Lämmchen's Workout Thread

[Lamb]

Thinking about the water bladder approach, it would also be good to have something other than cargo pockets to carry trail maintenance stuff. I usually carry a folding saw and a pair of pruners so I can do basic trail maintenance as I go, if it's needed. It's good to be able to deal with a trail obstruction there and then rather than trying to remember where it was and reporting it or, worse, having to turn back if I can't get around it. A couple of times I've encountered fallen branches a few inches across at chest height, and I could use the pruners to cut away the smaller branches from the main one and then the saw to cut the main branch so the trail was passable again.

My hiking shorts have cargo pockets that take them pretty well but my longer pants have slightly bigger pockets, which means they bounce around and slide into awkward positions in the pockets. The crucial thing is that I want to be able to get at them without taking a pack off my back. Maybe I could figure a way to attach them so I can reach them easily but not have them swinging around constantly stabbing me. That would get pretty old.

My Camelbak has some pockets. One of the pockets is big enough for a water bottle and when I'm hiking with someone, I usually put their water bottle in there and carry it for them. So it should fit something like that.

 

[tango]

My Camelbak has some pockets. One of the pockets is big enough for a water bottle and when I'm hiking with someone, I usually put their water bottle in there and carry it for them. So it should fit something like that.

Is it easy to get at the pockets without taking the pack off? If not I'd look at something to tie things to a waist band instead so I can get at them easily.

 

[Lamb]

Is it easy to get at the pockets without taking the pack off? If not I'd look at something to tie things to a waist band instead so I can get at them easily.

Depends on how flexible your arms are really? I can reach behind my back easily to unzip one of the pockets and reach in, but I'm flexible.

 

[tango]

This morning I went for a walk with my wife, then this evening she decided to skip her evening fitness class. I'd planned to get some harder exercise while she was out so went for a run anyway. My tracker says I've done 11.1 miles today.

 

[Lamb]

11 miles? That's awesome! I was up to 3 miles a day again but my body is telling me to take a break today so I'm going to listen to it. I'm only 12 weeks post op so I think I should do what feels right.

I meant to write 3 miles all at once. At the end of the day I end up with around 5 miles total.

 

[tango]

11 miles? That's awesome! I was up to 3 miles a day again but my body is telling me to take a break today so I'm going to listen to it. I'm only 12 weeks post op so I think I should do what feels right.

I meant to write 3 miles all at once. At the end of the day I end up with around 5 miles total.

It's important to listen to your body, especially when you're healing. My 11 miles was in two stints - a 5 mile walk and a 5 mile run, with the balance being generally moving around the house.

 

[tango]

Got another run in today. I wasn't really feeling it when I set off but managed an OK pace. The heat wore me down more than I expected so I needed a couple of walk breaks but all in all it was pretty good. Given the pace I managed my legs don't feel like they worked particularly hard, although my lungs really felt like I put them through the mangle today.

Sometimes it's frustrating when it seems I go from being able to run the entire route to needing two or three walk breaks but overall my pace seems to be improving, and measures like lactate threshold seem to be getting slowly better as well. And of course I have to remember that on a hot humid day exertion is harder than on a cool day.

 

[Lamb]

Yesterday, I waited until after groceries to go for my hike. I wanted to try out the new sunscreen spray I bought to see if I had an allergic reaction to it...no reaction, yay!! So I did 3 miles in the sun and didn't burn and made it out alive.

 

[tango]

Harder run today. I wasn't feeling on top form having not had a brilliant night but my tracker software had a challenge to complete a longer run this month so I figured I'd at least have a stab at it before it gets any warmer.

I needed a few walk breaks, more than I'd hoped, but I did 9.7 miles and then walked the last quarter mile or so as a cooldown.

For good measure I also completed a weekend specific challenge at the same time, to do a 5k run this weekend. Might as well make one run count for two challenges...

 

[Lamb]

We did a 3 mile hike yesterday and tried to keep mostly to the shady areas because it was getting hot fast. It's going to rain this morning and I don't like walking in storms so we might just try to go see the cows early this morning.

 

[tango]

I did a 3-mile run yesterday. I planned to run 5 miles but the heat became stifling to the point I was concerned I was pushing past "difficult" and potentially into "dangerous" if I kept going. So I stopped and walked the last two miles instead. The forecast for today has been very variable but it looked like it would be cooler and dry this morning, so I had another go at a run and did my five miles.

 

[Lamb]

I did a 3-mile run yesterday. I planned to run 5 miles but the heat became stifling to the point I was concerned I was pushing past "difficult" and potentially into "dangerous" if I kept going. So I stopped and walked the last two miles instead. The forecast for today has been very variable but it looked like it would be cooler and dry this morning, so I had another go at a run and did my five miles.

You were wise to not push it. Nothing ruins a good run like a heart attack or stroke

 

[tango]

You were wise to not push it. Nothing ruins a good run like a heart attack or stroke

Yeah, it's said that death is nature's way of telling you to slow down. I wasn't concerned about anything quite so drastic but was concerned about the potential effects of overheating.

Maybe I'll get another run in tomorrow if the morning doesn't warm up too fast.

 

[Lamb]

It's foggy and humid today so I'm doing indoor workouts.

 

[Lamb]

My husband is off all week from work so we'll be doing a lot of walking/hiking! Today we're going to a river trail and I'll walk while he rides his bike. Biking hurts my knees so I'm just going to enjoy the walk. I'm aiming to do 4 miles because I don't think I'm ready for 5.

 

[tango]

Harder run today. I did the same distance but my suggested workout was basically repeats at a faster pace. The first speed repeat was easy because it was on a gentle downhill section. The second one was on the worst section it could have been - almost the entire fast section was uphill. I completed it but had to stop and catch my breath when I was done. Thankfully the hill towards the end of the workout fell into the slower cooldown section rather than a speed repeat. I can sprint that hill but only in the sense of going all out for maybe 20-25 seconds, rather than running a faster pace up the hill and then for any great distance afterwards.

Tomorrow I'm going hiking in the woods with a friend. He's way fitter than I am - he can run 20 miles of mountain trails at a faster average pace than I can run 5 miles around town - so I'm expecting to come away from that tired and sweaty.

 

[Lamb]

Harder run today. I did the same distance but my suggested workout was basically repeats at a faster pace. The first speed repeat was easy because it was on a gentle downhill section. The second one was on the worst section it could have been - almost the entire fast section was uphill. I completed it but had to stop and catch my breath when I was done. Thankfully the hill towards the end of the workout fell into the slower cooldown section rather than a speed repeat. I can sprint that hill but only in the sense of going all out for maybe 20-25 seconds, rather than running a faster pace up the hill and then for any great distance afterwards.

Tomorrow I'm going hiking in the woods with a friend. He's way fitter than I am - he can run 20 miles of mountain trails at a faster average pace than I can run 5 miles around town - so I'm expecting to come away from that tired and sweaty.

Have fun running with your friend! Sometimes it's good to be pushed by someone else to do better. Sometimes it's not LOL

We're just walking to see the cows this morning because we think the parks might be closed today.

 

[tango]

Have fun running with your friend! Sometimes it's good to be pushed by someone else to do better. Sometimes it's not LOL

We're just walking to see the cows this morning because we think the parks might be closed today.

Hiking with my friend. He runs the trails but I'm not sure how well I'd do running on hills like that. I suspect not very well....

It was a good hike. Curiously my tracker rates it as significantly less intense exercise than walking around town. I'm not sure why - the second half is downhill and therefore not hugely challenging but the first half is basically uphill for over two miles. Even if I push the speed harder than we did today my tracker doesn't think I'm working very hard.

 

[Lamb]

We walked to see the cows and came back home (3 miles) and then went out to a state park and walked a mile to get to a very secluded beach area, then had to walk another mile back to the parking lot. I got a lot of miles yesterday!

 

[tango]

My wife and I did our usual walk around town yesterday as well. My tracker thought that 5 miles on paved roads was significantly more effort than 5 miles of hiking in the hills. Admittedly our pace on the paved roads is much higher but even so I'd have thought that an activity "hiking" would imply rougher terrain, not to mention the elevation gain.