Steps Challenge Week 5

Day 29:  Working from home today and decided to do the opposite of what I did on Monday. So I did a 3 mile run at lunchtime then a 2 mile walk at night. The 3 mile run was again really good. Thing is though I think 3 miles is the max I could do at lunchtime unless I was to go over the hour and work more in either the evening or the morning. So I think going out after work is the better option.  11,140 steps.

Day 30:  Today was my first PB attempt day.  During the day I racked up a lot of steps because I was in the office but I think I was still tired from yesterday's run so decided to give running a miss. 14,429 steps.

Day 31: Easy day today as I get rested up for the weekend. 13,801 steps.

Day 32:  My second attempt at a PB today.  I woke up feeling sluggish and my legs were feeling tired. But dragged myself out of bed and headed for Pollok parkrun. I parked outside the park and jogged in and lowered my expectations of a fast run today and hoped just to get under 30 minutes.  When we got on our way I settled into a good relaxed pace.  Had a chat with one of my parkrun buddies Alan for a bit after the first km, then when we got to the glade which is the start of the 3rd km, he picked up the pace up the hill.  I was quite happy with how fast I was going. When I got to the first lap/second lap split it was good to get shouts from Ian and Richard.  I was feeling good at this point and started picking off people on the second lap. As I went up the glade for the second time I saw Pamela in the distance. I was thinking I must be doing well as she normally runs 26/27 minutes for the 5k. I kept picking off people and on the last downhill to the finish I managed to catch and pass her. Turns out we were both running well and I finished in a seasons course best of 27.28. Delighted with that and even more happy that I think I could have gone faster.

But that made up only 7000 steps. To get a steps PB I still needed to do another 11,000!  So I opted for a 6 mile plus walk round the southside, stopping off at subway for lunch.  Ended up absolutely smashing my PB by over 4000 steps. 22,164 steps.

Day 33: Recovery day today. Took a different route on my walk but reckon it was just over 5 miles. 12,545 steps.

Day 34: Working from home today and decided in order to make myself try a longer run at night I would just do short walks throughout the day.  I was going for 4 1/2 miles and looking back I haven't actually ran that far since the first few days of this challenge barring the Killearn 10k. And they were run/walks. So I had it in my mind that I would just take it easy.  But I ended up giving it a pretty good effort, running all the way round and almost getting a stitch on the final stretch home. Overall a pretty pleasing run. 11,172 steps.

Day 35:  Rest day today so all walking. 13,408 steps.

Here are the stats for week 4:

My average steps for week 5: 14,094
My overall average: 12, 846

My team's average steps overall: 14,194
My team's ranking in our department mini league after week 5: 3rd out of 8 - Same as last week
My team's ranking across all companies competing in GCC after week 5: 6,898 out of 48,444 -  Down by 1427 places on last week

So overall a very good week with easily my highest step count including 3 very good runs.

Steps challenge week 4

Day 22: I was planning to go for a run after work today so did the minimum in and around work. Then when I was on the last of my trains home decided to ditch that idea. My legs still haven't recovered from Monday's hill session. I haven't put that much effort in to a session in quite some time so decided to not run and instead this meant I was walking about aimlessly trying to get my steps up till I hit almost 10,000 before heading home.  Then walked around the house a bit ot make it up to 10,007 steps

Day 23: No running again today - just felt I had no energy. The website for the steps challenge has started a nutrition segment where you put in what you are eating each day. I was under the recommended calories for the day. Which means maybe I need to eat more during the day. 13,256 steps.

Day 24: Saving myself for the weekend so all walking. But managed to throw in a walking meeting so managed second highest steps in a day since this started. 15,148 steps.

Day 25:  Today means that I am now quarter of a way through the challenge. And what better way to celebrate than getting a huge course best at Strathclyde parkrun. I really wasn't expecting to be as fast as I did but I started strongly, felt good for the first 2 miles and really hung on in the last mile.  In the second half I passed a number of people too, which was satisfying. I finished in 26.04 which is almost a minute and half faster than any parkrun I have done in the last 2 years.  It must be this step challenge that is making the difference!   But that only took up 5000 steps. So the rest of the steps were made up at my mates bbq and then a walk after dinner. - 10,253 steps.

Day 26: 6 mile plus walk today which racked up the steps. New second highest steps day, knocking Day 24 down to 3rd. 15,971 steps.

Day 27: 2 mile walk at lunch time then 3 mile run after work. For a change an "easy" run felt easier!  11,630 steps.

Day 28: In the office and all walking today.  Felt full of energy too during the day which was good. 13,236 steps.

Here are the stats for week 4:

My average steps for week 4: 12,792
My overall average: 12, 534

My team's average steps overall: 14,694
My team's ranking in our department mini league after week 4: 3rd out of 8 - Same as last week
My team's ranking across all companies competing in GCC after week 4: 5,471 out of 48,444 -  Down by 667 places on last week

Not my best for average steps this week but not my worst either. Only 2 runs this week but at least i have nailed down what I need to be doing/eating to be able to up the running a bit. The runs I did do were just so satisfying and I feel like I have stepped up a level. Now I just need to find the mindset that I can do longer runs.  As I think the only thing that is stopping going longer is my mind!

Next week its beat your PB week where you try and beat your PB over the next four days. So I'll be going for over 18,000 steps on Thursday, if not Saturday.  I should have it in the bag by then but if not there is always Sunday.

Steps Challenge Week 3

Day 15:  Had my first walking phone meeting today for our weekly team meeting. So I went outside and walked round my estate countless times which tallied up to 2500 steps. This is actually encouraged now if you don't need to look up anything on your PC during the meeting which is great. Then at night I went out for a 3 mile run which was a bit different to the usual route by throwing in some more hills.  10,967 steps today.

Day 16:  Working from home again today. I got up earlier so I could have an hour for lunch.  My legs did feel very tired  but I made sure I went for wee walks and a 2 mile walk at lunch time.  After work I wanted to do 4 miles but decided at the decision point for my 3 mile route just to do the 3 miles would be the sensible option and hopefully set me up for a good weekend run. 12, 507 steps today.

Day 17: "Rest day" today - meaning all walking. 13,310 steps.

Day 18: No running again today. Legs are still feeling it so decided just to have a very leisurely 4 mile walk. 11,407 steps.

Day 19:  I wanted to do a longer run today but right from the off I didn't feel good. My legs felt fresh which was good but it was the upper body that was the problem.  After half a mile it just turned into a walk with bits of jogging.  Eventually I made it up to the 10,000 steps for the day. - 10,207 steps.

Day 20: Missed my connection again this morning. So this changed things totally today.  I decided not to walk from the station to the office in either direction.  The theory being I would save myself for a good training session later. And.  It worked!  Did about 6,500 steps during the day. Then went out at night and did a brilliant hills session which I just made up today.  It was 5 times up a kind of gradual slope where I averaged about a minute.  Then went to another hill which was a shorter steeper hill which averaged about 35 seconds and did that 5 times. Plus warm up and cool down. So a good day.  12,848 steps today.

Day 21:  Easy day today so just walking - 10,386 steps.

Here are the stats for week 3:

My average steps for week 3: 11,662My team's average steps overall: 14,438My team's ranking in our department mini league after week 3: 3rd out of 8 - Same as last weekMy team's ranking across all companies competing in GCC after week 1: 5,359 out of 48,444 -  Down by 112 places on last week
My overall average: 12, 448

So not as many steps as the first 2 weeks, but I am gradually introducing quality running sessions.  So I expect less steps.  2 good runs, 1 ok run and one absolute stinker is still progress. As far as the team is concerned it looks like everyone is still going. Its just some people leave at a while then upload multiple entries at once. So good news there.

I reached my first major milestone in the challenge this week which was getting to 250,000 steps. The aim is to get 1 million in 100 days so I am ahead of target at the moment. :-)

Steps Challenge Week 2

Day 8: I had an away day with work today which involved going to the driving range and doing pitching and putting. It was fun and needless to say it was a pretty easy day for getting the steps in. 14,323 altogether.

Day 9: Working from home today so wanted to get a 4 miler in somewhere in the day. It didn't happen first thing so I went out at lunch time. I struggled right from the off, might have been the heat. Anyway did nearly 3 miles. But I still needed to get up my step count more so after dinner went out for another 1 mile run which was a lot better to finish the day on 10,487.

Day 10: Pretty much the same step count as day 9 but achieved in a completely different way.  Today was all walking.  Would have been more but missed my train connection this morning which meant took the bus instead of walking to the office.  10,510 today though so still above target.

Day 11:  Today has its own blog entry and throughout the day managed to clock up 13,768 steps all together. Expected it to be more than that to be honest!

Day 12:  Nice recovery walk today in the sun.  Legs felt stiff for starter but felt good by the end. 11,371 steps today.

Day 13: In the office today so managed 12,700 steps.............then I went for a 3 mile run at night. Totally nailed it. It was strange I was feeling it but felt strong at the same time.  So new steps PB of 17,857 :-)

Day 14: In the office again and just walking today so 12,675 steps.

Here are the stats for week 2:

My average steps for week 2: 12,997
My team's average steps overall: 14,955
My team's ranking in our department mini league after week 1: 3rd out of 8 - Down 1 place on last week
My team's ranking across all companies competing in GCC after week 1: 5,359 out of 48,444 -  Down by 2,561 places on last week

My overall average: 12, 841

Bit down on last week because 1 of the guys hasn't updated his steps for the week. Hopefully he hasn't stopped already! But generally we are still doing great.

04/06/2016 - Killearn 10k

At last, another race!  Since Buchlyvie 10k in January I had plenty of races lined up but didn't actually do any of them due to this that and the next thing. Today I had no excuses, not even my 10,000 steps a day challenge, which I seem to be adjusting to now.  Plus I was so intrigued by this race as there is much buzz around it and has sold out for the last few years.

So I made my way up in plenty of time, arriving in Killearn about half 9. So I had an hour and a half to kill before the 11 am kick off. Registration was slick and got my t-shirt, number and chip. Then when it got to half 10 I did a wee warm up. Then about quarter to 11 people started to gather outside the primary school and we were piped up to the start line. Quite a novelty!  The race director then went through her speech focusing on the route.  But there was so many signs and friendly marshals, no navigating was required - phew!

I positioned myself at the back of the pack and we were off down the main street. The start was downhill then it started to climb. In between 1 and 2k we turned left off the road on to the forest track.  There was a tough zig zag hill here which took a bit out of me. But once on the hill it is undulating with some flat sections up to 4 and half k where you turn round and go back.  But hang on what was at the turnaround - another piper!  GREAT STUFF! About 6k I started to realise how hot it was and I was pretty low on energy.  There was a water station just after 3k and on the return just after 5k where I took water and just kept it with me as I did need it with the heat.

So next I did what I hate to do in races and walked for a bit.  I knew there was a hill coming up at 8k so I used that as motivation to try running as much as possible to there.  The 8k mark is where the hill at 2k finishes. But instead of going back down this hill we went straight ahead.  There was actually quite a few people sitting here watching the race and cheering on the runners which was great.  I tried to thank them by waving in my exhausted state!  It motivated me to keep running so all good.  From 8k to 9k it is a gradual climb but it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Don't get me wrong I still needed to take walking breaks but I knew with a bit more training I could have nailed it.  (said every runner who hasn't done enough training ;-) ) .

Then at 9k the route takes a right turn down the hill into Killearn.  I picked up here and when we got to the main road and turned up the hill I was determined I was not going to walk again and I didn't.  A few meanders through the streets and another piper! Then we came out at the park where there was tonnes of people about the finish line.  Weird thing was I didn't actually notice the chip mats at the start or the finish.  Need to pay more attention - the finish itself was obvious though!  Great medal, t-shirt, fruit and water at the finish.

I finished in 1.02.28, so pretty pleased with my time given the terrain, hills and my lack of long runs in preparation. A great race, very well organised and I do want to go back and run it all next time.

Steps Challenge Week 1

Day 1:  1 walk in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. Then 4.3 mile run after work which was a bit of a struggle and had to run/walk after 3 miles. But still 10,307 steps in the bag for the first day.

Day 2: A walk in the morning, lunch and afternoon. Then 4.3 mile run after work, same as day 1 but a lot wetter.  This time not surprisingly I had to walk earlier than day 1 but somehow got round 30 seconds faster so all good. Another 10,165 steps in the bag.

Day 3: Rest day from running. So of course I get a steps PB of 13,701 with all walking involved in my journey to and from work and going about the office.

Day 4:  I was all set to go down to Ayr today for their parkrun but luckily checked the website to find out it was cancelled. So it was off to Pollok instead. My legs were feeling really tired after the warm up so I lowered my expectations today. But I really shouldn't have because although my legs were feeling it all the way round I actually had a great run finishing in 28.29.  I have finally got below the 29 minutes at Pollok which I haven't managed to do since returning to running in 2014.  There were bits of the course especially on the 4th km where I felt I was slowing so hoping I can take another chunk off this time soon.  Managed 12,704 steps today.

Day 5:  Wanted to go for a longer run today but woke up and decided that I need to try and rest my legs a bit so 6 mile walk instead.  14,743 steps. new pb.

Day 6:  I woke up this morning thinking to just completely rest today and just go for the average of 10000 steps a day, instead of minimum 10000 steps a day. But after running round a park after my nieces took up 5000 steps, I decided to just bite the bullet and walk home from my parents meaning well over the 10,000 for the day. I may still go for average but not yet. I'm hoping my fitness will pick up and I will recover quicker if I keep going. 14,023 today.

Day 7:  In office today so 13,148 steps all walking. Hopefully as time goes on I'll have more energy to do a run after work too with these ones,

So that's a wrap for week 1. Here are the stats:

My average steps for week 1: 12,684
My team's average steps for week 1: 15,034
My team's ranking in our department mini league after week 1: 2nd out of 8
My team's ranking across all companies competing in GCC after week 1: 2,798 out of 48,444

So my team are doing great! Can't believe how good the team average is. My steps PB is 300 steps off our overall average!