Tag: 5km

Yellow Shoes Run and a redstart

Jess Guth4 Comments

I have just got back from a brilliant little run at Bolton Abbey. We wanted to do our RunDisney Shorts virtual run somewhere nice and fun and not take it seriously at all! so after a lovely little yoga session (Morning Stretches for Back Pain from Yoga Studio) we set off and drove to Bolton Abbey. It was a little overcast but dry and actually looked like it would turn into a gorgeous morning.

So we set off from the Cavendish Pavilion and walked to the top of the first slope – we were meant to be having fun after all, not killing ourselves on the first hill!. We had changed the intervals to try running a bit longer – so running for 2.5 mins and walking for a minute. I thought I might not notice as much if we sneaked in an increase on our fun run and I was planning on stopping for pictures anyway.

The colours were fantastic and the smell of the wild garlic really strong in some places.

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The trees and ferns seemed to offer every imaginable shade of green and brown and we couldn’t help but stop and stare every now and again.

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We pootled on alongside the Wharfe and up to the Strid where this little hill thankfully coincided with a walk break and I just about had time to stop at the top, turn around and take the picture.

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Onwards and downhill a bit – I have to admit, I was scared going downhill – probably even more than usual after my fall last week but it was all fine and soon we came out of the wood and into the open with the aqueduct just ahead of us. This must be roughly half way – obligatory selfie as we crossed the river.

 

 

Just past the aqueduct on the other side of the Wharfe a group of people were standing with binoculars pointed into the trees. We asked if they could see anything good and they said they could see a male redstart and were even kind enough to let us have a look through their binoculars. I’ve never seen a redstart before so that was really exciting and we continued on our way with a spring in our step.

This stretch of the route is what you might politely call ‘undulating’. I call it fucking hilly. I managed to stick to all the intervals and just kept going lost in my own little world just letting my mind wander. And then we came to my nemesis.

Annoyingly it does not look like all that much on the photos but trust me, it’s a bastard. It has literally brought me to my knees and to tears in the past. Today we were having fun so we walked it, took a picture at the top and then headed off again. Downhill and flat from there!

We completed our 3.1miles, or 5km with lots of photo stops and stops to look at birds and the scenery in exactly 45.5 minutes. It was a slow but really lovely run and we have earned our Yellow Shoes Medal (although Valley of Desolation doesn’t sound very Disney, does it?!?)

We celebrated with coffee and breakfast at the Cavendish Pavilion sitting outside in the gorgeous sunshine.

Trying to go faster – sort of

Jess Guth2 Comments

I have been trying to get back in the game ever since we got back from Florida. The last run was hard but done but that was Tuesday, the rest of the week was a bit of a write off. I’ve been tired. Probably because I went back to work and put a lot of effort into not getting caught up in work stuff and just letting it go (oh look Frozen’s Let it go on a loop in my head). We were supposed to run Thursday, we didn’t. I meant to go to the gym at the hotel I was staying at Friday, I didn’t (ok so I freaked out over trendy London types spilling over into the lobby area from the bar and the idea of having to walk past them all in my gym stuff – totally pathetic but at the time a real issue) and then I meant to go again on Saturday, I didn’t (didn’t get up in time).

So Sunday came. With some trepidation I looked at the training plan we are now using although I knew what it said anyway: 4 X 1 mile. That means running a mile at about 30 seconds faster than race pace and doing that 4 times with 5 minutes walking in between. I don’t do fast. This is part of a Jeff Galloway plan so it’s all still about run/walk and really shouldn’t be a drama. To help me build mental strength and stamina to keep running for longer we agreed that we would run each of the miles without walking. Seemed like a good idea at the time…

Mile 1: We were both off like coiled springs in spite of having agreed to go out slow. We ran down the road stretching our legs nicely, turned right and started the hill, still felt fine. I took a deep breath as we levelled out for a few steps and then pushed hard up the last bit of the hill. Then there was downhill, a bit of flat and more downhill and then I suddenly started really feeling it. The last quarter of a mile (ish) was hard, really hard and I could feel my lungs like I haven’t for ages. On the slow long distance plods it’s my legs that give in eventually, here it felt like my lungs were about to explode. The walk break came. Time – 10.22

Mile 2: we started just as we come out of the wood and onto the golf course so this mile included the dreaded downhill section. I made it safely and then felt OK for about half a minute. Half a mile in my lungs reminded me they were there and working far too hard and a bit after that my hips started protesting. Kath asked if I wanted to take a walk but as much as every bit of me was screaming to walk I said no. I’d set out to run this bloody thing so that was what I was bloody well going to do. It was awful and then over. Time – 11.21

Mile 3: I felt good for a quarter of a mile. I was running in a nice rhythm and running seemed to make sense. My breathing was working with rather than against me and it felt easy… And then it didn’t. Then it got hard again, so hard I muttered something about just giving it all up and then swore. I was really trying to focus on positives and tap into that memory bank. I wanted to think about that amazing feeling of jogging gently through Epcot on 5 k day but my mind kept dragging me back  to the endlessness and pain of the ESPN Wild World of Sports complex on marathon day. But this mile did end. Time- 11.29

Mile 4: Last one. I was done with this running thing. My brain was not helping at all. It seemed to have come to the conclusion that because I ran Dopey, this should be easy. I was questioning why it was so hard. I mean I did Dopey FFS. But  I forget that Dopey was bloody hard, that the training up to Dopey was hard and that running is almost never easy. And then it was over and within seconds I was thrilled to have done the 4 miles even if I did hate almost every step of the way. Time- 11.31

So the pace is probably a little faster than I do when I go out normally but then I usually run/walk so it would be. After the first mile I wasn’t really thinking about pushing the pace I was just focussed on running the whole mile without walking. I counted in my head a lot today and that seemed to help.

Then we met my friend for her first run. We did the first run in a Jeff Galloway 5K programme which was 30 minutes of running for 15 seconds and walking for 45 seconds. She did really well, much better than I did when I went out for the first time! I remember not being able to do it so it was really nice to see her complete it with relative ease and it was nice to see how easy it was for me to do it while chatting. It was a little reminder that I have made real progress.

We just missed a bus home and it being Sunday there was a big gap between busses so we walked the 3 ish miles back home. Once there I reluctantly got on the scales for the first time since the 29th December. I weigh exactly the same as I did then. I’m happy with that and I feel like I am back in the game. I went fast- ish today for a bit and spent a good chunk of the day outside and moving. I feel a good sort of tired now, a physically tired rather than just mentally drained. Happy.

More Dopey reflections

Jess Guth6 Comments

A week ago I ran, well walked mostly, a marathon. Hm. Doesn’t seem real at all. In fact, the idea that I completed the Dopey Challenge seems utterly bizzare. Me?! I can’t run! I can’t do that. But I did and here’s the proof:

Dopey cert JG

So if it feels like I am milking this a bit – I am  – but this is a huge deal. I went from not being able to run 100metres without hyperventilating and being in pain after to running 48.6 miles in 4 days in just about 12 months. I think I have earned the right to go on about it a bit. I’d also like to say thank you so much to all those of you who supported me through the running and who sponsored us. Our sponsorship page is still open if anyone would like to acknowledge our achievement and support Panthera. Thank you!

So, a week on and any muscle soreness (not that there was that much) has gone and my mega blister on my little toe has settled down; I am back home, it’s been snowing and tomorrow I go back to work. With a little bit of distance, here’s what I think and feel about the Dopey Challenge and what I learned.

  1. I ran a marathon! Well I walked a marathon mostly but I completed it within pacing requirements  – less than 16 minutes per mile – just.
  2. Conditions matter, they really matter. I knew it could well be hot and humid for the running but that still didn’t prepare me for how the humidity would impact on me. Heat on its own isn’t as bad but humidity even when it isn’t that warm is just something else. I couldn’t breathe
  3. The support from the crowds and from people supporting on facebook or by text messages etc make a huge difference and can be the difference between managing another little jog and giving up. Thank you to all those people who shouted encouragement along the routes
  4. I can walk pretty fast for a very long time
  5. I really would like to have run much more than I did in the marathon
  6. Half marathon is a good distance – it’s a real challenge and it comes with bragging rights but it’s not so bloody endless. I’d like to do a couple more half marathons
  7. Star Wars music is just the best for crossing a finish line.
  8. I don’t think I could do a marathon somewhere where there is nothing of interest to me to see. I had my major wobbles and nearly giving up points along long stretches of road where there was just nothingness. The theme parks saved me because they broke it up and gave me stuff to look at. So I could probably run something like Berlin, Hamburg or of course London because there are places there of historical or personal significance that I can focus on
  9. I have to remind myself that doing the Dopey is a big deal  – I struggle with that. I did it, therefore it can’t be that big a deal.
  10. However tired you are and however impossible it seems, it is always possible to run the finishing stretch and cross the line running. Always.
  11. Usually when I know I am not going to be good at something I just don’t do it or I find an excuse to give up early… not this time. It never crossed my mind to actually stop. Not once. I struggled badly from mile 5 of the 26.2. I thought I might not be able to complete the marathon and I was almost sure I wouldn’t make Dopey pace but I never thought I might actually stop. I thought I might be swept or possibly even taken off the course by medics if things got really bad but it never occured to me to actually stop.
  12. Every now and again I giggle to myself because I did it! I’m proper Dopey
  13. I haven’t run since Dopey but I did do a lot of walking in the theme parks and my next training plan starts with a 45 minute run on Tuesday – very possibly in the snow.
  14. I feel oddly calm about everything. Running the marathon after having run the 5k, 1ok and half marathon on the preceeding 3 days was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Physically that’s obvious but mentally too. It’s all fine – you just have to breathe through it.
  15. Running long distance takes you through all sorts of emotions – mostly for the marathon there was a mixture of self-doubt and determination with splashes of total desperation and despair and sprinkles of excitement and elation. I was sobbing from the minute I crossed the finish line and I had to hold my breath for the finisher photo to get myself under control. I wasn’t excited to cross the finish line, I was relieved! Being excited came later.
  16. I’m looking forward to running again

And there we have it – it was all a pretty amazing experience – from day 1 at the expo picking up our race packs with all the shirts and the bib numbers etc to day 5 – the marathon. The early starts somehow add to the occassion and the events are so massive that it is hard not to get caught up on the occassion. I won’t promise that this will be my last Dopey post – in fact it won’t be because there are photos to sort through yet and I wanted to tell you about the race retreat and the runners world challenge package etc but for now I’ll leave you with this – hower unlikely that seems to me :

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Running with Pluto – the 5km

Jess Guth5 Comments

Pluto 1So by now you will have read that I was not entirely honest about my marathon running story and have in fact completed the Dopey Challenge. Or at least I hope I have as I am writing this after the 5km race. I loved this run. I had more fun than I ever thought I would running. It was an early start. We left the hotel about 4.10am on a bus that took us to the starting area. It’s impossible to describe how huge the event is. Around 10000 runners were running today. The pictures I tried to take don’t really do it justice and the quality isn’t great because it was dark but floodlight lit. There may be some on the official photos and if there is I will share, or I may have more luck on one of the other days.

It was cold by Florida standards so once in the pre race area we wandered around a bit, ate our bananas, went to the loo, wandered a bit more and then it was time to move into the corals. We were in D for this race. On our way we went to the loo again. Any race organisers could learn a thing or two from Disney here: around 10000 runners and hardly any queues for toilets!

More standing around but bang on 6am coral A set off and about 25 minutes later we crossed the startline. I had said before we started that I would like to run the entire race so I could say that I ran a full Disney race! As we crossed the startline and plodded our way out of the Epcot parking lot and toward the park itself I wondered if it would be possible. I felt good, it wasn’t hot but the air is different, humidity I think, and even though it really isn’t that humid today I felt it. A tiny sliver of doubt crept in. Just for a second there was a really clear voice saying ‘you can’t do this’. Almost at the same time the running got easier, I’d settled into a rhythm and then suddenly we were at Mile 1 and shortly after we entered Epcot through a back lot. image

Running through Epcot today was like nothing I have ever experienced. I turned the corner into the park and was greated with ‘…I just can’t wait to be King…’. We sang along. We were running and singing! Next was the Mary Poppins song which we also sang along to and did a little silly dance and then we were back on Hakuna Matata and had ‘zoomed’ past Mile 2. I honestly loved every minute of that and I didn’t find it hard at all. I was just running steadily and happily along and I couldn’t stop grinning. Pluto 2I made a beeline for a couple of the official photographers striking silly poses as I ran past (who is this woman running in my kit and number?) and then we went past Mile 3, left Epcot through a back door, turned a corner and saw the finish line. We crossed it holding hands grinning more broadly than the Cheshire Cat.

We walked through the finish area, got our medal, runDisney goodie box, bananas and water and then made our way to the Runners World Challenge breakfast area where we had a little nibble of fruit and yoghurt before heading to the Garden Grill in Epcot to enjoy a proper sit down and breakfast. One of the characters at the Grill was Pluto so of course there had to be pictures.image

We spent the rest of the morning at Epcot but around lunchtime realised that we were walking a deceptive amount. It’s about 5pm now and I am on 20km according to my Fitbit! So we came back to the hotel to rest a bit before heading out again for the Pasta in the Park Part back at Epcot which also include viewing of illuminations. Taking it easy at Disney World is quite hard!

So 5km day has been fantastic. I never thought I would have this much fun running. Bring on the 10k!

Sunday Slog and October One Big Fat Run

Jess Guth4 Comments

We did our 45 minute run today – it wasn’t fun. It wasn’t really that hard either. It was grumpy. Yes that’s it, it was grumpy running. No idea why, it just was. We ran 1 minute/30 sec intervals again. We were going to go to Bolton Abbey but that doesn’t open until 9am and we were ready earlier (thanks mainly to the clocks going back) so we went from home, past our sheep which also gave us a chance to check on our ram (he’s been poorly with an infection) and still gave us some gentle hills.

Just past our sheep, on the slope I probably dislike most in terms of uphill running round here, there was a bullfinch puffing out his bright colours. There were also several robins along the way. I wondered if there are more robins around or whether their red chests just make them easy to see at the moment. The autumn colours are getting more vibrant and stunning every day but of course soon they will disappear (oh look grumpy again). There were amarous ducks on the canal and one or two other people, walking dogs mostly. We were passed by a runner who said something about ‘…isn’t going to be any help to you’ – I didn’t hear what he said though so I initially decided that it was positive but I couldn’t shake off the niggle that he wasn’t particularly complementary. It bothered me.

I bought ‘Run Fat Bitch Run‘ by Ruth Field yesterday. I have got through Part 1 and I wonder whether that has something to do with my grumpiness. There is quite a lot in there that I agree with but I also found it incredibly patronising and not at all motivational or inspiring. I may just be in that mood – I will review the book properly when I have finished it and when I have given it a fair shot. I think possibly I like and totally agree with the idea but not with the approach. We’ll see.

This weekend is the October iteration of the One Big Fat Run which I think is a great idea. It’s a virtual 5km run and it’s just about getting that run in at some point over the weekend and sharing the achievement of getting our butts out there. Time doesn’t matter, there is no coming last because the ‘race’ isn’t a race. It’s about us – you and me – getting out there and doing it at our own pace in our own way. You print your own race number (it’s the same for everyone 001) and you can even buy a medal in the Too Fat to Run shop. So our 45 minute run today was our Big Fat Run for this month – we did a little over 5km, 3.48 miles. Because I was all grumpy though I forgot to print race numbers and I also forgot to take a finish line selfie. Sorry. Maybe you can do better! Get yourself out there and round 5km, hop, skip, dance, walk, crawl, run your way round and then share your achievement on social media using #onebigfatrun.

Oh yeah – Sunday – weigh in – stayed the same – grumpy