We are back on track. After having tweaked something in my calf muscle on Sunday I was a bit fed up and disillusioned with the whole running thing. I did get a bit excited about registering for the Marathon weekend but everything felt a bit flat. I felt a bit foolish for thinking that running might actually be something I could do and there was a whole lot of ‘you should have known, you can’t run, you know this, why bother trying, you just look silly…’ kind of stuff going through my head. I have to admit that I was relieved when Kath suggested giving us another day’s rest yesterday. I didn’t want to run. I was back to thinking that running is not for me and I am not for running.

However, we have registered. We are committed to doing it and even at my grumpiest there was still a part of me that wants to show that I can do this or that, at the very least, I can try. So today I came home from work and with considerable anxiety, though not reluctance really, I got changed, put my trainers on and we headed out. I really wasn’t sure about my calf muscle so we set off very very very very slowly (there might have been people walking their dogs faster than we were running). My calf was tight but not painful so on we went.

The aim was 3.5 miles – the 3.5 miles we didn’t do on Sunday. We went along the canal to have somewhere flat to run and because there is always lots to distract as we run. Because we were going so slow we actually chatted a little bit which is something I never usually do (Kath has since said that it freaked her out a bit because if I say anything at all normally I just swear). We saw lots of ducks and swans, a few little ducklings, two herons (or possibly one heron twice), a mad labrador type dog jumping into the canal after a squeaky toy and a few other runners and cyclists. It felt good to be out.

I felt comfortable plodding along. I was happy with the 1.5 minutes running and 30 secs walking. When we had a bit less than a mile left I suggested leaving out a walk phase so we tried that and ran for 3.5 minutes. Still comfortable and not really puffing much at all so we walked the walk phase and then started running again and just kept going until the end of the 3.5 miles.

So, 3.5 miles in 48 minutes with average pace of 13.49 minutes per mile. Yes, slow – but well within allowed pace for the marathon and I felt like I could have kept going at that for a much much longer distance. Importnatly my calf muscle is behaving itself. It’s a little tight but not painful so with a bit of tlc, heat and ice I think it’ll be fine.

I’m back to thinking that maybe, just maybe I can do this. Maybe

When I started this blog I did so partly to share my experience but partly also because I find writing therapeutic, it’s a way for me to vent and to deal with crap and negative stuff. I was sure that I’d be writing post after post about how hard I was finding it and how rubbish I felt about the running journey and that just every now and again I’d have an almost excited positive post… So I am somewhat taken aback by how things are going since I started the blog. It’s going well. It is totally utterly bizarre but the running is going well. We are in week 7 of this programme. We have done our two 30 minute runs this week and they have both been fun. We decided at the weekend sitting in our little summerhouse with a beer that we would up the running time and keep the walking time the same. Seemed like a great idea curled up on a beanbag bottle in hand. When it actually came to doing it I was less sure. However, running for  90 seconds and then walking for 30 secsonds really hasn’t felt any different to just running for 1 minute. Both our runs this week have been evening runs. On Tuesday we ran our 30 mins at a 13.01 minutes per mile pace and had fun doing it. I think we even had a conversation half way round. Setting off today I was keen to try and push the pace a little up the hills as I tend to really slow down and also to run more confidently down hill. It worked and we ran 2.37 miles with a pace of 12.39 minutes per mile. I did huff and puff at the end but I was really pleased with that run. So I’m not really struggling at this point. I don’t need to vent. I just need to share my bemusement!

Next up 3.5 miles at some point over the weekend

A marathon seems about as likely as winning the lottery without buying a ticket today. We went for our 40 minute run first thing this morning. We thought a good positive start to the day would set up our Sunday nicely. Neither of us was very imaginative about the route today so we started off from home and when past our sheep field and joined the route we’d done during the week for our 30 minute runs. My legs felt tired and my right calf muscle and my left shin felt a bit tight. Neither of us felt much like pushing the pace so we agreed that we’d have a slow plod round and try and enjoy it as best we could. That mostly worked and it was lovely to jog along our field with a gang of lambs running with us for a short burst. Then we saw two jays and then our ram relaxing in his field. I didn’t see much for the next two runs then because I was huffing my way up the hill – althiugh actually at that significantly slower pace there was also significantly less huffing. Slowly jogging down the golf course was quite nice, there were one or two playing. The canal was still very quiet with just one or two dog walkers and keen cyclists. Even most of the ducks were still asleep. We saw ducklings. Only two sets but the first set hat 8, the second had 12.

I’m not sure I really enjoyed it but it was an ok run. I am always disappointed when it’s not as fast as the last one but Kath keeps telling me to get out of that mindset and she’s right. We’re doing it and running 3 times a week is beginning to become part of our routine.

So next week brings 3 30 minute runs. We’re aiming for Tuesday and Thursday evening and then either Saturday or Sunday morning. We’ve also planned food for the week as both of us are really getting the munchies for the rest of the day after running and because I could really do with shifiting a few pounds (and then a few more!). Today is our naughty day so we are having sausages and yorkshire pudding with loads of veg. For the rest of week we are planning on a quorn chilli, salmon on a bed of quinoa, jacket spuds,  a greek salad and pasta with a simple roast veg and tomato sauce. We’ve also got stuff for a healthy-ish version of pancakes for breakfast, loads of fruit, eggs for scrambled eggs on toast, peanut butter on toast and bagles and humous. I had planned on  a banana loaf for a bit of a treat but in a complete baking fail I used self-raising flour instead of plain and it all went horribly wrong so we may have to re-think that. Kath made some lovely courgette and dark chocolate buns last week.

Oh and I have lost 1.5 pounds over this last week so overall we’re going in the rigth direction. Happy Sunday!