Category: Training

All Change…

Jess Guth1 Comment

Right, so, where to start… During our week off last week I planned to to run lots, get back into yoga, potter about the house and sort a few things that I keep meaning to sort but never get round to. I did none of that. I spent a huge amount of time sitting on the sofa staring into space and not quite knowing what to do with myself. By Saturday I was beginning to feel like I was winding down enough to have a proper break… I did get out once or twice but it was all a bit meh. So that went well.

During that week Disney also released more information about the re-opening of the parks and what measures they have put in place and once that sunk in we realised we had a decision to make. The nature of the changes taken together significantly change the feel of the holiday and many of the things we really enjoy doing will not be possible. We agreed that we would cancel the January Disney trip – there is no point in going all that way and paying all that money, increasing the risk of Covid-19 infection and dealing with the logistics for something that isn’t as close to perfect as we can make it.

With the trip cancellation also comes the cancellation of the marathon. While I know it is all the right decision, I am of course disappointed and a bit sad. I was beginning to get my head around marathon training – though I was struggling. Now I don’t need to worry about distance. I took some time to think about what I wanted to do and what might help with getting me running consistently again. I trawled through a few running programmes and eventually decided to start again at the beginning. I now have the time to properly consolidate and re-build without worrying about having to build distance. I picked a basic 6 week beginner 5km programme to start this week. I did run 1 yesterday. It was sort of nice to head out to do something that I was absolutely confident I could do. Run 2 is coming up tomorrow.

I have also started using the Nike Training Club app for some workouts to do at home. I like it because it means I don’t have to make decisions. I often end up not doing anything because I can’t decide what to do or what order to do a set of exercises in – the app just asked me some questions and then spat out a plan. I’ve done 4 workouts on it. Today I changed the settings to reduce the level a little. The level it was set at meant that there were too many exercises where I had to do a modified move (like side planks and planks with leg lifts etc) and I was getting a bit disheartened. Having had a quick scroll through the new version I think I have a better chance of completing the sessions fully. I’ll let you know.

So overall it is all change. Marathon training is off and I’m back on a 5km plan. It feels ok. It feels like it makes sense and I have my eye on either a consolidation 5km or a 10km plan after this one. Hopefully going back to these plans means I can start really enjoying running again rather than just ticking things off hoping that the enjoyment will follow.

Oh and for those of you wondering how Odin is doing. Here he is showing us all how to stretch out those shoulders.

A Virtual Disney Day

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Yesterday we finished work for a whole week. We’ve both been busy and yesterday felt like a rush to get everything finished. But by 5.30pm the work laptops were off and stashed away and piles of paper were unceremoniously shoved on a shelf ready to be sorted out a week on Monday. We were supposed to be in Iceland now and should have enjoyed Bramham Horse Trials and then the 24 hour running event Endure 24 when we got back from Iceland. Since lockdown we’ve missed a couple of theatre trips etc. Lots of the things we were looking forward to have been cancelled. Obviously that’s absolutely the right thing and this is really a whinge, all in all we’ve been very lucky, but it still left us feeling a bit lost and flat rattling around in our house. So Kath organised a virtual Disney Day for us. As I shut my laptop and sat back on my office chair feeling a little overwhelmed by everything, Kath came into our shared study with an envelope containing my Disney’s Magical Express ticket which would transport me into our very own virtual Disney Day with just a little bit of imagination and a fair amount of pixie dust (ok and technology).

Pixie Dust – Thanks Tinkerbell

We woke up early, Kath very early thanks to Odin, and me around 6am. We sat in bed with coffee, drinking it black with a touch of sugar and out of our resort mugs, just like we so often did on our Disney trips. While having coffee we watched the sun rise over the Magic Kingdom. Once the sun was fully up we went out for our RunDisney Run. If you have a look on Strava it might look suspiciously like our sheep loop but we ran/walked our way through all sorts of Disney Magic. As all runs do, we set off from our very own Epcot parking lot and wound our way through the world showcase until we headed into our Enchanted Forrest and the Moors waving at Aurora and Maleficent as we passed through. The wood gave way to Merida’s playground and a feeling of being able to touch the sky. We dropped down to the waters edge and Moana obviously hadn’t tied her boat up very well because it had come loose on one side of the canal bridge. We made our way along the water looking out for Eeyore just in case he’d been bounced into the canal by Tigger. There was no sign of Bambi this morning although we did see Thumper. Mist rising from the canal and noticeable changes in air temperature seemed to signify moving from one world to the next. Donald and Daisy Duck were busy trying to keep tabs on Huey, Dewey and Louie and all the other little ones. Before I really registered the running we were making ur final push around the Epcot ‘golf ball’ towards the finish line. Like any good Disney run it was within the allowed disney pace but had been relatively easy, fun, partly chatty, partly getting lost in our own magic but always leaving us with a smile.

I still didn’t really know what was coming or what to expect from a virtual Disney Day. Back home we got sorted and for the first time in weeks I thought I would take a little care over getting dressed rather than just grab a pair of tracksuit bottoms and the nearest t-shirt. Just as I was about to attack the wardrobe to find something suitable, Kath told me that she had taken the liberty of doing some shopping so I’d have a suitable outfit and handed me a little package. I unpacked and pulled on my brand new Mickey Pride T-shirt with pair of jeans, put on my Tinkerbell necklace and popped in my Mickey earrings. Ready! We had breakfast of Mickey Ears shaped pancakes and fruit while we watched the sunrise at the Animal Kingdom. The thing with a virtual Disney Day is that you can do things on the same day that wouldn’t be possible in one day if you were actually there! We also played with our own little Stitch (Odin) and tried to stop him from escaping and causing havoc.

After breakfast I got my FastPass ready and we went on the Monorail to Epcot. Then we did some serious park hopping including using the technology pixie dust to pop over to California once or twice in order to go on our favourite rides. We went on Expedition Everest, Big Thunder Mountain, the Incredicoaster, It’s a Small World and the 7 Dwarves Mine Train. Then we watched Planes 2 which happened to be on TV and after that had some lunch just a picnic like nibble followed by a coffee, much like we might do during a day in the parks. That was quite an exhausting morning so we had a nap (again, that’s not unheard of for us at Disney!).

After our nap we made sure that our 4 wild animals were fed and then Kath ‘got’ us an ice-cream from the Plaza Ice-cream Palor (aka our pixie dusted kitchen) and watched the Festival of Fantasy Parade in the Magic Kingdom. We hopped parks again to have a wander around Pandora and do the Na’vi River Ride and the Flight of Avatar before hopping again to do Soarin’ and the Winnie the Pooh ride. Then we had a bit of down time during which I started this blog and which was accompanied by a Disney Soundtrack.

Then it was time for an early evening (no alcohol) mojito and a one hour Cirque Du Soleil show with absolutely the best seats in the house (our sofa).

Our dinner is a nod to Tony’s in the Magic Kingdom and we’re even going to sit at the dining table. Kath is making a Spaghetti Bolognese now as I write while going round the the Walt Disney World Railroad, The People Mover and the Monorail. Then the plan is to watch the new Lady and the Tramp, catch Fantasmic and the Magic Kingdom Fireworks before bed.

And yes of course this is all a bit silly and my step count does not resemble even a fairly moderate Disney day, I have spent a lot of time looking at screens but we have also spent a lot of time giggling, sharing our memories of previous Disney trips and being together. I had a really positive run this morning for the first time in forever. It has been a great day to start the week of no work, it has helped switch brains from work to not work, it has given us space and permission to properly turn off. It’s been a magical day and the evening is yet to come.

Week 3 of marathon training

Jess Guth2 Comments

Well week three of marathon training didn’t go to plan. Nothing happened to de-rail the plan, I just didn’t go out to run. I started off ok with a loop out on Tuesday for my 30 minute run. Painfully slow and not exactly fun but done on the right day and ticked off. On Thursday for run two my anxiety levels were through the roof and I decided not to go because it was the sort of anxiety that would just make a run miserable and counter-productive. There was always Friday.

Odin – just over 8 weeks old

Well Friday there was but I was dead on my feet. I felt absolutely knackered and could barely keep my eyes open. Ok, I thought, well I can go out Saturday and Sunday and still get the runs in. The gap and then back to back is a bit inconsistent and annoying but it’s ok. Well Saturday was such as non day. I struggled. It was one of those quite physical depression days. I barely moved off the sofa and everything I did just didn’t seem to turn our right. The lunch I made wasn’t very nice, the bread I made slightly overdone and then while playing with Odin he scratched me on across my eye. What I should have done on any of these days is get up and just get the running bit done. The longer I am awake, the less likely it is I will get out – but of course depression also means that getting out of bed early is just impossible. So let’s try and remember that going out for a run as soon as I am awake enough to do so is a good plan and see if that helps a little for week 4!

I managed to go out this morning. I managed to haul my arse round 4 miles. It was painfully slow and looking at the stats afterwards just makes me miserable and grumpy (so let’s not look). But it’s done. I’m down one run this week and I will try and catch it up in week 4. It’ll make me feel better. So for this coming week I would like to run my 30minute ish runs on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and then my long run of 5.5 miles on Saturday or Sunday. That should be do-able. I’d quite like the rain to stay actually because there was hardly anyone out and about today and I’d sort of forgotten that I actually quite like running in the rain.

As for cross-training, I am really conscious that I have hardly done anything and that I should. However, I am also conscious that having a plan of stuff to do seems to stress me out. I need to find a better way of doing some strength work and stretching without it feeling like it is too much or freaking me out. So maybe for this coming week I’ll just say I’d like to do something, let’s say twice. Yes something twice sounds ok. I’ll go with that.

I’ve been doing the Sunday (now Monday) weigh-ins and the scales are not moving at all. I guess that means they’re not going up and of course I am not really surprised they’re not going down. I have not changed anything for any weight to actually come off. I do think making our own treats – like these yummy Mickey Ears scones Kath made – helps. There is something nice and more mindful about eating stuff we’ve made (and there is generally less crap in home made stuff). Cooking from scratch also helps, being bored, not moving much and not drinking enough water doesn’t help. It’ll come eventually, as I get back into running (well, presuming this iteration of my running journey mirrors the last) my relationship with food will also change again. I will crave fresh fruit and crunchy veg (broccoli mostly) where I now crave the comfort of mashed potato made with loads of butter and I will inevitably start drinking much more water. I’ll keep you posted.

Just ticking them off

Jess Guth5 Comments

Two weeks since I last told you about my running. So that means that 2 weeks of marathon training are done. It doesn’t really feel like it’s done. It doesn’t really feel like marathon training. It has just felt like a fairly horrible, weird, hard slog without any progress and without really settling into it. So in week 1 I was meant to do this:

  • Monday – 30-45 minute run: Run the long way round to the Co-op to get some shopping
  • Wednesday – 30 -45 minute run: Head up the hill for at least 30 minutes and try some run/walk rather than just walking up, then run down pushing the pace a little‘Long’ run
  • Saturday – 3 miles so maybe get up early enough to run the sheep look without fear of people.
  • Yoga of some kind every day

Well, I sort of did that – I didn’t run on Monday or to the co-op but I did run for the 30 minutes on Tuesday. I had a pretty ok first mile and then a slow second mile with walking uphill. On Wednesday morning it was too gorgeous to not go out so Kath and I walked up towards the moor. We went 3.63 miles but mostly walked and stopped to look at curlews and lapwings. It was a stunning hour and a bit to set us up for the day. On Friday I went out for the second 3o minute run, again an ok first mile and a slower second mile walking up. Then I was meant to do 3 miles at the weekend but that never happened so Monday I dragged myself out and managed 2 miles. So mileage covered but in a rather random way and too much walking.

Week two was the same again in terms of the plan but with 4 miles at the weekend. But I didn’t get out until Thursday where I just managed another 2 miles. I am struggling with people. I get really anxious when there are people. On Saturday I finally managed an early morning run. It wasn’t really any better in terms of fitness and how hard it was but it was a much calmer and more enjoyable run. We saw a deer and some ducklings and a heron. We also saw huge groups of tadpoles along the whole stretch of the canal we ran along – masses of them roughly every 20 metres or so. Today I was supposed to do 4 miles. I was too lazy this morning, enjoying coffee and kitten cuddles and then sitting in the sun so by the time I got out it was too hot. I walked to Kath’s mum’s to drop off some banana bread and then set off from there. I had a decent first mile and dragged my butt round a fairly miserable second and walked almost all of mile 3.

I haven’t done yoga every day. Actually in week one I did something at home every day – upper body stuff, stretches, a little yoga… not much but something. This last week not so much. That’s probably partly Odin’s fault as he arrived with us last Saturday and has kept us busy.

I’m not loving the running. I don’t feel like I am getting anywhere at all. Every mile is as bloody hard and horrible as the last time I went out. I am running very little really. However, I am getting out of the house for each of the runs on the plan. I am not always making the distance and that’s the next thing to focus on – actually run or run/walk the required time or distance before basically stopping to walk up the hill and home. I feel a little like I’m just going through the motions, hanging on until it starts making a difference. How often have I told myself to trust the plan and trust the process… this is again one of those times.

Today I feel tired, not an unpleasant tired but a tired that comes from actually having done something at least a little physical. I will probably not run tomorrow and then see if I can do a Tuesday and Thursday 30 minutes and then 4 miles next weekend to hit the total miles I didn’t do today (next week is meant to be three miles). I’m glad I built some wiggle room into the marathon plan.

Happy running.

Thinking, Planning, Panicking…

Jess Guth3 Comments

ZeEF%DznSiO%e%mKWvVt+QRight, well, it seems I didn’t dream signing up for another marathon. Oh well. It’s taking a little time to fully sink in and I am still not entirely sure how I feel about it. I went for a little walk/run up towards the Moor earlier but turned off to run/walk a loop rather than straight up and back down when I saw how many people were walking up/down the road to Keighley Gate. As I was walking I was thinking about the 2021 Walt Disney World Marathon and how on earth to get ready for it.  26.2 miles is just such a bloody long way. Remember what I said after London when I was reflecting on the things I learned out on that course? I said ‘You have to really want it’. After Dopey 2019 I said ‘I am really not a marathon runner’, after London 2016 I said I was done with the distance and after Dopey 2016 I said ‘I have done a marathon! And yes it was awful for the most part…’. After every marathon I have had both a sense of achievement and the sense that I could do better. I have also felt like I didn’t really want to do another one even though I am yet to run one where everything comes together in really good conditions. Dopey 1 was overwhelming, London 1 was ok but with patches of feeling poorly and was too soon after Dopey, that same pattern repeated in 2019 (but you can’t choose when you get a London place!) and Dopey 2019 was close to perfect but marathon day was so hot… London 2019 was just horrible…

I have been thinking about all of this and wondering whether I want another 26.2 enough. I think I do – we’ll see as time goes on I guess. My Dopey 2019 marathon is the fasted I have done at 6.18.49. Part of me really really wants to go under 6 hours and London 2019 suggested that was within reach until I fell. Anyway, while I was thinking about that I was also thinking about my training plan. I was settled on the Disney plan until my silly little brain caught me off guard. As I was thinking about the plan it occurred to me that running two 30-45 minute runs during the week and then a long run at the weekend getting longer every 2 weeks was actually not a huge amount of training. I panicked about whether that’s going to be enough, whether I need more. But then I remembered the London training plan I used last time – it didn’t work for me. It was too hard (mentally I guess) so I ended up skipping runs and going in under trained. If I can stick to the Disney plan, I can run the marathon. I know this. So I tried to put that particular little wobble to bed.

Then came the next one. I have been struggling for motivation. I feel like I was waiting R3NzJfMTTuK8GnIFHbqsnAfor the plan to start and didn’t quite know what to do with myself in the 6 weeks before that. Rather than taking pressure off it seemed to be putting it on. I felt like I needed to be somehow ‘plan ready’ although I have no clue what I think that means. That feeling lost and not knowing where to start was so overwhelming that yesterday I never made it out for my run in spite of having looked forward to it all Friday. So today I had a little re-think. There is no reason why the plan can’t be extended a little. It would solve to things that we’re obviously bothering me. First it would solve the waiting and being plan ready problem. If the plan starts now, the plan starts now. Second, it would allow me to build in some consolidation. I like the plan because it is gentle in one sense. It has a long run and the week after drops to low mileage at the weekend and then increases mileage the next weekend and so on. It’s like one week on and one week off. However, the mileage on the ‘on’ weekends increases pretty relentlessly and arguable in relatively big jumps. Looking at it jumping from 15 to 17 seems like big jump, never mind 17 to 20 miles. I have re-written the plan, starting this coming week and have added some repeats of distances at regular intervals to consolidate and build confidence.

The reason I like a plan is the same reason I like rules – so I can do something different… No, more seriously, the only thing that makes me less likely to run than having a plan is to not have one. If I have a plan I tend to do something even if I am constantly changing the plan, moving things around and making a new plan. If I don’t have a plan I don’t run in any way consistently at all and consistency is going to be key. So while I have mapped out each week until marathon day, I fully expect things to change, for me to decide I don’t need a consolidation week at a particular distance and just crack on, just to find that the next distance seems impossible and needs doing more than once. I feel happier now there is contingency built in for niggles, colds, can’t be bothered days and I didn’t quite make the distance runs. It feels safe. And maybe because of the current situation with Covid-19 or maybe just because I no longer have the luxury of not really knowing what a marathon entails, having a safe feeling training plan is important. Without it I simply won’t go out as much as I need to.

jtHQDqJPRue1IKKqqBGavQSo, week by week rather than in bigger chunks I will share my plan with you and then check back in to see how I am doing with it. Oh and I am bringing back Sunday Weigh-Ins. Expect I will do them on Monday mornings because I don’t want to ruin Sundays! I usually get some stick about talking about weight loss and weighing myself etc so before you feel the need to get in touch, let me be clear, this is not about being thinner or looking any different, it’s simply that I know what running feels like at this weight and at my, let’s call it Dopey weight and the latter is significantly easier. I have more to say on running while fat but that’s another post. For now, here’s the plan for the coming week:

  1. Monday – 30-45 minute run: Run the long way round to the Co-op to get some shopping
  2. Wednesday – 30 -45 minute run: Head up the hill for at least 30 minutes and try some run/walk rather than just walking up, then run down pushing the pace a little
  3. ‘Long’ run Saturday – 3 miles so maybe get up early enough to run the sheep look without fear of people.
  4. Yoga of some kind every day