Stop Start

July 20, 2016July 20, 2016 Jess Guth1 Comment

Well this blogging thing is going about as well as the running is. I have been struggling with all sorts and the running just hasn’t really happened and you know, when you’ve basically sat on your substantially sized arse for 3 weeks getting out the door is just too hard. I have over the last few months – well since London Marathon really, made various attempts at getting back into running and every now and again I think it’s falling back into place and then I stop again. No reason – well no good reason, I just can’t be bothered to hurl my wibbly wobbly bits about in public, or at all.

So I needed a serious reboot. Well luckily a while ago there was a Too Fat to Run? Clubhouse post on Facebook about a reboot run. The idea is that the first one back is always the toughest and the one you’re most likely to put off and therefore you need something manageable to get you out the door. The suggestion is 10 minutes out and 10 minutes back. Doesn’t have to be all running, can be run walk or just walk – just going and doing it is the important bit. So last Saturday I rebooted – run to the sheep – it’s a little less than a mile to our first field where our boys are currently. It means I could run for however long it takes me to get there (didn’t take a watch), have a little rest while feeding the sheep and then run back. Sounds simple and actually once I got out the door it was – relatively. Running there felt pretty good. Running back, yes well, there was the small matter of Ilkley Road to negotiate and I’ve only ever managed to run from the bottom of it to our road two or three times before. It’s not steep as such, it’s just a steady pull and it really gets me. But I made it to our road and it only took 45 minutes or so for my legs to function again and stop shaking.

So, is this going to be just another reboot run that actually doesn’t reboot anything? Well, we’ll see but so far so good. We went out again on Sunday for a 45 minute run/walk session. I was back to hating every single step but as I was still swearing under my breath I figured I was doing fine. During the 3rd or 4th running interval everything was screaming for me to stop, lungs, legs, hips, back, shoulders… so I just slowed right down but kept running forcing myself to put one foot in front of the other. It was only that one interval that was truly horrendous but the others didn’t feel great. I felt a bit dejected because I was sure that I had been really slow and found it soooooo hard but it turned out not to be that slow (for me) – about 12.40 minutes per mile pace and it was hot.

Monday was, well Monday, a story for another day and Tuesday I didn’t wake up till 8.30 and it was already far too hot to move never mind run. I did go for a walk mid morning though and I was dripping with sweat just from that. Lovely. It didn’t seem to cool down at all so we didn’t run. Instead we decided to go this morning. 6am came and had I not really needed a pee I doubt I would have got up. I got my running gear on – I even wore a vest. It seems I no longer really care what people think of me when I’m running. I just care about not being too hot! We walked down to the canal bank to do 6 x 800 metre runs with 3 minute breaks in between. This is what went on in my head throughout

1 – 800 metre run: I’m ok, I’m ok, I’m ok, oh look ducklings, I’m ok, I’m ok. Nearly there now, I think; what if I’m not? Oh I am. Good.

2- 3 minute walk – breathe

3 – 800 metre run: I’m ok, this is fine, maybe a bit faster? No! Don’t be silly. Breathe, I’m ok. Oh look heron. Nearly there. Done? Please? Ok done. Good

4 – 3 minute walk – breathe

5 – 800 metre run – oh look 2 herons, I’m ok, slow down? No keep pushing, 800 metres is a long way, not really, yes – it -is, I can do this, I’m ok, ouch, oh look proper runners, breathe, I’m ok, how much further (about 400 metres), fuck, more runners, ducklings, breathe, I’m ok, nearly there, breathe, if I go faster I’ll get there quicker, go, done? Yes? Good.

6 – 3 minute walk – breathe, no really breathe. Oh goodness that sun’s hot, breathe, it’s hot, just breathe

7 – 800 metres – fuck it’s hot. Heron, fuck it’s hot, ducklings, heron, too hot, breathe, just put one foot in front of the other, how hard can it be. 800 metres is getting longer, bit dizzy now, too hot, slow down? No, getting there will take longer, ok slow down, too hot, dizzy, nearly there, few more steps, done.

8 – 3 minute walk – can’t breathe, too hot, breathe, just breathe.

We decided to stop there. We had 4 really positive runs which were hard but good and we both maintained good form and we think a decent pace (haven’t checked yet) and it had got noticeably warmer just in the time we were out. We walked home for breakfast.

I daren’t say we’re back on track or that I’ve got my mojo back but it did feel good to get out this morning

5km Puddle Plod

June 27, 2016 Jess GuthLeave a comment

Yesterday evening we were in need of something positive. I’d struggled through the day battling the urge to go and hide under the duvet. By 7pm I hadn’t really done anything at all. So we went for a run. We decided to do our last RunDisney 5km to complete the RunDisney Running Shorts Series. The Garmin died about 3/4 of the way along but as we were running out and back and had turned at exactly half way it didn’t matter. It was raining but it was quite nice running in the rain and sometimes dodging puddles and sometimes just running straight through them or even jumping in them.

We did the 5km in roughly 36 minutes – a little bit under possibly and I had 2 short little walk breaks of less than a minute each. It was a good run and I enjoyed bits of it even. I felt a bit dizzy again on the way home but it passed quickly and after some stretches, a bath and then some more yoga I actually felt pretty good and once we went to bed I fell asleep quickly and slept well for a few hours.

Today has been a struggle. I have tried to get work done and concentrate as I am keenly aware that there is so much that needs doing. I have managed to get some stuff done but it has been punctuated by frequent retreats to the sofa and one brief running away to hide under the duvet. My brain’s not working right, it’s sluggish and chaotic and that’s quite scary. My hips have also been really tight today but have eased a bit after some yoga.

I’m in that funny catch 22 thing where I know I need to go run and push quite hard to get the benefits and clarity that the exercise brings but my black puppy has got hold of the back of my pants and is pulling me back to the sofa telling my that I am rubbish at everything – until it loosens its grip a little getting out is such a big effort that I am exhausted before I get out the door.

I guess all I can do is keep on plodding!

Just plodding, grumpily

June 25, 2016 Jess Guth2 Comments

Hello. Did you notice the gap in posts? I think this is the longest time I haven’t blogged about running since I started this blog. There might be all sorts of reasons for that – there’s a lot of stuff going on but actually I think it is just because I don’t really like running at the minute. I have had a couple of good runs but I’ve also been good at not going and mostly it has just felt like a long slog. Even the second of the RunDisney Shorts series wasn’t really fun.

So what have I done since I last blogged? Lots of excuses, a couple of short run-to-the-sheep-and-back runs, a miserable 4 x 800 metres, a very fast mile, a speedy 4 mile seafront run and today a 5 mile hot plod.

The thing is, you’re supposed to get better at this, right? I’m not. Just 2 months (almost exactly) after doing the London Marathon I feel like I can barely run at all. I wanted to scale down distance a bit and focus on getting a bit faster over shorter distances and to run longer intervals so that I could run a 10km without walking at the same pace or faster than when I include walk breaks. Well that’s not working. I’m slower than ever even when I use walk breaks and I can barely run my 2.5 minute intervals most of the time – can’t remember the last time I took out a walk break… I feel like I am going backwards on everything.

Are there some positives? Probably. I ran a fast mile (for me) a couple of weeks back. 9.43minutes which felt horrendously hard and I huffed and puffed all the way through complaining I couldn’t do this running crap. I had no idea it was fast until Kath told me. I cheered up a bit after that. I also managed 20 minutes running without walking along the seafront in Portsmouth on Tuesday. I stopped and chatted to Kath on the phone for a few minutes before turning back and running back to the hotel in 24 minutes. I enjoyed that run and the little swim in the hotel pool immediately afterwards. I didn’t have the Garmin so can’t be sure how far it was but Google Maps insists it was a 4 mile run so that was fast for me too. But at the back of my mind I just have that niggle that actually it can’t have been 4 miles. I’m not that fast.

Today we went for our 5 mile run that has been outstanding on our plan for ages. I managed the 2.5 mins running 1 minute walking without too much trouble but the whole thing felt like really really hard work and a couple of times I started a run thinking I’ll take the next walk break out but by the time I got the end of the run I didn’t. I started really feeling the heat at about 3 miles and the canal towpath isn’t as shady as I thought it was. Anyway, I finished the 5 miles in an hour and 3 minutes 18 seconds. Walking up the hill afterwards I felt really flakey and when I got almost to the top of the hill I had to sit down at the side of the road for a few minutes because my blood pressure just plummeted and I nearly passed out. I was fine after a little rest and then a banana and water at home quickly followed by a gorgeous mango and avocado salady thing.

So yeah – I’m not loving the running thing at the minute but I will just keep plodding.

Hills, More hills, 4 miles and another hill

May 30, 2016 Jess GuthLeave a comment

It has been pretty good running bank holiday weekend. It needed to be because we didn’t get out during the week. It was a crappy week. I was on strike for a couple of days and on the second strike day I started really struggling and I didn’t really get much better on Friday. Hiding on the sofa was absolutely fine by me.

However, on Saturday we got our butts out and started catching up to get back on plan. The first run we hadn’t done was a 45 minute hill run. So, I pulled my trainers on and followed Kath out the door, to the end of the road, longingly looked left and then turned right. We walked the first stretch and then started running. We didn’t set the intervals for some reason so made it up as we went along. The hills were tough, really tough but I kept going even though on some of them I only managed 20 second runs. We didn’t get to the top but that wasn’t the aim anyway. We ran almost all the way back down and it felt pretty good to have done it but I can’t say I enjoyed that one!

Sunday morning we went to Bolton Abbey and ran our loop again. We were a bit faster than the week before which is always nice but then we didn’t stop for pictures this time! I managed all the hills apart from the one towards the end which I never manage but I ran a bit of it, then walked a bit and then ran the last bit to the top. One step closer to conquering the bugger! It was a beautiful run and we saw lots of birds including a pied flycatcher. This run also served as my May One Big Fat Run which if you haven’t heard about it is a virtual monthly 5km run ‘hosted’ by Too Fat to Run?.

Today we were going to run in the morning but we needed to our sheep ready to take some to market and vaccinate the lambs. So we decided we’d postpone the run until this afternoon. We didn’t have to do too much running around with the sheep but it’s always a funny feeling taking them to market. We took 6, keeping 2 of last year’s lambs for breeding. We had lunch when we got back and pottered around a bit and then set off about 2 hours after eating

I think it was a little too soon after food for me, I felt a bit sickly for the first couple of intervals. We were due to do 4 miles with a 1 minute surge every 10 or so minutes. We set off from home, went downhill and then hit the canal. We were running 2.5 minutes and walking one. We did the first surge not long after we got onto the canal. I struggled because I somehow couldn’t get my head round speeding up a little and then maintaining that speed. Instead I kept getting faster and faster. So when the second surge was due I deliberately fell in behind Kath and that worked much better. We did the surges in the middle of our 2.5 minute runs and I think it’s a really good way to learn how to recover a little by just slowing down rather than stopping to walk. The surges weren’t fast – just a little speedier than we were going anyway but it seems quite effective. Neither us can now remember whether we did 3 or 4.

I liked going along the canal. We saw ducklings, swans, a few geese, dogs, cyclists, runners, sparrows, blackbirds and a cat or two. We finished our 4 miles with an average pace of 11.57 and it was a bit exciting to go under 12. That’s probably the first time since Dopey that we’ve gone under 12 – I don’t think we did between Dopey and London. Although I found it hard, I enjoyed doing the surges – it felt like we were actually training, like we had some sort of purpose rather than just plodding along. We finished our 4 miles with just a little walk left on the canal and then had to walk back up the hill. I wasn’t really looking forward to that hill. We went straight up using a footpath which is the shortest but also the steepest way to our house. My calf muscles were protesting a bit and my back was niggly by the time we got to the top but actually overall I found walking up there after the run easier than I sometimes do after a day at work.

All in all, a good long weekend of running. Now I just have to get my head round going back to work tomorrow!

Yellow Shoes Run and a redstart

May 22, 2016 Jess Guth4 Comments

I have just got back from a brilliant little run at Bolton Abbey. We wanted to do our RunDisney Shorts virtual run somewhere nice and fun and not take it seriously at all! so after a lovely little yoga session (Morning Stretches for Back Pain from Yoga Studio) we set off and drove to Bolton Abbey. It was a little overcast but dry and actually looked like it would turn into a gorgeous morning.

So we set off from the Cavendish Pavilion and walked to the top of the first slope – we were meant to be having fun after all, not killing ourselves on the first hill!. We had changed the intervals to try running a bit longer – so running for 2.5 mins and walking for a minute. I thought I might not notice as much if we sneaked in an increase on our fun run and I was planning on stopping for pictures anyway.

The colours were fantastic and the smell of the wild garlic really strong in some places.

The trees and ferns seemed to offer every imaginable shade of green and brown and we couldn’t help but stop and stare every now and again.

We pootled on alongside the Wharfe and up to the Strid where this little hill thankfully coincided with a walk break and I just about had time to stop at the top, turn around and take the picture.

Onwards and downhill a bit – I have to admit, I was scared going downhill – probably even more than usual after my fall last week but it was all fine and soon we came out of the wood and into the open with the aqueduct just ahead of us. This must be roughly half way – obligatory selfie as we crossed the river.

Just past the aqueduct on the other side of the Wharfe a group of people were standing with binoculars pointed into the trees. We asked if they could see anything good and they said they could see a male redstart and were even kind enough to let us have a look through their binoculars. I’ve never seen a redstart before so that was really exciting and we continued on our way with a spring in our step.

This stretch of the route is what you might politely call ‘undulating’. I call it fucking hilly. I managed to stick to all the intervals and just kept going lost in my own little world just letting my mind wander. And then we came to my nemesis.

Annoyingly it does not look like all that much on the photos but trust me, it’s a bastard. It has literally brought me to my knees and to tears in the past. Today we were having fun so we walked it, took a picture at the top and then headed off again. Downhill and flat from there!

We completed our 3.1miles, or 5km with lots of photo stops and stops to look at birds and the scenery in exactly 45.5 minutes. It was a slow but really lovely run and we have earned our Yellow Shoes Medal (although Valley of Desolation doesn’t sound very Disney, does it?!?)