Tag: 10KM

Chasing Minnie – the 10km

Jess Guth1 Comment

MinnieI am sitting in bed getting ready to sleep and be ready for the half marathon tomorrow. The 10km race today was in a way more what I expected. I enjoyed some bits of the run but overall can’t say I loved it but I love having done it. We overdid the walking round the parks yesterday. We did well over 20km over and above the race and we really should have rested. We went to the Pasta in the Park party and it was good for grabbing some food but they were laying the music so loud you couldn’t talk to other runners anyway and we were so tired that we left as soon as we’d eaten and even skipped watching the illuminations from the reserved area. We will try and go back and catch them another time though.

when I woke up this morning I felt nervous and scared. I wasn’t looking forward to it. I was worried. It was raining too so the space blanket thingies they handed out yesterday were really useful to keep the worst of the rain off. We boarded a bus about 3.40 and got to the start. We sat ourselves in one of the tents and stayed dry and warm. We ate our bananas and about 4.45 they opened the way through to the corals. D again for this one. We went to the loo just before we entered the coral and then waited in the rain for the 5.30start. We crossed the start line about 6am.image

The plan was to take it easy but to run the first section to get out of all the major congestion. That worked pretty well and we ran the first 8 minutes or so and then settled into our 2 minute running, 1 minute walking intervals. I was finding it much harder than yesterday. It was much more humid and my legs were tired. The first 3 miles were along roads and there wasn’t much in the way of entertainment or support. I was just about to slip into that negative cycle of finding it hard and the thinking I can’t do this anyway when we ran past a screen showing Diseny cartoons and playing music and I found myself singing along ‘I’ve got a feeling…tonight’s gonna be a good good night..’ And things felt easier. Shortly after the 3 mile mark we entered Epcot and running through Epcot was again enjoyable. I belted out frozen’s ‘Let it Go’ and marvelled at the fact that I could run and sing at the same time. Mile 4 came and we ran along the Boardwalk, an area I hadn’t ever been to before so it was interesting to look at and there was quite a lot of very vocal support and I suddenly got all emotional and jogged along balling my eyes out for about 3 minutes. No idea why but I was just completely overwhelmed for a few minutes. Mile 5 came quickly after that even though my breathing was lol over the place. We decided to run the last mile. After about half a mile though my tummy gave an almighty gurgle and bubbled dangerously away to itself. I asked for a walk break and we took the next 2 as we ran through the final bit of Epcot. A bloke running much faster tried to cut in front, possibly for a photo op with an official photographer but he misjudged the gap and bumped into a woman, slipped and fell on his backside knocking into me in the process. He got up and sped off. The incident had kept my mind off my tummy and running and then suddenly we’d passed the 6 mile marker and then we could see the finish line.

Just as we turned into the straight leading up to it the Star Wars theme tune started playing and it was so so hard to to sprint but just keep it steady. Our official time was 1.20.36 which means we were running well within ourselves and gives me confidence for tomorrow, particularly as we both felt comfortable at that pace with those intervals.

We collected our medals, snack box, water and another space blanket and headed off to get the monorail back to the hotel where we had a breakfast reservation. It turned out that we’d been told the wrong time for the start of the monorail but after a bit of walking backwards and forwards (yeah, thanks for that) we were directed to the monorail and one was started early. We got to our room in time to quickly get changed which was good because my clothes were all soaked through with sweat from me and with rain. No time for a shower though.

imageAfter breakfast I felt much better. We’ve tried to take it easy today. We’ve done some yoga, we also washed and dried some of our running clothes and went to the Magic Kingdom where we went on a few rides and sat and watched one of the parades as well as people from various tea and water stops. We had booked an early tea so were back at the hotel by 7pm. I’ve laid out my half marathon clothes for the morning and packed my bag to take with comfy clothes to change into.

I am tired and will curl up and sleep now (it’s about 8pm). I have again done well over 20k today all in but I feel more rested than I did yesterday and though tired my legs are generally ok. I’m also hopefully going to get a little more sleep so I am looking forward to the half marathon, to seeing what entertainment they have on the course, to running through the Magic Kingdom and Epcot and to getting this thing done!

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!

Leeds 10km Run for All

Jess Guth4 Comments

Today was the day. Our first race. I use the term loosely – I don’t race. I plod along. Be that as it may, today we were tackling our first running event since the half marathon 2.5 years ago. I was excited and scared in equal measure. We had a cup of tea in bed and then got up, got our running gear on and had a bowl of porridge. We set off about 7.30am for the 40 minute drive into Leeds. We couldn’t find the way into the car park we had planned on using and Leeds is an absolute pain at the best of times, with road closures it was impossible. So we had a rather stressful 20 minutes getting on and off loops and eventually finding a car park that had an entrace we could get to. Once parked, we walked over to the Headrow amd I munched my banana on the way.

We joined a queue for the loo (I’ve used worse) and then we just waited around for a bit – actually our delayed arrival meant that we didn’t really have to wait that long once we had found our assembly area. It wasn’t that clear where we needed to be or how to get into it – it all seemed blocked off so we just ducked under a tape to get into the ‘green’ area. The blue and red runners went first and then the greens followed. The mass warm up was just stupid – mostly because they had told us all to move to the front and fill any gaps so there was no room to actually do the warm up. They sent the blues and reds on their way and then walked us up to the start. We set off towards the front of the greens and off we went:

First km – well it went quite quick but didn’t help me settle. Given our run/walk intervals we knew we’d get in people’s way if we weren’t careful and at the start everything is so bunched up that walking didn’t make sense so we kept going and took a walk out. That’s not something I have practiced though so it unsettled me a bit. We did eventually settle into quite a nice run/walk routine and the markers for 2 and 3 km came and went. It was hot. It was getting harder. I was coping with people though. 4km and a water station later (I didn’t get any) it was all still ok but I was beginning to really wish we could turn back and head for home. It was hot.

I missed the 5km marker completely. As we executed our 180 degree turn, one of the marshalls said 5.5 km and I presumed she meant that’s what was left. I could see the next marker ahead and kept thinking, right nearly half way, nearly half way… and then the marker said 6km. More than half way! Yay! I did take a couple of walks out, not quite sure where actually. Aorund what I now know was between 5 and 7km. I also ignored the 2nd water station but didn’t have the energy to avoid the water spray eventhough I didn’t really want to be sprayed. Poor Kath was to my left and closer to the spay so she got a proper soaking.

At 8km I was struggling, really struggling and just about hanging on until each walk break. Have I mentioned it was quite hot? But 9km came. My calf muscle felt horribly tight and it took me a little while to decide if it was pain that required me to do something or whether it could just be ignored. I added in a short walk (much to Kath’s dismay who of course knew what our pace was). She urged me on to start running again and I now know why. We passed the 400m to go flag. Just keep running Jess! All I remember is Kath telling me repeatedly that we could do this. Then I could see the finish line and I saw the clock. It said 1.24.something… I hadn’ t seen the clock when we started but the race pack had said that the green runners would start 10 minutes after the blues and reds. I didn’t really think it was possible but just in case I pushed hard. My (not so) little legs somehow still had something left and could go faster – and there it was: Kath’s watch confirmed it – 10km in under 1 hour and 15 minutes, a pace of under 12 minutes per mile. Wowsers. Our official time was 1 hour 14 minutes and 18 seconds.

As far as I can see, looking back at what we managed in our previous running life, that’s about 3 minutes faster than our previous best at the distance. Not that we are measuring against what we did before because we started from nothing this time round. I looked because it gives me confidence that the training is working, that the run/walk method is working, that Jeff Galloway’s plan with our slight adaptation is working and that means that if we stick to the training plan we will be able to do the RunDisney Walt Disney World marathon in January. The idea of me running a marathon is obviously totally ridiculous but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

I do need to remember to eat something after running though. I didn’t want anything when we got back to the car and then we decided we would just have a quick shower and go out for food so I didn’t have anything when we got back home either. By the time we were sat waiting for a food to come I felt decidedly dodgy and lightheaded – this will have been about 3 hours after finishing the run. As soon as I had some food (a trio of mini Yorkshire burgers at the new Keelham Farm Shop in Skipton if you must know) I felt better. Won’t leave it so long next time!

Well even running a 10km event doesn’t get me out of the Sunday Weigh In – I lost nearly 2 pounds which drops me nicely into the next stone and keeps me going in the right direction. Talking of right directions – thanks for all the donations to Panthera! Keep them coming in on our JustGiving Page

Running in Paris

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We’ve just got back from Paris. It has been an interesting few days of conference, museums, sun, people watching, lots of walking and yes – a run. We were really aiming for two but somehow that didn’t happen. Although I was looking forward to running in Paris, the idea of running in the city wasn’t that appealing. After arriving on Tuesday evening we went for a little walk and found one of the running routes I had seen online. It was only about 5-10 minute walk from the hotel  – so a nice little warm up really. So Wednesday morning we got up and got ready to run. We walked towards the Jardin du Luxembourg and started our run at this rather odd looking fountain in the Jardin Marco Polo (according to Wikipedia it is the Fountain de l’Observatoire)

We went left along the garden/park. When we got right to the end, the gate wasn’t unlooked yet  (you can see the gate at the end of Jardin Marco Polo and the big ones to Jardin du Luxembourg in the first picture below)- there was someone just going round unlocking everything so we did a little circuit round that section and by the time we came round again the gate was open. I do quite like the turtles in the fountain even if the rest if pretty hideous – there was no water on yet when we went for the run but I’ve included one picture with water just for fun. At the end of Jardin Marco Polo, you need to cross a little road and then we entered Jardin du Luxembourg through the gates  and turned left to run clockwise round it (mainly because everyone else seemed to be running anti-clockwise). It was relatively flat with just a very very gentle slope in a couple of places and the gravel path all the way round was even and easy to run on. There were quite a few runners and I was quite surprised that they didn’t really bother me. Everyone was just doing their own thing and some were going quite fast and others were just plodding along – possibly even slower that we were. It was a spectcular place to run with the path taking you right in front of the Palais du Luxembourg, home of the French Senat and through the gardens which was nice. Here are a few pictures to give you a sense

I was too busy looking around to really think about running and it was quite warm and I wasn’t used to having to go round obstacles (usually metal chairs left randomly in the path) and other runners so it was quite slow. A pace of just over 13 minutes per mile but it was a good positive run around people so all good practice and doing two loops of the park before then heading back towards the hotel meant I got to see stuff I’d missed on loop one.

The second run didn’t happen because we slept in, bought a breakfast picnic and sat in the park rather than running round it. As far as excuses go we did pretty well because we decided that we were walking so many miles (we did walk most places just using the metro a couple of times) looking at the sights that we could get away with not running. As excuses go, this is one of our more plausible ones!

Just to be clear though – I’m nowhere near actually liking running as ‘a thing’. I’m doing it and I’m quite proud of myself for that but I am doing it because I want to raise money for Panthera, anything else is really just a bonus. So as a reminder of what this is all about here’s us in our Panthera t-shirts in a silly Paris selfie (do not get me started on selfie-sticks) and us training hard (ahem – celebrating Kath’s birthday, our run in Paris and my pretty successful conference).

Thank you to those of you who have already sponsored us – and for those of you haven’t, if you can please do so here –  we’d really appreciate the boost just before our first ‘race’ tomorrow – the Leeds 10km Run for All.

Looking forward to running in Paris

Jess Guth3 Comments

Yes, that’s right, I just used looking forward to and running in the same sentence without a negative. I am quite excited about running in Paris. I have just spent the last half hour looking at possible running routes and printing them off. We are heading to Paris on Tuesday (until Saturday). I am going to a conference and Kath is tagging along. I have been to Paris before, once but that was a long time ago and I really don’t remember all that much about it. I think it was in February and I think it was cold. Not likely to be cold next week!

It’s only a week to go until our 10km Leeds run. A week! I am a little anxious but actually I feel quite positive. We are sticking to the training. I am doing the runs, ticking them off one by one. I am getting stronger and I know I can do the distance. I am not setting out to go fast or finish in a particular time, I just want to re-learn what it’s like to run in a crowd, figure out how to make the run/walk intervals work without pissing other runners off and of course I want the medal at the end – obviously. There are only two more runs before then and at least one of them will be in Paris (travel times are awkward so we may go tomorrow and then do one run in Paris or we may not go tomorrow and then to Wed/Thurs back to back in Paris). I’m excited.

We did our weekend distance run yesterday. 5 miles. It was tough, it was hot. I had spent all day at our Open Day at work and most of that was spent at our stand in the main atrium of the university which has a glass (or whatever) roof. It’s a bit greenhouse like at the best of times but as the sun made its way up into the sky it seemed to focus all its energy on little me at the stand so by the time I got home I was hot and bothered and sweaty and tired from being on my feet all day. We debated putting the run off until this morning but I decided that as I was already sweaty I might as well get more sweaty. I coped better with the heat this time than last time we ran in the really hot weather, I didn’t have to shorten the runs and increase the walks. It felt slow but ok. I was also mentally stronger. I nearly suggested we just do 3 miles  – it was hot you know – then we passed 3 miles and I thought I might suggest that we stop at 4 miles but then I got distracted watching a moorhen and her chicks and suddenly Kath said ‘that’s 4.1 miles’. Well it seemed silly not do get to 5 then however much I was struggling.

I had no sense at all of pace etc. I just knew I’d found it really quite tough and that patches had felt really really slow. I was surprised when Kath said that our  average pace had been 12.54 minutes per mile and we’d been out 1 hour, 4 minutes and 37 seconds. It’s the first time our pace has been under 13 minutes per mile on anything over 3 miles. I walked up the hill happy, if a little puffed and very sweaty.

So, bring on Paris, bring on Leeds actually! Oh and it’s Sunday – weigh-in day. I’ve lost a pound in spite of the midweek pizza and quite a lot of bread and eating on the go more often that I would have liked.

Happy Sunday