Life just gets in the way – Don’t worry just get back on the horse!
Throughout any personal goal or challenge that you set……sometimes ‘Life just gets in the way! Many articles will talk about discipline, goal setting, and sticking to them and that is how you achieve your goals, NO questions asked. This can be true but sometimes stuff and life and other things get in the way and our road to success is temporarily re-routed or suspended for very valid reasons.
When this happens…..and it will, it is important to sit back and re-calibrate and reset. Don’t forget there has been great achievements in your journey, so take time to celebrate those achievements…..AND get back on the horse when you are ready.
The focus of this post is exactly that….getting back on the horse when there has been a deflection from the original goal(s). When it comes to running or fitness, especially if you are post injury, mid to late thirties + …after a few days off (even longer) it can feel like you have lost all of your progress. This isn’t true but there will be some cobwebs that you will need to get through.
Tight muscles and joints are likely if you are back into running after a while, or even doing a load bearing workout. It is important in these cases not to set unrealistic expectations and ease back into your activity, as you will find that the gains will be quicker given all the prior work that has been done. Additionally, you will mitigate the risk of injury easing back into an activity by listening to your body and setting appropriate training goals. Doing an explosive workout or activity after some time off and cold is risky and the shock to the body could cause an injury….as you weren’t sufficiently conditioned.
Warmup is really important if you are planning to do a high-intensity workout, or play a high intensity sport. To be honest warm up generally is a good idea as it gives the body an opportunity to adapt to the activity that you are doing – whether it be aerobic or anaerobic.
Warm Ups that we do include:
- Running drills which would include: high knees, hip openers, run-throughs (@50, 60, 70%)
- Dynamic stretching, or controlled dynamic movement to warm up the muscles and joints
- Lunges, hip raises, and other stability related exercises to engage muscles such as the glutes and hamstrings
- Skipping
- Hip twisters – dynamic running motion criss crossing your feet and rotating your hips
- Walking at a faster pace incorporating some dynamic movements – such as lunges
- A light run stretching out your fascia, or connective tissue. Your fascia holds your body together so it is important to incorporate a range of different movements when engaging in any forms of movement or activity
GM Report – Running after a while / Trail running
So life does get in the way and sometimes goals and activities need to stop or suspend. As we said above it is normal. But it can be tough to regain the momentum you once had. Really important not to get down on yourself when this happens….and inevitably it does…
Today to regain the interest we decided to do something different. Instead of running the usual courses we do we thought about doing some trail runs in the mountains (instead of our usual park runs). Trail runs are great because you are embedded in nature, the terrain is variable requiring concentration, and quite frankly it is just interesting. That level of curiosity and interest surprisingly makes it easier to notch up the kms. The downside to today’s run was I hadn’t run in a couple of weeks….so I felt it in the knees and joints. What this meant was I had to start slow, but as we know running slow allows us to concentrate on form and landing. As a result of this I was able to concentrate on soft landing, staying tall, and staying on my toes (no heel strike….even in my Hokka Cliftons). Running slow is great as it will allow you to run fast.
The run was bloody brilliant because it was new, great views, but also required my concentration given the surface wasn’t flat (like on the road). Not to mention you have to keep an eye out for the sunbaking brown or black snake that might be on the path 😂.
A solid 7km run at a solid pace that was well within my aerobic threshold. As this challenge continues we are building both our aerobic and anaerobic endurance. Regularity and consistency mean that 5-10km runs are getting easier, and the effort required to complete is less….and this is evident in the data (lower heart rate, shorter recovery times, higher cadence, increased speed at less effort)
The ability to go longer, but also perform high intensity workouts or activities more efficiently continues to build and develop……you will see this in your own development.
Happy training and see you soon with the next post!
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