adiossssss

Always up for meeting fellow Londoners down at a Parkrun or similar!

Comeback 5K Run Target: 30 Minutes Completed: 29 Minutes 6 Seconds Distance: 5.1k Well it's been 3 months and 20 days since I last put on my running shoes, what did you expect? Well I didn't expect to finish a 5k in a time I wasn't ashamed of to be honest. Since October I've spent 5 weeks in Australia drinking and then Christmas came and I very much Christmassed. Bad habits followed into January until one night, another drink in hand a guy invites me to run with his group on Saturday morning. He takes my number. I can't back out. Now it was tough, I won't deny that. My legs hurt more than they did after the 10k. But I am so happy I'm back running again, I missed it. I guess the training for the half marathon starts here...

10K Race Day Target: 1 Hour 5 Minutes Completed: 58 Minutes 32 Seconds Distance: 10K Oh boy race week isn't easy! As you can see above I didn't train this week and that's because of a few factors mainly being I left my running shoes on the other side of the country on Holiday! Training had been good though, and I was quietly confident of going under 1 hour despite my initial target of 1hr 5 mins. The race itself was tough, the first 5K having two massive hill sections which took the legs out of me for the second half of the race in honesty. I did however set my third fastest 5K time at the split with 28 Minutes and 19 seconds. The second half was a struggle and definitely a test of mental strength to finish but I completed my first ever 10K officially in 58 Minutes and 32 seconds! Really pleased with the time Now to target that Half Marathon next summer!

Thanks, Nice to know someone is reading Trust me, if I had a choice I wouldn't be running hills! Good luck with the C25K, that's where I started and the first 5K is always the hardest. Stick with it and reap the rewards!

Thursday Duration Run Target: 50 Minutes Completed: 51 Minutes 47 Seconds Distance: 8.1km I am technically on holiday hence the lack of updates but I have been squeezing in a few short runs and HIIT training. (Also a lot of food I wouldn't normally eat) The first thing to point out about this run is the Hills... Damn those hills. I ran at a much slower pace to cope with the 169m climb throughout and was really pleased just to get to the end of the run!

Thursday Duration Run Target: 45 Minutes Completed: 45 Minutes 14 Seconds Distance: 7.3km Nice and fairly comfortable run. Pace marginally improved since last week. I would like to push below 6 Minutes per KM in the duration runs eventually. I limited myself from running further purely to avoid adding too much mileage per week.

Monday Speed Run Distance: 5.1k Time: 27 Minutes 58 Seconds 5K PB: 27 Minutes 17 Seconds This is what Monday's are all about! I haven't been close to my PB since I started running again but I smashed 6 seconds off it this morning and it felt good! Really pleased with it, and now this run gives me a whole new set of targets.

Casual Run Distance: 5.2k Time: 31 Minutes 1 second A little bit slower than I wanted, ran with my girlfriend so it was at a comfortable pace for a Saturday morning. Quite a nice route, ran this about 6 weeks ago and felt awful but today it felt easy.

Thursday Duration Run Target: 40 Minutes Completed: 41 Minutes 26 Seconds Distance: 6.6K Okay, so my Thursday runs are about time endurance over speed and I started with the aim of 40 minutes which is longer than I've ever ran before. Each week I'll be adding 5 minutes onto the target. This run wasn't too bad in the early evening warmth, it was however bad when I attempted it twice in the morning but had to abort both times for stomach pain. Silver lining was that I found £20 on this run, win!

As others have said, in moderation all of the above are fine to have within your diet. In terms of dealing with cravings more effeciently? The only thing that has ever worked for me is going cold turkey for 4 weeks and then returning it to my diet. I've done it with Bread, Pizza, Chocolate and Beer. It's a fairly tough 4 weeks, but once that's over I've always been automatically more moderated in my intake because I've adjusted my diet for to deal without, found alternatives and tried new foods and drinks. For example, I now snack on fruit and nuts instead of chocolate willingly, I used to eat pizza at least twice a week and now it's barely that a month. Beer is the hardest one... social situations revolve around it unfortunately, but I try and order a Gin and Tonic if my mates let me get away with it! Not saying that works for everyone and I wouldn't give them all up at the same time, just a random thing I've learnt for myself. Good luck!

This is AWESOME! Added my times for what I have, nothing to threaten the top but I love leaderboards they always motivate me. Will try and remember to update this when my PB's (hopefully) fall.

I'm a big advocate of Strava, as running is the only activity I track and log. The slight competitive nature of seeing your segments pitted against others who've ran it is the most fun, and gives you something to aim for when you notice you're not even in the top 1,000! Other than that, I tried others to log other exercises but I'm on no strict plan and just do as I feel on set days. Food-wise I don't like to calorie count and I'm pretty good with my diet. Unless Snapchat counts as a Food-Log!

Congratulations! You've already made the first step, that's one hurdle down. Now I'm no expert runner (so if a wild marathon pro appears, listen to them) , I only run 5ks myself but I did the same thing a year ago and I'll share my learnings away from the obvious stuff. Stretch before, Stretch after. Simple stuff but really important. Figuring out your breathing whilst running can drastically improve your ability. Invest in running shoes. Go into a running shop, talk to people and get advice. My first low-point was because I ran in cheap running shoes and I'm flat-footed and I eventually stopped running for months due to reoccuring pain / loss of motivation from said pain. Running is great, but to become great at running you need to incorporate other excercises. An improvement in general fitness will go a long way whilst running, and core work is your friend. Pick your sound. Some people run better with music, some listen to podcasts or books. I prefer running without any headphones myself. Lastly, you've already said it. Don't focus on speed & times. Listen to your body. Focus on extending your run duration rather than your run distance, the latter will come naturally. Good luck!

I need somewhere just to update my progress, shout about my successes and vent about my lows... so welcome to my Battle Log! You know that skinny kid, the one with tiny wrists, nobbly knees and somehow a chubby belly? Hello. I never really liked sport at school, well I liked it but didn't like doing it. Especially running. Each week we'd be made to do a 5k cross country course, and in my 5 years of doing so I think I only ever ran the thing once. It was to me, an opportunity to walk, talk with friends and break into a light jog at checkpoints where stationed guards would monitor your progress. Now skip forward 10 years and I want to run the world. One step a time though Kiddo, I've just signed up to my first ever 10K, which is twice the distance I am capable of running... and it's in under a months time. Background: Early 2015 I ran out of my own free will for the first time in a C25K challenge, it took 4 weeks to complete my first ever 5k. A few weeks later I set a time of 27 Minutes and 23 seconds. Over a year later that remains my PB, and I've only completed five more 5ks. I'm back on the scene though, with three 5ks in the last month completed I have my sights on bigger things. I'm running 5Ks in 29 minutes right now, and to my frustration couldn't better that this Morning when I set out purely to go under that time. Stats: 5ft 6', 10 Stone 4 Pounds, one knee surgery. Plan: I run three times a week, one of those being a flat out run, one being a time endurance and one being more casual alongside someone else or at a ParkRun event. I'm also doing core workouts, a leg day midweek with no run either side, and a few dumbbell excercises. This is all for general fitness, core workouts will be the one most effective for running. Oh and I'm eating well, always important. Goal: I have a 10K on the 9th October, it's my home county event. I want to be able to complete that, and setting a time below 1 Hour and 5 minutes. After this, I target more 10ks, roughly once a month in 2017 (ruling out January because nobody can run after Christmas). Dream: My Hometown Half Marathon is held in June, and I'd consider my battle over if I complete that event. There we have it, I'll try and update after my run days. LET'S DO THIS!