Wet weather running

Jess Guth4 Comments

Well it hasn’t really got cold yet  – cooler yes but nothing that swaping short sleeves for long sleeves doesn’t sort. It’s the wet I am struggling to get my head round. Wet means a number of things:

  1. Wet means clothes get properly wet rather than just damp from sweat and wet means clingy and clingy means t-shirts don’t hide my wobbly bits which means I feel stupidly self conscious. Yes I know that when I am running there is actually no hiding anything but I can’t see myself running – I can feel clingy clothes
  2. Wet also means getting cold far more easily. This isn’t a problem while running but it is a problem immediately after as we rarely start and finish at our front door. There is usually some walking back or some walking and then driving home involved so wet is not good.
  3. Wet means slippery surfaces and I am already pertrified of slipping and falling. I am not at all sure-footed when running. Rain soaked paths and tracks make this worse
  4. Wet means mud which I actually don’t mind apart from mud meaning an unpredictable kind of slippery – see above.
  5. Wet means that the temptation to stay in and dry is so much stronger.
  6. Wet means grey, wet means low visibility, wet means muted colours and less to see. Wet means the wildlife is hiding and trying to stay dry…

I could probably go on. Actually the last point may be a bit unfair – there isn’t less to see. What there is to see is just different! I’m sure as I get used to running in the grey and wet I will see more things that I don’t yet see and which are not there or look very different in the sunshine. The things to see argument isn’t really a valid one.

I’m trying to combat the other issues. I usually run in trail running shoes round here. I can’t remember if I have blogged about my trainers before. You may have realised that I am not particularly fashion conscious about anything and that includes running shoes. I buy what is comfortable and does the job. I’ve been lucky so far – I have always been able to find really good shoes in the sale. Currently I have a pair of Salomon trail running shoes (XT Hornet if anyone cares – can’t find them on their website now – probably because they’re not current season but there are others there which are very similar!) which I really like. They are perhaps a little heavy – and noticeably heavier than my New Balance road running shoes – but they make me feel as sure-footed as I probably ever will and nicely support my feet. They have a pretty good grip and running on the wet canal path as well as the grass and mud track in the sections where there is no track has been ok so far. I am always a nervous wreck going downhill in the wet but I don’t think I can blame these trainers for that. I bought another pair of Salomon trainers (X-Scream City Trail) in the sale. I haven’t tried them yet but I am thinking they might work really well for the marathon because they feel like they might give me the same stability as the others but they are slightly lighter. I’ll be starting to use them on a couple of shorter runs if and when it is dry and we’re staying on canal path or road. So the wet = slippery issues I’m just going to have to deal with. Any help or advice?

We had a lovely trip to Saltaire a few weeks ago and were just walking round Salts Mills looking at books and other stuff and also popped into the Trek and Trail shop they have in there. I have got so used to being too large for their largest size that I rarely even bother looking properly. However, that’s no longer the case. On their sale rack they had a Ronhill very light waterproof jacket. It was reduced from £150 – reduced significantly – more than 50%. It was a size smaller than I would have normally even looked at but Kath reckoned it might fit. I tried it on and it fits perfectly. I can zip it up and it’s not tight anywhere. I bought it. Well this week was the first time I used it. I had it on during our Sunday run and it is great. I hate getting too hot when running and jackets often make me too hot and sweaty but not this one. It really is breatheable – yes I was hot and sweaty at the end but no more so than if I hadn’t worn the jacket. You can see it on the website if you’re interested. I’m really happy with it – I think it’ll get me through a wet and even a cold winter and it is so light and packs so small that taking it with me on longer runs in case I need it isn’t going to be an issue! I love the fact that it doesn’t cling and it doesn’t ride up. It’s purple – a bit close to pink for me but other than that, perfect really.

So what are your must haves to get through wet weather running?

And we’re back

Jess Guth1 Comment

So, flu. Is that nature’s way of telling me to stay in bed for two weeks? I could have done without it. I didn’t have time to be off work ill. The thing about academia is, if you’re off sick, your work just waits for you and piles up and you get back and there’s all the work there just going ‘hello, welcome back. You were 2 weeks behind already, you’re now 4 weeks behind and the week you had planned this week was always totally unrealistic, so make that 5 weeks’. But it is  what it is, it’s just that without running I am not very good at the ‘it is what it is’ mindset. I knew running was helping me keep a level head and I’ve blogged about my mental health and my little black labrador puppy (my symbol of depression) before but I didn’t quite realise how much it makes a difference to the little day to day niggles and stresses that we all have. So while I was getting more stressed about being off work and generally feeling crap the three things I do to destress and make sense of the world around me where all out of the question: reading – couldn’t see the page without inducing a major headache, writing – ditto and running – I could barely walk upstairs. That mix made for a particularly grumpy and gloomy me.

I started feeling much better on Wednesday and went back to work Thursday. By Friday I was looking forward to trying a run. We had talked about possibly Saturday. Kath’s knee is much better and she is keen to get going on it and start getting back into things and luckily the flu didn’t hit her quite as hard as me and she is recovering well. However, we had to move our sheep from one field to another – sounds simple, it’s only 200 metres or so along a track but add in 7 perfect, experienced and willing sheep and 7 inexperienced, highly strung and skittish ones and you end up with quite a lot of running around, then there was the 5.30am start to avoid dog walkers etc and then the work to get the field and shed tidied up and sorted… We were really quite wiped out after that. Run postponed until this morning.

I woke up and was quite surprised to see it was 8am. Not sure why I was surprised, I’ve been sleeping at least 10 hours a night for the last week or so. I got up and was even more surprised to find that Kath had only been up an hour or so – she’s usually up really early. We had a cup of tea and then did 15 minutes of flexibility yoga. We drove down the hill just in case Kath’s knee relapsed and we’d need the car to get back up the hill. Then we tried running along the canal..

The autumn colours along the canal are stunning at the moment. We’re clearly not the only ones who think so – it was quite busy with walkers, runners, cyclists and dogs. We had set the intervals to one minute running/ 30 seconds walking and planned to be out for 45 minutes. It felt so good to be out. As I was trying to suck the oxygen into slightly unwilling lungs I also made a conscious effort to look around, take in the colours, watch the ducks, watch the dogs – some excited to be out, some plodding along in the slight drizzle; same as their owners really.

It would be wrong to say that the 45 minutes were easy. That’s not quite it. Running for a minute at times felt about all I could manage (but that’s because I knew it was all I had to manage!) and my body didn’t really quite agree that this running things is a good idea. It felt like I had accumulated a load of crap in my lungs, it felt like my legs were a mixture of concrete and jelly – heavy and wobbly at the same time, I felt slightly uncorordinated and not very sure-footed but I also felt a sense of being able to do it. Maybe my ‘I can’t do this’ voice still has flu, or maybe it’s gone on holiday – whatever, it wasn’t there today. Eventhough the run was hard physically it was probably the easiest run I have had mentally. I was excited to be out, running, doing, getting back on track.

We didn’t worry about pace at all. We didn’t look until we had finished. We were at just over 13 minutes per mile. It may sound slightly ridiculous but I am really quite happy about that – we used to work hard to get to 13 minutes per mile and now this was just a first jog after weeks out. I really do think we are making progress and the training is working!

Kath’s knee held up. She said it is a little achey now and she’ll be careful and get some ice on it etc but there is no pain.We came home and did 15 minutes of yoga for runners. Then Kath made pancakes but not before we got on the scales for our weigh in – I have lost a pound, Kath stayed the same. Happy Sunday.

We’re back!

Scarborough running – but not as planned

Jess Guth1 Comment

I had been looking forward to the Yorkshire Coast 10k run. Last time we did this 3 years ago I was so totally unfit that I didn’t enjoy it at all. I was looking forward to taking it all in this time. I was looking forward to running a race which didn’t require me to be out there for about 3 hours… then I got flu. Even as we packed our bags into the car to drive up to Scarborough in Friday afternoon I  really didn’t think I’d be able to run but I still had a day and a bit to recover.

Seeing the road closure signs heightened the excitement and I began to be hopeful that I might be able to run.

Road closed scarboroughWe woke up early on Saturday and decided we’d go for a little jog just to test my lungs and Kath’s knee. It was a gorgeous morning. We walked down to the seafront – the North Bay and turned left to run towards Sealife. We started with a 1 minute run and a 30 seconds walk and kept that going until we got to Sealife. This was our view:

Scarborough morning 2 Scarborough morning 1

Once we turned round we decided to run back without stopping and Kath opted for the softer ground and dropped down onto the beach. I tried to take a picture of her running while running and also tried to capture the view I had running along the beach huts. It was all a bit wobbly but somehow I quite like the pictures:

Scarb running 1Scarb running 2

I tried to run the last 100m as fast as I could just to see if my lungs would hold out. It didn’t  feel top bad as I stopped and we walked back to the hotel for breakfast feeling pretty positive. But then how could you not be happy with this view

Scarborough morning 3

We had a lovely day Saturday but we did walk quite a bit and by the time we got back from the restaurant at maybe 8ish I felt really flakey. I basically just curled up and fell asleep feeling poorly. My foot was also sore. Not sure what I’d done but the arch of my right foot and round my ankle felt like it was burning. Still I thought I’d be fine for Sunday. When we woke up on Sunday it quickly became apparent that neither of us was really up for running. Kath had started with the symptoms that started my flu off a couple of days before but had got much worse over night and felt very poorly. While I felt a bit better my foot still hurt and I was worried about how much just walking the day before had wiped me out. We both really wanted to run but decided it wasn’t sensible. We had a little cry but both felt better having made that call.

We did walk over to the harbour area and cheered the runners on as they went past on the way out and the way back. It was such a gorgeous day and I really wanted to be out there. I watched the runners go by with a mixture of envy and admiration. Admiration for those running those amazingly fast times but somehow more admiration for those further down the pack for whom just putting one foot in front of the other is probably a huge deal, for those who didn’t think they could do it but did, for those who seemed surprised by us cheering them on telling them they were doing really well, admiration particularly for those who were scared and unconfident – I was there not so long ago and on most running days I still am.

We drove home. We made it til about 6.30pm and went to bed. I slept til just before 6am and woke up feeling poorly, with a sore throat and a temperature- cancelled my London trip and went back to sleep for a couple of hours.

I guess the Yorkshire Coast 10k will have to wait another year!

The reason for my marathon madness

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I am bored silly today. I thought I’d be back at work and I was looking forward to teaching but I had a really high temperature over night and my cough has got worse. I’ve felt exhausted today and have dozed on and off but now I am awake and bored. I’ve been thinking about all sorts of stuff and drifting in and out of sleep and it occured to me that I haven’t shared much of the reason we signed up for the marathon. Well I guess there were the personal reasons  – better fitness and health, shifting some weight, the challenge of doing something I was pretty sure I couldn’t do… but there is also the wanting to make  a bit of a difference to the world we live in and raise some money for our chosen charity Panthera.

I do get the irony of going to Disney for a race to raise money for Panthera. The trip is costing us more money than we will raise and there is an argument for saying we should perhaps just given Panthera that money and be done with it but I am sort of hoping that we will raise a good chunk of money for them and also raise awareness of their work. Maybe our running adventure won’t be the last time you support them (Thanks to those of you who have already sponsored me by the way. It really helps!).

So before I forget – you can donate on our justgiving page but you can also donate direct on the Panthera website from where you can also send stunning e-cards  – which are I admit a little expensive but, I think, worth it. They also have an online store but I see that is currently closed.

So what’s your favourite big cat? That question has occupied my flu addled brain today. Lots of people say Lion. Well it it is lions for you, there’s lots on the Panthera site. There are fewer than 30000 lions left. Their number has reduced dramatically and just don’t exisit anymore in 80% of the places they used to roam. Panthera are helping by engaging local communities to better manage their relationships with the lions and reduce conflict. Have a look at Project Leonardo on their website for more

I’m a cat person. I like all cats, including big ones. It’s hard to pick a favourite. I do think snow leopards are stunning and I like the fact that we don’t know that much about them, that they are still so mysterious. They are also under threat. Panthera says that it is thought that only 4000-7000 may remain in the wild. That’s heartbreaking. Panthera are helping through scientific studies that can inform and underpin policy and by working with governments in the snow leopard countries. Again check out the website for more.

I do think my favourite big cat though is the cougar. Why? Maybe because I have seen one. Years ago I went on a trip to Houston, Texas and stayed with friends. They took me on a weekend trip into the depths of southern Texas and I woke up early, looked out of the window of the static caravan thing and there she was – maybe 50-60 metres away just minding her own business. By the time I’d got my camera she was gone but we did later see her tracks. I’d hate to imagine a world where my memory is of a species that doesn’t exist anymore!

There are several projects explained on the panthera website and there are links to the scientific papers underpinning some of them and if that’s not your thing there are also lots of pictures of gorgeous cats! You don’t need youtube for your kitten fix!

So, I will drag my butt round a stupid amount of miles for the rest of this year and come January for the big event. If you can help support us in that running mission whether by donating or sharing our story and encouraging others to sponsor us or donate directly then please do. Donations made to Panthera are channelled straight into the programmes rather than the running of the charity so they really do make an enourmous difference! THANK YOU

Some ideas for a races bucket list

Jess Guth1 Comment

I was really hoping to be back at work today. I had a day of meetings and committees all of which are important and I have a writing deadline on Friday. However, my balance is off completely. Earache has thrown everything out and I find it quite hard to navigate through an open door. I also only have about 30-45 seconds between coughing fits whenever I try to speak, a brain like cotton wool and aches everywhere. I’m bored though which is probably a good sign as it means I am getting better.  I have tried to do some work and keep working on the book chapter that is due but I just can’t concentrate on anything that actually requires brain power.

I am also getting a little anxious about the Scarborough 10km run now. I was feeling quite confident about being able to do it and run it in a reasonable time and enjoy it too. I am less sure now. I have a few days yet so we will see.

I have been catching up on reading blogs and enjoyed BritsRunDisney‘s Bucket List of races. I thought I might make my own little list. As I started thinking and looking online I realised that I am thinking far more about places I like which means I am quite probably missing some just because they are in places I haven’t been yet! Anyway, here are some of the races I fancy doing – not all in one year obviously and some of them are pipe dreams given the cut off times, the locations and the time of year…

Hamburg Marathon – This sort of feels like my home city marathon and therefore should be done if I am going to be crazy enough to attempt that distance again! It would be nice to run in places I recognise and to have some of those childhood memories to keep me going. In 2016 it falls on my grandad’s birthday but it also bang in the middle of lambing time for us so that’s not going to work

Berlin Marathon – I think I would love this. It’s got to be a pretty flat course, I don’t remember any hills in Berlin and at every turn there will be history to look at and think about. It also holds memories of a couple of good trips and it always has an energetic and fun atmosphere.

London Marathon – well who doesn’t, secretly at least, want to run this one?

Great North Run – Another iconic UK race and one that I have always had a soft spot for. I have watched it on tv over the years and always been in awe of the runners. I always watched it with completely detachment – that was never going to be me (although I sometimes wishes it could be) until this year where I suddenly felt such an urge to be part of it and be there. So maybe I’ll get to do it before I am 40. That would be cool.

Starwars the Dark Side at Disney World – There is something special about Disney and I will probably want to go do the Disney World Marathon again once the pain wears off! However, there are other race weekends which look a lot of fun. I like the look of the Starwars events both at Disney World and Disney Land and maybe even something like the challenge of 10km plus half marathon… ok I clearly have the flu!

Toronto (Half) Marathon – I love Toronto. I don’t know what it is about the city but if I need to be in a city then Toronto is up there on the list of cities I can cope with. So for that reason and because the course is desribed as downhill… However that comes with a downside – the website suggests a 12 minute mile minimum pace or you may be asked to move off the road. That’s too much pressure for me! I may have to see how this running journey goes before committing to that kind of pace! The half marathin may however be more realistic

Hadrian’s Wall Half Marathon – This does not sound easy but it sounds like it would be a gorgeous route. I like the idea of running off road rather than just on the road and this race seems to give you that without being a very scary actual trail race. While I’d like to run more in the wild I am also acutely aware that I am not fit enough – it’s a whole different game that! I’ll keep practicing on my own but not in a race just yet. This though looks amazing and doable. Just look at the pictures from the course!

There are then loads of more local 5km and 10km runs which I’d like to try – local inevitably means hilly though! So another day of more thinking about running than actually moving (never mind running!)