Tag: half marathon

No rainbows, no unicorns but a run or two

Jess Guth7 Comments

I have been struggling with running lately. Maybe I’ve been struggling with running since the London Marathon, or even since Dopey. I’m not sure. I have had very few good runs – you know those where even the hard bits feel like they’re ok and you’ll get through them. Instead every step of every run recently has felt HARD. Even the Disneyland Paris 5k (I will blog about those races when we finally get our race photos!) which I really did enjoy and which was a lot of fun was HARD. I haven’t found that easy running rhythm for months. I’ve got slower, too.

I signed up to the Too Fat to Run Scream if you want to go faster programme – which is just as well because I need something to get me out the door at the moment. I know I have the next half marathon coming up really quite soon but to be honest I don’t want to think about it too much, I’ll freak out. So the Scream thingy – it requires a commitment of 3 runs a week and it required the running of a baseline 5k in the week ending today. Instructions for next week will arrive tomorrow. Hm. At the moment I’d be happy with just ‘going’; ‘going faster’ seems so very unlikely. I’ve told you about the first disastrous run post half marathon in the last post… I actually just wanted to pack it all in but of course I need some perspective – ideally not mine. I had run a half marathon just 2 days before; it was the first week of teaching, I repeat, the first week of teaching – it’s a wonder I was functioning sufficiently to put trainers on and really lots has been going on on planet Jess recently… As several people pointed out, I should really give myself a break. I did – until Friday.

So Friday was run 2 of week 1. It wasn’t straightforward. I was at work. I teach from 9-11 and from 3-5. It would be late by the time I got home and the chances of me finding excuses were through the roof – so we agreed we’d run separately. Me in the gym at work and Kath at home. Me-in-the-gym-at-work. What?! You mean like the sort of gym where other people go? Where gym bunnies live? Hm. I packed my bag and when I got to work thought about this some more. Me, in the gym? I thought I’d go a lunchtime and then realised that this would be a pretty popular time slot. Popular with people. So I took my stuff the the class I teach and then headed straight for the gym after the class. As it was the intro session I’d finished a little early and was in the gym (only 2 others there – yay), changed and ready to go at 10.58. I jumped on a bike for a couple of minutes just to warm up a little and then I found a treadmill that was as far away from anyone else using a treadmill as possible.

After a little bit of faffing with settings etc I found a rhythm. It was too hard going and I was really conscious of sweat pouring off me but I just kept plodding, I had to slow a bit and then a bit more but I never walked. I just kept watching the ‘kids’ outside the university building I could see out of the window. After what seemed like forever I got to 5k and stopped. 40.21. It felt like I’d run much faster but I hadn’t. The gym had also filled up rather alarmingly. I hadn’t noticed. I think if it had been that full when I arrived I would have run away! Anyway, run 2 was a hot and sweaty ploddy affair but I got it done and set a treadmill baseline in the process.

Run 3 week 1 – today. We needed to do a longer run today to keep the half marathon training going but we were also conscious of how tired we’ve been. So we planned to run the roughly 4 miles from our house to my friend’s house to feed her cats, have a little break there and then run back to the bottom of our hill taking us to around 7 miles. I thought I could also use the way there to set an outside running 5k baseline. Well it was another of those HARD runs. The first mile is almost all down hill and we set off quite speedy for us and clocked an 11minute mile. We should have set off slower! Anyway we got ourselves to 5k in what we think was 38.05  – that’s what the Garmin said at the time although the data on strava now shows it was 37.29. So as the aim is to go faster I will take the quicker baseline and work on beating that. We did have a couple of walk breaks. The way back was really tough and we walked a fair bit but still, done.

screenshot-2016-10-02-17-19-10

Walking up the hill to get home was horrible. My lower back kept sort of cramping but everything has settled down now I’ve had a bath and some food. More yoga as we go through the rest of the afternoon and evening and I think it’ll be fine. So here are my Scream if you want to go faster stats (I’ve rounded a bit!):

Outside baseline: 37.29         Outside target: 35 minutes

Treadmill baseline: 40.21     Treadmill target: 38 minutes

Getting Ready for Disney Paris

Jess Guth1 Comment

Right, 2 weeks today we will have trotted our way round the Disneyland Paris 5km run and will be chilling out somewhere getting ready for the half marathon. I haven’t written much about the trip. I’ve been pre-occupied with leaving my old job and starting my new job (it’s been good – see here) and generally getting better. So it’s about time!

We set off on Friday lunchtime. We fly from Leeds/Bradford airport and land at Paris CDG airport shortly after 4pm and then we’ll jump on the train out to Disney. We’ll check into our hotel which is the Disney’s Hotel New York.

new-york-hotel-outside
Photo from Disneylandparis.co.uk

After check-in we’ll head over to the Expo to pick up our race packs and have a little look at the merchandise. I don’t need anything so it’s just about getting a little souvenir to take home and mark the achievement. After the expo we have tickets to the Inaugural party. The website calls it a magical evening not to be missed and says it is a

‘unique, private party, on Friday, September 23rd, 2016, at the Walt Disney Studios® Park. Disney Characters will be there, and you will have exclusive access to the main attractions and different catering offers’

It should be fun and means that we don’t really have to think about where to eat or book a table or any of that. After the party it’ll be bed and then the 5km race starts at 7am on Saturday followed by breakfast. We’ve never been to Disneyland Paris so we’ll have a wonder around but also take it easy, maybe have some time at the hotel pool, just relax and rest and hydrate – lots of hydrating – for Sunday morning. In the evening we have tickets to Buffalo Bills Wild West Show – the 6.30pm show is exclusively for runners and their families and they are offering a runners’ menu. We have made our food choices but I can’t remember what we ordered – I’ll dig out the email and add it to our travel docs!

Sunday will be another early wake-up call. 7 am start for the 13.1 miles and apparently the hotels are extending breakfast time for runners so we will be able to go eat properly after the run which is great but they will also offer a light breakfast for anyone who wants to eat something before – we’ll be taking porridge pots but maybe a banana would also be good.

We have no further plans really and we have 3 day park hopper tickets so we can use them Saturday, Sunday and Monday and we fly home just before 5pm Monday so we’ll have the morning at least. I’m looking forward to it, all of it, the trip, the running, the escapism…

Anyway – 11 miles await tomorrow and then we taper – or in our case, we try really hard to get our butts out for the short runs!

 

 

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

Jess GuthLeave a comment

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.