Exploring new places, re-trying old ones

July 16, 2017July 16, 2017 Jess GuthLeave a comment

After the beach run on Friday we had planned another run from the Wild Running book for Saturday on our way home: the estate drive loop around Cragside house and gardens just outside Rothbury. We got up and had breakfast (not a full fry-up given we were running but a rather delicious bacon bagel instead) and got on the road. Seahouses to Cragside was a lovely scenic drive, not sure how long it took but it really wasn’t far.

We parked, changed our trainers and sorted our pockets out and headed for the visitor centre to use the loos. Then we set off. I knew the route was about 5.5-6 miles long and a road running round the estate. That’s all I knew. I had no idea how much uphill I was going to have to do but just looking at the estate made clear that it was likely to be significant – for me anyway. It was raining, grey and atmospheric. Gorgeous really. We set off on a slow plod up a slope, stopped to walk as it turned into a steeper slope, ran a little as it evened off, walked as it went steeper, ran a bit, got grumpy because it was so bloody hard, kept it together and ran from tree to tree and walked a bit and ran a bit… the first mile and a quarter were relentlessly uphill and my legs were tired from running on the beach the day before, my calf muscles were tight, I was cross at myself for being so stupidly bloody unfit. Eventually though it levelled out and at 2 miles I got my act together and my head in the game – the view helped.

Miles 3 and 4 were awesome – ok so they were mostly sloping downhill but they were gorgeous. We each had our own personal cloud of flies around us which was a little irritating but I started to remember to look around and take in the colours, all sorts of different greens and browns and the rain felt soft and welcoming somehow. Mile 5 contained a few more ups and I did walk a little again but I was still enjoying it and then we saw a deer. She’d been grazing by the side of the road and as we approached skipped away across the road and off into the woodland. We caught another glimpse of her a little further on but then she was gone. We puffed up the final hills to the visitor centre and car park and got out wires crossed resulting in both of us being rather grumpy for a little while. We got changed in the visitor centre toilets and then had a jacket potato and drink in the cafe. – and started talking to each other again. Then we drove home. There are loads and loads of paths and trails to explore on that estate and we will undoubtedly be back!

We thought we might have another little run today and had planned a route which would take in the short wood trail and the uphill golf course track. Yep – I’m determined to get better at trail and at uphill – eventually together and I haven’t run the wood trail for a little while. I decided on my Mizuno trail shoes and off we went. All fine on mile one. Just after the one mile point we turned off onto the trail. I overthink this usually, I’m too hesitant, I don’t trust my feet but this time I just kept going – slowly but going. I didn’t stop once on the trail, just kept moving. My feet were hurting like hell. I don’t think it’s the shoes, I think it’s just different running and I was probably more tense than usual. By the time I got to the end of the trail I was pretty much in tears. We stopped a few minutes and I stretched and wiggled toes and let it pass. Rather than push too hard and risk injury we cut the route short and headed towards home. Still, 2 miles run and half a mile walked up the hill home. Happy with that.

So I have had 3 days of pretty awesome running and for that I am rewarding myself with the RunDisney Shorts virtual run series medal for July (Bling whore, it’s terrible, I know). Rest day tomorrow and then on with the training plan’s next run on Tuesday.

I brought back Sunday Weigh-In a while back and then haven’t really posted anything on it- it’s because I’m grumpy about it. My weight is resolutely staying the same. Exactly the same. It went down a pound randomly a couple of week’s ago and then went back up to the same number. Quite honestly I am sick of seeing that number. I am going to try and have a saintly week (oh apart from maybe tomorrow where I may be going out for tea) and see if the number shifts. I’ve even made Kath get on just to check that the scales are working!

Happy running

July 14, 2017July 15, 2017 Jess Guth2 Comments

Just a short post because I only have my phone with me an typing on that is a bit tedious!

We are in Seahouses for two nights to see the Puffins before they leave

This morning we got up at 6am, put our running gear on and drove from the B&B to the beach. Then we went for a run. It was lovely. It really was.

Running on sand is hard and the tide was in so we were running on slightly softer sand than I really wanted to for a lot of the time. I realised I was going to have to walk a bit and go slow. I suggested Kath run ahead and collect me on the way back so off she ran into the distance. I walked a bit and then made my way across a rocky bit and then I took my shoes off.

Running barefoot was amazing and I managed to run a good stretch. My ankles, calf muscles and knees aren’t strong enough and I’ll work on that but it was just so lush. Every now and again my feet would sink into soft sand and soon I stopped avoiding the gentle waves lapping at my feet. I embraced the cold as it made me gasp and smile. I began to see glimpses of Bamburgh Castle

Kath had turned round and was coming towards me again. I’d just passed 2 miles when we met and I turned round. We ran a bit, walked the softest bits and the rocks and then ran again

The last half mile was perfect. It’s not that running was easy, it really wasn’t but it just felt like that’s what I was meant to be doing. I can’t really describe it and it was more than just a runner’s high. It was proper happy running!

Magic Mile Benchmark

July 12, 2017 Jess GuthLeave a comment

Kath has drawn up a new plan for us to get us ready for the Lakeland Trails Dirty Double in October. It’s a plan made for me that takes into account all my insecurities, weaknesses, obsessions, abilities and goals. The plan really started today – with 45 minutes steady including a Magic Mile.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned the Magic Mile before – ah yes I have here – but the basic idea is that you run as fast as you can at as even a pace as you can manage for one mile. The time you get is your Magic Mile time which can be used to predict race pace fairly accurately but more importantly for me, also shows progress quite nicely. I have a constant need to be patted on the head and told I’m doing well with running (funny, I don’t care in any other context) and the Magic Mile sort of does that as long as I run consistently and space them out sensibly. There are some 45 minute steady runs in the plan, some 45 minute runs with hill repeats built in or with surges etc, then there are the weekend long runs and the odd fartlek session. We’ll see how we get on.

So run 1 of the programme was to go out for 45 minutes and as part of that do a Magic Mile. We set off and ran down to the canal and when we had done one mile upped the pace for the magic mile. Here’s how those first two miles played out (Kath was there but the dialogue is mostly mine – in my head).

Happily jogging down Ilkley Road
Turned left, still down hill, happy
Glanced at watch – ‘ooh speedy’
Happy
What do you mean ‘ooh speedy’ – you’re supposed to be going slow
Meh – shut up. I’m happy
On the canal now, ‘hm, not going downhill anymore now, bit harder’
Kath said we were at 0.8miles. I glanced at my watch and giggled ‘oh fuck, I’m already running at roughly what I thought might be sensible for the Magic Mile – 11.30 pace
Kath: ‘And go’
‘Speed up legs, come on on, you can do it’
Legs: Ok
Lungs: ‘Fuck off’
Kath – a quarter done
Legs: Yay; Lungs: Fuck; Brain: a quarter? are you sure? Must be more. Lungs: Yes must be more
Dogs in the way, dogs in the way, DOGS IN THE WAY, ok past the dogs
Lungs: You have gone mad, you have to stop
Legs: No – we’re fine (Lungs: Weren’t talking to you, legs)
Half way
‘I wonder how slow this is’ – look at watch – doesn’t mean anything – shows average pace not current pace. Bollocks, stupid fucking piece of fucking junk
Brain: ooh sweary, you’re fine, keep going
Kath said something about doing well. Lungs: WTF, doing well, I mean seriously, Have you heard us?!
Kath: 3/4 done, you can do this
Legs (very quietly): We’re not sure we can. We feel a little wobbly now
Lungs (screaming): STOP
0.8
0.81, 0.82, 0.85 – ‘wait, what? What happened to 0.83 and 0.84?
0.9. Legs and Lungs in unison – WILL YOU JUST FUCKING STOP NOW
PLEASE
Kath: You’ve done it!
I resist the urge to curl up and die and walk instead, slowly

We make our way up the golf course, feed Dino and then set off back but Kath’s knee is a little niggly so rather than risking it we walk home. 3.6 miles to add to the total and a Magic Mile benchmark set at 10.34.

My next run will be in Seahouses and running did not go well there last time (I just looked and I don’t think I blogged about it fully – it was horrendous, worst ever in my journey and I nearly gave up running completely after that weekend – I should share that properly in another post!). Anyway, I have some demons to kill and a beach to conquer!

Getting out the door…

July 12, 2017 Jess GuthLeave a comment

Getting out the door is hard. I’ve been quite good at not getting out there door recently. Usual excuses, too tired, no time, too close to having eaten, not hydrated…. yeah yeah yeah.

So since Endure24 I have been out twice. The first time was miserable and slow and I was grumpy and I had to put in walk breaks for no real reason. I’ve been quite excited about running as long as I don’t actually have to run. I like thinking about running, planning running, booking races, reading about running. I look forward to running – right up until I actually have to run. Yesterday was another one of those days – I’d been looking forward to getting out for a run all day and then I got home and just couldn’t be bothered.

However, Kath had laid out my running gear and nudged me out the door. I was only going to feed our ram – so just about 3/4 of a mile there and the same back. I set off. I felt pretty good. One of those rare runs when everything comes together immediately. When I got to the bottom of Ilkley Road where I turn right I glanced at my watch and realised that I was going much much faster than I have for a long time – for well over a year probably and even then I never ran at the pace I was running consistently. In short, for me I was going at a ridiculous speed. It’s a steady pace for others but I was stunned – my watch most definitely said 10.12 minute mile pace. I started up the hill and glanced at my watch again – obviously I had slowed up the hill but I was still well under 11 minute pace and I decided that as I was only going to Dino’s field I would just keep pushing, just keep trying to stay under 11 minute pace. My lungs started protesting as I reached the last little push up the slope, my legs threatened to slow down but then I turned left and started the downhill and everything settled down. I kept running, reached the field and stopped the watch – 10.24 pace 0.8 miles. I got my breath back, fed Dino and had a little chat with him (he’s a talkative sheep) and started thinking about the way home.

The way I had just run is downhill – a longish gentle downhill, then a slightly steeper uphill, short down, flat, short down and flat/slightly uphill to the field. The way back is the reverse and it’s harder. The uphills are tougher and I can’t remember the last time I managed to run it. In fact I think I have only managed to run the up section of Ilkley Road a handful of times. So my aim for the way back was to run it all – never mind the pace, just keep running.

I set off – it wasn’t at all conformable initially, the breathing wasn’t quite right, no rhythm. Then the short sharp slope came and I remembered a line from one of the running books I read, maybe in Running Free (Richard Askwith), that was something like: ‘Head down, small steps and wait for the summit to come to you’. And miraculously it did. I didn’t think I could keep running, I wondered if I should switch to intervals and then thought that was just too easy. I could see a friend’s van parked about 30 metres away and decided I’d run to that and if I still thought I needed a walk I could walk then. I passed the van and kept going enjoying the brief moment of flat.

Then the road started sloping gently uphill, just keep putting one foot in front of the other and eventually you’ll get there I thought. The slope gets steeper but I didn’t really notice. I was at the top before I’d had time to worry about it. I turned right and got my breath back on the downhill. I knew the toughest bit was yet to come. Ilkley Road is just a bitch. It doesn’t look like that much of a slope but it’s just relentlessly unpleasantly uphill. I turned into the road. I felt ok. I didn’t dare look at my watch. I presumed I had slowed to actual snail’s pace. I was struggling now but the Pub had just come into view and there were people sitting outside. I’m too much of a stubborn bugger to walk while the people sipping their pints can see me so I kept going, one foot in front of the other. A few steps past the pub I glanced at my watch, 11.55 pace. Wow. I presumed I had been going much slower and that the overall average pace would have dropped to slower than that. I wondered if I could keep it under 12 minutes. I took a deep breath and pushed. As the road curves to the left and steepens a little I knew I wouldn’t make the hill, my legs were like jelly but I didn’t want to give up so I turned into the road before ours and picked up the pace further as I went down the slope. I stopped at the footpath linking this road to ours.

I stared at my watch. I couldn’t quite believe it. Given how my running has been going recently, I was beginning to resign myself to the number at the front of my average pace stats always being 13 or higher – whatever the distance. I wasn’t massively happy about that but just figured that was what it was. The number on my watch said 11.46. 11.46!

Getting out the door was worth it and I’m just going to leave that there: 11.46

Endure24 – The 5 mile loop

July 5, 2017 Jess Guth2 Comments

I blogged earlier about my experience at Endure24 but I thought you might like to see the loop. On my final lap I took the camera round with me and happily snapped away. Some of the camera work is a bit dodgy because I was actually running! So if you are thinking about signing up for next year and want a sense of the route, this should give you some idea. Anyway, let’s take a look.

I only ever started from the exchange area as Kath was our first runner she was the only one to run across the timing mat at the start. From the start/exchange area we went alongside the race village/camping on the grass up a slight slope. Then we turned right onto a track that took us down the slope to a fairly impressive left turn through a white gate and onto Black Fen Drop towards the 1km mark.

At about Mile 1 there was a right turn and a slight uphill through the wood and onwards to another right turn which saw us on Temple Drag and coming close to the 2km mark. Wow it’s quicker writing this than it is running it! Doesn’t sound like we’ve come far at all yet! The whole course had lots to see, lots of interesting trees and stunning views.

At the end of Temple Drag we came out of the woods, through a gate to a slight right turn and welcome downhill to Temptation Corner – where they were always playing the best music. If you look at the course map you can see why it’s called Temptation corner – if you could run through the camper van they put there, you’d be on a path that would cut off a huge chunk of the route! In fact you’d go from 2.5km straight to 6 and 3/4km. A slight left took us back uphill and then flat to the 3km marker.

The next section was through the woods and mostly flat or slightly downhill and 4km always seemed to come quite quickly. Soon after 4km we reached sheep rush – on my last lap there were no sheep, not a single one at sheep rush but I did see them later. Just after sheep rush was the Shambles Cafe drinks station and the loo that saved me on lap 4.

After that the course seemed to get easier to me. Maybe it was just that it was well over half way, not sure. The 5km marker came towards the end of a lovely downhill slope which was followed by a sharp right and a bitch of a hill.

Then a bit of running on grass across festival crossing and round a walled woodland area. The views were great here – lots of sheep! But every time I ran this the headwind seemed ridiculous.

The 6km marker came and went as did more spectacular views and another welcome downhill at Dead Tree Drift with the big Endure24 sign. The course then curved to the left and began to go back uphill to the 7km marker which was maybe a third of the way up Bramham Climb. 1km to go

At the top of Bramham Climb you can see the race village and you can see the first Mizuno inflatable arch before you briefly disappear into what feels like a wood lined avenue before turning right and in my case power walking up the slope which takes you through the white arch, into a left turn down a little hill and then up ‘that bloody last bit’ before turning right for the blue arch, the timing mats and your team mate waiting for you with a hug in the exchange area.