Category: Races

Race Planning

Jess GuthLeave a comment

What better way to spend your ‘I can’t run’ days than by planning all the amazing runs and races you are going to complete in record times just as soon as you are able to get out there again! You won’t believe the challenging courses, fast flat courses, hilly routes and muddy sections I have run in my head over the last few days and you certainly won’t believe the pace at which I did them! More realistically though, we have been talking about what races to schedule in, how many, when and what distances. I think we learned from Dopey and London that having too many, too far an too close together is counter productive. We quite like running once we get going and we both quite like the odd race but we don’t like the pressure of running lots of races. Having some booked in keeps us honest and focused but it’s a fine balance between that and feeling stressed out.

So we have pretty much made the decision that we will have another go at the Dopey Challenge in January 2019. The races we might  try and do between now and then look something like this:

  1. Keighley 10k – March 2017
  2. Endure 24 – July 2017
  3. Yorkshire Coast 10k Scarborough– October 2017
  4. Harewood House Half Marathon – February 2018
  5. Keighley 10K – March 2018
  6. Hamburg Half Marathon  – June 2018
  7. Endure 24 (if we enjoy it in 2017) – July 2018
  8. Great North Run – September 2018
  9. Robin Hood Half Marathon – September 2018
  10. Scarborough 10k – October 2018
  11. DOPEY – January 2019

That looks like a pretty good list to me really and there are some opportunities there for a decent proof of time run for Dopey. In addition we may actually get out butts to parkrun, too.

Anyway, I think my throat is getting a little better. I don’t think I have a temperature any more so I hope that in a day or two I can try some baby steps towards running again.

DNF

Jess Guth1 Comment

DNF. Did not finish. Did Not fucking finish. Yes that’s right. The last race I attempted I didn’t finish. I got to mile 5 of the Disneyland Avengers Half Marathon. I didn’t get my coast to coast medal, I didn’t complete the Infinity Gauntlet Challenge. DN Fucking F. It was a big deal at the time. I was gutted. That was the race that was going to bring all the running efforts and achievements of the year together. It all started going very wrong at about 3 miles. I felt a bit dizzy and sluggish. By 4 miles I needed to walk because my vision was blurred. By 4.5 miles it was clear I was going to have to stop. I felt dizzy, sick and couldn’t really see. There was a water station at mile 5 with a medic there. Kath took me to see her, she got me to sit down at the side of the road, got a wheelchair and with the help of a police officer who just stopped the traffic got me across the road and to the medic’s car. Then we got a little ride round Anaheim backstreets and back to the medical tent at the finish line. I’ll never get to the finish line of a half marathon that quickly ever again. I quickly started to feel better and all medical checks were fine. The doctor suggested that maybe I needed to fuel with more than just water for longer distance. I’m not sure about that – fuelling and hydration felt good. Anyway it is what it is and we had a lovely day in the Disney Parks and somehow it doesn’t matter anymore.

The running wasn’t all bad during our holiday. We had a lovely little jog along the boardwalk along Moonstone Beach. We walked miles in San Francisco including across the Golden Gate Bridge and the 10k race of the infinity gauntlets challenge was loads of fun – genuinely just fun.

10k-running

I haven’t run a single step since we got back. Not a single step. But I will, eventually I will.

 

Disneyland Paris races

Jess Guth2 Comments

c971001771Ok, so maybe it is time. Maybe there is enough distance between me and the Disneyland Paris half marathon. Maybe I have regained my sense of humour about the trip. The travel to Paris was pretty miserable. The flight was delayed because a passenger had to be taken off the plane because she was too drunk. As a result we missed the train and then because of the amazingly rude and unhelpful staff at the train station we missed the next one, too. Then we had to rush getting to the expo and that was just not as slick as we were used to from Florida – we had to queue at 6 different places and then a 7th to get th8419e742-9fca-4ba0-8c12-490574265153e photo pass.

The party on the Friday evening was also a bit rubbish but we had a little wander round the
theme park and Kath went on a roller coaster but basically I think we were grumpy. When the alarm went off on Saturday morning we were both tempted to just not run the 5k and stay in bed instead. We hadn’t slept. But we pulled on our gear, headed downstairs in the hotel for the breakfast they put on and then walked to the start area. We waited a little while but they seemed to send us off in waves in pretty quick succession. I am so glad we got out of bed because I had a great time on the 5k. We ran it all slowly and I spent the entire time looking around in wonder. It was just fun and the magic and sparkle was most definitely back. Towards the end we dived in for a picture with spiderman. There wasn’t a queue so we thought, why the hell not. Up until then we’d just 2ce2f72a-6aad-4915-8420-19914ef7ecb4been taking it all in, didn’t feel like we wanted to stop for pictures really. Loved that race! And loved the selfie with Paula Radcliffe after, too. Not sharing that as I didn’t ask her if I could.

After the 5k we went for breakfast, the proper version, and then spent a bit of time in the parks. We were tired though so had a little nap in the afternoon before heading for the Wild West show. I quite enjoyed that actually – I loved watching the horsemanship. The food was pretty average though. We had the runners’ menu which was basically a stuffed chicken breast and lots of sloppy rice.

When I got up on Sunday morning I felt nervous as hell. I knew I wasn’t ready. We went for breakfast again  – with our porridge pots this time – I barely got half of mine down. We went back to 3b16696e-7cbb-4867-a606-7bbc4eac40b8the room to use the loo before heading over to the start area. My tummy felt a bit dodgy – nerves, I figured. As I pulled my pants up againI noticed that I had a hole in them along the seam of the inner thigh. I quickly changed them and put the ones I’d worn for te 5k on again. Then we headed off. We seemed to stand around for a very long time. Once we did set off it became very clear that I was going to need to use the loo as soon as we got to one.

That theme basically continued and every time we stopped for the loo I felt a little better for a little bit and it was ok and then pressure built up again and I felt very uncomfortable for most of the 13.1 miles. I barely did any running at all really. Actually the route was quite nice although it was a good job it was dry – there were areas that would have been very slippery and/or muddy if it had rained. Some bits were also quite narrow which might have caused some of the faster runners problems. By the time we got there, there weren’t that many people around any more! As we turned the corner into the finishing area Chariots of Fire music started playing so I got my act together and ran the last bit. It was miserable. I do not need to have that many toilet stops during a half marathon ever again. My tummy finally started feeling normal again when we got home on Monday.

So there you have it- I finished it because I wanted the bling and because there was no way I had paid the stupid amount of money we paid for the trip and not come home with the medals. The next one will be better!

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We spent time in the parks after, getting a little competitive blasting evil aliens and showing off our medals – and stopping at every bloody toilet in the parks.

In other news – 3 miles in the bag today. It was ok, surprisingly warm for October.

One Big Fat Run

Jess GuthLeave a comment

The last weekend of the month means it’s One Big Fat Run (#OBFR) time. #OBFR is a monthly virtual 5k. You can read more about it via the link above or search for it on Facebook. Anyway, the plan was to do 6 x 800 metres with 3 minute walk breaks in-between as my #OBFR – it would amount to nearly 5k of running and would overall be more in terms of distance – but close enough. Alternatively, if we also managed to get out for a 45  run on Sunday, I’d use that. We set off on Saturday, walked down to the canal and set off for the first 800 metres. All fine. Then we walked for 3 minutes, turned round a little earlier than we really wanted so as not to get tangled up with a group of dog walkers, set off running for the second 800 metres. All fine for the first 500 metres. Then I felt a little niggle along my left shin. Then, with maybe 150 metres to go, a sharp pain across my left shin and simultaneously a twinge just below my butt on the right. It brought me to a halt.

I was so upset and pissed off. Just when the running was actually going quite well I was going to be injured. I had a little panic and strop and walked home grumpily. There was no pain when walking and no pain when I ran my hand across my shin – so maybe it was ok after all. I did a few stretches on Saturday and had a busy day in the garden. I then did almost nothing at all on Sunday other than a walk to the sheep. I felt a bit crappy for not getting my #OBFR done at the weekend but I slept lots so maybe I just needed a rest.

Today we went out at lunchtime to run a 45 minute loop. We did our sheep loop the ‘wrong’ way round. We set off and it was fine, no pain and feeling relatively comfortable. I managed to run downhill slowly without too much of a panic and settled in along the canal. Mile 1 was fine. We had agreed before that we would walk up the golf course from the car park but that still meant I had to get up to the car park! I started struggling from probably about a mile and a half in. I don’t think I was struggling physically, I think it was all in my head and I couldn’t make my legs go faster or even keep at the pace I was at. I was still breathing fine and my legs were a little heavy but ok but my brain wouldn’t work. As we crossed the canal bridge and started the shortish sharpish hill to the car park I thought I’d never make it but gave myself a bit of a talking to, gritted my teeth and pushed. I got to the top and then we walked.

At this point everything sort of hurt but not really. I didn’t really want to walk up the golf course, I most certainly didn’t want to have to start running again when I got to the top. But to the top I did eventually get and run I did. Slowly. I knew I was physically fine. I wasn’t finding it physically hard – I knew this because I was breathing fine and my legs felt ok and yet my brain was telling me that it was far too hard and I couldn’t do it and I needed to walk. I didn’t walk, not yet. We made it past the sheep and up the little slope when Kath called a walk break. I’d just surrendered here and did as I was told. I didn’t want to think or make decisions. I was quite happy to run when told and walk when told. Kath took us towards home with 1minute/1minute run/walk intervals. As we hit the bottom of Ilkley Road something clicked in my brain and I decided I wanted to run home from there – up the slope, all the way, just because I can. At times for those last few minutes it felt like I was going backwards. Any slower and I would have been rooted to the spot. I was screaming at myself (in my head, not out loud, I don’t think) to just stop and walk and then screaming back that I didn’t bloody well want to walk.

So with head down and terrible running form I pushed up the last little bit of the hill and turned the corner into our road. I looked up, straightened my back and kept putting one foot in front of the other and just as the watch beeped for 45 minutes I stepped onto our drive. 3.23miles, one of my slowest 45 minutes ever but done.

This run was not about being physically able to run a certain time or distance – I am perfectly capable of running 45 minutes or 5km. This run was all about the mental. Running is mostly about learning to take your mind with a pinch of salt and not believing everything it tells you. I am far more likely to be convinced by the negative messages about not being able to do it than I am by the positives. When I am not in a good frame of mind and when I have self-doubt I need to really focus on doing the opposite of mind over matter because it’s my mind that needs pushing on and/or ignoring. I proved to myself that I can do that today by running up Ilkley Road when before that, really, I’d given up. I’m proud of that because not so long ago I would have given up on the golf course and just walked home. Now I just need to find a way to get to that point sooner. I need to think about what changed mentally when I turned into Ilkley Road. What made me decide that I wanted to and decide that I can? What made me lose it on the golf course? Up to that point I’d struggled but managed to keep pushing. What could I have done there to make the walk a positive (it was planned in anyway) and then keep running after without having to drop into intervals? Why can’t it just be simple – you know like run a certain distance regularly = distance becomes easy…

Still #OBFR is a fabulous thing. Without it I may have come up with all sorts of excuses to not run at all today and it gives me a monthly 5k marker which gives me the opportunity to reflect on all things running and most of all it reminds me that there are lots of others at various stages of their own running journeys and we’re not in this on our own.

….but look at the bling

Jess GuthLeave a comment

I don’t quite now how this happened. I don’t quite know how to explain this. And I am sorry. Really I am but I seem to have been totally and utterly reeled in by this medal business. Running is not about the medals, of course it’s not, it’s about the exercise, the way it chases away my little head gremlins and kicks that silly black puppy into touch, it’s about being outside, moving, learning new ways that my wibbly wobbly body is awesome, learning to push through when it gets tough, breathing… Oh but it so so so so is about the medals.

For a good few weeks I have pretended not to care at all about what the medals for our next races might be like. I have told people in Facebook groups to chill out and just wait. I have suggested that it might actually be quite nice not to see the medal before we actually get it… And then runDisney released pictures of medals for races I am not doing. Oooh look at the shiny pretty things…Have I gone completely totally and utterly insane? I mean really? Since when is shiny pretty things even a thing. I have never done shiny pretty things. And then this happened: runDisney released the Inaugural Disneyland Paris Half Marathon Weekend medals.

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Photo from RunDisney

But just look, just look at this. I mean just look. It’s all pretty and shiny. And  and and , well, just look. Now I’ll run 13.1 miles for that. No, I really will because something in my brain has broken and I see the bling and think it’s pretty and shiny and I want it.

And it doesn’t stop there. Look at this

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Photo by RunDisney

Want want want want want. Yes, I have gone mad. It’s also making me want to watch the film again. Just look at the medal. Yep, I’ll run 5km for that. Who wouldn’t?! Oh wait, hang on, this isn’t normal is it. What is wrong with me.

As for this:

13872850_1501346326557991_1684471858733897002_n
Photo by RunDisney

I may have run round in circles making funny squeaky noises when I first saw this. Before telling myself to get a grip of course. I do not understand why I am even in the slightest excited about the medals. I mean, really?!? This is the sort of thing I roll my eyes at. But just look…

And I realise I’m about to hugely overdo it but just look at these:

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Photo by RunDisney

These are shiny and pretty too! And I am going for them in November. Until then I think I better go lock myself in a room and hope this obsession with pretty and shiny passes.