Tag: marathon

Week 6 ends with a slow plod

Jess GuthLeave a comment

A marathon seems about as likely as winning the lottery without buying a ticket today. We went for our 40 minute run first thing this morning. We thought a good positive start to the day would set up our Sunday nicely. Neither of us was very imaginative about the route today so we started off from home and when past our sheep field and joined the route we’d done during the week for our 30 minute runs. My legs felt tired and my right calf muscle and my left shin felt a bit tight. Neither of us felt much like pushing the pace so we agreed that we’d have a slow plod round and try and enjoy it as best we could. That mostly worked and it was lovely to jog along our field with a gang of lambs running with us for a short burst. Then we saw two jays and then our ram relaxing in his field. I didn’t see much for the next two runs then because I was huffing my way up the hill – althiugh actually at that significantly slower pace there was also significantly less huffing. Slowly jogging down the golf course was quite nice, there were one or two playing. The canal was still very quiet with just one or two dog walkers and keen cyclists. Even most of the ducks were still asleep. We saw ducklings. Only two sets but the first set hat 8, the second had 12.

I’m not sure I really enjoyed it but it was an ok run. I am always disappointed when it’s not as fast as the last one but Kath keeps telling me to get out of that mindset and she’s right. We’re doing it and running 3 times a week is beginning to become part of our routine.

So next week brings 3 30 minute runs. We’re aiming for Tuesday and Thursday evening and then either Saturday or Sunday morning. We’ve also planned food for the week as both of us are really getting the munchies for the rest of the day after running and because I could really do with shifiting a few pounds (and then a few more!). Today is our naughty day so we are having sausages and yorkshire pudding with loads of veg. For the rest of week we are planning on a quorn chilli, salmon on a bed of quinoa, jacket spuds,  a greek salad and pasta with a simple roast veg and tomato sauce. We’ve also got stuff for a healthy-ish version of pancakes for breakfast, loads of fruit, eggs for scrambled eggs on toast, peanut butter on toast and bagles and humous. I had planned on  a banana loaf for a bit of a treat but in a complete baking fail I used self-raising flour instead of plain and it all went horribly wrong so we may have to re-think that. Kath made some lovely courgette and dark chocolate buns last week.

Oh and I have lost 1.5 pounds over this last week so overall we’re going in the rigth direction. Happy Sunday!

I actually enjoyed it…

Jess GuthLeave a comment

… said Jess, never ever ever before about running but it is true. I did enjoy our run this afternoon. We are in week 6 of a Jeff Galloway 10km programme. Week 6 was to start on Tuesday but that didn’t happen. As I woke up this morning after a night interrupted by the kitten and having had a few glasses of wine at an evening out with work I wasn’t entirely convinced that week 6 was going to start today, or that it would start on a positive note. I was no more convinced at 3pm when Kath suggested we might get ourselves organised and go for a run. But I went and got changed (ahem, well, dressed really – the benefits(?) of working at home). We walked to feed our sheep (if you’re interested in them check our riddlesdenjacobs.com) and then set off from there. We ran up  the little path into the wood and then down Riddlesden golf course and then along the canal. It was a 30 minute run and we stuck to our interval pattern of 1 minute run, 30 seconds walk.

The first two runs were on the path leading into the wood and it’s uphill. Not steep, just a steady little pull. I was puffing a bit  (alright alright –  a lot) but as we levelled off I felt fine. The downhill was quite fun and by the time we got onto the canal I realised that I was actually looking around. I saw the 11 ducklings, the shy little moorhen, a little bluetit fluffed up on a branch… I was running and noticing things around me!

I had a vague sense that we were pushing the pace a little more than we had previously but I really wasn’t sure and because we hadn’t started from home I didn’t have my usual markers on that route to tell me if I was slower of faster than I had been before.

We did 2.29 miles – so we had gone faster than previously. But much more importantly, it was a really positive run with a strong finish which we both enjoyed. That is a huge step in the right direction and one to file away safely in the memory bank. I’m almost looking forward to the next run! Almost.

Training Programme Week 5

Jess Guth2 Comments

We have just finished week 5 of our training programme. Week 5 finished with a 3 mile run. I hated every step of it. But let’s go back a bit. There were  a few weeks of trying out some other programmes and getting to where we were running 8 minutes and walking 2 and doing 3 times or something. I was miserable. Then we moved to the new training programme. For the first 3 weeks we stuck to 30 seconds/30 seconds run/walk and I was quite enjoying myself. For the last two weeks we’ve been running 1 minute and walking 30 seconds. I’ve found this harder but still much better than before.

I’ll post updates as we go  – basically you can expect 2 30 mimute runs during the week and then either a timed or distance run at the weekend. As I mentioned, today’s run was 3 miles. We ran it on the flat along the canal from our house towards Bingley and we turned round at half way. I don’t know why I hated this one.

Every step seemed like an effort, every step seemed pointless because let’s be honest here, chances of me making it round a marathon are slim at best. But looking back over the run now I have noticed a couple of things: I recovered quickly and well. By the time we got home I was ok, physically and mentally. I am not sore or achey or even particualrly tired from that run. It also occurs to me that while I hated every step, I took every step including running the last 2.5 minutes ignoring the walk break.

So, 3 miles and just under 42 hideous minutes but a pace of under 14 minutes per mile which is well within the pacing requirement of the runDisney events.

Choosing our training programme

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When I first started running I tried a Couch to 5km programme and we followed other training programmes in the run-up to the half marathon in 2015. When I decided I wanted to start again, we went back to those programmes but somehow it just wasn’t clicking. I did each run as it came along but I found it completely demoralising because I was just plodding, slowly and painfully for however minutes.

We had seen the RunDisney training programmes put together by Jeff Galloway and they appealed because they were said to be suitable for anyone and to significantly reduce the risk of injury. So we’ve been giving that a go. I don’t want to go through the exact detail but you can read how it works on the RunDisney site or on Jeff Galloway’s site. Basically though you run and walk at intervals right from the start rather than waiting to walk when you’ve run out of steam.

We started the 10km programme and we started with running for 30 seconds and walking for 30 seconds for the duration. We are now running 1 minute, walking 30 seconds and have just finished week 5. I am now at times almost enjoying it. I’m not saying this is the best programme out there or even that it is better than any of the many others I’ve looked at but for now it is working for me.

Psychologically the idea of running short bursts of what was initially just 30 seconds, even when you have to do it repeatedly was much easier and it meant that I can actually run rather than just plod. Not that I am thinking of going anywhere fast but it is quite nice not to be overtaken by people walking their dogs!

Advice for anyone else out there? Try a few different programmes and see how you get on with them. If like me you don’t have a clue what you’re doing, definitly follow some sort of programme though. Unless you don’t want to – do what feels right

Welcome to Really Not a Runner

Jess Guth2 Comments

I’m not a runner. In fact I hated running all my life really. I could never do it. I didn’t want to do it. I’d barely jog for a bus. I’m overweight, I’m unfit and the idea of running for fun was compeltely alien – even when I was at my fittest. I am pretty much there again but in January 2013 I managed to plod round a half marathon. So why did I do that? I did it because I wanted to raise money in memory of my best friend who had died tragically the year before and I wanted to do do something which was a huge challenge and big event. So, I plodded, with the help of my girlfriend Kath, round the 13.1 mile course at Disney World in Florida and then I didn’t run again really.

So this blog is about picking up that journey. I don’t know why I want to run again, but I do and I want to tackle that challenge that is a full marathon. The notion that I can do that is of course utterly ridiculous – but so was the idea that I could do a half marathon.

We have booked our trip to Disney World for January 2016 and we are there for the Marathon weekend. Registration opens soon and I will register – that will hopefully keep me going on the days where I really do not want to put my trainers on – and there will be lots of them.

I’ve been reading stuff about running online, I’ve been looking at training programmes… The thing is, most people seem to go on about how brilliant that sense of achievement is when you have completed a hard run but very rarely do you hear/read people admitting that some times it isn’t fine, it’s bloody awful, it’s hard and demoralising rather than insipiring. This blog will be nothing if not honest. I’ll share my stupidly slow times, my running ups and downs and my thoughts as I progress through the training programmes. If it helps anyone that’s great, if it gives you a giggle that’s fine too; I am afterall lapping everyone on the couch (thanks to my friend Donna for that one!)