Category: Training

And I nearly ran again

Jess GuthLeave a comment

The beauty of working at home – when that afternoon slump hits I can put on my trainers and run it off. Well that’s the theory. Of course with the afternoon slump also comes the ‘I can’t possibly run I am waaaaaayyyyyyy tooooooooooooo tiiiiiireeeed’ feeling. But when I can make myself go it really does help. That was the plan for today then.

I’ve been a bit sluggish today all day, bit dozy and tired but nothing too odd for a Monday. Anyway, Kath has taken time off work to be around for lambing so we set off to run together.I didn’t feel quite right from the first steps really. Can’t quite describe it, just off. I figured it was just a case of mind over matter and I’d settle in but I didn’t. It wasn’t so much like running through treacle like it can be when you have tired legs, I felt wobbly. It felt a bit like running on an uneven and shifting surface. I also felt slightly sick. I thought about this carefully during the walk break, gave myself a talking to and set off again for the next run but it was exactly the same. I stopped. It didn’t feel very sensible to keep going. Kath offered to walk back home with me but that would just be silly. I was perfectly fine as long as I didn’t try and run. So she went on and I walked home.

I don’t know if I am just tired from 3 days of back to back running after having that lurgy or whether I was a bit dehydrated or what but whatever message my body was trying to give, it’s been received. No running today. Got it. Part of me is a little grumpy about that because I was looking forward to the having run feeling but a porridge bar and a cuppa on the sofa aren’t so bad either. It’s easy to forget that rest is also important but it is, so I shall rest today and see how things are tomorrow!

And I ran again

Jess GuthLeave a comment

Yep, 3rd day in a row. It’s been a funny old day. I got up feeling positive and quite energetic but my legs were really tight. I’m sure my hamstrings were 2 inches shorter than they were yesterday. We had cereal and fruit for breakfast and did some planning for our Disney trip in September and a bit of tidying up and pottering about. Then we went for Sunday lunch at Kath’s mum’s. We talked about Disney plans some more and made some reservations etc. Then we checked on the sheep (all fine) and then came home. Once home I felt a bit flat. I didn’t quite know what to do with myself. There was some work stuff that needs doing but I’m trying really hard to not let work interfere with weekends. We’ve seen what comes of that and it’s not pretty.

So I had a bit of a battle with myself. I was on the sofa. Getting off the sofa is really hard. I’d been on it for a while faffing on the computer, half heartedly looking at some work stuff, planning tomorrow’s work day. But I felt a bit lost. I was thinking about all sorts of stuff but in particular of a friend who currently has her son in hospital fighting anorexia. It’s not my story to tell, so I won’t say any more but I suddenly thought that if an 11 year old can somehow find the strength to battle his deamons in the way this kid is then I can ask for help to get off this damn sofa and go and run. I asked Kath if she’d take me. She’d already been once this morning and I wasn’t sure she wanted to go again or indeed whether I could run after a full Sunday dinner complete with chocolate pudding and vanilla ice cream. She agreed.

We got changed and did some yoga to try and get my legs loosened a bit and then we set off on a slow plod. We used intervals all the way and actually it was ok. It was a little slower than the same route yesterday but also more consistent and I got a little further up the hills. In all honesty, a Sunday dinner is not good running fuel – at least not if you have pudding. I felt like I was seconds away from a stitch from hell all the way round and at times I felt more than a little sick but complaining wasn’t an option. Today running wasn’t about me. It was about a kid in a hospital bed fighting like hell. Of course me running doesn’t make any difference to him, it’s somewhat of a hollow gesture and part of me can’t help feeling that it’s all a bit selfish on my part. After all him being there made me get my butt out the door. Thinking about him made me not quit on the hills but that’s not about him, that’s about me. It changed my perspective and made me shout at myself. I can hear myself now: ‘Just suck it up sunshine, you’ve nothing to complain about’.

So somehow my 3.1 miles seem so pathetic in the face of other people’s battles but my friend, her son and their family are in my thoughts and I’m sending strength and maybe me (and many others in our little running family) putting one foot in front of the other with him in mind is a show of support and solidarity from which they can draw some comfort and hope.

I ran again

Jess GuthLeave a comment

It wasn’t awful.

I had in my head that I wanted to run again today. Back to back might seem ambitious given pre-virus running form, never mind post virus getting back into running but somehow it seemed to make sense. Except that I didn’t seem to want it enough to get off the sofa.

Our first ewe might be due today so we’ve had a few trips on to the field to check for lambs (or problems, but mainly lambs) – nothing yet. I’ve also been grumpy today. No particular reason, I think I woke up slightly grumpy and never really snapped out of it. Coming up to 5pm I was stuck on the sofa vaguely wondering whether I might have a late afternoon nap when Kath asked me if I wanted to go for a run or do some yoga. It didn’t seem like a ‘we could go for a run or we could do some yoga’ sort of a question, more a ‘we are doing one or the other, choose’ sort of a thing. So I got changed.

We decided to run our sheep loop backwards so we could check the ewes on our way. We also agreed to use run/walk intervals – in other words be realistic. Obviously that suggestion didn’t come from me. We set off and ran down Ilkley Road (down is good, going this way is just fine!), turned right and went up a little and then turned off to head down the hill towards the canal. I hate running down hill so we walked the worst bit. Once at the bottom we dropped into the intervals. I was just about to complain about how hard it was even running 2 minutes when I saw a fish of blue and orange cut across our path, cross the canal and disappear into a tree on the other side. A kingfisher. I only caught a glimpse but the flash of colour was unmistakable. I decided not to whinge.

We plodded along the canal in 2minute/1minute intervals and then slowly walked up the hill. My lungs were burning but not as bad as yesterday and my calf muscles were really tight walking up hill. Once at the top we dropped back into the intervals, ignoring one walk break until we stopped at the ewes and briefly stopped the watch. All was calm and they were all together and showing no signs of anything happening so we plodded on. We managed the intervals until about half way up Ilkley Road and then we walked home from there. 3.1 miles. Slow, hard but so worth it. I didn’t enjoy it as such but I am enjoying having done it and I feel loads better for it. Thanks for dragging my butt out Kath!

I ran…

Jess GuthLeave a comment

…it was awful and wonderful all at the same time.My plan was to get up this morning and go for a run. I woke up, dozed off again, felt tired and sluggish and decided there was no way on this earth that I was well enough to run. I had a fairly productive work morning instead. Then, about 11.30ish I started running out of steam. Marking formative student work took longer than it should, I was unfocused… I decided I’d go for a run. Then I procrastinated a bit and mulled that thought over. Then I got changed. In my head I had this notion of an amazing, easy, evenly and fast paced 5k that would see me coming home in glorious sunshine barely having broken a sweat and certainly not huffing and puffing. Well I knew that was fantasy – the sun’s not shining for a start. So for once in my life I thought I’d be realistic. My aim was run to see the sheep and back. Not even the furthest field, just the first field. A round trip of 1.6 miles.

After a few minutes doing battle with the Garmin (I seem to have forgotten how to set it up) I set off at a gentle jog down the hill. Hm, not too bad really. Then I turned right and started up the hill. Oh bother. There was a bloke walking quite fast just ahead of me so I focused on catching him and as I nearly had him it occurred to me that I couldn’t possibly stop now. I mean how silly would that look. So I just tried to keep running a little faster than he was walking. Shit, are your lungs supposed to burn like that?

I turned left and gratefully waddled down hill. I was struggling to get my breath back and recover. I saw a friend of ours who was just loading his van for a trip to his caravan and was more than happy to stop for a quick chat. I stopped the watch, had a brief natter and then carried on. Bugger, forgot to start the watch again. I arrived at the sheep. 8 very pregnant ewes lying in the field looking thoroughly fed up. One ewe is possibly due tomorrow and she was separated. I watched her for a bit but no sign of anything imminent so I plodded on a little bit, said a quick hello to the tups in field 2 and turned round. I stopped for another breather at the ewes again and then set off for the long slog home. I made the first slope. Walked a few steps and then kept running.

I had to walk again a couple of times coming up the next slope and when I finally got to the top and turned right to go downhill my head was pounding with every step. I decided I wouldn’t try to run Ilkley Road, I barely manage that on a good day, but would instead power walk that. Just as I got to the last corner with the last nasty little slope our friends, the ones I’d seen earlier,  came up the road in their van – I set off running and the beep of encouragement and their wave gave me the last bit of energy to power up the slope and round the corner into our road. It was hard, horrible and slow but it was so good to be out. I feel better than I did before I went and am having a pretty productive afternoon. All assessments marked and teaching for next week prepped so I have the weekend free to do nice things – like maybe that 5k in glorious sunshine that leaves me glowing rather than a sweaty whimpering mess? Yeah that.

 

Road Running

Jess GuthLeave a comment

Quick update

Didn’t run Sunday because K had a niggly knee and I am not known for my willpower or desire to go running on my own. So it’s just as well we went on Saturday. For today the plan said 50 minutes slow. I do like a plan that says slow. I can do slow.

We had toyed with the idea of going this morning but I wanted Kath to have her knee checked out first which she did this morning and she is cleared to run. Our track record of going for a run after work is poor. Once I get in from work I really don’t like to be parted from the sofa! However, this moomin butt needs to keep moving! We arranged for Kath to pick me up from the station and then to park at Mum’s and run from there. I got changed there and then we set off. We ran along the road which had the advantage of street lighting and of being relatively flat. It has the disadvantage of being a relatively busy road and a boring out and back route.

We set the watch to 17 2 minute run/1 minute walk intervals (51 minutes) and then the Garmin wouldn’t lock onto the satellite. Rather than messing with it we just set off. It felt fast but it also felt quite flowing. Well when I say fast, I mean fast for me – for the rest of the world I am really talking about marginally faster than a brisk dog walking pace. Running along the road is odd. We’ve never really done it before. There wasn’t much to look at and there was the traffic noise so my focus was different and I realised I was focusing on breathing – not in a ‘I can’t breathe’ sort of way but in a ‘oh I prefer to sound of breathing to the sound of traffic’ kind of a way. I was focused on me and that’s not something I am all that comfortable with but it did mean being more aware of form, breathing and when things tightened up and when things felt good.

Surprisingly, mostly it felt pretty good even if hard and on almost all runs I managed to keep the pace until the end of the 2 minutes, I just had one wobble as we were heading up a slope and I lost my stride pattern and everything felt out of sync. I kept thinking I was surprised at how ok it all felt. Ok is not something I usually feel when running.

As we don’t have the data from the Garmin we had to rely on Google Maps which reliably informs me that we ran 4 miles exactly. So that means that finally -for the first time in ages – we managed a decent length run at under 13 minute mile pace.

In other news – Sunday weigh in yesterday showed a 2 pound gain. Hmph but ok – readjusting after the few days of no food and I suppose I’ll have to admit to the chocolate biscuits and the 2 days of university sand which lunches…

In more other news – the Wanderlust TV yoga – we’ve done days 1-4 and it is helping although I was struggling to keep up a little on Day 4. It’s useful to get more guidance on technique and this morning we did the yoga Studio 20 minute beginner am sequence and goodness it is harder when you do it properly! Right I am off to have a bath and then try Day 5.