Tag: running

Hills, More hills, 4 miles and another hill

Jess GuthLeave a comment

It has been pretty good running bank holiday weekend. It needed to be because we didn’t get out during the week. It was a crappy week. I was on strike for a couple of days and on the second strike day I started really struggling and I didn’t really get much better on Friday. Hiding on the sofa was absolutely fine by me.

However, on Saturday we got our butts out and started catching up to get back on plan. The first run we hadn’t done was a 45 minute hill run. So, I pulled my trainers on and followed Kath out the door, to the end of the road, longingly looked left and then turned right. We walked the first stretch and then started running. We didn’t set the intervals for some reason so made it up as we went along. The hills were tough, really tough but I kept going even though on some of them I only managed 20 second runs. We didn’t get to the top but that wasn’t the aim anyway. We ran almost all the way back down and it felt pretty good to have done it but I can’t say I enjoyed that one!

Sunday morning we went to Bolton Abbey and ran our loop again. We were a bit faster than the week before which is always nice but then we didn’t stop for pictures this time! I managed all the hills apart from the one towards the end which I never manage but I ran a bit of it, then walked a bit and then ran the last bit to the top. One step closer to conquering the bugger! It was a beautiful run and we saw lots of birds including a pied flycatcher. This run also served as my May One Big Fat Run which if you haven’t heard about it is a virtual monthly 5km run ‘hosted’ by Too Fat to Run?.

Today we were going to run in the morning but we needed to our sheep ready to take some to market and vaccinate the lambs. So we decided we’d postpone the run until this afternoon. We didn’t have to do too much running around with the sheep but it’s always a funny feeling taking them to market. We took 6, keeping 2 of last year’s lambs for breeding. We had lunch when we got back and pottered around a bit and then set off about 2 hours after eating

I think it was a little too soon after food for me, I felt a bit sickly for the first couple of intervals. We were due to do 4 miles with a 1 minute surge every 10 or so minutes. We set off from home, went downhill and then hit the canal. We were running 2.5 minutes and walking one. We did the first surge not long after we got onto the canal. I struggled because I somehow couldn’t get my head round speeding up a little and then maintaining that speed. Instead I kept getting faster and faster. So when the second surge was due I deliberately fell in behind Kath and that worked much better. We did the surges in the middle of our 2.5 minute runs and I think it’s a really good way to learn how to recover a little by just slowing down rather than stopping to walk. The surges weren’t fast – just a little speedier than we were going anyway but it seems quite effective. Neither us can now remember whether we did 3 or 4.

I liked going along the canal. We saw ducklings, swans, a few geese, dogs, cyclists, runners, sparrows, blackbirds and a cat or two. We finished our 4 miles with an average pace of 11.57 and it was a bit exciting to go under 12. That’s probably the first time since Dopey that we’ve gone under 12 – I don’t think we did between Dopey and London. Although I found it hard, I enjoyed doing the surges – it felt like we were actually training, like we had some sort of purpose rather than just plodding along. We finished our 4 miles with just a little walk left on the canal and then had to walk back up the hill. I wasn’t really looking forward to that hill. We went straight up using a footpath which is the shortest but also the steepest way to our house. My calf muscles were protesting a bit and my back was niggly by the time we got to the top but actually overall I found walking up there after the run easier than I sometimes do after a day at work.

All in all, a good long weekend of running. Now I just have to get my head round going back to work tomorrow!

 

Yellow Shoes Run and a redstart

Jess Guth4 Comments

I have just got back from a brilliant little run at Bolton Abbey. We wanted to do our RunDisney Shorts virtual run somewhere nice and fun and not take it seriously at all! so after a lovely little yoga session (Morning Stretches for Back Pain from Yoga Studio) we set off and drove to Bolton Abbey. It was a little overcast but dry and actually looked like it would turn into a gorgeous morning.

So we set off from the Cavendish Pavilion and walked to the top of the first slope – we were meant to be having fun after all, not killing ourselves on the first hill!. We had changed the intervals to try running a bit longer – so running for 2.5 mins and walking for a minute. I thought I might not notice as much if we sneaked in an increase on our fun run and I was planning on stopping for pictures anyway.

The colours were fantastic and the smell of the wild garlic really strong in some places.

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The trees and ferns seemed to offer every imaginable shade of green and brown and we couldn’t help but stop and stare every now and again.

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We pootled on alongside the Wharfe and up to the Strid where this little hill thankfully coincided with a walk break and I just about had time to stop at the top, turn around and take the picture.

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Onwards and downhill a bit – I have to admit, I was scared going downhill – probably even more than usual after my fall last week but it was all fine and soon we came out of the wood and into the open with the aqueduct just ahead of us. This must be roughly half way – obligatory selfie as we crossed the river.

 

 

Just past the aqueduct on the other side of the Wharfe a group of people were standing with binoculars pointed into the trees. We asked if they could see anything good and they said they could see a male redstart and were even kind enough to let us have a look through their binoculars. I’ve never seen a redstart before so that was really exciting and we continued on our way with a spring in our step.

This stretch of the route is what you might politely call ‘undulating’. I call it fucking hilly. I managed to stick to all the intervals and just kept going lost in my own little world just letting my mind wander. And then we came to my nemesis.

Annoyingly it does not look like all that much on the photos but trust me, it’s a bastard. It has literally brought me to my knees and to tears in the past. Today we were having fun so we walked it, took a picture at the top and then headed off again. Downhill and flat from there!

We completed our 3.1miles, or 5km with lots of photo stops and stops to look at birds and the scenery in exactly 45.5 minutes. It was a slow but really lovely run and we have earned our Yellow Shoes Medal (although Valley of Desolation doesn’t sound very Disney, does it?!?)

We celebrated with coffee and breakfast at the Cavendish Pavilion sitting outside in the gorgeous sunshine.

The Clubhouse

Jess GuthLeave a comment

I started this post last weekend but then got busy with other stuff so I thought I’d finish it today. I wasn’t running that day. I was sitting in the summer house trying to get some work things finished and learning how to cope with my new MacBook Air. Facebook tells me that lots of ladies from the Clubhouse were running races that day and that others were battling the warm weather on their training runs. So the Clubhouse. I thought I’d tell you about it and about the Too Fat to Run  (TFTR) Community/Group/Whatever you want to call it in more detail than I have before.

I am probably about the last person you might expect to join a running club. I am also about the last person you’d expect to join an online group of any kind and I am probably also one of the least likely women to like the idea of joining a women only group. Let’s face it, we can be bitchy and competitive and dramatic and mostly I really can’t be bothered with that shit. I’m also not the most sympathetic and I get irritated by other people’s dramas quite easily. I also don’t really care what other people think most of the time so it is difficult to see what I might get out of such groups or what I might contribute. The Clubhouse is an online, women only running club – so exactly what I would usually roll my eyes at and what I certainly wouldn’t pay to join, except that I did.

So how did the Clubhouse and my engagement with TFTR turn out to be so amazingly positive? Back in November when I felt totally lost and I was struggling to get off the sofa, Facebook showed me a suggested page for Countdown to Christmas run by Julie Creffield who is behind TFTR. It was fairly cheap and I thought it might give me a positive focus through December and it did.Daily challenges kept me doing something and it was fun to interact with people and laugh about our attempts at some of the challenges and celebrate our successes in others. It felt like being part of something at a time when I wasn’t really sure where I was going with anything. I read about the Clubhouse and I wondered whether it might be fun. I signed up on a whim really. I’m glad I did but I still find it really hard to articulate why.

The Clubhouse is a pretty simple premise – you pay a monthly fee (or pay all in one go for the year as I did) and get access to a closed online Facebook group in which Julie provides a sort of coaching thing which is also hard to capture in words. There are monthly themes (May =retreat) with challenges set to go with it, there are opportunities to ask questions – generally of course but also at specified points each week, there’s a discount on merchandise and the other things Julie does, there’s a closed section of the website with resources – running plans etc. You do actually get a lot for your money including tips on running and fitness from Julie which are specific to you. The Facebook group is the most valuable. I interact with someone on there daily. Ok, I hear you, I could do that on the open Too Fat to Run page too but it’s not the same. For a start the main page is public, the group is private and the page has too many followers to create the feel of a supportive group and network – it’s too anonymous (eventhough it is public – I know what I mean!). Ok, I could set up a closed group and invite all my running friends to join that – oh wait I don’t have many running friends… I have some friends who run but it is not running that has brought us together as friends and somehow there are things about running – particularly running as the fatty that I am that I’m not sure I want to share with people I actually know in other ways – not in a personal sort of closed facebook group kind of way (yes, weird given that I will happily blog about it all).

So the Clubhouse works for me because I am not a sociable runner and therefore don’t talk running with a group of likeminded runners on a regular basis – an actual running club fills me with dread (although I will go one day just to try a session, it’s good to be a little scared, right?!?) but I do have this slightly odd need to share my running stories, fears, disasters and successes with people who ‘get it’. The Clubhouse brings together a group of women who get it. The ‘it’ is slightly different for all of us I think. We are all at different stages of our running lives and our lives generally, we have different views on everything, including running and health and fitness but so far, surprisingly for a group of women, I have found it to be supportive, encouraging and totally non-judgmental. I like hearing the stories as much as I like sharing mine. The funny thing is, I’m not sure I would in ‘real’ life. Online is good. Others in the Clubhouse do meet up and make more of an effort to meet up at races etc, I’m not sure that’s what I need from the Clubhouse, what I need is instant unquestioning support right there when I need it and for that it works (don’t ask for much do I ?!?)

There are other things about the Too Fat to Run community I really like – there’s a blog, monthly virtual One Big Fat Run – a 5k run on the last Sunday of the month. You can even buy a medal in the shop if you run for the bling (more on that another time!). I like my Too Fat to Run t-shirts because whenever I wear them I get brilliant people watching opportunities  – people don’t quite know how to react when they see me walking or running along with ‘Too Fat to Run?’ in big letters across my front and I wish I’d had something like the 5 weeks to 5k programme when I started out because it is so much better than the programmes I tried to get through and work with. And if you like having a nosey at what other people are doing there is always the Runner of the Month feature (I’m January and blogged about that here).

It might not be for everyone and maybe it won’t be for me in the long term, who knows, things change but for now I really value the support I get from a whole bunch of women I’ve never met (save for a few who I have met briefly before and even more briefly during the London Marathon). If you want to begin to get a sense of what it’s all about have a look at the main Too Fat to Run Facebook Page.

Happy Running

 

The week after the marathon

Jess Guth3 Comments

The ballot for the London Marathon 2017 opened today. Oh that excitement of will I or won’t I get in, it was almost tempting and then I remembered: I don’t want to get in. A week and a day after the marathon and I have absolutely no desire to run that distance ever again. It hasn’t been a ‘never again…oooh look a marathon’ sort of scenario. I’ve done it twice – that’s twice more than I ever thought I would! That’ll do!

It’s been a funny week. I perfected a sort of penguin shuffle over the first few days until the stiffness eased and I could walk normally again. I learned that touching your toes is a privilege and not a right (I could barely reach past my knees) and I felt totally lost for a couple of days and tired for the entire week. I craved salty stuff for a day or two – crisps mainly and anything with carbs and then my sweet tooth kicked in and I just wanted chocolate and cake and biscuits. I didn’t want big meals, I just wanted to eat constantly. I was looking forward to a glass or two of wine but when it came to it wasn’t really bothered. I’m still not fussed really.

Looking back at marathon day is also a funny old business. I am remembering things I didn’t immediately after when I wrote the race review and my perception of the day is shifting a little now the pain has worn off. The memories that are sticking are the good ones. I remember the rhinos – oh the rhinos. They were fabulous. I think we were probably overtaken by all of them in the end but we spent a lot of time close to rhinos. I don’t know how the guys managed to run in those ‘costumes’ – more like contraptions really (sorry if you have no idea what I am talking about).  I remember the crowds through Greenwich and I remember the first person to call my name – a little boy maybe aged 10 shouting ‘go Jessica!’. I remember all the high 5s offered by the kids and my inability to be grumpy about being in pain and then making the effort to run over to the kids even when I felt like I couldn’t move another step.

I remember the cutty sark and looping round it, smiling to myself and I remember really wanting the Too Fat to Run cheering station to come because I needed a boost. I remember the feeling of being supported and cheered on. I don’t remember the  disappointment at not being able to run across Tower Bridge, I remember going across Tower Bridge, taking it in and looking at it as if I’d never seen it before and I remember going past mile 15 thinking ‘ ok well, not going to plan but I’m doing this!’ I remember at mile 16 setting my heart on finishing and I remember remembering  – probably at around mile 18 – a t-shirt I’d seen during my first half marathon which said ‘Pain is temporary, knees are replaceable but glory is eternal’.

I remember my blister popping at about mile 21 as I decided to use the roar of the crowds to just try another little run and I remember emerging from the tunnel, I remember the Thames and how gorgeous London looked on the day. I remember how lovely it was to see Sarah and Mark out on the course – friendly faces also on this journey. I don’t really remember Buckingham Palace, I just remember the crowd and the noise and then seeing the finish line and Kath turning to me and saying ‘Starwars theme tune?’ and I think I laughed and maybe it did play in my head as I crossed the line. (See my Dopey half marathon post for an explanation of this. Edited: Actually it’s not there – we crossed the finish line to the star wars theme tune and it’s the best ever! Was it the marathon? Hm!). I remember the bloke giving me my medal – actually putting it round my neck. I remember saying thank you over and over again and him laughing at me telling me well done.

As the days have gone on, the time it took or the fact that it didn’t all go to plan have become far less important. I look back on the day with fondness and the overwhelming emotion looking back is happiness. I wouldn’t swap that experience for anything – doesn’t mean I want to do it again though! So if you’re sitting there wondering if maybe you should enter the ballot, do it. There isn’t really a good reason not to. Well actually there are 1000s of good reasons not to but none of them matter. I’m happy, really happy I’ve done it and even happier I don’t have to do it again!

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.