Tag: London Marathon

London Marathon and being sensible

Jess Guth7 Comments

So, Sod has been at work implementing her laws again. Yep, I got a place in the London Marathon. Back in May I entered the ballot having got caught up in the excitement and just wanting to be part of the whole London Marathon cycle. Goodness knows why. I am actually far from convinced that I want to run another marathon. So of course I got a place. Sod’s law. If I actually really really wanted a place I’d never get one! We’re still waiting for Kath to get her notification.

I giggled and swore at the same time when I opened my magazine. A wave of excitement washed over me quickly followed by the terror inducing realisation of what ‘You’re in’ actually means. I wanted to do it. Or rather I wanted to be able to do it. I really did. Kath’s immediate reaction was: Defer. I think I shot her a look. ‘Don’t wanna!’ was my (silent) reaction to that. I have a place, I bloody well want to run in 2018. It would just be awesome… ….. …. …. …. (no it wouldn’t)

Through the rest of the afternoon little doubts crept in:

  •  April 2018 isn’t that far off. 7 months to get from where I am to marathon level. Hm, tough.
  • Winter  marathon training – urgh. I’ve already committed to doing this 2018/19, do I really want to add another winter of long miles?
  • I have a plan, one that challenges me but one that I am comfortable with, one that’s doable. I’d have to re-think all of that and add a considerable amount of training
  • I don’t want to just drag my butt round. I’ve done that. I want to give it a really positive go. I know a marathon for me is always going to be on the limit and there will be pain and it will be awful and almost impossible in places but I’d like fewer of those places and for the pain to set in a little later
  • I struggle with the pressure of training and having to do something. I can do this but I think I need a more gentle run in and more time to get my head into this – this is mental more than it is physical
  • I have a few little niggles that pop up when I increase distance or intensity and they need sorting (it’s a fairly easy case of doing the strength exercises – easy but also easy to ‘forget’ or not bother) – working on that would massively help
  • If I can get fitter and a little faster over the next year marathon training won’t be quite as hard because I won’t be out for quite as long on long run days
  • I run because I want to and because I want to enjoy it – getting ready for London 2018 doesn’t sound like fun, it sounds like pressure. Getting ready for 2019 sounds like fun (and not just because it is a long way away but because I can see a training schedule that starts now, with my current plan, and builds, with plenty of downtime, recovery and rest to a positive 26.2).
  • And here’s the clincher. I honestly honestly do not know if I have another 2 marathons in me. It’s hard to explain what they take out of me. It’s an emotional roller coaster, it’s lost weekends, it’s discipline and digging deep and facing every bloody fear over and over again and dealing with every emotion. It’s battling being the fat kid always picked last in PE, always coming last on the school track, never making it to the end of the cross country run… every single run becomes that battle, the battle to prove that I can do it while not really believing that I can. I have crossed two marathon finish lines but I don’t believe I can do it. Asking myself to do this two more times is a lot to ask of myself. I really want to do Dopey 2019. That’s the goal, the main aim, my ‘must do’ event. I don’t really see that as ‘a marathon’, I see it as the whole thing and somehow that’s different but it does of course mean doing a marathon. I am scared that doing London 2018 would break me (mentally more than physically) and that I wouldn’t be able to get back in the game for Dopey. If I can do Dopey in January 2019, I can recover fully and then build again for London. I can see how that would work and if it turns out that Dopey is the last marathon I have in me, then so be it. That one means more to me than London.

So, there you are. I’ll withdraw from London 2018 and take my place at the start line in 2019. I’m quite settled in that decision now and I’ve had a couple of little run outs to think about it. In fact I’ve run/walked a total of 17.68 miles in the first 3 days of October – that’s more than in all of February. I’m sure come  next April I will feel a few pangs of disappointment that I’m not there. A few ‘what ifs’ will go through my head, particularly if my training has gone to plan but I know it’s the right call. Just waiting for Kath’s Yes or more likely No now!

Might have entered the ballot

Jess Guth2 Comments

So. Right. This just happened:

Screenshot 2017-05-01 09.07.24

It doesn’t actually matter. I mean the chances of actually getting a place are negligible so nothing changes. If I don’t get in I certainly won’t be disappointed but actually the possibility of getting in is sort of exciting. It would be sort of cool to have another shot at this. Clearly I have lost my mind and forgotten just how horrible it was but not to worry, it’s a ballot with very few places so I’ll just keep going about my business as if I hadn’t just entered it and what will be will be.

Running is a funny business. It really is. I’m off to run 5 miles on the trails now. Happy Monday.

 

6.23.58

Jess Guth4 Comments

That number will forever be my marathon PB. I am done with that distance but I am also an official London Marathon finisher. I have to say, writing that feels pretty good. So here is how it went.

Today seems to have started in another life time. After a pretty bad night’s sleep we got sorted, did some yoga and set off. The tube and DLR ride took about 30 mins, the walk to the assembly area another 15 or so. We went to the loos, sat for a bit and then handed in our bags, then we sat a bit more. We entered the starting pens about 9.45 and soon we were moving forwards and then we were off, just like that we were running the London Marathon.

The first 5 miles were fabulous, we kept going with the flow for a while and then stopped at the loos just before mile 1. The early loo stop strategy had really worked for us during Dopey so we adopted it here. Then we went on. I got to just before mile 6 and suddenly felt really poorly. I couldn’t really explain but it felt like I was going to pass out. It wasn’t poor fuelling or hydration, I know from training runs that feels different. I actually thought I was going to have to stop there and then. I took an extra walk break and then we were at the Cutty Sark and the crowds lifted me a bit and I could keep going. I did have to put in extra walks though. Again the thought I might not make it crossed my mind.

Just before mile ten was the Too Fat to Run cheering station and I needed that. I got a big hug and lots of high fives and then we were gone. I was ok for a mile or so and then the funny feeling came back. Not quite dizzy, not quite nausea, not quite anything  but most definitly not quite right. Kath said she thought I should stop. I didn’t want to. We pushed on. We walked most of Tower Bridge, I’d wanted to run it but I just couldn’t. Half way came. There were other runners going the opposite way on the other side of the road, they were at 22 ish miles and I longed to be there and wondered if I would be, didn’t seem likely.

At 14 miles I was ready to quit. I just didn’t feel right. I don’t know why I didn’t stop, too stubborn maybe. I just kept walking and crying, I did a lot of crying around mile 14.   We agreed we’d keep walking for a bit and see if I could continue. So we did, we walked, we walked fast, as fast as we could and every now and again I managed a little jog, just to the next traffic lights, just to the km or mile marker, just to the bus stop. Every bit of me was screaming to stop but that’s how we ticked off the miles, one after the other, 15, 16,17 and then we saw 18 and I’d decided I wanted to finish. I felt better in myself, no longer not quite right but just fatigued and my hips, lower back and thighs had had enough, but 19 miles came and so did 20 and then it began to seem possible.

I walked most of the Dopey marathon and that was miserable. This wasn’t really miserable, we had a few giggles along the way and I tried to take it all in. The crowds were fantastic and hearing people call out your name helps massively. So no, not miserable but also not quite what I’d had in mind. I didn’t want to be in this much pain and this knackered at 20 miles. But then maybe I should have got my arse of the sofa and trained more…

21 came, then 22, 23 seemed to take forever but it did come as did 24. Just over two miles left running along slowly but running quite often now, the Thames on my left, the familiar views, the embankment, 25 miles. As well as my lower back, hips and thighs my right ankle has now had enough and my left calf is seriously unhappy and still, somehow I jog more in the last mile than I have the previous 12. Somehow, I make it, somehow I run across the finish line. And cry, and then giggle and then do both at the same time.

All the time Kath has been by my side, talking to me. I know she’s in pain, she must be if my back is this bad but she keeps pushing me on, keeps reminding me that we are Dopey and that together we can do anything. She’ll never get the credit I do for running the marathon because she won’t shout about it as much but really she ran it for us both today. She broke through her pain barrier and mine and kept us putting one foot in front of the other.

Could I have done better today? I could have trained better but as things stood going into the marathon, no I couldn’t have. I had nothing left, I didn’t hold anything back. I left everything I had out there on the streets of London and I am bloody proud that we finished, finished running across the line.

We were meant to go to an after party for the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund but neither of us felt very well and it took us ages just to walk to get our bags. We wanted to come back to the hotel, stretch, have a bath, eat etc. So we did. I’d love to tell you I’m out celebrating but I’ve had a little bottle of peroni, gallons of water and I’m ready for bed!

So not the greatest marathon ever but if you think slogging it out and not giving up counts for something, you can still support me here: My page: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/jessguth

thank you.

50 Days

Jess GuthLeave a comment

So it’s 50 days to the London Marathon. Wow. So in 50 days I am going to put myself through the emotional rollercoaster that is running a marathon. Hm. So why am I doing this again? Well, I’m beginning to realise just how big a deal it is. Two marathons in relatively quick succession is hard – emotionally rather than physically. But I won the place and I am committed to it. Julie Creffield of Too Fat to Run teamed up with the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund to put a team together for the London Marathon. If I’m honest the Memorial Fund is probably not a charity I would have picked or even paid much attention to in the past. However, I have spent a fair amount of time looking at what they do and the more I read the more impressed I am and the more proud to be running for them this year. Ultimately they are about helping people achieve their dreams – I’m all for that and the focus of grants is on practical stuff – equipment, travel… It’s an obivous and down to earth sort of approach and I like that. It’s straight forward. The focus is on helping young athletes make the transition from junior to senior level and this also makes a lot of sense to me. So many promising young people never achieve their potential and the fund tries to ensure that young athletes have all the support they need to make the step up to senior level.

I have a couple of fundraising bits and pieces planned but I’d really appreciate your help to raise as much money as possible to help the next generation of athletes make it to the top. Help them be the ones we cheer on at future olympics, help them be the role models of the future, help them translate their hard work into success at the top level and in doing so inspire the next generation. Or just sponsor me for me. I’ll be honest. I’m struggling. More so now than before the Dopey challenge I am worried about whether I can do this. I am terrified of failing and not making it. I am also much more self conscious about this and more worried about what people think. It’s the London Marathon for goodness’ sake. I am craving the recongition and the belief in me that seeing that sponsorship trickle in brings with it. A little pathetic I know but that’s how I feel and I am so scared of letting people down. I know it’s a big ask because so many of you just recently sponsored me very generously indeed but if you can please help me focus and work hard over these next 50 days and show your support. You can donate via my fundraising page here.

Thank you

 

 

6 Times 1 Mile – and lots of swearing

Jess Guth1 Comment

I haven’t blogged for a while. I’ve been grumpy about running, then about not running and then about running again. I’m just not feeling it. I had a horrendous cold and after not running at all for a while finally managed to get myself out for 45 minutes at the start of this week. It was slow and it was awful and I skillfully managed to avoid going again on Thursday and again on Friday morning. Yep, the queen of excuses is back. Today I ran out of excuses. I knew I had to go. I need to get my running sparkle back. I have a marathon in 10 weeks for fucks sake – just get your fat arse out there and run.

So, we got back from feeding our sheep and moving our ram to another field and Kath just said we should go immediately, no sitting down, having half a bagle, sitting a bit to digest that and then go (or think of an excuse) – no, just go. I couldn’t think of a plausible reason to say no. So we went. We did 6 x 1 mile with 5 minute walking inbetween. So the idea is that you run the mile a bit faster than your normal long run pace (or run/walk) so for me that means that I try and run the full mile without walking. No run/walk intervals today, just me and one fucking long mile six fucking times. Here’s how it went

Mile 1: Fuck off, just fuck off

Mile 2: Downhill, I hate running downhill, I hate running actually

Mile 3:This is not fucking funny

Beginning of Mile 4: Ok, ok breathe, you’re ok

End of Mile 4: Seriously now, fuck off

Beginning of Mile 5: I HATE running

Middle of Mile 5: Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

End of Mile 5: I’m miserable, I am actually really fucking miserable

Start of Mile 6: Last one, come on, last one, yay, last one – fuck a mile’s a long way

3/4 of a mile left: FUCK

1/2 mile left: This mile is fucking endless

1/4 mile left: I’m gonna puke

Finish: I seriously might puke

2 minutes after finish: Haven’t puked – have to walk up hill

Top of hill: Can I cry now?

Home: I am not ever doing that again, it’s just fucking stupid

After hot bath and food: That wasn’t too bad, when are we running tomorrow?

So I am sort of glad that I went. My lungs are still full of crap and I am caughing it all up as a type (nice!). Now it is just about getting my head right and getting back in the routine of two 45 minute weekly runs and the long weekend runs. Let’s just not think about the really long one coming up next weekend. Let’s just pretend that’s weeks away!