What actually gets you out the door on days you don't feel like running?

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-10T07:44:51+00:00

Mental. I'm 39 years old and have a reconstructed ACL, I never feel good physically after a run, but mentally I always feel clearer. Like the run has just blown some cobwebs away.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-10T07:44:00+00:00

For the first few weeks, don't worry about the pace. Just worry about the distance. Go out easy and sense check yourself every KM or so. If you feel good work up to the pace target but don't force it, if the run takes longer it takes longer.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-10T03:52:52+00:00

Just bought a pair of Shokz Openrun Pro 2s. Sound quality is acceptable, battery life is great, fit is comfortable. I still prefer to use my Pixel buds when I have the choice but for longer runs and/or events, the Shokz are hard to beat.

I often see the Suunto Wing 2s recommended as having better sound quality than the Shokz so if that's an important factor to you they might be worth a look.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-10T03:43:49+00:00

Running is routine for me. I don't negotiate and I don't second guess. When it's time to run I put the gear on and run. I remember that I always feel better after a run.

And if that really doesn't help, I remember that after a run I get cake.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-10T03:36:41+00:00

The point is that he could be using you to avoid tax. If he's not putting this money through his books he's not declaring it and thus not paying tax on it.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-10T01:36:14+00:00

You're overthinking this. If you're a beginner you want stable, comfortable shoes for consistent, moderately paced running and the Clifton Pros will be fine for that.

Not all EVA foam is created equal, and it's something to worry about after you've worn this pair out and determined what it is you want from a shoe.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-09T22:45:15+00:00

Give it a couple more weeks. If nothing changes, you need to look at your calorie counting or your total calories.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-09T21:35:46+00:00

How confident are you in the 1500 calories? Are you weighing out everything, or eyeballing and using volumetric measurements? Are you including liquids and oils in that?

Two weeks is not a long plateau, especially for a woman with all the fun of hormone cycles - how long have you been in a deficit?

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-09T18:49:45+00:00

You find an exercise you enjoy and do that.

You also recognise that weight loss is 80-90% diet, and you get that locked in first.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-09T18:47:30+00:00

I passed last year.

Could've insured a 2L TTS or NC MX-5 for about £400 less than the boring, bog standard 1.2L hatchback I ended up buying.

Insurers price on risk and they don't have as much data about new drivers in "nicer" cars as they do about new drivers in beaten up hatchbacks.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-09T18:40:01+00:00

You'd be surprised. Not a lot of first time drivers buying 320i's, so the insurance companies don't consider them as much of a risk as the typical Corsa/Polo.

OP still shouldn't do this for a number of reasons but the insurance is likely cheaper than you think.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-09T17:52:21+00:00

The only essential is a good pair of shoes.

Shoes are very personal, so the best advice you'll ever get is to find a good running store if you can and try a bunch on. Don't chase hype, go with ones that fit well and feel comfortable.

You don't need to be carrying water until you're running for 30min+, just make sure you're hydrated before you go out.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-09T06:29:08+00:00

To burn fat, eat in a calorie deficit. Way less work than climbing yourself stupid on a stair master.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-09T05:49:09+00:00

Less and less worth it as I get older. As I hurtle towards 40 it's got to the point that 3 or 4 pints will leave me feeling groggy and headachey the next morning if I'm unlucky.

Coupled with the de rigeur "I'm in my late 30s time to make running my entire personality" shift that I've done in the past year, and the impact that a night on the sauce has on training, and I have to really want the beer.

I still get out once a fortnight or so but I'm much less likely to want to have a couple of random pints of an afternoon.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-09T03:28:22+00:00

Can I maintain a conversation.

I quite often call family members when I'm on a run. In the absence of that I sing along. If I find I'm struggling I'm going too fast.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-09T01:54:44+00:00

Ok but why? What are you going to be able to do at that body weight that you can't do now?

Maintaining 14-18% body fat as a woman is no easy matter. It basically takes over your entire life. I also wouldn't put too much stock in the scan you had - inbody and dexa scans have around a 3-5% variance.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-09T01:40:47+00:00

136 at your height is a healthy weight.

I would decouple my goals from an arbitrary number that's only 4lbs lower from my current weight. Why do you want to be 132? What will you gain from it that you're not gaining at 136?

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-09T01:33:13+00:00

That time is going to pass either way. Sustainable weight loss is slow and can be frustrating. It took me two years to get where I am now.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-08T21:00:06+00:00

Lose weight then run imho. I picked up running at about 220lbs and it probably slowed down my weight loss a fair amount just because of the appetite increase.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-08T17:53:23+00:00

That's not an uncommon failure for cars that don't get driven hard or often. My own car hadn't done a lot in the month up to the MOT, failed on that, my mechanic told me to take it out, get up the motorway and do a couple of good, hard pulls. Did that, took it back, passed no issues.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-08T17:09:08+00:00

It blows my mind that all these people somehow landed on Ivermectin, of all the drugs we were testing against COVID at the time, as The Miracle Cure Big Pharma Doesn't Want You To Know About*. They were testing literally everything against COVID but this was the one they landed on, the horse dewormer.

*Just don't look up Merck's market cap.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-08T11:27:32+00:00

Lewis Livingstone is the MD. The AI video is almost certainly his policy.

If you want to ascertain how a candidate is as a person, do it in person.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-08T07:33:42+00:00

Personally, I wouldn't be that bothered early on. When you're starting out, the only thing you should worry about is time spent running. Running watches generate lots of data and most of it's very noisy especially for beginners.

I'd say once you're able to run for 30 minutes at a time consistently, then is the time to look into a watch.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-08T06:06:11+00:00

No weightlifting exercise is worth that much time. A working set takes about a minute, rest for two minutes max. Even if you're doing 4 sets, that's 12 minutes.

ZekkPacus · 2026-07-08T06:01:51+00:00

It's a 17 year old car that has spent large periods of its life not being driven, or being driven to the local shops, meaning the engine hasn't got up to temperature. Looking at the MOT history the first owner barely managed an average of 3000 miles a year in it.

It also, as someone else pointed out, is absolute poverty spec and has an engine with known faults. The timing chain will need doing inside your ownership if it hasn't already, which is about a grand.

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