Tag: running

For Donna

Jess Guth3 Comments

So it is International Women’s Day. I wanted to write something about the inspirational women in my life who helped on this running journey but somehow the words didn’t come when I sat down to write it. That’s not to say that I don’t think that all those women are awesome – you all are but my thoughts kept drifitng back to an exchange on facebook with my friend Donna. Donna has been instrumental in my running journey and she probably doesn’t really know that. Donna is superwoman. Always has been in my eyes but lately I think she might have forgotten she is superwoman when it comes to running.

Anyway, Donna, this one is for you, to remind you that you can do anything you want to do, that you can achieve anything you set out to achieve and that you are awesome. It’s funny, in some way I don’t actually know Donna that well -We are both academics and I did some work for her former institution and we keep in touch – and yet Donna was the first person to comment on my running blog, she’s the only person I know who reads it regularly I think. She was the first person to remind me that by just being out there I am doing more than anyone sitting on the couch and eventhough Donna is this stunningly gorgeous tiny little thing and I must be about 4 times as wide as she is, she has always made me feel like we could talk about running (actually talk or write or whatever) as equals. Where I plod, Donna runs. She can actually go fast and I was a little bemused that Donna could possibly be in awe of my running achievements and it was heartbreaking to hear her fall out of love with running a bit. It’s been on my mind. You see, I know that running is basically just awful most of the time and that’s fine for me, I’m happy taking the occasional high and sense of achievement but I want it to be all rainbows and unicorns for Donna because, well because she is Donna.

So Donna, I want you to know this: Without those encouraging words early on I might well not have kept running. You have no idea how often your likes, comments, shows of support made me cry and kept me going. You didn’t laugh at my efforts when you had every right to. You have been hugely supportive every step of the way and I haven’t really said thank you – so thank you. Now for that half marathon of yours. You can do it because you are you. You just keep putting one foot in front of the other, one step at a time. The training is awful, it hurts, you get tired, it’s boring but you will smash that distance on race day because you are you. Remember why you like running, remember how it clears your head, remember how it is ‘you time’. You just get a little too much of a good thing for a little while longer and then you get the bragging rights of having done a half marathon. And I, for one, want to hear all about it! You go girl!

Keighley Big 10K race

Jess Guth2 Comments

Hahaha – race. Sorry, I just typed the title without really thinking about it. The idea that I am in a race is just hilarious. I don’t race, I plod. Anyway, I have been relatively quiet about running. It’s going ok but I am still struggling to get out much during the week but the weekend long runs have been ok. 10 miles and 12 miles completed feeling strong and I am somehow not hugely worried about stepping up the distance – I’m worried about getting out at all. If I do I’ll be fine with the distance.

Anyway, race report for today’s 10k – The Keighley BigK 10K Run. This is a run/race/whatever we’ve often looked at and thought we’d do. It’s our home town 10k, it’s always on Mother’s Day (the UK mother’s day – I don’t get it either, what happened to it being the first Sunday in May?) and it’s in support of a local hospice. I wasn’t ready last year. We signed up pretty much when registration opened giving me the race number 165. There were over 1000 runners today but unfortunately Kath wasn’t one of them. Her back is giving her hell at the minute and that really needs sorting first. Osteopath appointment will be made tomorrow! So this morning, sitting in bed drinking my cup fo tea I had to decide: Was I going to try and do this on my own. I really wasn’t sure. My confidence has gone. I didn’t really want to put myself out there on my own. But then I thought ‘what the hell, this fat butt needs to do some miles today so I might as well do them this morning with a load of other people’.

I walked down to Victoria Park, registered and got my timing chip and fixed it to my shoe. Then I stood around, then I walked around, then it started snowing heavily so I paced up and down some more. With about 20 minutes to go I made my way back into the building and took my fleece to the bag check, set the garmin up and made my way towards the start. I say some friends who were supporting their son (who came in the top ten and finished in under 40 mins) and had a quick chat and then we were off really. The route started with two loops – one inner and one outer loop – of Victoria Park. It was muddy as hell already and most of the first km was more sliding around on mud than running and by the time I got on the hard ground I felt like I’d run much further than I had but it was all good. I was running 2 minutes and walking 1 minute. I turned right out of the park and towards Keighley train station. I was beginning to pass a lot of people who were running constantly – this was a theme throughout and it reassured me that I was overall faster using a run/walk strategy than I would be if I tried to run it all.

We turned left immediately after the train station, crossed the River Worth and continued down the back streets until we came out on Coney Lane. Basically we went round some Keighley backstreets which I really don’t know very well until we got to Lund Park. I was beginning to think I was struggling because the 2 km marker didn’t come and then I past the 3km marker. Pleasant surprise. We exited Lund Park at half way. I felt pretty good. I was mostly sticking to the intervals but had walked up some of the worst hills. Then we came to a bit of Keighley I didn’t even know was there. After going up some steps we turned right onto a path that (so the route map now tells me) ran parallel to North Dean Road. Just after the 6km marker my friend Selene came zooming past me as I was on a walk break. I didn’t even know she was running in the race so it was lovely to have some company for a bit and we ran/walked together for a while. More backstreets, across a very muddy field at the back of Victoria Primary School (We had to walk this – it was a muddy mess). The we entered Devonshire Park, enjoyed the downhill a bit although we were both cautious and a bit worried about slipping. Then I plodded up a slope while Selene walked. She had been running faster than me so I expected her to catch me up again and was looking forward to running the last bit with her but she didn’t come. She’d been on the phone I later learned.

I had stopped walking the full minute now, taking roughly 30 seconds to try and make up for some of the additional walking on the hills and plodded my way past Cliffe Castle and looped round the park. I think I actually slowed on the downhill because I was so bloody worried about falling, I am such a wimp. Then we came out of the park at the 9km mark. There was quite a big gap behind me and a little gap in front and the marshalls were trying to decide what to do about the stopped traffic. I really didn’t want to stop and wait while they let cars through so I put in a little sprint to catch up a bit and they let me through. One of the marshalls shouted ‘You go girl’ which made me smile and I thought ‘I can run the last km’. I caught up with a woman and her daughter who had been in front of me just as we crossed the road and the mum was struggling. I started chatting to her and telling her how well she was doing and that I wasn’t going to overtake her but she had to keep running. I chatted away until we got back into the park and I suddenly heared a ‘Go Jess’. I looked up and it was Kath, standing at the side of the finishing stretch cheering me on. It honestly hadn’t occured to me that she might come down. It was so lovely to see her. I ran round the back of the woman and her daughter so Kath could get a picture (she was actually filming me – so I have just posted a snapshot from film below) and then I sprinted after the woman and crossed the finish line alongside her. I hugged both the mum and the daughter, grabbed some water and a bottle of teetoal G’n’T that they were giving out and went to the side to grab my goodie bag containing a T-shirt and for a hug from Kath. A volunteer came over and snipped my timing chip off my trainer for me. Then I went and collected my fleece and we headed to the car. My friend Selene had finished strong too and it turned out was parked in the same area we were. As I walked across to the car park I suddenly thought ‘I enjoyed that, hills and all, it was good fun’.

I had no idea about the time really because I’d forgotten to look at the clock as I crossed the line and I’d forgotten to turn the Garmin off for a little while too. I was fairly sure that it was under 1 hour 20 because the Garmin was eventually stopped under 1.20. Anyway it turns out my official time was 1.15.39. I am so chuffed with that. Particularly now that I have checked what my fastest was before. Somehow I had in my head that it was 1 hour 11 but that’s wishful thinking. It was actually 1.14.18 and that was on a flat-as-a-pancake course. I think being only 1 minute21 seconds slower on the hills and in the mud and mostly on my own is pretty good going! So here’s me just coming round the corner to the finish.

Snapshot 3 (06-03-2016 16-58)

50 Days

Jess GuthLeave a comment

So it’s 50 days to the London Marathon. Wow. So in 50 days I am going to put myself through the emotional rollercoaster that is running a marathon. Hm. So why am I doing this again? Well, I’m beginning to realise just how big a deal it is. Two marathons in relatively quick succession is hard – emotionally rather than physically. But I won the place and I am committed to it. Julie Creffield of Too Fat to Run teamed up with the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund to put a team together for the London Marathon. If I’m honest the Memorial Fund is probably not a charity I would have picked or even paid much attention to in the past. However, I have spent a fair amount of time looking at what they do and the more I read the more impressed I am and the more proud to be running for them this year. Ultimately they are about helping people achieve their dreams – I’m all for that and the focus of grants is on practical stuff – equipment, travel… It’s an obivous and down to earth sort of approach and I like that. It’s straight forward. The focus is on helping young athletes make the transition from junior to senior level and this also makes a lot of sense to me. So many promising young people never achieve their potential and the fund tries to ensure that young athletes have all the support they need to make the step up to senior level.

I have a couple of fundraising bits and pieces planned but I’d really appreciate your help to raise as much money as possible to help the next generation of athletes make it to the top. Help them be the ones we cheer on at future olympics, help them be the role models of the future, help them translate their hard work into success at the top level and in doing so inspire the next generation. Or just sponsor me for me. I’ll be honest. I’m struggling. More so now than before the Dopey challenge I am worried about whether I can do this. I am terrified of failing and not making it. I am also much more self conscious about this and more worried about what people think. It’s the London Marathon for goodness’ sake. I am craving the recongition and the belief in me that seeing that sponsorship trickle in brings with it. A little pathetic I know but that’s how I feel and I am so scared of letting people down. I know it’s a big ask because so many of you just recently sponsored me very generously indeed but if you can please help me focus and work hard over these next 50 days and show your support. You can donate via my fundraising page here.

Thank you

 

 

Some Marathon Advice/Thoughts

Jess GuthLeave a comment

Alright alright, I know. Who the heck am I to give any kind of advice about running a marathon. Well that’s exactly what I thought but in the online running Club I joined (The Clubhouse – it will re-open for new members in April with a new look and programme including expert input, challenges etc – looking forward to it) there are a few of us training for marathons and a few people doing their first marathon. One lovely lady was having a marathon sized and shaped panic this morning and it made me reflect on how I feel about London looming. In 10 weeks it will all be over so how do I feel?

I am mostly calm. I am worried about the patchy training. I am a little concerned about the next training run which is a ‘get the train to Leeds and run home’ kind of a deal but I realised that I am totally calm about the event itself. So here’s what I know and what is keeping my calm

  1. Trust in the training. You have to train for a marathon unless you are some insanely fit freak who has a natural running ability. You have to train but no training plan ever really goes completely to plan. I met so many people doing the Dopey Challenge who missed runs, who were injured at some stage or who just didn’t get their butts out as much as they’d wanted to but they all finished. It’s about getting out there, doing the long runs as best you can and then trusting in that on the day.
  2. Clothes are more important than you realise. You don’t want to have to think about clothes at all while running. They shouldn’t be a thing so everything has to fit and be comfy. It has to be perfect. I ran the Dopey 5km in 3/4 pants I hadn’t worn for running before because I wanted to wear them round the parks after and not have to get changed. BIG mistake. They chafed massively on my tummy where the cord sat to tie them – and this was only a 5k! For London I will wear my trusted marathon pants and either the T-shirt I have worn for a half marathon and the Dopey marathon or possibly a charity top if I train in it on a long run before then.
  3. Knickers – Some of my comfiest knickers are horrendous for running in. Don’t know why but they chafe. Work our which are good running knickers and which are not
  4. Socks – I am so lucky to have really resilient feet. My little toes were mangled after Dopey but everything else was fine. But like everything else, you have to know that your socks and also your socks and trainers combination works.
  5. Running belts etc. I don’t even notice my running belt is there but make sure that you train with roughly the same stuff in it as you will have in it on the day – it feels different when it is full than when it is empty. Just remember that different isn’t a good thing on marathon day
  6. The Wall – is it worth worrying about? Not sure it is. Chances are we will hit it at some point. I was really concerned about the WALL before Dopey. Now I couldn’t care less. I hit the wall so so early during the Dopey marathon  – at around mile 5 – and I finished. Try and see the wall as this thing that will be there for a little bit of the course, it’s part of the marathon. That’s that. It has no bearing on whether you finish or not.
  7. Mantras: I have them, I use them when it gets tough. They’re useful but also remember to allow in new thoughts and new mantras as you run. I started with a ‘there are no hills at Disney’ mantra and ended up with ‘not a real hill – this is Disney’ when I was faced with a slope or two!
  8. Target times: However much people say they just want to finish, I can’t quite believe that. Everyone will have a time in mind. That’s not to say that they won’t genuinely be proud (and rightly so) if they ‘just finish’ but I bet everyone has a ‘I’d like to do it in…’. I did. I wanted, really really wanted, 6 hours for Dopey. That wasn’t to be. That’s fine. I’m a little disappointed but mostly I am bloody proud. So, London. I just want to finish but I’d really like to finish in less than 6 hours. Really like to. I will use that target time to keep an eye on my pace, make sure I go slow at the beginning and maybe to help me speed up a little towards the end but it’s a marathon. It’s not about doing it fast, it’s just about doing it.
  9. Fuelling: Because I now know what works for me in the run up to a marathon, right before it and during it I am not panicking. You’ll need to work out what works for you but eating plenty of good carbs like pasta and veggies like broccoli etc  the days leading up to the run works, porridge about 90 minutes before running works (this is tricky given the long wait to cross the start line etc but basically means eating a porridge pot on the way to the start line) and then having a banana shortly before setting off works and my porridge bars work for during the run.
  10. Water stations etc – I am happy to take water at fairly random intervals – I haven’t trained for specific points and I am happy to take them as they come. That worked before, it works in training, it will work for London
  11. Maybe the key thing is that I have gone the distance before – maybe that gives me a huge advantage but I am not sure. I don’t really believe I can do this any more than I did last time – except that I sort of do. It’s hard to explain. I do not believe I am the sort of person who can run a marathon but I absolutely believe I will complete London. I am stressing about all sorts of things like reaching the fundraising target (you can help with that here), doing the course justice and being able to enjoy it, doing better than last time, not getting injured in the next few weeks, people laughing at me… but I am not stressing about getting it done. If I can get my arse out and train for these next few weeks then I’ll do the 26.2 miles on the day.
  12. Don’t underestimate the power of support – whether that’s from the crowd on the day, people tracking you and sending you messages of support, people who have sponsored you. I thought a lot about that support during the Dopey. It helps more than you can imagine
  13. Look around, soak it up and love every second. This is actually my biggest aim for London. I did this on the Dopey Half Marathon and I have such warm fuzzy memories of that run – even the really tough bits. I forgot to do that for much of the marathon. I had to be reminded every now and again but by then my head just wasn’t in it anymore. Look around and smile. You’re running a marathon, you’re fucking awesome.

6 Times 1 Mile – and lots of swearing

Jess Guth1 Comment

I haven’t blogged for a while. I’ve been grumpy about running, then about not running and then about running again. I’m just not feeling it. I had a horrendous cold and after not running at all for a while finally managed to get myself out for 45 minutes at the start of this week. It was slow and it was awful and I skillfully managed to avoid going again on Thursday and again on Friday morning. Yep, the queen of excuses is back. Today I ran out of excuses. I knew I had to go. I need to get my running sparkle back. I have a marathon in 10 weeks for fucks sake – just get your fat arse out there and run.

So, we got back from feeding our sheep and moving our ram to another field and Kath just said we should go immediately, no sitting down, having half a bagle, sitting a bit to digest that and then go (or think of an excuse) – no, just go. I couldn’t think of a plausible reason to say no. So we went. We did 6 x 1 mile with 5 minute walking inbetween. So the idea is that you run the mile a bit faster than your normal long run pace (or run/walk) so for me that means that I try and run the full mile without walking. No run/walk intervals today, just me and one fucking long mile six fucking times. Here’s how it went

Mile 1: Fuck off, just fuck off

Mile 2: Downhill, I hate running downhill, I hate running actually

Mile 3:This is not fucking funny

Beginning of Mile 4: Ok, ok breathe, you’re ok

End of Mile 4: Seriously now, fuck off

Beginning of Mile 5: I HATE running

Middle of Mile 5: Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

End of Mile 5: I’m miserable, I am actually really fucking miserable

Start of Mile 6: Last one, come on, last one, yay, last one – fuck a mile’s a long way

3/4 of a mile left: FUCK

1/2 mile left: This mile is fucking endless

1/4 mile left: I’m gonna puke

Finish: I seriously might puke

2 minutes after finish: Haven’t puked – have to walk up hill

Top of hill: Can I cry now?

Home: I am not ever doing that again, it’s just fucking stupid

After hot bath and food: That wasn’t too bad, when are we running tomorrow?

So I am sort of glad that I went. My lungs are still full of crap and I am caughing it all up as a type (nice!). Now it is just about getting my head right and getting back in the routine of two 45 minute weekly runs and the long weekend runs. Let’s just not think about the really long one coming up next weekend. Let’s just pretend that’s weeks away!