Personally, I don't suggest anyone starts running for the first time during Ramadhan (plus during one of the hottest seasons in Malaysia) - it's demotivating. But I'm not new to running and I used to run during the fasting season, so I hope, this would be okay for my body.
This is what my training calendar looked like in April :
First week :
I started my first week of training based on my female monthly phases because I read that we have different bodies than men and I need to put that into account. During the menstrual phase, I started with low-intensity exercise, so I did around 20-30 mins of yoga stretches daily on those bad crampy days. Honestly, I didn't feel like doing anything.
Please read more on exercises based on your menstrual cycle.
I think it is helpful because the female body reacts differently to our fluctuating hormones: for example, during luteal & menstrual phases, I am prone to migraine, fatigue, and cramps. It is also a bit demotivating because I usually don't want to go anywhere (due to the fatigue, bloatedness & cramps). So based on the cycle itself, we should only do simple low-intensity exercises such as pilates, yoga, and walking to accommodate the bad weeks.
Work with your body, not against it.
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Second week :
- First jog: I tried my first run after 5 years ±, it was supposed to be a 3 km light jog but Sofi insisted on tagging along on her bike then after 2 km she was tired and cranky, so I had to just walk afterward to push her bicycle back to the car. So roughly 2 km of jogging and another 4 km of walking were achieved that day. Love that I walked 10,001 steps on that day :
- There were missed days when I didn't have a chance to go out because I took care of Sofi at home, but I managed to at least get my minimum walking distance reached while pickup up Sofi from daycare or a home workout.
- I started running during one of the hottest heatwave seasons - so it is a bit tough but the heart needs what it needs. On Thursday, I managed to run for 3 km starting at 6.30 pm and accumulated another 4 km of walking distance. I finished the entire track and decided that I needed to make another new music playlist so I could take turns listening to a different playlist. Also, that day was really hot, and my breathing felt dense and heavy - I mostly drank water after berbuka and didn't feel like eating that much. No migraine.
- I also noticed that I am feeling extra hungry on the fasting days since I started running and I don't think I can fuel up my body enough because the eating window during Ramadhan is small. I usually don't feel like eating most of the time. So this might affect my energy and recovery process. But that's okay, Ramadhan is almost over and this is a one-month experiment.
- Body-ache wise was still manageable. It was not too bad considering I haven't exercised for a while. I managed to run for 3 km non-stop on Thursday and it was still fine on Saturday. So I hope it is recovering fast & well.
- I think the first running week went well. It was a bit too hot and too hungry, but I managed.
- Total Run : 8 km + Walk : 16 km
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Third week :
- I hardly had time to go out and run this week - it's balik kampung time !
- Checkpoint: Ran in Raub and walked alongside the Pahang River in Pekan
- Raya weekend in Pahang
- Total Run : 3 km + Walk : 15 km
- It was still travel and raya week. So I hardly have time to run.
- I also did blood donation at AEON, I saw their notification on IG and went there straight away. I donated a whole pack of blood and put myself on rest for 3 days
- I had migraines because it's my PMS week (as expected)
- My brother and I registered for a half marathon in 100 days' time: Putrajaya Night Race 2023
- So this would be my resting week and the new cycle begins !
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