⭐️⭐️Success is Not Final, Failure is Not Fatal: it is the Courage to Continue that Counts …. Sir Winston Churchill ⭐️⭐️
Once upon a time you stood at your first ever starting line, You were shivering and shaking (on the inside or the outside) The big bad wolf appeared and laughed at you! You don’t look like a runner, you are too old, too fat, too uncoordinated., he said! You can’t breathe properly, you will never be able to do this, he laughed! At first you may have believed him, and then you managed to chase him away! However you knew deep down he would reappear and so you carried some doubt! The magic fairy arrived and waved her “Trust the Program, Wand” and off you went. After 30 mins you arrived at the Castle of Success and lived happily ever after!
That first run was the hardest of all but as soon as you completed it you tasted success. It was sweet and you wanted more. Success is never final. Our first Park Run makes us yearn to do it in 30 mins.. we then start looking at 10k and before we know it, we are chasing medals. We soon learn that some runs are sheer hell, nothing goes our way and we feel as if we have failed .. or the injury couch claims us and it feels a long way back.
Sometimes it does take courage and guts to continue a race after a fall, or to get back to the 3 runs a week routine after a holiday, an illness, or when the mojo disappeared into the ether!
For most of us, running is about so much more than exercise. We are on a journey of self-discovery, growth and success , of pushing ourselves to do the things we never thought we could.
But when the initial high of a new achievement wears off, it can be hard to find the motivation to keep getting out there. Which is why goal setting can be such a powerful tool to keep you showing up, run after run.
As we put forward our quests this week don’t let anything negative hold you back. We all need to find the courage to continue to reach our goals.
What do you need to do to continue your run to the finish line?
🍏Happy Questing everyone!
If you are new to the Quest, here is the info !
SO: What is the Quest ?
The aim of the Quest is to help you find a focus or goal that you would like to achieve by the end of the Quest period.
The Quest takes one calendar month. You can join at any point during that time.
You do need to be a C25K Graduate before joining the Quest. The reason for this is that pre-graduation your week is very much structured according to the C25K programme, and I wouldn't want the Quest to interfere with that.
Some popular goals are:
🍏To run three times a week
🍏To slowly increase distance
🍏To train for a specific race
🍏To add Stretch and Strength exercises to your weekly routine
This is a personal challenge, so it's completely up to you! If you want to join, all you have to do is COMMENT BELOW with something like:
I would like to join the Quest, or, count me in! I want to ..............
Every week I will put up a new post and we can all chat about how we are doing. Your contribution here will encourage someone else.
Written by
Annieapple
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🍏Sadly my quest went down the tubes last week!! 😫I only managed one run plus some Pilates due to extra appointments and commitments . However I need my 3 runs to keep up my training for the May 10k race. So I have scheduled in the 3 runs for this coming week into my diary☺️. Hope you all did better than me!
You managed to get a run into a busy week, and also do some Pilates! Selfishly (I was the same this week) I’ll say it sounds like a successful, muscle-recovering week to me! 😃😀
Well Annieapple I’m the same I only managed one run last week and it wasn’t that special I’m afraid. However this week I shall be carrying on last weeks quest with more determination so wish me luck 🍀.😂😂x
Your post... it rings so true and so perfectly for all our runners here. We do get knocked down and we do get up again; time after time. Awesome!
Well.
After the joy of last week... the buzz continued and I have managed to get two runs in, with another short one one, hopefully, in a moment or two!
T'ai Chi Tuesday... 2K Wednesday and 3K Friday. Hoping to get a 4K in today before prepping a birthday lunch for Mr OF and family!
So...running is happening...no distances planned and just running. That is a huge win.
Routine exercise continues and the focus is moving, to core strength. I need to work on that. Starting with gentle moves and building up.
I would like to build in some extra time for mindful exercise sessions too. Probably using YWA but I am exploring other places too... hopefully using some outdoor locations, as the weather warms up!
I shall continue to build back to full strength and the only person I shall challenge is myself. I shall be, in the words of our secret friend, CB, be my own best coach!
🍏🤣 We think alike on many things Floss and you are my hero!! Thanks for the reminder about core strength. Definitely doing those easy suggestions of yours. Coach B is marvellous for encouraging us exactly where we need it most. Happy Birthday to Mr OF and enjoy your family lunch! Xxx
I’ve looked back to find my goals for last week and it looks like I totally missed the quest! Doh!! I was away for most of the week and everything was a bit different while we’re still off for Easter holidays. Monday is looming now and I’m sort of looking forward to some routine again,
I’ve had a great week of running. Two holiday runs, a super chilled fifteen minute one and yesterday, a hilly five miles with an unplanned 5k tempo run in the middle. That was a real breakthrough-fastest times for 1km, 1 mile and 5km since I switched to Garmin last August. It was one of those feeling like flying runs and it’s a proper mood booster! This week I might try and tick off the 10km distance.
Thinking about other stuff from my first week goals, swimming hasn’t happened but I’m going Tuesday. Strength is happening and I’ve put my weights up again. I did two Pilates classes and a Zumba one. Being on holiday meant eating was a bit outside my control. We’ve done better since being home and there are some daals and braised lentils in the freezer. More batch cooking this week.
So all very positive! This week I’m keeping the goals the same…
🏃♀️3 runs a week-non negotiable (except for illness/injury!)
🏃♀️Strength, stretch and swim
🏃♀️Eat more mindfully
I need to make a plan to hit 10 miles ready for the HU event. That probably just means working out where to pick up the NRC HM plan but I’ll see what else is out there.
🍏Awesome positivity and goal setting are getting you to where you want to be! I also love the mindful eating added in! A reminder to many of us! You have lots of energy & buzz that is catching!! 🤗🫶 xx
Thank you! When life gets busy we turn freezer-beige with not a vegetable in sight!! It’s nice to get back to eating more of the things we actuall prefer. We always keep one night a week as a “can’t be bothered” night where it’s just easy stuff, but that had expanded to become every night!! Hopefully having batch cooked things ready will make it easier to make better choices. All week I’ll be cooking double of whatever we’re having.
It’s brilliant to be in such a good place with the runs, and feeling this positive is most unlike me, I’m almost suspicious about what’s around the corner! It’s come from following a plan which I haven’t really done since I got injured this time last year. It really has worked well and I’m absolutely seeing the pay off for pushing through the horrible “I felt unfit and ungainly” runs at the beginning. Yay for hybrid garmin/Nike Run Club 10k plans!
🍏A good run is a diamond day but one better is a grandchild’s birthday celebration 🎉. You are certainly keeping up well with YWA which supports your running so well.. Monsal Trail was a good forerunner to the HU 10k next month . You & Oldfloss will do it well.. xxx
5k Monday no run Wednesday, had a 3.30 am start Wednesday so missed that one ,6 a side Thursday and slimming world, 5k parkrun Saturday and a new 1 mile pb for me.Looking at starting gym once a week next week and moving up from 5k again
🍏Well done! Fantastic when those PB come up. You know you are getting it right! Great quests here to support your running too. Have a great week & thanks for posting! 👏
Love your post Annie, it all rings so true. I feel like I'm about to reel off a list of excuses for my miserly exercise and running stats this week. I'm recovering from a succession of colds etc, it's the Easter hols with a visit to family in Cornwall, we've been decorating for 2 weeks, the list goes on. So I've got in 2 runs an intervals session and a short 3k. 2 walks, and 1 S&F. I could then get imaginative and include kicking a football around with my 10 year old grandson on a couple of days, my heart rate seems to think that's perfectly valid. I should be pleased I can actually do it! So we're back, the house is still upside-down, and I don't have my space to resume my pilates yet, so I just aim for 3 runs and get back to more regular S&F. I'm still mulling over joining in the HU 10 event. I need to up my game and get back to the distance, I much prefer 8k.
🍏🙌 Football with your grandson is way up there in my book!! Building memories & muscles! The HU event will be low key I think so plan on your 8k and walk the rest if necessary! That’s what I will be doing for sure! I call it a practice for the next 10k event 🤣 your Quest is great because you are aiming at continuity & supporting your running… always a win win! Xx
On the downside I haven't run for 2 weeks. On the upside I'm having a fantastic time! Our boat is in the water and we did a 30 hour sail from Sardinia to Sicily the other day. Does sailing count as a sport if you can do it while having tea and biscuits??
The spot where we are staying is so beautiful I keep staring out of the window just to say 'Wow'. I thought we might run this morning but Mr Y didn't mention it so I just kept quiet, what a slob.
Tomorrow we hope to sail a bit further, to Palermo, as there's a Mistral forecast so that'll probably mean being stuck in one place for 3 days. We're keeping a close eye on the weather
One day I'll run in these running shoes. In the meantime I'm averaging walking 10,000 steps a day still. It's all positive
I've been writing since we set off on our adventures last April so plenty to read if you can be bothered! At present I'm yet again sitting listening to the wind howling outside so we're going nowhere for the next few days (could be worse!)
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November Quest week 3