I don’t feel like writing about running today, I feel like writing about other stuff which I will do shortly but I’m all for celebrating successes and I like a pat on the back etc. We had a rest day yesterday and did a 35 minute run today. Pace: 11.55 minutes per mile. Distance 2.94 miles. So just to be clear – PACE 11.55 -as in UNDER 12 MINUTES PER MILE. Just saying
Tag: training
A month to our first race
A month exactly to our first race – The Leeds run for all 10km. Can’t decide if I am looking forward to it or not. I am sort of keen to see our progress and whether we can post a half decent (by my standards, not by actual runner’s standards!) time. I don’t like crowds though, particularly not at the moment, and I’m a bit worried about how I’ll cope being surrounded by people who actually know what they’re doing. However, I am holding on to the notion that maybe, just maybe we also know what we’re doing. Or at least we are trying to follow the guidance of someone who does by following the RunDisney plans designed by Jeff Galloway.
That brings me to another little rant about Runner’s World (I am actually beginning to quite enjoy reading the magazine and would actually recommend it – my rants say more about me than the mag!). I was looking at the April issue which had something about training which has easy runs/sections and hard sections and less of the middle ground. All sort of made sense (except that ‘easy’ in my case would have to be walking) until I looked at the table for a sample week. According to that table a 6 miles ‘easy’ run would result in 50 minutes of easy running. 8 miles in 65 minutes. What? 6 miles in 50 minutes? I know that’s doable. I’ve seen people do it but that IS NOT an easy pace; that’s an impossible pace for me. Runner’s World is full of stuff that to me just seems impossible. And when everything in a magazine is just so far out of reach it is easy to get completely disillusioned with the whole thing. So I stopped reading and instead took another look at the Jeff Galloway website. Ok, looking at this I do feel a little bit like a runner. Here the numbers make sense, they are possible, even now. We haven’t quite stuck to the run/walk ratio suggested and we haven’t really done the magic mile measurement since the beginning but we are working with the principle of walk breaks from the start and not worrying about having to keep running for long stretches. We are comfortable at 2 minutes running and 30 secs walking for now. It gets me to the end of the longer distances without injury and without feeling that I can’t do it. It means I finish each run strongly and usually feel pretty positive about it even where I’ve had a wobble along the way. Other than when I had my little calf niggle the other day, there hasn’t been a run I couldn’t finish or one I could barely finish.
I also love the fact that his advice is to not worry about time for a first time marathon. He says:
“I don’t recommend that first-time marathon participants try for a time goal. Do the first one to finish, running/walking at a comfortable training pace.”
Yes! I can do that. I actually believe I can do that. And what is even better, the examples he lists include the sort of pace we’ve been working at. Jeff Galloway also says:
“You are the one who determines how much you run and how much you walk. One of the wonderful aspects of running is that there is no definition of a “runner” that you must live up to“
Oh my – is it possible that I am a runner after all?
What to wear and reading Runner’s World
I found something to wear for today’s run (uneventful, 35 mins, 12.31 minutes per mile pace. 2.79 miles, tight calf muscle). It’s a compromise. I braved my lycra 3/4 length pants. Then I went looking for a top. I have loads of t-shirts but I’m fussy when it comes to running. It needs to be comfy, it needs to be long so it covers my backside but not too huge so it’s all baggy and sack like. It needs to be light and ideally no sleeves. Ok I don’t have anything that meets all those criteria. Then I remembered a t-shirt I ordered a while ago because it made me laugh:
Given the slogan I can cope with the fact that it actually doesn’t cover my bum and sort of sits on the widest part of my hips. It’s cotton but not really heavy and it is comfy. That did mean that my wobbly thighs were on full view – sorry about that people of Riddlesden.
Kath has bought Runner’s World magazine on and off for as long as I can remember really and I’ve never so much as glanced at them until recently. Now there is a magazine that isn’t for me – pictures of fit skinny people in lycra and features on how to run yor fasted 10km ever… Urgh. Then there was the issue ages and ages ago which had a recipe for Courgette/Chocolate buns in – hm maybe it is worth a look after all. No, that recipe was pretty much it. In a rather classic work avoidance moment the other day I picked up 3 past issues and started flicking through them and today I sprawled out in the sun with the latest issue . Some of it is quite interesting actually – the science stuff appeals to me. What is clear though is that so much advice about running is contradictory. One expert says one thing, another the exact opposite. Sometimes the Dos are the Dos and sometimes they’re the Don’ts and vice versa. Runners agree on very little other than their love of running.
There were some things, some basics if you like, that people did seem to agree on: Regular running is good for you, Eating right is important particularly for long distance runners (but no agreement on what ‘right’ is), rest is also important (how much, when etc – no agreement) and running is the best thing ever. Well I accept the first – science shows me that, the second is also sensible and must partly be about what works for you, the third I can wholeheartedly embrace – rest is awesome, the fourth I have issues with. I do not love running, it is not the best thing ever, I do not feel free, happy or whatever when running (mostly I feel like there’s still a bloody long way to go or I’ve already gone a bloody long way and must be nearly there). That proves that then – I am really not a runner!
What (not?) to wear?
We went for another run today. We’re slowly moving up to running 45 minutes during the week rather than the 30 minutes. So today we headed out for 35 minutes. It was ok actually. One little ‘you stupid woman what are you doing’ moment during the 7th running section (still 2 mins running and 30 sec walking) but we managed to take out a couple of runs in the second half. Pace of 12.14 minutes per mile; 2.86 miles. Still struggling with teetering on the edge of depression but I’ve been thinking of my black dog as a puppy today so I think I’m making progress
It’s been warm today and warm brings with it the need to think about clothes. Not something I do much of. I know what real runners wear, we have several issues of Runners World lying around. So just to be clear, short (lycra, cycling, running, whatever) shorts and a top that is basically no more than a sports bra are not an option. Not now, not ever. That’s just not me. But what is me? What should I wear for running? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t self-conscious. I am. I’m too heavy, I’d like to/need to loose maybe 3 stone ish. I’m currently a comfortable size 18 (UK) or an uncomfortable 16. I’ve got curves in the wrong as well as the right places. Running is a big deal so I need to feel confident as well as comfortable or I just won’t go.
Today I wore just some standard (Cotton traders I suspect) jog pants and a no sleeves top which is stretchy and therefore a little clingy. The tops was ok. The pants are too thick and heavy for this weather. So alternatives? I have some Roots 3/4 jog pants but they’re also too thick really. Comfy as anything but too thick. I have a pair of 3/4 length running pants from Gap – they’re tight lycra-ish and I am not sure about wearing them with the kind of top I wore today – I’d have to be feeling very brave. I have worn them with normal cotton T-shirts but they are quite thick and the few t-shirts I have from previous races are clingy and not that comfortable. Hm. I may need to go and buy some 3/4 length tracksuit bottoms that aren’t thick and heavy. (I do have a pair that I loved but I can’t get my backside in them at the moment!) I hate shopping for sports stuff – I can just hear the ‘really, you’re buying these for running? Of course you are!’ I can see the sales staff rolling their eyes. I may have to just be too hot until my backside has shrunk enough to fit into the pants I have – by which time it will be cold and a moot point anyway.
Running to feel better – no really.
I seem to have managed to keep the worst of my depression at bay. Let’s keep the black dog metaphor going – I have shut that stupid black mutt out but it is still hanging around outside. For only the second time in my academic career (which now spans well over 10 years) I have withdrawn from a conference. I was due to fly out to Sweden tomorrow but I just couldn’t get my head round flying out there on my own, I couldn’t get my head round exploring somewhere I’d never been before and I couldn’t get me head round giving two papers and putting my research out there for comment. I’ve cancelled. I shall miss seeing some great colleagues and friends but I need to look after myself.
Running and yoga seem to be becoming a part of that. I went to work today and mostly it was ok. I had my little panic this morning but mostly I just got on with things once I got to work. It was just much more of an effort that usual. I had to force the focus that usually comes naturally. I was tired on the way home, really tired. I wanted to get home and run though. Well no, that’s not quite true. I wanted to have that post-run feeling. The only way to get that is to run. 30 minutes along the canal in 2 min run/30 secs walk intervals was what we had planned. I felt reasonably happy about that having managed nearly 6 miles on Sunday using that same ratio. I pushed. Maybe for the first time since we started the running I consciously pushed the pace a little. Usually I just try keep going. I let Kath worry about pace and just follow her lead and she keeps an eye on how I’m doing and speeds up (oh come on, who are we kidding – slows down) accordingly. But today I pushed and I kept pushing all the way to the end. Pace: 12 minutes per mile exactly. Distance: 2.5 miles. Well that silly fat black labrador that seems to be the symbol for depression in my mind can’t take that pace. I’d left that behind after the second run section. The problem is, it finds its way back ‘home’ and just hangs around waiting for me to unwittingly leave the door open.
The yoga is useful too. It’s helping and I’m getting better at it. I’ll write about that in more detail another time though.
really (not) a runner 