Well I was in panic mode, possibly due to not having done the long run last weekend. I feel like we need to get some miles in. I don’t feel prepared at all. So we decided that we could get some additional miles in and some confidence back by upping at least one of the maintenance runs to 6 miles rather than the 45 minutes.
So off we went for 6 miles today. We did ‘cheat’ a little because we had to feed the sheep. We ran there (9.5 minutes), stopped the watch, fed the sheep and then set off again. I hated going down the golf course, walked most of it. It was wet, muddy and slippery and I am rather embarrassed to say that I let out a proper girlie shriek at one point. We went our usual route but then kept going along the canal.
I was fine running to the sheep, then fine once I got onto the flat and then we took a walk break because Kath was struggling with a stitch. After the walk break I couldn’t get going again. I took the next walk break too and then managed a bit longer. At 3.5 miles I wanted to cry. At 4.5 miles I felt ok. At 5 miles I took a couple of walk breaks and then we ran to the end. I did find it tough but a sort of manageable tough. A sort of ‘not a big deal’ tough. The pace ended up 12.40 minutes per mile which I think is pretty good given my complete downhill incompetence early on.
I like looking at the last page but I do need to confess- we still need to do the 20-23 miles we didn’t do last weekend. Hm
I didn’t want to run today. Not-at-all. But there is something magically pulling me towards that marathon and making me go. I needed quite a nudge to get me out the door today though and I have to say a big thanks to my friend Liz who sent me a message asking if I’d got my trainers on yet at just the right moment.
Once I got out there I actually felt better than on the last run. Because of limited daylight hours it made sense for me to feed the sheep on my run. I ran to the field, stopped the watch and fed them and then carried on running. When I got to the point where we normally do a little ‘there and back’ thing I really couldn’t face running the same stretch twice so I turned left across the canal bridge and therefore significantly shortened the loop. I kept plodding to the next bridge and hadn’t even hit 30 minutes yet.
I kept going over the bridge and started heading for home and that way home starts with a bitch of a slope. I don’t think I’ve ever run it before but I got to the top of it – which is also the bottom of an absolute killer of a hill. I walked up that and then started running again once I got to the top and then kept going until I got home – including running up the slope leading up to our road. I looked at my watch and it said 40 minutes. I wasn’t prepared to run round in circle for 5 minutes for the sake of it so stopped at our front door and nearly scared a woman delivering something for Kath to death as I stepped onto the drive right behind her but didn’t have enough oxygen left to announce myself.
So I didn’t run the required 45 minutes and I had a break after the first 10 minutes to feed the sheep – but the plan said nothing about hills. So there, I’m minus 5 minutes but plus some serious slopes.
I managed to get out and do my 45 minute run. I did it step by step, getting dressed in running gear, telling myself I could just go as far as the sheep and that I could walk lots if I wanted to… I set off. I said in the blog post early today that my body felt rested and ready to run – hm. I think someone came along and stole my legs and replaced them with lead. I felt so heavy and sluggish but I just kept plodding. I ran the loop I showed you the other day. I had turn round a bit before the usual point at the bridge because there was a sheepdog without a human and I’m scared of dogs. Other than that it was non-eventful. I took a walk break about half way to take my jacket off and then took the next one as well because I just couldn’t get going again. Other than that I ran the entire 45 minutes and ended up doing 3.85 miles with a pace of 11.42 minutes per mile. Then I crawled up the hill. Did I enjoy it? Nope, but I am glad I got it done.
Not long after I got back we had back to back deliveries. The first was for Kath and she disappeared upstairs with it. While she was doing whatever she was doing another parcel came. A lovely hamper (from Keelham Farm) sent to me by my work colleagues with a note telling me to ‘sit down, have a brew and relax’. They sent flowers yesterday, too – feeling completely overwhelmed. It’s just as well I got the run in before the parcels arrived because Kath appeared with a gift wrapped book – the Illustrated Herdwick Shepherd – so that’s me – I will be on the sofa stuffing my face and reading for the foreseeable future!
Yesterday was a rest day on the training plan. No running, no clarity, no headspace… Yesterday was a funny day and in many ways a day of two halves. I felt ok-ish in the morning. Worrying a lot about not being at work and all the stuff that therefore will never get done but I felt relatively calm. Then I went out for lunch with a friend I hadn’t seen for ages and it was good to have a catch up even though neither of us was firing on all cylinders. It was lovely to be out and lovely to see my friend. Then I got home and was exhausted, totally exhausted and drained and tearful and crappy. I retreated to the sofa for the rest of the day – literally.
Today my body feels rested and ready to run – no effects from the long walk left at all. My calf muscle is normal and any little aches I had Sunday are now definitly gone. Kath’s knee is still creaky so if I am going to do the 45 minute run today it will have to be by myself. Hm. I’ve only just had breakfast so I will have to wait a while before going anyway. Here’s what’s going on in my brain:
I need to do a 45 minute run today – the plan says
I want to run today – it will be good for my head
I am already panicked about the marathon, missing a run will make that worse
I should be panicked about the marathon, I can’t do a marathon
I don’t think I can even run 45 minutes
So I best not go because then I’d find out that I can’t run 45 minutes and then the marathon really is out of the question
So if I just stay on the sofa we can all pretend that I might be able to do the marathon
But then I definitly won’t make it round the course in January and then everyone will think ‘I knew she couldn’t do it’
I’ll say ‘I knew I couldn’t do it’
But I want to say ‘I didn’t think I could do it BUT I DID’
So run your 45 minute run then you stupid woman
Yes
BUT
No but – the plan says 45 minutes
It’ll be good for my head
Missing a run will make me worry more about the marathon
I should be worrying about the marathon
..
This may take a while to resolve. I’ll let you know if I make it out the door.
Right now I am supposed to be roughly 4 miles into a 20 mile run (from Leeds to home along the Leeds-Liverpool canal) but that’s not happening. Apart from it being a change of plan I am ok about that. We were trying to catch up with the training plan but that turns out not to be very sensible. It would see us do 3 really long walks on Saturdays and long runs on Sundays for 3 consecutive weekends (the training plan actually has 2 ‘easy’ weeks inbetween). It’s too much and today our bodies let us know. Kath has a twinge in her left knee which feels a bit like her right knee did just before it gave up the ghost for a while and if I am totally honest about it, my right calf muscle is screaming for a rest. So we did the sensible thing and turned this weekend into an ‘easy’ weekend and called the 10.68 miles walk yesterday it.
The walk was nice though. We walked from home along the Leeds-Liverpool canal to Skipton. We weren’t striding out – just walking along nicely and the pace ended up being about 19 minutes per mile. We stopped at the post office on the way and had a couple of stops early on to watch the kingfisher whizz up and down the canal alongside us and then to watch a second kingfisher further along. It was cold, there was a dusting of snow on the hills and in places the wind was biting. It was nice to be out though. I wouldn’t say it cleared my mind but it stopped me thinking about anything at all. Once in Skipton we went into a pub for food and enjoyed a lovely beef stew before having a little look round the shops and getting the train home. So not much running news!
View on way to Skipton with flooded washland and snow capped hills
Last week I went through all my running gear and also bought the last bits and pieces I might need. So I now have a choice of kit to take. I tried the Salomon trainers I hadn’t worn yet on a short run and they were great. I will try them for one long run and providing they’re ok I will take them and my New Balance ones and see how I feel on the day. I have 4 pairs of 3/4 length running pants (including a new pair and a pair I have had years which I can now fit into – for the first time since 2013 and fit in easily for the first time ever!) and I also have a selection of t-shirts and vests to choose from. I will have one last trying on session before I pack but it is looking pretty good. I also have a new Shock Absorber Ultimate Run Sports Bra (catchy name!) which I am not 100% sure on yet. It is comfy and it eliminates bounce completely but there is something comforting about wearing an old worn in (out?) sports bra – like taking an old loyal supportive friend with you… We’ll see. Maybe the new one and I will bond over a long run next weekend. So the kit is sorted bar the final decisions about what travels with me.
It’s weigh in day. I have lost 2.4 pounds. I am really chuffed with that (it puts me on a round number) and it means I have now lost exactly 2.5 stone this year – that’s 35 pounds – that’s 15.8 kg. With every pound that comes off the running gets a little bit easier – there’s less of me to drag round and that in turn makes it easier to keep the weight off and keep losing a bit more. I’d love to shift another half stone before the marathon to make it a round 3 stone loss on 2015. That would be great but I am just going to keep going as I have been – running, eating relatively healthily and doing yoga most days.
I don’t quite know what to do with myself today – the plan was run 20 miles which was going to take most of the day… I’m not good with changes of plan at the moment so I am on my safe sofa for now. I’ll do more yoga later, more blogging, more Disney planning, more writing… more anything as long as it means I don’t have to leave the sofa or engage with people
really (not) a runner 