Tag: run

Endure24 (North) – Race Report

Jess Guth3 Comments

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At the weekend I took part in Endure24 (North) at Bramham Park, Leeds. Endure24 is a 24 hour race open to solo runners and teams. I was part of Team Dopey (what else) with 3 awesome women. Kath and I were there to catch up with Bex and Amanda and the kids IMG_7607 (800x600)as well as to run. There were of course many other teams who were there to run, seriously run. Kath and I got there early afternoon and set up our tents (swearing included), then I picked up our race numbers and timing chips, Bex and Amanda and the kids arrived around 8pm and we had a lovely couple of hours chilling out, having a little walk and catching up.

Saturday we had bacon sarnies and sat in the sun before getting ready for the running. At 11.45 they started the race briefing (which wasn’t all that useful because the only thing not in the instructions was the bit about how to change over from one team member to the next and we couldn’t see the demonstration from where we were. At 12 on the dot the first runners set off, Kath amongst them. I watched her set off feeling hugely proud. Then it dawned on me that I was going next. After we looked at the exchange area I walked back to the tents, got myself sorted and then waited. We reckoned Kath would be about an hour – just under. I was just watching the exchanges when I spotted Kath coming up the slope. I wasn’t expecting her for another 5 minutes or so she had a great run. A she handed me the yellow team armband and gave me a hug she just said ‘take it easy, it’s hot out there – walk the hills and enjoy the downhill’.

Lap one was fun. I set off along the grassy slightly uphill slope thinking ‘fuck this is hard, I don’t like uphill on grass’. But then I turned right onto the track and started going downhill and enjoying myself. I looked at my watch – 11.30 pace. Too fast. I slowed off, turned the corner and started a long stretch of flat/slightly uphill. Then I turned a corner and went slightly uphill – I remembered Kath’s warning and slowed to a walk. I’d just passed a guy who did the same. I walked up the hill and then set off again. It was hot and my pace was dropping a little but I enjoyed looking around, plodding on the flat, walking the hills and letting the downhill just take me downhill. I was beginning to think it was getting a little hard as I passed the 4k mark, half way. Then I reached the drinks station, had a sip of water and a quick chat about the Dopey Challenge and then I was on my way, feeling stronger. At just after 7k the guy I had passed on the first real hill caught me up. We had a little chat – he was a solo runner and said he’d see me over the finish line for this loop. We jogged the rest of the route to nearly the end. I just couldn’t keep going up the final slope so told him to to go. As I reached the corner I heard a cheer and saw Bex and Kath and the kids clapping me home. I ran the finish stretch and handed the band to Amanda. Loop one done and I felt great.

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Lap 2 – again I took over from Kath who did another great loop. I set off more slowly this time and ran more of the course but at a slower pace. It was cooler so easier to keep going. Approaching 7km I was about to walk as a group of runners passed me. I asked them if I could tag along up the hill and they welcomed me in. When I got to 7km I waved them off and thanked them for the lift. I couldn’t go with them all the way up. Again the slope at the end defeated me but another good lap.

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Lap 3. I set off after a hug from Kath. I felt strong and ready. I plodded up the grassy slope, turned right, got half way down the hill and my tummy gave a dangerous rumble. I tried to ignore it but by the time I turned the next corner there was no ignoring it. I walked a bit to see if it would ease but it didn’t. It got worse every time I tried to run and I nearly turned and went back but I didn’t know if that would disqualify us so there was nothing for it. I would just have to keep going and hope that I would make it to the end without pooing my pants.  I tried running on and off and when I was on one of those little jogs, sticking nicely to the left as a slow person a bloke came zooming past me on the left – he could have used the entire path on my right, it was clear – he said ‘move your fat arse’. I was stunned and angry and a bit upset. Everyone had been lovely up to that point, encouraging and friendly. Eventually I got to the drinks station but someone sneaked into the loo before me and then they were doing something on it and standing waiting wasn’t helping so I motored on. I didn’t run and then, in the finishing straight it happened… I didn’t quite make it to the toilet. It wasn’t a total disaster but a useful reminder that running and keeping your dignity intact aren’t necessarily compatible.

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Lap 4. I didn’t eat anything other than a banana between loops 3 and 4. I slept a few hours, restlessly and then decided to go out for another lap to leave the demons out there. I got sorted and set off about 4am. It was a gorgeous morning. My legs felt good, I was looking forward to a gentle jog in the morning sun. I’d been to the loo, I felt empty but well fueled – perfect really. I walked the grassy slope to wake my legs up and then jogged down the hill and almost immediately my tummy was right were it left off on Lap 3. I tried not to be disappointed and just accept I’d be walking. I didn’t even try and run so as to not make things worse. This time I could use the loo at the 3 mile mark and once I’d done that I managed to run a lot of the final 2 miles. I went back to bed for a bit after that.

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Lap 5. This was my lap of honour really. I wanted to go out on a positive and so decided to take my camera on a walk/jog around the course. I loved this lap. I felt strong and I jogged from photo stop to photo stop, I chatted with people on course, I thanked the Marshals and I enjoyed the sunshine.  I stopped to take a picture of the last sign and then walk the slope up towards the finish line when I saw the kids running down the hill towards me. ‘Oh fuck’, I thought ‘they’re going to make me run the slope!’. They did but it was awesome. On my last lap I finally managed to run the hill and the finishing stretch. A great way to finish!

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We collected our medals and then headed home – the others had packed up the tents and everything while I was running. It was a lovely weekend, I ran/walked 25 miles which is fabulous and I am so proud of the whole team for all sorts of reasons – we did our own thing, we had fun and we did it together. What more could you want?

Once we got home I soon realised how tired I was. We did some yoga, we had some food and celebrated with a beer, lots of water and a packet of hoola hoops.

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Mexico Running

Jess Guth1 Comment

Last week I was lucky enough to attend a conference in Mexico City. I took my running IMG_6369gear – as I often do when I go away for work. More often than not the running gear stays in my bag but not this time. I arrived Monday evening and after a pretty good sleep hit the gym on Tuesday early morning. I got on the treadmill, saw that I could have a 5k trail on my screen and settled in for a very very slow 5k. I thought it would be nice to stretch my legs but was aware of being slightly tired and it being warm – even in the gym. So off I set, aiming for a pace of about 13 to 13 and a half minutes per mile. It felt like hell. I couldn’t breathe, sweat was pouring off me and I was nowhere near the pace. I was at about 14 and a half. I walked a little bit and tried again. At 1.2 miles I gave up and did 5k on the bike instead, slowly and grumpily. It began to dawn on me, altitude. That’s why I couldn’t breathe. I know Mexico City isn’t THAT high but it is still noticeable.

I didn’t really notice altitude generally although I’d been slightly dizzy when I first arrived  but I put that down to tiredness. I also noticed that I was out of breath more quickly going up stairs or walking fast. Anyway, Wednesday morning I tried again – armed with a little more knowledge and understanding of why I found it so hard. I did a little better. I went slow and plodded my way to 2.2 miles. I was going to try for the 5km again but my knee started to niggle a little and then the treadmill programme stopped at 30 minutes with a 5 minute cool down and I didn’t bother re-setting. Instead I switched to the cross-trainer and did another 30 minutes on that. I was a sweaty mess. In the afternoon I went for a long walk and didn’t notice the altitude – I noticed pollution and heat.

IMG_6361Thursday I had a rest day but I did walk a fair bit too. Friday morning was the biggy. The conference fun run. A 5km, non timed early morning run. Secretly I’ve always wondered what it would be like to run one of these conference runs. I’ve never even considered joining them. I don’t know what possessed me to do it this time. I’d agonised over it but all my Facebook support groups were very much of the opinion that I should go. So on Friday morning I pulled on my 2016 London Marathon Finisher’s T-shirt – as if it somehow gave me the right to be there – pulled my pants and trainers on and headed to the lobby. There were two people there already, disappointingly they looked like runners. Such a silly thing to say but as I stepped out of the lift I thought ‘Fuck, proper runners’.  Soon we were joined by a few more people – a serious half marathoner, an ultra marathoner, other experienced and speedy looking people- but it stayed a small group. Great. I desperately wanted the ‘Fat Lass at the Back’ gear because that was really the only way to describe the scenario – everyone was thinner and faster. I nearly made my excuses. But I was already up and dressed for a run, I might was well set off with everyone and go for a run anyway. I chatted with a couple of people – fairly serious runners all round really – there was talk of taking it easy at around 30 minute pace. Yeah right, I nearly (but not quite) ran a sub 30 minute 5k once at the height of Dopey training and that nearly killed me.

So we set off. It was clear immediately that the pace was too fast for me. After an initial IMG_6363pang of disappointment and feeling crapy about it, I was actually ok with that. I dropped back and settled into my own pace and watched, vaguely amused, as the rest of the pack disappeared off into the distance. I nearly caught them a couple of times as they’d stopped for traffic lights but they were soon off again. After a little while I noticed that one of the couples had dropped back a bit from the main group and the woman was walking a bit on and off. Eventually I caught up with her and asked her how she was doing. I vaguely thought about pushing past her – maybe I could run the 5km at my pace without walking – but that didn’t seem right and anyway, I wouldn’t mind a little walk. Well, it turns out that she too was struggling with the pace and that she was from West Yorkshire too. We run/walked and chatted our way round the rest of the course with her partner running ahead and waiting on and off – and I really enjoyed it. The rest of the group waited at the entrance to the park but that was really the last time we saw them. By the time we got to the hotel they’d all disappeared.

So, the fun run. My thoughts. In so many ways it was exactly the way I imagined it and why I have never ever joined before – and probably won’t again. The pace is too fast, the people are all ‘yeah we’ll take it really slow, it’s just fun’ when they actually don’t mean that. They also don’t mean that they’ll stick with the slowest person. They wouldn’t have had one or two people drop back to run with me. The only reason I wasn’t on my own was because Jenny was happy to put up with me when I caught up with her. It was too small a group to really split into sub-groups so having a faster and a slower pack just IMG_6366wouldn’t work. I enjoyed the run. I also would have enjoyed it had I done it on my own – but I was ready for that and resigned to it. However, I’m a long way along my running journey now and I’ve accepted that I am slow and will often be at the back. I am generally ok with that and I still found it incredibly hard to not get disheartened as everyone jogged off away from me. It took a few deep breaths and I swallowed some tears and reminded myself that this was my run and they didn’t matter. Once I got that in my head it was fine but that’s not that easy a place to get to. All the things I had always feared about conference fun runs came true: everyone was thinner, everyone was sporty, everyone was faster, nobody waited…

So why did I go. Well I always presumed that runners would laugh at me and be dismissive – but I have had so much support from the Too Fat to Run? community and Clubhouse lovelies there that I do now firmly believe that my substantially sized arse has a right to be out there doing its thing. More importantly though, I have also got amazing support and encouragement from another FB group – the Trail Running Magazine’s Run1000 miles Challenge. There are some amazing, inspirational and phenomenal runners in that group and they don’t seem to care that I am fat and slow. They cheer my achievements and celebrate my successes with me, however small and they made me re-think my perception of runners. They’re not laughing. They’re telling me to go out there and do it. They’re lovely. Somehow I had started to think that most runners are lovely and  that my fear of conference fun runs is mostly based on my own prejudice of runners. So I went. I think maybe I was a little disappointed at the end of the run. I’m not really sure what I expected – certainly not for everyone to wait until I’d made it back or cheer or tell me how well I’d done (I would have found that patronising and embarrassing) but maybe I did expect someone to be there in the lobby making sure all runners got back safe. Maybe I did expect one or two to say ‘hi, how was that? Bit warm out there isn’t it?’ Maybe I expected to be able to say ‘Wow, you must have sped up a fair bit that last mile, I couldn’t even see you’. Instead, I said bye to my  two new friends and went for a shower and then some breakfast.

I did it. I enjoyed it but I enjoyed it because I decided I would do my run and would let the fun run go do its thing. I also enjoyed it because I met two lovely people on the way. I don’t think I’ll be a conference fun run regular – other than maybe to use them as an incentive or excuse to get my butt out of bed and go for a run, my run, with my rules and my paceIMG_6370

Sunday weigh-in is back

Jess Guth3 Comments

Right, well. You can’t out-train a bad diet. Julie Creffied of Too Fat to Run said this in her recent blog post and I’ve been thinking about this since. It’s absolutely true and in my experience so far running actually isn’t that brilliant for weight loss. Of course when you go from not really doing very much to running regularly chances are you’ll drop a pound or two but after that I’ve found that it’s great for maintaining weight and also for changing shape but not for getting lighter. Particularly when the distances get longer, fuelling becomes so important as does rest. However being lighter makes running easier.

I am about a stone heavier than I was at Dopey. For my next Dopey attempt I’d like to be a stone lighter than I was then. Plenty of time but nonetheless worth thinking about my diet and whether it is actually bad. Well, no, overall it isn’t. We mostly cook from scratch and have very little processed food. We probably eat a little too much meat but overall our 3 meals a day are pretty balanced and generally healthy (without being saintly). I do have a sweet tooth though and I do eat quite mindlessly a lot of the time meaning that sometimes I’ll have something just because it’s lunchtime or tea time or I’ll eat more than I really need because it takes a while to realise I’m full. I do also snack. Mostly healthy snacks though – fruit, nuts… but then the sweet tooth kicks in.

We also eat out a fair bit and I’m not that good at making healthy choices or not having pudding when we go out. The other thing, and I suspect this might be a key thing, is that I don’t drink enough water so I suspect that sometimes when I think I’m hungry, I might actually just be thirsty. So just to focus the mind a little bit, I’m bringing the Sunday weigh-ins back. I’d given up getting on the scales – they’ve resolutely stayed exactly the same since January and I know that the number on there means far less than how I feel and other measurements but I think I need a bit of focus. So baseline set today. Next weigh-in will be next Sunday – we’re away Thurs-Sunday so we’ll see. The aim is to be consistently back to Dopey weight by the time we get to the Lakeland Trails runs in October. That weight is my sort of plateau weight so getting there and then staying there will be  challenge. If I can maintain there for a while I can then push on to loose a little bit more.

As for running – I went yesterday on my own. I ran just under a mile to our sheep, fed them and then carried on to do just under 2.5 miles running and then the half mile walk back up the hill. It felt like hard going really but I was glad I got out. I’m not getting my fuelling quite right at the moment and my tummy isn’t settling well for running but I guess doing some is better than nothing.

Trail Slope Repeats and Planning

Jess Guth3 Comments

Ooh slightly behind on my running blogging. It’s marking season. Life sort of stops during marking season and I’ll emerge feeling a bit fuzzy and disorientated in a couple of week’s time.

Anyway, I’m sort of sorting paperwork and hanging about after lunch waiting to go for an afternoon little jog. Kath has a slightly sore knee so is sitting this one out. I’m not really sure how far I want to go or where but I’ve got a couple of hours to decide. However, I haven’t told you about Thursday morning’s run yet.

If you’ve been following this blog a while you may know that I don’t like hills. I have always ignored hill repeats if they appeared on a training plan (even if I put them on the plan). I mean, running up a hill once is bad enough, why on earth would I want to walk/jog back down just to run back up? Anyway, on Thursday morning we did hill repeats. Well, we did slope repeats. We used the slope on our sheep loop which isn’t steep but it’s uneven and very much trail territory and it’s a slope I have always struggled on. So we happily tootled along to that slope which starts just after our far field – so just about a mile away. Then we took it in turns to run up the slope as fast as we could and then jog back down. Kath went first and she went all the way up to the top. I went second and I went to where the slope levels before a final little climb. The first run took me 45 seconds exact and it was hard! I was tempted to walk back down and I was huffing and puffing like I haven’t in a long time. But I jogged.

Then Kath went again. Then me again and I think it was faster. I don’t know exactly because my watch battery gave up as I set off. The temptation to collapse in a heap was quite overwhelming but I managed to jog down. Kath went for round three. She’s too bloody fast. She was back in no time which meant I had to go. This was definitely more measured and my legs were screaming at me to stop from about half way. I got there, whimpered, turned round and sort of rolled back down. Kath went for the final time. Then she was back and off I went. I tried to keep an even fast-ish pace all the way up. My legs were a bit jelly-ish as I got to where I’d been turning round. I walked a few steps and decided I would take the last one right to the top so set off again as fast as I could (which wasn’t very fast at this point!) I made it. I jogged down and we walked a little, had a little jog and then we walked home running just a couple of hills en route. 3 miles total. It was a really good exercise actually. It was really hard work but also sort of felt doable. Choosing a slope rather than a hill was a good start to get used to it and choosing trail terrain meant I could practice going faster (rather than slowing almost to a stand still) on an uneven surface. I wouldn’t exactly say I enjoyed it but it felt good to have done it.

Yesterday was a rest day. Today we were going to run several loops with breaks in between but Kath’s knee needs a rest and I don’t fancy going out on my own repeatedly. I’ll see how I feel tomorrow but for today I will just do something which allows me to feed the sheep on the way. We’ve also been planning though. We are going to run the Dirty Double in the Lakes in October. Lakeland Trails does a 15km Helvellyn Challenge on the 14th October and a 14km Ullswater Challenge on the 15th October so we have booked onto those. I really like this idea – there is a race version with a tighter cut off time and then a challenge option with a more generous cut off so you can still do it if you’re slower or if you just want to take it easy, enjoy the scenery and not race. Given these challenges, I suspect I will be doing a few more hill repeats between now and then! The week after we’ll be off to Scarborough to do the Yorkshire Coast 10k there. It should feel lovely and flat after the hills the weekend before!

Running Meltdown again

Jess Guth1 Comment

Two miles into my 10k run I was sat on my arse at the edge of the River Wharfe with tears running down my face trying to focus on a little chaffinch in the tree in front of me. Yep, running meltdown – again. I wasn’t even really aware I was struggling. We’d had a lovely first mile with a little stop to watch a deer for a few minutes and I felt fine really. My legs were a bit tight but really, nothing dramatic. We were running at the Bolton Abbey Estate and had just gone under the aqueduct when panic set in. I said that I thought I should go back, we walked a bit, then I stopped completely and then Kath sat me down. So there I was, not quite 2 miles in. FFS.

This mental wobble I can’t explain. I didn’t see it coming, I had been looking forward to being out, it was a gorgeous day and the sun on my face was lovely. But all of a sudden my black puppy pounced and got me. I couldn’t dodge her or outrun her. She just attached herself to me and growled. So I sat and looked at the chaffinch; a sweet little thing right at the end of the branch, silent mostly. At the time I thought it was a female but I’m not sure now. It might have been a male but I just couldn’t see the colours because I was looking into the sun. It was really more of a chaffinch silhouette. Slowly I began to realise that I had stopped panicking. Slowly I decided that I could probably manage to go on. So on we went. It was ok for a while, a short while and then doubts crept back in. The puppy was keeping pace but then we saw a heron and walked so we could see him better – he rotated slowly so he could keep an eye on us. Onwards. We stopped again at Barden bridge and watched some ducklings and some goslings – all neatly lined up in a row between the parents. Then we continued.

It was ok for a bit and then it was ok for a bit longer. We had a few little walks along the way but I tried to keep going. The puppy was somewhere but she was keeping her distance now and as we stopped to watch a pied flycatcher she disappeared completely. As we saw lots more birds I tried to remember that this is why I run out there. If we wanted to run fast, we’d go to a track Kath rightly pointed out. Running out there is not about pace or even really distance, it’s just about being out there. I mean really being there.

I agreed that we would stop at the Pavilion rather than go further and aim for the 10k. I knew that would be about 4.5 miles. I decided I wanted to do 5. I informed Kath of that as we came onto the flat out of the wood and ran alongside the Wharfe. We kept going along that path but soon turn round to head across the bridge to the Pavilion so that we didn’t have to run through a whole load of people. To get the distance we ran passed our car and along the car park. The puppy caught up. In my head she was running rings round me trying to trip me up shouting ‘hahaha you can’t do this’. My tummy gurgled dangerously but I focused on the image of the puppy and kept thinking ‘you’re wrong’. My legs felt heavy and my mind kept wanting to give in but eventually, after what seemed like forever, my watch beeped for the 5 miles.

I have felt focused and strong for the rest of the day and I have rattled through the first batch of marking really well. I left my puppy licking her wounds somewhere out there. She’ll be back I’m sure, but not today. Today I won!