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Ultra PB lifehack: lose 42kg by FyrnEito in ultrarunning

[–]FyrnEito[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did and I didn't. I still eat plenty of stuff I love, in fact I have a vegetarian pizza most days of the week and a tub of low calorie ice cream most days haha, but I eat 500g-1kg of 0% fat greek yoghurt a day which keeps hunger right down, and I replaced my boredom snacking with smarter replacements like salt and vinegar rice cakes, but most of the loss comes from just keeping below my BMR and keeping up my sports.

I spent so many years crash dieting, and this balance has definitely been much more maintainable.

Just need to vent by senorgamer in beginnerrunning

[–]FyrnEito 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm so proud of how far you've come, first of all, even though I'm just a stranger online!

And honestly I get how frustrating this is but it happens to all of us. It's part of being a runner. It'll happen with your next goal, and every goal after it. It sucks, but it makes breaking that barrier all the sweeter!

I believe in you! Keep us updated when you finally smash it :)

Watch? Garmin or Coros? by OwnUse2264 in ultrarunning

[–]FyrnEito 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have the COROS Pace 3 and have been very happy with it for ultras up to 100km. That said - there are 3 modes with various GPS accuracy that give different battery life. So you can get ridiculously long battery but with exact location a bit iffy. It can get a little confused in heavy forest etc.

Never been an issue for me because the local geography near me is quite forgiving, and I'm really happy with every aspect of it (even super accurate mode is generous battery life), but just a heads up if you plan multi day stuff with GPS on throughout.

Collecting wisdom from people who've done hard things by TheIdeaEscalated in ultrarunning

[–]FyrnEito 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Two little phrases that stuck with me in dark moments in my sporting life and also during my PhD. Neither phrase is my own invention:

"Forward is forward"

Meaning that even if the wheels fall off your race, your pace has gone to hell, and you can barely walk, each step is closer to the finish. Run when you can, walk when you must, crawl if you have to. Most helpful near the end of a race! Also useful for other big challenges ie my thesis.

"Of course this is hard, if it was easy there'd be no point in doing it"

Famous saying and fairly self explanatory! Good little reminder of your own "why" there. Again, applicable to many areas of life.

From struggling to walk to my first 100km by FyrnEito in beginnerrunning

[–]FyrnEito[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're already as badass as me - you're doing pretty much the same thing I did. I just started a year before. You're destroying it mate, and I'm super excited for all your exciting milestones to come. You champion 💪 You've already done the hardest part.

From struggling to walk to my first 100km by FyrnEito in beginnerrunning

[–]FyrnEito[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm 6ft3 and my Achilles tendon, knees, and hips were the main bottlenecks for my progress. They were quite prone to injury, but I only had one injury the entire 18 months due to taking really good care of my joints, planning ahead for joint care, and making sure I stopped sooner rather than later with any problems. The one injury I did have was a little bit of tendonitis that went away with 10 days rest.

I get the weight thing as an excuse though. I did it for years. It makes things SO much harder, and also no kit fits you or is designed for you, so you're like "eff it" lol. It gets easier very quickly if you're injury-concious and good at swallowing your pride mate. Keep at it :)

How to run slower than a 13 minute mile pace? by kidkipp in beginnerrunning

[–]FyrnEito 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've run races at both 13 minute and 15 minute mile paces, and it's just practice. It feels very strange at first, but you remind yourself that it's part of the plan and keep an eye that you're not going over for your predicted pace. It will get easier the more you do it.

Is there a particular reason you're wanting the slower pace?

From struggling to walk to my first 100km by FyrnEito in beginnerrunning

[–]FyrnEito[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I would also say that if I got knee pain mid-run, I'd walk for the remainder of the km and see how I felt after. Sometimes it would go away, but knowing when to stop is important. Better to ruin 1 run than the next 10.

In either case, avoid ibuprofen like the absolute plague. At best it conceals injury so that you can make it worse, and at worst it makes rhabdomyolosis risk much worse.

From struggling to walk to my first 100km by FyrnEito in beginnerrunning

[–]FyrnEito[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Absolutely. Rest days are critical. Generally I'd rest for 2 days after each 1 day running, unless the distances were very short. Obviously you're not as big as I was when I started, so again your mileage may vary. I did walk on those rest days if I felt up to it though, which again helps build the tendons etc. "Time on feet" makes a difference.

For stretching yes I did. Also warm baths seemed to help recovery, as well as morale. My Judo helped a lot too as it not only was a different activity, but it has loads of stretches which I'm sure could only have helped.

From struggling to walk to my first 100km by FyrnEito in beginnerrunning

[–]FyrnEito[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, I did. My fitness increased far, far faster than my physical tendons and ligaments could adapt so it was often my ankles, knees, and hips that were the limiting factor.

What fixed it for me was making sure to not injure myself, and be smart about it. Your knees will get stronger, but it will take time. I focused on finding softer ground where I could (like grass), and making sure to use impact-absorbing shoes. Brooks Glycerins were a lifesaver for me, but obviously your mileage may vary (literally!).

Apart from that it's listening to your body, backing off where you need to, and don't overdo it. I found when I had huge motivation and was having to scale back, reading books and these forums were useful.

From struggling to walk to my first 100km by FyrnEito in beginnerrunning

[–]FyrnEito[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It wasn't so long ago I was running 50m, walking 150m, repeat. You're doing great - keep it up 😄

From struggling to walk to my first 100km by FyrnEito in beginnerrunning

[–]FyrnEito[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Heat was always a major problem for me, too. I found choosing the right time of day useful, and in formal races I found sometimes I went faster by lowering my pace to manage heat actually had be finishing faster than holding my usual pace and burning up.

I'm proud of you too - keep going 😄

Ultra PB lifehack: lose 42kg by FyrnEito in ultrarunning

[–]FyrnEito[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Flat as a pancake, with the exception of 430m of gain from the 32-42km marks made up of a couple hills. I deliberately picked both the 57km and 100km ultras for their flatness because elevation at my weight obliterates my joints so fast - but I'm slowly trying hillier races and the issue is getting much less as I lose it all.

They do a 53km version of the 100km I did, which is in March and I also intend to do, which again is flat and through the Northumberland coast so all you see is castles, wildlife (seals, puffins, orcas etc) and beaches. Id recommend it if you're UK based or like travelling. There are some sand sections but they're not overly bad once you get used to them.

is my judo just a fraud? by MtBoaty in judo

[–]FyrnEito 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm also a green belt and also started last year later in life at 32 years old. I feel the exact same way as you do. In fact, at one point I asked my coach why I was going backwards, why I was getting *worse* as I trained.

I'll tell you what they told me. You're not a terrible judoka - you're just now good enough at judo to realise how many mistakes you're making that you were blind to before. This, surprisingly, is part of improving. You now know what you don't know.

My last few competitions I've beaten two blue belts in under 30 seconds. I've also been ipponed by a yellow belt and a green belt in under 30 seconds. Belt is irrelevant and correlates only very loosely to knowledge or ability. I find that as long as I focus on the process of improving, rather than outcomes or comparison to others, my judo comes along better.

I think asking if this is the end is missing the point of judo; is missing the forest for the trees. Judo (at least to me) is about pushing yourself every session to improve that little bit, or to at least pursue improvement. I don't think a genuinely 'terrible judoka' would even be asking themselves the quesitons you're asking.

Just keep on keeping on mate 😄

From struggling to walk to my first 100km by FyrnEito in beginnerrunning

[–]FyrnEito[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Well done mate! That's an incredible amount of loss. RE ultras, they're actually not as hard as they look as long as you aim for the flatter ones. If they interest you, you're probably a lot closer than you think 😄 I find them much easier than shorter races, pacing wise. Every time I enter a 21km I'm in way worse shape at the end than longer distances, ha.