Category: Training

I joined a gym

Jess Guth1 Comment

I don’t really like gyms. I have had memberships at various places over the years and I can’t say I’ve ever really enjoyed going. Sometimes I managed a solid workout and felt good afterwards but mostly I was vaguely amused and vaguely put off by blokes strutting in front of the mirrors stroking their biceps.

So why join now? I think this might be complicated. I have joined the university gym. I can see it from my desk (it’s in the building next to mine) and it never seems to be busy which is good. It’s cheap for staff which is also good. I  went and had a little look around last week. It seemed fine – maybe a little tired around the edges but the equipment looked good. I thought about it for a few days – not liking gyms is a pretty good reason not to bother after all.

However, I do want to keep running and it is fairly obvious that in order to avoid injury I am going to have to cross train a little and make sure I build a bit more core strength. I am also stupidly weak – I have no upper body strength at all and apparently the sheep aren’t keen for me to practice holding and turning them every day to build up some muscle. I suspect the gym can help with that. Essentially going to the gym is about being a better (and by that I mean healthier rather than faster or whatever) runner.

That’s not the most important reason to join though. I felt like I needed a space away from my desk where I can go and take time out for me. I can’t shut the door as I’m in an open plan office and I don’t want get stressed or anxious so I need a a sort of safe space or escape route. I think the gym will work for that. Just going outside won’t work because I’m in the middle of Leeds with the city and traffic noise. I will try go on Fridays in-between teaching (I have one class at 9am and another at 3) and although I haven’t got as much time in-between classes I could also do Wednesdays. I just figured that I can disappear for an hour and burn off some adrenalin if I’m having a tough day.

The key to making the gym my safe space (or one of my safe spaces anyway) is to take the pressure off. I need to shake off my history with gyms and just focus on what I want it for now. I may only go once a week. I may use it mostly to get a few short runs in when the weather is hideous and I may never really get into the weights stuff. I think I’m ok with all of that. So I went to join at lunchtime today and took my stuff with me. I filled in the form, got everything sorted and looked around – there were 4 people on the gym so it wasn’t busy but they all looked like super fit gym bunnies so I lost my nerve and went back to my desk. No pressure remember, that’s fine. I’ll have another go another day. For today I’ll take the flights of stairs that trip made me do!

Let’s talk about pace

Jess Guth2 Comments

Yes, let’s. Better talking about it than actually doing anything about perhaps increasing my own! Pace is a thorny issue with running isn’t it. It’s all soo relative. I was talking to someone the other day who told me she’d got home after a 5km and realised she’d done it in 32 minutes and was ecstatic and then her husband went and came back all grumpy because it had taken him just over 30 minutes and he said it was his slowest ever… Hm, Pace.

So, rewind a little bit. I should explain what triggered this post. I was looking at information about the sports facilities offered at the university I now work at. I came across information about the running club and noted with interest that the focus was on beginners and intermediate runners. I liked that. I’d never go of course- it’s a running club, not something for me – it’s for, like, proper runners…

Anyway, I was pleased that the institution I am now affiliated with included beginner runners. And then I read on. If you’re a beginner, the running club, it appears, runs roughly 3 miles at roughly an 11-12 minutes per mile pace. A whole wave of thoughts hit me all at once.

  1. 11-12 minutes per mile is not beginner pace
  2. I’m not a beginner
  3. I’m slower than that most of the time
  4. I don’t think I’m a beginner
  5. So moving from beginner status is just about getting faster?
  6. Oh – I’ll be a beginner forever
  7. What would happen if I went?

I’ve not been running that long, there’s lots I don’t know about running but I’m not a beginner. At some point since Dopey my perception of me as a runner shifted. I’m still not really a runner, never will be BUT I’m not a beginner.  I don’t see myself as a runner at all but I also don’t see myself as a beginner. It’s odd. But according to that pace guidance I’m not even at beginner level. I might be able to hold that pace for 3 miles on a good day but I couldn’t be sure. I have done a mile in under 10 minutes – once.

Anyway, it made me think about pace and running and what that all means. And it’s not so much the groups that are problematic – having an 11-12 minute mile groups is great- lots of place don’t have that and the slowest is 10 minutes. I think the problem is the labels given to the groups. You see I might never get to intermediate – which would be 10 minutes per mile sustained over 5-6 miles. I might however get to be a very experienced runner who knows what works for her and what doesn’t, who can put together a sensible training plan to achieve her goals, who can work on increasing her pace, her distance and her pace over specified distances. In fact I think I am making good progress towards that.

So actually the problem is labelling running groups as beginner, intermediate etc. You could never have really run but find out that actually you are naturally pretty speedy or you could  have been running for years and years but never really get much faster – either because you are happy at your pace or because you’re focussed on something else or because it is just not going to happen. Every now and again I get frustrated that the chances of me getting much faster are slim to none but mostly that’s ok. I know I can get a little faster if I train and work on it but it won’t be by much. Mostly that’s ok. Pace is relative. What is fast for me is painfully slow for someone else.

So, rant over. Run at whatever pace you want, you can and let’s outrun those labels that always seem to come with a hint of judgement. As for the running club, I was never planning on going anyway…

Busy not running

Jess Guth2 Comments

Ok, ok so you know how this works – no posts, means no running. I have been utterly crap! My fat arse seems to want to stay glued to the sofa. Not in the depression fogged way of late but in a lazy sort of ‘yeah I’ll go later’ sort of a way. I guess that’s sort of a positive – I can get off the sofa, just don’t want to.

Actually that’s not entirely true – I have wanted to get off the sofa and I have done stuff – I’ve walked miles both here and on our trip to the Lakes, I’ve sorted photos, I’ve organised books onto shelves, I’ve sorted work files, I’ve looked after our sheep, looked at new cars, looked at sheep trailers (stories yet to be shared on the sheep blog…). I’ve been busy. At least it feels like I have. All of this is of course just an excuse. I could easily have found time to run – just didn’t want to.

It’s 24 days to the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon. Hm, I think I better start thinking about running again. I think we’re ok. I’m not really panicked yet. I’m not worried about not making the distance – that’s the nice thing about a half marathon. It is doable, not so stupidly impossible like a marathon. I will be slow because I always am and I don’t mind. I am going into this with a slightly different mindset I think. I am not worried or scared. I am looking forward to it. I also have the memory of the Dopey Challenge Half which I loved. Yes it was hard somewhere in the middle where I felt a bit miserable but it didn’t last long and the overall experience was really positive. That’s what I am aiming for again. Just being there, doing it and taking it all in. If I do that the finish line will come to me!

For a few days I’ve felt grumpy about running and fitness and weight and food and ‘being good’. Just the very idea of trying to be good makes me want to eat a bar of chocolate. That thinking doesn’t work for me. I’ll refocus on fuelling and eating good stuff rather than being good! I feel better about it all today, much better and I’ve got my running gear on so when Kath breaks for lunch we can go and have a little trot out and then I’ll decide whether I want to panic about running 13.1 miles in just over three weeks!

Oh, did I just say I was LOOKING FORWARD TO a half marathon? How odd.

An expensive little run

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Today has been a funny day. We were both in funny moods and didn’t quite know what to do with ourselves. We lounged around in our PJs watching the replay of yesterday’s olympic action. As they were counting down to Mo Farrah’s 5km race we said we really should go and do something. We were supposed to do half mile repeats today according to the training plan- oh and we all know how I love those. Unfortunately for me (or fortunately maybe) Kath asked how far Saltaire is from here – maybe because I had suggested going for lunch a while earlier just to get out of the house. It’s not quite six miles from home and we figured we could do the half mile repeats going in that direction, have a little look around Salts Mills and then get some food.

So that’s what we did. I wore my new crop Nike running tights I reviewed yesterday and my new Salomon trainers I reviewed the other day. Hm. Ok the pants are fine – they stayed up which is always a bonus and they were comfy. However, there is a seam that runs round the inside which sits just under the draw string and that has chafed a little. I have had a bath and sat for a while but it is still red now – not sore though. I felt it most as we were walking home towards the end. The shoes are a different story. My feet were not happy, not happy at all. As I started running they felt uneven  and achey almost immediately so when we stopped I loosened the left one a little. The next interval was’t better – feet were really quite sore. After the third my feet were in agony, I think I cried a little. After the 4th I loosened both as much as I could but it didn’t really help. The shoes felt stiff rather than supportive and every step was painful.

Somehow I got to 6 and then 7 and then I thought I might as well finish. The last one actually wasn’t so bad – maybe because it was the last one or maybe because my feet were finally getting used to the trainers. There was no way I could push the pace though – it took all my focus to just keep running.

The distance was perfect for running 8 x half a mile with 3 minutes between each. We finished the last walk just a few steps away from the entrance to Salts Mill. We had a little look around and bought a few books and cards and then headed over to Don’t Tell Titus for some food and more importantly water. We sat and enjoyed their punjabi nachos, pita bread and hummus and some halloumi. Then we set off to walk back home but got drawn into a lovely little art gallery/shop and bought some more cards, earmarked some gorgeous prints for future purchases and then Kath bought me these gorgeous little earrings. I so rarely see any I like and I was drawn to these (they’re hard to photograph!).

So anyway, we spent a small fortune in Saltaire – I blame whoever designed running pants with credit card sized pockets for that one! It was too nice a day to bugger about with trains and/or buses running to a Sunday timetable so we decided to walk back home. It was a lovely walk along the canal. We saw mostly ducks and a swan or two but also a heron, a few wrens and other small birds and one very happy spaniel-type dog playing in the canal. There were other dogs too but this one stood out because it was so excited and happy to be playing in the water. We can learn a thing or two from that!

We went straight to our sheep rather than going home first because we thought we wouldn’t get going again if we stopped.We needed to move the girls to their bigger field as they have eaten the one they’re in now right down so we thought we might as well do that now. Luckily they were all in a good mood and were happy to follow me and the food bucket. Well when I say follow, once they realised where they were going they shot past me and I had to jog on behind! So in addition to our 5.2 mile run (well 4 miles of that were running), we also walked about 7 – probably a bit more- miles. My feet were fine once we’d had a little rest and on the walk home they felt very well supported and not at all achey. I’ll try the shoes running again but if my feet are painful again then they’ll be relegated to walking shoes and I’ll try and get a pair just like the previous ones which needed no real breaking in and were comfortable from the first run.

Right I’m off to do some yoga and get an early night. Happy running.

 

3 ish miles of running, walking and chatting

Jess Guth1 Comment

We set off for the sheep loop backwards again this morning. Just because it’s a sort of door to door loop without the need to really get to anywhere to start or to walk home from anywhere. I wore my new pants and new trainers – more on them later.

We plodded our way down to the canal. I felt pretty good but could definitely feel that my eating and drinking has been a bit all over the place for the last few days. That G&T I had last night seemed to still be sloshing around in my tummy. Kath was obviously the same because she got a nasty stitch as we were about half way along the canal. It was an evil one and wouldn’t shift at all so we walked a bit and when it eased tried running again  – we made it to the bottom of the golf course but that was it. We passed a border collie with her (?) human who remarked on the lovely day we were having and I thought to myself that she was absolutely right, it was a lovely morning.

We walked all the way up from the canal and had vague ideas about running again but then we met Libby the dog and one of her humans and stopped to say hello and had a little chat. Kath’s mum was in the sheep field pulling up thistles – we said hello to her too. Then we met another dog and his human and we stopped for lengthy chat about holidays. Then we walked on home, spotted a few goldfinches along the way arrived to a garden full of sparrows. We did decide to run all the way up Ilkley Road though just to get a sense of achievement and we made it – it’s noticeably easier when you come to it at the end of a walk rather than a run.

It was lovely to be out though and it was still early enough to have a sense of the world around us just waking up. I was hoping we might see a kingfisher again but that wasn’t to be. We did see a heron fly over and we did see lots of ducks and a few rabbits on the golf course and a baby bunny in our fields.

Not exactly a training run but a nice little outing.