Day 92: Working from home today for the first time in 4 weeks :-) So I got a run in. I wasn't going into it feeling too optimistic and thought that it may be a run walk. The reason for this is because I was in calls from 9am to 1pm so I wasn't really eating or hydrating as I would usually do. Despite this and that it was a bit warm, I actually had a remarkably good run. I was very surprised that all my mile splits were below 10 minute miles even for the first one which is always above 10. Really positive run all round. 10,161 steps
Day 93: Another day working from home and I was feeling really optimistic about the run after yesterday. I felt recovered and ready to go. But this run was a lot tougher. In fact the 4th mile I had to take walking breaks. Think it was the humidity and maybe not fueled enough but I really did struggle. If you took out that fourth mile and replaced it with a 9.20 minute mile it would actually look like yesterdays run on paper. So I will leave it like that :-) 10,147 steps
Day 94: In the office today and hoping for some monster bank holiday weekend stepage. 12,983 steps.
Day 95: Parkrun day! This time I was off to Tollcross. To be honest I didn't really have any targets or expectations going into this run. I did think I should be able to go round in under 29 minutes which would beat my course best. But I thought just take it as it comes. At the start I thought I was quite far back but the pace early on up the first hill did feel pretty fast even where I was and I just let them go and enjoyed the space around me. After a lap and up the hill again I was pulling people in quite quickly as they were either very slow jogging or walking up the hill. It was good to have these targets. Some of them would catch me again on the downs but quite often I would do the damage on the next uphill. I love that feeling when you reach the top of the hill for the third time and you know its only a wee kicker hill to go, then all down hill and on to the grass for the finish. I really did pace this to perfection today and was again rewarded with a great time of 27.08. Beating my previous best for the course which was set in May earlier this year, by almost 2 minutes. When I got home I wanted to majorly boost my steps so went out for a 6 1/2 mile walk. 22,274 steps - a new steps PB!
Day 96: Today is normally the day I do a recovery walk but usually I just do 4 1/2 miles to get the 10,000 steps in. But as I said in the last post I really want to average more the 13,000 steps for the challenge and its going to be a close one. So today I decided to go for it and went for a 10-11 mile walk, which I think is nearer 11 miles. I don't think any form of exercise where you cover 10 miles plus can really be called "recovery". Anyway 3 hours and 10 minutes later I was done. And with it a new steps personal best of 24,407 steps!
Day 97: Had planned to do a long run of just over 10k today but woke up and my legs felt really achy from yesterday. But after getting up and pottering about for a few hours I decided to give it a go and just see what happens. I just took it really easy and after the first few miles I did actually feel really good. It was quite warm and I didn't realise till afterwards that I was covered in sweat. I did actually stop at a shop after 3 and 1/2 miles to get some water. Only to find that every bottle they had was over a pound! ... and I only had a pound. Now there was plenty of shops for the rest of the way which probably sold water for under a pound but as I reached them I just thought - I'm fine I'll just go to the next one. etc etc. Once up the hill to Clarkston toll, I knew it was only 2 miles left. I still felt good despite that I could have done with a bit of water. I increased the pace a wee bit in what was a very satisfying run. In fact my mile splits showed that I actually ran each mile quicker than the last. It was also my longest training run since January. In terms of steps I was expecting to see 14-15 thousand. Forgetting that running takes less steps than walking. So it was actually about 11 thousand. So I went out for a walk later to boost the average a bit. 13,679 steps.
Day 98: And back in the office. 13,476 steps.
Here are the stats for the week:
My average steps for week 14: 13,343
My overall average: 15,304
My team's average steps overall: 13,642
My team's ranking in our department mini league after week 14: 4th out of 8 - same as last week
My team's ranking across all companies competing in GCC after week 14: 9,379 out of 48,444 - Down 955 places on last week.
Well the last full week of the challenge and it really couldn't have gone any better! Thanks to the bank holiday weekend I managed some monster mileage meaning a record number of steps for the week. Of course you look back and think I could have done that every week. But I guess it shows how much my fitness has improved since the start of this.
Only 2 days to go and as I write this, tomorrow is the last day! Report on Day 99 and Day 100 along with short summary of the challenge to come later in the week.
Wednesday 31 August 2016
Wednesday 24 August 2016
Steps Challenge Week 13
Day 85,86,87: Another few days in the office - all walking - 12,555 steps, 12,708 steps, 13,137 steps
Day 88: Parkrun day today and I have to say even though I didn't have the best warm up, I was feeling well up for giving it a good go, despite having not run a parkrun in 4 weeks. I tried to position myself a bit further forward this week and think I was in about the right position in the pack. The start was still a bit stuttered as always, as everyone crams into the narrow road. But after that its ok. There were quite a few puddles today but as usual I just plough straight through them so no time lost. Just before the km mark I got a shout from one of my old clubmates Gordon and we breifly chatted before he pressed on. He is normally a lot faster but he has got the Paisley 10k tomorrow. Just before the second km mark I caught Pamela. On my last outing at Pollok it took me till the final sprint to catch her and she is usually pretty consistent in terms of times so I knew I was running well. I just tried to remain focused and take each section at a time. I was running strong up the hills and using the downhills to take my foot off the gas a bit to recharge for the uphills. I did have thoughts of walking parts but today I won those mental battles and kept going all the way to the end.
I was well and truly rewarded as I crossed the line in 26.38. A seasons best time at Pollok. 4th fastest 5k this year and achieved one of my goals for the year of going sub 27 minutes at Pollok. So a very satisfying performance. When I got home I went out for a 4 1/2 mile walk to up the steps a bit. 17,700 steps.
Day 89: Recovery walk today - my legs were actually feeling alright after yesterday. 10,815 steps.
Day 90,91: Back in the office - 13,268 steps, then 13,216 steps
Here are the stats for the week:
My average steps for week 13: 13,343
My overall average: 13,013
My team's average steps overall: 13,554
My team's ranking in our department mini league after week 13: 4th out of 8 - same as last week
My team's ranking across all companies competing in GCC after week 13: 8,424 out of 48,444 - Up 824 places on last week.
A week and 2 days left! My overall average is dangling just above the 13k mark so I'm going to try and keep it that way. It will be a bit more challenging as I'm not in the office as much over the next week so I'm going to have to do some big walks and longer runs to ensure I do stay ahead.
Day 88: Parkrun day today and I have to say even though I didn't have the best warm up, I was feeling well up for giving it a good go, despite having not run a parkrun in 4 weeks. I tried to position myself a bit further forward this week and think I was in about the right position in the pack. The start was still a bit stuttered as always, as everyone crams into the narrow road. But after that its ok. There were quite a few puddles today but as usual I just plough straight through them so no time lost. Just before the km mark I got a shout from one of my old clubmates Gordon and we breifly chatted before he pressed on. He is normally a lot faster but he has got the Paisley 10k tomorrow. Just before the second km mark I caught Pamela. On my last outing at Pollok it took me till the final sprint to catch her and she is usually pretty consistent in terms of times so I knew I was running well. I just tried to remain focused and take each section at a time. I was running strong up the hills and using the downhills to take my foot off the gas a bit to recharge for the uphills. I did have thoughts of walking parts but today I won those mental battles and kept going all the way to the end.
I was well and truly rewarded as I crossed the line in 26.38. A seasons best time at Pollok. 4th fastest 5k this year and achieved one of my goals for the year of going sub 27 minutes at Pollok. So a very satisfying performance. When I got home I went out for a 4 1/2 mile walk to up the steps a bit. 17,700 steps.
Day 89: Recovery walk today - my legs were actually feeling alright after yesterday. 10,815 steps.
Day 90,91: Back in the office - 13,268 steps, then 13,216 steps
Here are the stats for the week:
My average steps for week 13: 13,343
My overall average: 13,013
My team's average steps overall: 13,554
My team's ranking in our department mini league after week 13: 4th out of 8 - same as last week
My team's ranking across all companies competing in GCC after week 13: 8,424 out of 48,444 - Up 824 places on last week.
A week and 2 days left! My overall average is dangling just above the 13k mark so I'm going to try and keep it that way. It will be a bit more challenging as I'm not in the office as much over the next week so I'm going to have to do some big walks and longer runs to ensure I do stay ahead.
Wednesday 17 August 2016
Steps Challenge Week 12
Day 78, 79, 80: Another few days in the office, so all walking. 13,528 steps, then 13,482 steps, then 13,262 steps.
Day 81: No parkrun today. Didn't even plan to go. Thought a nice lie in then a longer run would be better, but got up then just didn't feel like running so just went for a walk. I hit such a good rhythm with running the past 3 months and its a shame that I have lost that. As well as being in the office all the time for the last few weeks, one of the reasons is probably that I don't really have any goal races at the moment. I say "lost that" but i suppose to put it in perspective last year I was running once a week for many months which is what I am doing with my "bad patch" this time. 10,887 steps.
Day 82: Got out for a run today, felt totally up for it. Fresh legs and raring to go. When I got out it was a different story. My legs felt fine but after the first mile I really was struggling with the heat. It wasn't sunny but very muggy. I did think at parts that maybe I was ill but afterwards I was fine so must have been the temperature. I'm glad I managed to keep going all the way round though and get the 4 1/2 miles in. It was actually the same route I walked yesterday but this time it tallied up to 8000 steps compared to yesterdays 10,000. Meaning I would need to go out later and do another 2000. Thing is, once I got home from having dinner at my parents, I managed to totally forget until I settled on the sofa for the night to watch the Olympics. I had an "Aw naw" moment when I realised I still had to do another 2000 steps! So it was out and round my estate 3 times to make up the difference. 10,328 steps.
Days 83, 84: Back to the office so 13,000 then 12,887 steps all walking.
Here are the stats for the week:
My average steps for week 12: 12,482
My overall average: 12,985
My team's average steps overall: 13,524
My team's ranking in our department mini league after week 12: 4th out of 8 - same as last week
My team's ranking across all companies competing in GCC after week 12: 9,248 out of 48,444 - Down 142 places on last week.
So only the one run this week but at least with all this walking you can't say I'm being lazy! I've been thinking more about what lays ahead after the challenge and I'm considering getting the later train and not walking to and from the office, so I've got more energy to go out running after work. Clearly working from home days I have been fine going out those days. But when I'm in the office I get 6,000 steps without the walk to and from the station so will probably end up getting the bus again. I won't be focusing on getting 10,000 steps in, as long as I do something everyday.
As for future goals I'm still thinking about it all the time, especially goal races for next year. Some may depend on whether I can get in and whether I get my fitness up more for the rest of this year giving me the confidence to go for the longer races.
Anyway 2 weeks tomorrow and this challenge will be complete! The countdown is well and truly on.
Day 81: No parkrun today. Didn't even plan to go. Thought a nice lie in then a longer run would be better, but got up then just didn't feel like running so just went for a walk. I hit such a good rhythm with running the past 3 months and its a shame that I have lost that. As well as being in the office all the time for the last few weeks, one of the reasons is probably that I don't really have any goal races at the moment. I say "lost that" but i suppose to put it in perspective last year I was running once a week for many months which is what I am doing with my "bad patch" this time. 10,887 steps.
Day 82: Got out for a run today, felt totally up for it. Fresh legs and raring to go. When I got out it was a different story. My legs felt fine but after the first mile I really was struggling with the heat. It wasn't sunny but very muggy. I did think at parts that maybe I was ill but afterwards I was fine so must have been the temperature. I'm glad I managed to keep going all the way round though and get the 4 1/2 miles in. It was actually the same route I walked yesterday but this time it tallied up to 8000 steps compared to yesterdays 10,000. Meaning I would need to go out later and do another 2000. Thing is, once I got home from having dinner at my parents, I managed to totally forget until I settled on the sofa for the night to watch the Olympics. I had an "Aw naw" moment when I realised I still had to do another 2000 steps! So it was out and round my estate 3 times to make up the difference. 10,328 steps.
Days 83, 84: Back to the office so 13,000 then 12,887 steps all walking.
Here are the stats for the week:
My average steps for week 12: 12,482
My overall average: 12,985
My team's average steps overall: 13,524
My team's ranking in our department mini league after week 12: 4th out of 8 - same as last week
My team's ranking across all companies competing in GCC after week 12: 9,248 out of 48,444 - Down 142 places on last week.
So only the one run this week but at least with all this walking you can't say I'm being lazy! I've been thinking more about what lays ahead after the challenge and I'm considering getting the later train and not walking to and from the office, so I've got more energy to go out running after work. Clearly working from home days I have been fine going out those days. But when I'm in the office I get 6,000 steps without the walk to and from the station so will probably end up getting the bus again. I won't be focusing on getting 10,000 steps in, as long as I do something everyday.
As for future goals I'm still thinking about it all the time, especially goal races for next year. Some may depend on whether I can get in and whether I get my fitness up more for the rest of this year giving me the confidence to go for the longer races.
Anyway 2 weeks tomorrow and this challenge will be complete! The countdown is well and truly on.
Wednesday 10 August 2016
Steps Challenge Week 11
Day 71: Today felt like a very long day. I was just feeling very tired and not sure why. Just walking again but will try a run tomorrow. 12,868 steps.
Day 72: Still tired so no running. Think its because I am in the office all the time at the moment which means long days. Its going to be like that for the next few weeks but will hopefully be working from home again more after that. 13,427 steps.
Day 73: Its Friday thank goodness. Hopefully some parkrun magic will manifest itself tomorrow. 13,232 steps.
Day 74: Well the parkrun magic did not show up. I turned up at Pollok and had some stomach issues. Unfortunately the facilities at Pollok don't open until 10am so would mean either having a very uncomfortable run or head home, then go out for a run. Easy choice really, I chose the latter. Once out I just did a very easy 3 miles which took about 30 minutes. I say just 3 miles but this was my best run in a while after a few false starts the past couple of weeks. In the afternoon I went to the Dundonald highland games with the family and met up with relative Liam and his girlfriend Ava who were over from Canada. Liam was over with his pipeband and was competing. He is also taking part in the World pipeband champs next weekend in Glasgow so this was a good warm up gig for him. Needless to say this was also good for my step count. 11,635 steps for the day.
Day 75: Three quarters of the way there! On my feet all day so you would expect to see a record number of steps. But no most of it was standing about watching very fast cars. It was great. Went to the ignition festival of motoring in Glasgow which totally took over the SECC. Always stuff happening and the showroom was huge. 10,970 steps.
Day 76: Just in the office day and all walking. 13,209 steps.
Day 77: Same as yesterday. 13,216 steps. But this was a landmark day as I broke the 1,000,000 steps mark for the challenge! This means that even if I do nothing for the next 23 days I will have averaged 10,000 steps a day for 100 days. Of course the plan is to do over 10,000 steps a day for the 100 days so I'll keep plugging away.
Here are the stats for the week:
My average steps for week 11: 12,651
My overall average: 13,031
My team's average steps overall: 13,515
My team's ranking in our department mini league after week 11: 4th out of 8 - same as last week
My team's ranking across all companies competing in GCC after week 11: 9106 out of 48,444 - Up 1,970 places on last week.
Most people entered there steps up to this week hence the wee boost up the rankings.
It wasn't a good week running wise but still getting the 10k minimum and nice to hit a few landmarks - 75% of the challenge complete and 1 million steps. It has got me thinking about what I am going to do once this has finished. Should I keep with doing the 10k steps a day? Should I stop, baring in mind that if I replace it with running I can do less steps? I think what I have learned from this is that you need to do something each day. But at the same time I can't do everything.
Day 72: Still tired so no running. Think its because I am in the office all the time at the moment which means long days. Its going to be like that for the next few weeks but will hopefully be working from home again more after that. 13,427 steps.
Day 73: Its Friday thank goodness. Hopefully some parkrun magic will manifest itself tomorrow. 13,232 steps.
Day 74: Well the parkrun magic did not show up. I turned up at Pollok and had some stomach issues. Unfortunately the facilities at Pollok don't open until 10am so would mean either having a very uncomfortable run or head home, then go out for a run. Easy choice really, I chose the latter. Once out I just did a very easy 3 miles which took about 30 minutes. I say just 3 miles but this was my best run in a while after a few false starts the past couple of weeks. In the afternoon I went to the Dundonald highland games with the family and met up with relative Liam and his girlfriend Ava who were over from Canada. Liam was over with his pipeband and was competing. He is also taking part in the World pipeband champs next weekend in Glasgow so this was a good warm up gig for him. Needless to say this was also good for my step count. 11,635 steps for the day.
Day 75: Three quarters of the way there! On my feet all day so you would expect to see a record number of steps. But no most of it was standing about watching very fast cars. It was great. Went to the ignition festival of motoring in Glasgow which totally took over the SECC. Always stuff happening and the showroom was huge. 10,970 steps.
Day 76: Just in the office day and all walking. 13,209 steps.
Day 77: Same as yesterday. 13,216 steps. But this was a landmark day as I broke the 1,000,000 steps mark for the challenge! This means that even if I do nothing for the next 23 days I will have averaged 10,000 steps a day for 100 days. Of course the plan is to do over 10,000 steps a day for the 100 days so I'll keep plugging away.
Here are the stats for the week:
My average steps for week 11: 12,651
My overall average: 13,031
My team's average steps overall: 13,515
My team's ranking in our department mini league after week 11: 4th out of 8 - same as last week
My team's ranking across all companies competing in GCC after week 11: 9106 out of 48,444 - Up 1,970 places on last week.
Most people entered there steps up to this week hence the wee boost up the rankings.
It wasn't a good week running wise but still getting the 10k minimum and nice to hit a few landmarks - 75% of the challenge complete and 1 million steps. It has got me thinking about what I am going to do once this has finished. Should I keep with doing the 10k steps a day? Should I stop, baring in mind that if I replace it with running I can do less steps? I think what I have learned from this is that you need to do something each day. But at the same time I can't do everything.
Wednesday 3 August 2016
Steps Challenge Week 10
Day 64: Well this week didn't get off to the best of starts. Missed my train connection which meant only walked into work and got the bus back. Also my legs still didn't feel fully recovered from the hill session I did a few days ago so ended up not running either. Still made the 10,000 steps though......10,302 steps.
Day 65: Well if I thought yesterday was bad, today was worse. Train problems this morning meant I missed 2 trains at Queen Street. So I had to get the bus both ways from the station to the office. This is the first time I have had to do this since the challenge started. I learned from this though that I do about 6000 steps at the very minimum when I go to the office. Then when I got home I went out for an easy run which turned out not to be so easy. In fact I stopped running after about quarter of a mile and walked the rest. Just no energy and very tired. On the plus side I just had to do 2 miles to make it up to 10,000 steps. 10,597 steps altogether.
Day 66: More energy today and walked both ways from station to the office as no train problems. No running as saving myself for the weekend. 12,855 steps.
Day 67: This week is getting quite amusing. Another stinker of a day running wise. Slept in for parkrun. Then went out to go for a run. Quarter of a mile in and I was just feeling rubbish so just walked 2 miles. Then spent an hour at home before going out for another 2 mile walk to get the majority of my 10,000 steps in. Sleeping in for parkrun turned into a blessing in disguise I think! 10,475 steps.
Day 68: Still not feeling right so just a 4 1/2 mile walk. Felt better for it but wasn't even going to attempt a run. 11,045 steps.
Day 69: In the office day. Trains were running late but just decided to walk both ways to and from the station and just get home later. No running again but I think I'm on the up. 12,766 steps.
Day 70: You may as well re-read Day 69 as I would just type the same thing again. Except the step count which was 13,011 steps.
Here are the stats for the week:
My average steps for week 10: 11,579
My overall average: 13,069
My team's average steps overall: 13,670
My team's ranking in our department mini league after week 10: 4th out of 8 - same as last week
My team's ranking across all companies competing in GCC after week 10: 11,076 out of 48,444 - Down 1,342 places on last week.
Well this week certainly didn't go to plan. 2 terribly bad attempted runs and that was it. Think I may have just needed to re-charge the batteries a bit. Whether the batteries have been re-charged or not, since I still have been hitting the minimum of 10k a day, we will have to wait and see. Through not running though it has actually made me more excited about my running. Thoughts are starting to turn to plans for the rest of the year and next year. 2017 may end up being a 5k-10k year again and try and get faster times which don't get me wrong I do enjoy running fast. But I am getting an itch to go higher and longer. So we shall see.
Day 65: Well if I thought yesterday was bad, today was worse. Train problems this morning meant I missed 2 trains at Queen Street. So I had to get the bus both ways from the station to the office. This is the first time I have had to do this since the challenge started. I learned from this though that I do about 6000 steps at the very minimum when I go to the office. Then when I got home I went out for an easy run which turned out not to be so easy. In fact I stopped running after about quarter of a mile and walked the rest. Just no energy and very tired. On the plus side I just had to do 2 miles to make it up to 10,000 steps. 10,597 steps altogether.
Day 66: More energy today and walked both ways from station to the office as no train problems. No running as saving myself for the weekend. 12,855 steps.
Day 67: This week is getting quite amusing. Another stinker of a day running wise. Slept in for parkrun. Then went out to go for a run. Quarter of a mile in and I was just feeling rubbish so just walked 2 miles. Then spent an hour at home before going out for another 2 mile walk to get the majority of my 10,000 steps in. Sleeping in for parkrun turned into a blessing in disguise I think! 10,475 steps.
Day 68: Still not feeling right so just a 4 1/2 mile walk. Felt better for it but wasn't even going to attempt a run. 11,045 steps.
Day 69: In the office day. Trains were running late but just decided to walk both ways to and from the station and just get home later. No running again but I think I'm on the up. 12,766 steps.
Day 70: You may as well re-read Day 69 as I would just type the same thing again. Except the step count which was 13,011 steps.
Here are the stats for the week:
My average steps for week 10: 11,579
My overall average: 13,069
My team's average steps overall: 13,670
My team's ranking in our department mini league after week 10: 4th out of 8 - same as last week
My team's ranking across all companies competing in GCC after week 10: 11,076 out of 48,444 - Down 1,342 places on last week.
Well this week certainly didn't go to plan. 2 terribly bad attempted runs and that was it. Think I may have just needed to re-charge the batteries a bit. Whether the batteries have been re-charged or not, since I still have been hitting the minimum of 10k a day, we will have to wait and see. Through not running though it has actually made me more excited about my running. Thoughts are starting to turn to plans for the rest of the year and next year. 2017 may end up being a 5k-10k year again and try and get faster times which don't get me wrong I do enjoy running fast. But I am getting an itch to go higher and longer. So we shall see.
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