I was travelling a lot for work). Web dashboard enables route edits, GPX upload / download (brilliant for adventuring!) etc

I’m sure all the leading apps do all this too of course!

[ed]

Youve got me thinking I should be doing more exercise, might dust off my running shoes tonight.

[campbell]

Great, Ed!

Don’t try to run tooooo far first time out tho, eh

[robin]

Google fit does the tracking ok. The limitation is the phone location services are a bit wank in built up areas. Don't think any other app will do significantly better. But easy enough to measure your route and I have timer for run duration and 5 mins increments.

Awesome news today, my bike arrives Wednesday so will be mixing up the running and the riding.

Have been running daily regardless of weather. I too like running in the rain or dark.

But as distance increases it's noticeable that taking an enforced day off improves the following run, so plan on dropping down to 3 or 4 a week.

The good thing about my job is that I am never short of problems to take my mind off plodding along

No doubt next update will be from A&E!

Cheers
Robin

[campbell]

Bike details pls!

Got some physio advice a few years back. At our age ... don’t run more than 20k a week. Nor more than 10k at a time.

And from my Dad (former pro footballer for 10 yrs) - always try to run on turf, or at least not concrete. Although training shoe tech has come on a bit since the late 60s

[hendeg]

But as distance increases it's noticeable that taking an enforced day off improves the following run

I’ll just leave this here... stretching.

[campbell]

Recovery is more important the older one gets

[s29ttc]

Well done Robin, fantastic effort.

I think certainly the positives of lockdown is an increase in outdoor activity and exercise. I was out on Saturday and couldn’t cycle for more than a few minutes without passing another cyclist, surely can only be a good thing.

I am very addicted, since lockdown started late March/ early April I have clocked over 3,000 miles on the bike and spent far too much money on new bike, clothing, garmin, lights etc but hopefully the fitness is being maintained.

I am also enjoying exploring places I wouldn’t normally have travelled to and seeing the scenery in a different way.

I am finding myself being more comfortable at hills and longer distances on the bike and it is actually amazing how far you can travel simply on a pedal bike.

These electric bikes are also great as it’s opening up to a whole different audience. I stopped at the heron cafe near Strathaven on Sunday and there must have been 30 odd bikes there, many of which yielding an electric bike, and you could see people of an age/shape who you wouldn’t expect to be out cycling for long.

I’m a bit gutted the worse weather is closing in on us but hoping to maintain fitness through the colder months.