runveganwankerrun
Run, Vegan Wanker. Run!
About a vegan, who's a wanker, who runs.
95 posts
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
Last Seen Blogs
muvindu
MUVINDU BINOY
pedrinhwo
pedro
abhilashadey22
word.
kowbojki
LOVE AND PEACE
jadeyarts
ALIENS, TAKE ME AWAY!
Text
26th Dec '23
I want to run again. So just fucking run!
0 notes
Text
Sun 8th Oct '23
I've put on weight, eaten shit for months and not run for weeks! Time to pull on my big girl pants and fucking do something about myself. In the morning, I weigh myself and see what I'm working with. I hate myself right now. That's gotta stop.
1 note
·
View note
Text
Long run and parkrun time again!
Sat 11th Feb ‘23
Oh the joy of being in a position to say “only” 16k when referring to my long run! It still wasn’t easy, but I plodded on regardless, and despite the first 7k being hard, I knew I would keep going. I sort of found my grove about then, and get to parkrun a few minutes early. I was stopped for a few minutes and my old bones started to seize up! It took a few minutes to work the kinks out once we got going again. But once we did! I was well chuffed. I found the comfortably uncomfortable pace that I’ve been looking for and stuck with it. I managed my first sub 30 parkrun in absolutely YONKS! Happy happy me!
7 notes
·
View notes
Text
Sun 5th Feb '23
It's the end of the day and my thighs are still soooooo sore. They really have worked hard this last couple of days.
I got my training plan from Coach, and it's lovely to see that I only have 16k as my long run this week. I love that I'm back to saying "only" 16k.
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Oh balls!
Sun 5th Feb ‘23
My stomach is in knots. TGG and I had a visit from out landlady. It’s the start of the month, rent is due, so that’s no biggie. We always pay on time, we have a good relationship with her, we’ve been in this house for over eleven years, so again, no biggie. The thing is, she’s not been well for a few years now, so her daughter collects the rent normally. When she said she’d be here herself, both TGG and I feared the reason. Best case scenario, rent rise. Out rent hasn’t gone up in years, so it’s more than due, especially with the cost of living going up all over the place. Worst case scenario, she’s selling the house. Guess which it was!
We have to find somewhere else to live. I am scared. I think it gets harder as you get older and you realise you haven’r secured your future the way you should have. I’m in my fifties, have little to no pension or life insurance, and am in a dead end job.
My stomach is in knots.
2 notes
·
View notes
Photo
Sun 5th Feb ‘23
I’m tired but happy. What a great week of running. I’ve totally earned this feeling of heavy thighs. Every time I go upstairs to the loo, I have to come back downstairs afterwards. It’s not pretty. I’m hobbling. But I know it’ll feel better by tomorrow morning. That’s my highest km in a week in a very long time!
I was looking forward to a social run with a few club mates this morning, but oh my God, I’m feeling the heavy thighs. I had to slow my pace when we were only fifteen minutes into the run. It was that, or consider turning back, walking or stopping. But it’s all good practice for keeping going when I really, really want to stop.
I’ve spilled the beans to the world now about both marathons, and that they are only a week apart, That is to say, I’ve been telling people at club individually, I told Mum last week, and then yesterday, I posted on Facebook. You know what it’s like, once it hits the socials, that’s the cat fully out of the bag!
I’ve continued to write my training diary. It reminds me of how I felt on each run. It means there’s no chance of misremembering how I felt from one run to the next. It’s pretty useful to read back that I finished a run, despite feeling shit all the way through it.
1 note
·
View note
Text
Long run done!
Sat 4th Feb '23
I’m very happy. 23k run done and my legs are still talking to me! Who’d a thunk it!?! I’d a route worked out in my head, divided in to three to five kilometre segments. I got almost 18k done before getting to the park at almost exactly 9.30am for parkrun. Perfect timing. I ran for two hours and thirty-three minutes. Not too bad.
I’m delighted now it’s over. It’s the farthest I’ve run in a very long time. At the time however, I wasn’t such a happy bunny. Two to three k in, and I’m doing the usual, asking myself what the fuck I think I’m playing at and feeling that there’s no way I’ll be able to run another 20k. But I keep putting one foot in front of the other, and the distance moves on, however slowly.
One bad point about today’s run was my two month old watch’s battery dying at 18k, just before parkrun started, despite being charged up before I went to bed last night. It said it was at 100%. Thankfully, it saved the run that it had, and then I was able to use my parkrun time. It was a run of two parts on Garmin and Strava. At least the scenery was nice as I ran along the coast. I’m pretty pissed off about the watch. I’ve emailed Garmin and will see what they say. There’s no way I’d trust it on a marathon. Imagine doing Manchester and London and no having it recorded! That would be shit!
Chaffing is currently an issue. Delightful subject. Not my fanny lips, thankfully, but there’re definitely some inner thigh issues. Stings like fuck in the shower. I’ll have to see what I can do about that.
0 notes
Text
February already!
Fri 3rd Feb '23
How the fuck is January over already?!?! I wouldn’t mind, but it means that the marathons are creeping ever closer! I need to light a fire under my arse and book flights to London. They are only going to get more expensive as the race gets closer. THIS WEEKEND. I need to sort it out.
I find myself unexpectedly looking forward to tomorrow’s long run. I do the prep tonight. Tailwind is made up and in the backpack. Money and key in a pocket of the backpack. Watch and headphones are well charged. I have to tape up my left knee and right ankle and remember to take pain killers in the morning. My period arrived yesterday and I don’t want it to fuck with me. I need to set out my running gear so I don’t have to think about it in the morning and set out warm, dry clothes for afterwards, so I can go back to the park to help after parkrun.
I’ve divided my route for the run up in my head, into three to four km chunks and decided what to listen to. It makes the run feel more doable, which is part of the reason I’m not dreading it, though I think I’ll still take a while to fall asleep tonight. I’m also finishing the last 5k at parkrun, as I did last week, so that is helping too.
Right now it’s 11.30pm and I’m getting up at 7am. Time for bed.
0 notes
Text
Tuesday
Tue 31st Jan '23
Despite the best intentions (the road to Hell, and all that) I didn't go to bed at 10pm on Sunday night, so still didn't sleep enough. I was a bit earlier last night. I've two and a half months to get a handle on that and get into better habits.
I weighed myself yesterday morning. Start of the week and all that. 164lb. I do seem stuck in and around that sort of weight. The only reason can be that I’m still eating too much to lose weight. Imagine what I’d weigh if I hadn’t started to up my running again. It makes no sense that I don’t lose weight. Running for five hour (what I think my marathons will take) would be so much easier if I was twenty-eight pounds lighter!
On that note, both yesterday and today, I’ve eaten much more healthily and not as much. I had at least four days last week when I ate a lot of shit and it told in my energy levels, I think. Better food will definitely stop me having a dip in energy during the day. I’ve also been slightly better with my water intake, though I have also drunk some diet cola (DFM, ore Dark Fizzy Master, as TGG calls it) I’d been really good and steered clear of it for ages, so I’d be better if I got rid of it again. It’s just not good for the body. It has absolutely no nutritional value at all.
Today is a rest day, and BOY, I’ve been looking forward to it. I did four days in a row and it was fine, but I felt like I needed a break.
Club last night was great. It was a pyramid session, lasting just under forty minutes. Pyramids are good as there are only two paces, fast and recovery. My fast was only my 5k pace, so no sprints. It felt uncomfortable but doable. That’s what I want to be able to do without thought, comfortably uncomfortable running for good stretches of time. I am enjoying the fact that this is becoming the case more and more often as I regain some of my fitness.
It was a great session and I enjoyed it, in that fucked up way that we runners enjoy the pain we put ourselves through, but I’ve realised that I’m still a bitch. Despite spouting on about being happy with my running as it improves and being happy enough with my slower pace, I still hate being overtaken by some people, most notably the ones who I used to be faster than. I need to shit or get off the pot. I need either to learn to live with being slower than some people and stop resenting them for lapping me in training, or GET FASTER THAN THEM AGAIN!
There were a few sections of training last night when I got a bit of pace back, so I can see how it would be possible for me to get to my old pace, but do I care enough to put in the work that it would take? The Sixty-four thousand dollar question.
#runblr#fitblr#running#healthy living#sleep#hydration#running club#training plan#marathon#london marathon#Manchester Marathon#pyramid session#shit or get off the pot
0 notes
Text
Plan for the week
Coach has been in touch, and the plan for the week is as follows...
1. Pyramid Session
2. 10km easy peasy
3. 600s at 5km pace
4. 8km
5. 22.5 km long run .... Keep working on the nutrition.
“Working on Nutrition” I know he means long run nutrition, so I’m continuing with the Tailwind strategy.
Thing is, looking back on the week, that’s not the only nutrition that I need to work on.
This week in summary.
Running good.
Food not.
Water not.
Sleep not.
I have plenty to improve upon. And thus a plan for the week is conceived.
0 notes
Text
Weekly Run Report to Coach
Sun 29th Jan ‘23
What I’ve sent to Coach this week. Now to see what he says in return and gives me as my next week’s training. I have to say, I like getting only a week in advance. It is less to stress about when I do not see what’s coming weeks ahead.
1. Club Fartlek
I nearly talked myself out of going, but was glad I’d gone once it was done. I put effort into the faster bits, especially the steady sections, which made up the bulk of the session. I think I could have worked a bit harder in the very fast bits. They were mainly thirty or sixty seconds, though there was one two minute fast segment, much to my disgust 😃 Over all though, happy with the session.
2. Easy peasy 7km - did this on Sunday as a fifty minute social run with club mates. EASY paced! Well, it was intended to be easy paced, but I made the mistake of starting out with a faster mate. We ran out together for twenty-five minutes. It was very much my steady pace. On turning back, our pace continued. I know it was too fast, but I couldn’t help but be happy to do 7.75k in 49 mins.
3. Fast 400s. Like FAST! But steadily paced
Skipped out on club for no good reason. Laziness! It meant I programmed it into my watch and did this session on Thursday before work. Very fucking early!
4. 21 km.
Changed to Sat to see if finishing at parkrun would give me a boost. It meant I was telling myself that I only had 16k to run, coz then I just had to finish that at the park. I used Tailwind again. I think it was a wise move. I got through the first three km thinking, “I can’t do 18 more of this shit!” but then at six, ten and fifteen km I didn’t actually feel any worse. So the training is definitely working. I can feel myself getting fitter. Finishing at parkrun was a great idea. My last 5k was my fastest. That’s running amongst others for you! I think I’ll do that again.
5. Optional 5km Did this on Friday morning early. Was going to do the 7k sesh, but went lower image coz I’d decided to try out doing the long run the following day, Saturday, so I could finish at parkrun.
This week’s lesson is don’t skip club on Wednesday, or if I do, get a run in by myself. Two rest days in a row cuts out any comfort zone and makes the week very running heavy at the end. Tue and Fri as rest days possibly might work, especially if I decide Sat works best for the long run.
0 notes
Text
Long Run, blow by blow
Sat 28th Jan '23
I’ve said before, my long run problem is mind set. I just don’t want to be out there, especially by myself, for all that time. Let’s be honest, even when I was a lot fitter, a long run meant being out for three or so hours. Now it’ll probably be close to four if I hit a 34k run. How can I change my thinking? How can I start to enjoy the run for the run’s own sake?
I can listen to podcasts and music. I have many that I love. I can run with other people, even though after about 16k, I get impatient with company. That’s on me. It’s not my running chum’s fault that I get testy as distance increases. As I get older, and as runs get longer, I more and more resemble Victor Meldrew! Doing these things (podcasts, music, company) treat the symptom rather than the issue however. They are a surface level cure. What I need is to not need the distraction. Well, in an ideal world that’s what I’d need.
This week I thought I’d try the long run on Saturday instead of Sunday. It felt like a good idea to not have it hanging over my head all day Saturday, so I can join in the Sunday social run without having to do a load of km beforehand, which also means I can sleep a little later. The other reason was that I could start early and time it to do the last 5k as parkrun.
Last night I prepped. I picked out what I’d wear, so I could get dressed without thinking. Long sleeves and capris, as it’s a little cool, but not too cold. Socks and shoes sitting ready. Headphones and watch charged. No! Watch charged. Forgot to charge the headphones! D’oh! (Spoiler alert. They lasted till 3k from the end of the run, when I was happy enough coz I was surrounded by people at parkrun) Tailwind made up. Last week I used 750ml on a 20k run. I made up a litre last night, a caffeinated one.
I started at 7.45am to get 16k done before hitting the park. I started sipping on the Tailwind from the first buzz of my watch at the km mark. Use it early to avoid getting into deficit. Same with water. If you wait till you’re thirsty to drink, you’re already playing catch up.
I had my run broken down in my head into sections. The first was a 3k loop around the park, then 4k along the coast, then a 3k loop around a small village, then the ring road for about 5k to the park. I was a little short of the sixteen that I needed to finish exactly on parkrun. It made the whole run easier to think of it in smaller, bite-size chunks. It was still tough to warm up. The first 3k was hard, took a while to warm up and I was wondering what the Hell I was doing. Could I do the whole thing? But then I realised that at 6k, 10k, then 15k, I didn’t actually feel any worse. I was still fucked off that I was running long, but I was NO MORE fucked off. That’s progress, right? :-D
What I love about long runs at the moment, is running into (not literally) other runners. At this time of year, early on a weekend morning, you just know that many of those runners are also training for a Spring marathon. You nod to these other runners, a semi smug wee acknowledgement of a brother-in-arms. You get the same nod back. It gives me a momentary lift, sees me through the next few metres. That’s fucking priceless. It’s its own Tailwind. This morning alone, I saw a couple of club mates at different times, an ex club mate, and another couple of runners from other clubs. All before 8.30am.
Runners are fucking nuts! :-D
I got to the park by 9.25am, so was almost a little too early. I had to stand about for a couple of minutes. It was reviving to talk to people though, having been alone for 105 minutes. TGG was at the start line, so I got a wee kiss before the run started, and we ran the first short distance together. I am a lot slower than him though, and had over 15k in my legs already, so there was no way we’d be running the 5k together. It didn’t matter though. Seeing him and loads of my other running friends was a real tonic. The last 5k was my fastest. Against all reason, I’d something left in me to finish strong.
There we go. Another long run completed! I’m so happy with myself.
0 notes
Text
Friday Feeling
Fri 27th Jan ‘23
Whoop whoop. I do love the Friday feeling! What’s not to love? No work for two whole days and more time with The Gorgeous Guy. My runs aren’t rushed and I can take my time in the shower afterwards, as well as have a leisurely breakfast. Yes, life is good.
I’ve been tired the last two days. Really tired yesterday especially. I reckon it’s related to not eating healthily. Yes, I also got up today and yesterday at 5.30 am and went for a run, one of which was quite a strenuous 400s session, but I think it was more down to me eating a shit load of sugar both days and then crashing. I’ve not been great in general the last week or so on the fresh food front, and even worse on the water front, so I need to improve. BIG STYLE!
The positive part of both days though was despite almost resetting the alarm to sleep another hour and a half, I did not. I managed to get straight out of bed and get dressed before I overthought it.
0 notes
Text
Long run - the next day
Mon 23rd Jan '23
Thoughts the day after the long run.
I think the Tailwind helped a lot. I made up 750 ml and put it in my backpack. I took three small sips each time my watch buzzed the km markers, and it was just the right amount of liquid. It was my first time in ages using fuelling. I’ve avoided it so I could run with less kit. It was time to get used to it again, and it was time to see if it would make a difference to the run. I think it definitely did. I don’t think I tired as quickly as last week. I was at pretty much the same level of discomfort all the way through. That’s bloody good over 20k. If I can maintain that for a whole marathon, I’ll be well chuffed. I think another effect of the fuelling was on my muscles after the run. I don’t think they were quite as sore at the end, didn’t seize up as much. Conclusion? I will use it again on the next long run, which is 21k, but I will make up slightly more.
Boredom is a proper issue on these longer runs. Even with good music and a podcast that I’m enjoying, I just don’t want to be out, or on my feet, for that length of time. Over two hours is a long time, and by the time I get another few weeks in, it will be over three hours. That’s why I’ve said before that I need to fine a different, more positive mindset of the longer runs. I think my main option might be to find a training partner. I have a major problem here though, routed in my awkward, contrary personality. I get annoyed when I’m by myself, but I also get annoyed when I’m with someone else. As the miles get longer, it takes less and less to bug the fuck out of me. Is it wise to subject another personality to my repellent moods? I want people to remain friends with me! 😆 I don’t know what I’m going to do about it yet. Suffer alone for a while yet, me thinks.
I have a couple of niggles now. When the run was over, there was just the standard tiredness, and as I mentioned above, my legs didn’t seem to feel quite as heavy as last week. A few hours afterwards however, my right foot, inside of the ankle, was hurting a little. I taped it up before going to club training to hopefully keep any pain under control. It’s not too bad, I just don’t want it to turn in to anything. That was yesterday after the run. Today, my right knee hurt a little. Sound as if I’m starting to fall apart, but neither the foot nor the knee are even at a four out of ten. Nothing to worry about thus far, but worth keeping an eye on.
My time yesterday would suggest that my predicted marathon time will be about the five hour mark. I will try to make myself okay with that. It feels like a step down, but it’s really not. I can’t pretend though that I wouldn’t rather be closer to four hours than five. A drop in weight would help, but I’ve stayed in around 160lb for ages now.
I sent Coach my run report yesterday. This is my plan for the week.
1. Club Fartlek
2. Easy peasy 7km
3. Club 400s. Like FAST! But steadily paced
4. 21 km
5.Optional 5km
Today’s club Fartlek session. I’m really pleased. I ran an average pace which was under 6 min per km. First time I’ve managed 5k in under thirty minutes. YAY! The steady sections were a good effort. They were the main bulk of the session. The fast bits could have been faster, but they were still okay. It was a good night’s work, especially as I nearly talked myself out of it. Around six o’clock I was seriously considering putting my pyjamas on and vegging out in front of the telly. I went upstairs and nearly did get undressed. Instead I got into my running gear, telling myself that if I wasted this evening as an opportunity to run, then I’d have less of a comfort zone for the rest of the week. I should really run at least two days in a row before I take a rest day. As is always the case, I was glad I ran.
You never regret a run. This is today’s lesson.
0 notes
Text
This week’s run report to Coach
1. Long hills at club - This was like a steady, hilly run. Up one side of the hill, down the other as recovery, then up the other side of the hill, down as the rest of the recovery. Was only a twenty-five minute session. Covered about 4k. Doesn’t sound like much, but it felt good.
2. 5 miles easy peasy - This was done very early, before work. It was VERY easy paced.
3. 1k reps with club - Club was cancelled due to the track being an ice rink, so I used Wednesday as a rest day, and did my own 1k reps on Thur before work. It was slower than if I’d been amongst others, but the 1k reps were still faster than my normal average pace.
4. 20km long run - Two hours and twenty-two minutes. I didn’t check pace at all throughout the whole run, just distance, as I can forget where I am after seven km! It was tough, but not impossible. I felt as if I was at the same level of discomfort throughout, so the last five k were not much harder than the first. Still wouldn’t call it pleasant, and I find myself getting bored. I’m VERY pleased with getting it done.
5. Extra session - An easy paced 6k on Friday morning. Wanted Saturday as a rest day. I did 10k on the Saturday before my 18k last week. I think it made me tired, so I’m going to try to keep Saturday free of running for the next couple of months, except possibly the odd slow parkrun.
Overall a positive week. I don’t find the long run easy at all, but I’m so proud of myself when I do it.
I know I’ve already written about some of that, but that’s my whole week of running. I’m happy with it. Today’s long run was done completely solo. There were some of the club meeting up at 9am for a fifty minute run, and I thought I might join up with them once I’d done about ninety minutes or so. It was too hard to coordinate the time and the distance though, so I ran my whole 20k alone and then met up with them in the cafe at 10am for coffee and craic.
The 20k was boring. I’m sorry, but there’s no other word for it. I find it dull to be out alone for over two hours. That’s the case even with a podcast going in my ears. I really need to find a way to get into a decent mindset. It could have been worse though, because at no point did I actually think I was going to stop. I might have been annoying to know that I had x number of km to go, but I knew I’d run them. I used 750ml of Tailwind in a backpack. It’s the first long run in this training cycle that I’ve used fuelling, and I think it helped. I definitely didn’t flag as much as I could have, and my legs aren’t as heavy as they were after last week’s run. They were like stones last week and they felt like that all day.
The main issue after this run was chaffing. The top of my inner thighs aren’t too bad. That awful sting that you feel in the shower afterwards wasn’t too bad, though there was a little of it. It was my lady parts. My flaps were on fire! Is that too much information! Teehee. I need to find a pair of shorts, skort or captis that don’t rub as they get wet with sweat. Oh, the trials of the long run! :-D
0 notes
Text
Thoughts on a long run
Sat 21st Jan ‘23
I forgot to mention that I slipped on some ice while volunteering at parkrun. We were checking the course, pre-event, and I put my foot down and it went straight out from under me. Down I went! It was only later that I realised my left hip feels a bit tender. Hopefully not enough to effect my run in the morning.
Another thought was about long run fuelling. A friend gave me a bag of Tailwind today, and I might start to use my hydration pack as of tomorrow. Runs of half marathon and above. It will be interesting to see if it makes the run any easier, especially the second half.
1 note
·
View note
Text
This really spoke to me...
I want to talk about these pictures.
Whenever I show these pictures to anybody, their immediate response is something along the lines of, "Wow! You were so skinny! You look so happy!" In these pictures, I was 20 years old and I had lost 140lbs with the goal of enlisting in the military. I went on to lose another 10lbs in the months following these pictures before I went to boot camp.
These pictures were taken in November 2012 while I was going for a run through the park by my house. While I was running, a friend that I'd grown up with and known since kindergarten pulled over and stopped to talk to me. I hadn't seen her since high school graduation nearly 2 years prior to this - the last time she saw me, I weighed around 300lbs and was 10 pants sizes larger. It felt great to be seen, to have somebody recognizing and praising my hard work and dedication.
I look happy in these pictures, but they're a lie. A lie that I hid very well from everybody around me. There is this notion that if an obese person is losing weight, it is healthy and positive because they are obese. Truth is... I was miserable. I was certainly not healthy.
I was restricting what foods I would allow myself to eat. I was exercising twice daily, every day, with no rest days. I was counting calories meticulously and limiting myself to the magic number of 1200 calories per day. I was skipping social events because I didn't want to be tempted by food that I "wasn't allowed" to eat. I was always (and I literally mean always) thinking about the next meal. I was obsessed.
Losing weight was controlling my life and I justified it to myself by saying, "I need to do this if I want to enlist. I need to do this to reach my goal and be successful."' I felt shame if I stepped on the scale and the number wasn't lower than the day before....even more so if I stepped on the scale and the number was higher than the previous day. Sure, I lost 150lbs, but I was far from healthy. My relationship with food and exercise was severely disordered.
In the 10+ years since these pictures were taken, I've gained and lost weight multiple times. Each time trying a different method, different routines, different supplements, food plans, calorie counts, etc. I just can't seem to get it right. To find the balance that works for me and is sustainable long term. I don't really know if this time will be any different.
What I do know, though, is a lot of things that don't work for me. I know that I don't ever want to be the miserable woman in those pictures ever again. So I'll keep trying and trying until something works.
And that's all I can do.
3 notes
·
View notes