Tag: yoga

Going further than I ever have – apart from once

Jess Guth7 Comments

Training re-cap for week ending 22nd August: Monday – stopped half way through, Tuesday – did it! 45 minutes at Bolton Abbey, Wednesday –  rest, Thursday – got less than 50 metres before calf muscle twinge, icepack, Friday – more icepack, Saturday 9 MILES.

Yes that’s right. 9 whole miles, 14.48 km. That is the longest distance I have ever run. Oh actually no it’s not, there was the half marathon 3 years ago but when we trained for that we never got past 10km. So it’s the longest training run I’ve ever done and I almost certainly ran far more of the 9 miles today than I did of the half marathon. Apart from 2 little glitches we managed to stick to running intervals of two and a half minutes with a 30 second walk rest. The glitches involved starting the walk break a little early. The 9 miles took us 1hr 56 mins and 10 secs with an average pace of 12minutes 55 seconds per mile. I am really happy with that for such a long distance. I also think that if we stick to the Jeff Galloway training plan we’ve been following, I will be able to keep going at that pace for much longer which means I can probably stop panicking about the minimum pace required at the Disney World Marathon which is 16 minutes per mile.

Anyway, the run. We got the train out to Skipton and ran back home. The entire route is along the canal and you can get onto the canal just opposite the station car park. No navigation required – just keep running next to the canal. There is quite a lot of info on the Leeds Liverpool Canal online and the section we covered today is detailed on the Skipton to Stockbridge section of a website all about it. There area lot of pictures so you can see where I was running. I do have to keep reminding myself that we are pretty lucky to be able to run in this part of the world!

I was a little concerned about this run, not just because of the distance but also because of my calf muscle twinges and slightly creaky knees over the last week. The first three miles were ok actually. I settled into running quite quickly and I enjoyed being out and being by the canal with its colourful canal boats (some with brilliant names like Soggy Bottom), its dog walkers, its ducks, swans and moorhens. My legs felt ok. I started to struggle at roughly half way, I was feeling tired and struggling to focus on enjoying it and it all just felt a bit like plodding. I do wonder if I need to think about eating something at roughly 5 miles, I may try that on the next long run. Anyway I desperately tried to hang on to why we are doing this and tried to focus on how much progress I had already made. I took a slightly longer walk break somewhere just before 6 miles (not that I knew that) and then Kath told me we had gone past 6 miles. We’d done two thirds! Then I really just kept plodding, my thighs and hips were tight (but not my calf!) and it seemed a huge effort but I never felt like I wanted or needed to stop the run. I needed another longer walk break because I just couldn’t get my legs to move but shortly after that we were in familiar running territory and running along a section of the canal we have done before. I couldn’t take the walk breaks out but I did keep going to the end. It was so good to have done it. I was surprised to have done it at what is for me a very decent pace over the distance. It didn’t feel at all comfortable but I’ve sort of forgotten that now. I remember a field full of calves lounging about in the sun. I remember the heron (not one of our ‘usual’ herons, it was smaller and lighter in colour, maybe a young one), the miserable looking cyclists and the happy ones, the rabbits in fields and the just being outside.

We finished the run and then had to walk home from the canal. It took a very long time and as we got to the top of the golf course I actually felt quite poorly. Kath had taken her backpack with hydration system. I had ignored it for most of the run but I did then take time to drink some water. The walk route took us past Kath’s mum’s house and Kath stopped off and grabbed me a banana. A bite of that and I felt much better.

Once home I did some stretches (actually I spent a long time in Child’s pose and lying on my back with my knees to my chest but I did stretch too) and had some icelandic yoghurt with fruit and then a cool bath. My legs are tired, my knees are a bit grumpy but not much actually hurts. The exception to not hurting is both middle toes which seem to have taken a battering and which are bruising under the nail. I’ll do some yoga and stretching later and we’ll see how bad it all is tomorrow

A good run with lots to learn – I need to drink more during the longer distances, I should probably eat something for enegery too and, perhaps most importantly, however hard and horrible it gets, a few hours later I really just remember having done it and a few of the nice things seen along the way

Running to feel better – no really.

Jess Guth1 Comment

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.

Finding out which bits don’t bend – the yoga experiment

Jess GuthLeave a comment

One of my best friends and colleagues swears by yoga, my mum does yoga and we have been saying for at least a year that we should try it – it will be good for Kath’s back and my core strength… But as usual we didn’t do anything about anything. Then my friend mentioned a yoga app called Yoga Studio (I’m sure others are available but I’m not one for re-inventing the wheel). I had a look at the app, downloaded it, had another look, ignored it for a little while, had another look and then eventually we had a go. Together, sharing a mat because we only had the one; in our hallway because our living room is stripped back to floorboards and full of plaster dust at the moment…

The app has 15 minute, 30 minute and 60 minute sessions for each beginners, intermediate and advanced and splits them into sessions for balance, flexibility, strength, relaxation or a combination. I like this. 15 minutes is easy to fit in. There is actually a chance I will get my butt out of bed to do 15 minutes in the morning. When working at home 15 minutes relaxation at lunch time sounds like a lovely thing to do (not actually had a day working at home to try that yet) and doing 15 minutes relaxation just before bed might be just what I need to clear my head of the clutter accumulated during the day.

What’s interesting so far is that I am clearly very flexible in some areas and not at all flexible in others. My legs, hamstrings, hips, thighs and calf muscles are pretty good and stretchy and bendy although my right side is slightly tighter than the left (which might explain the injury to my right calf). My upper body is shocking and I have no core strength at all. None.

So here’s what I’ve tried so far. All are obviously the beginner sessions

15 Minute Combination

A nice 15 minute session with gentle stretches and about as much strength stuff I can cope with. A good way to start the day because I feel like I’ve done something but it’s not too tricky. The only thing in there that I can’t do for some reason is extended puppy, as mentioned in a previous post somewhere I just end up face-planting. It’s odd because it shouldn’t be a difficult pose!

15 and 30 minute Relaxationcat-supported-shoulder-stand

I like this – probably because I don’t really have to do anything other than stay still in various poses and breathe. I can do breathing. The 30 minute one does have a supported half shoulderstand in it and the ‘instructor’ tells you to enjoy the relaxing feeling of being upside down. This is usually the point where I loose it and start giggling. I do not find being upside down relaxing. I mean does that look relaxing to you? (The picture is from Yoga Catz)

15 Minute Flexibility

This ends up being half ‘oh yes this is fine, I like this stretch’ and half ‘How the bloody hell are you supposed to do that?’ I am hoping that as I do this more often there’ll be less of the latter

The app works well for me, there are pictures and explanations/instructions of each of the poses so you can check what you’re supposed to be doing and the ‘instructor’ talks you through the session in a voice that I thought might get annoying but actually hasn’t so far. We’ve now got two mats and the iPad hooked up to the TV in the living room which is still just floorboards and doesn’t have any furniture in but we are making progress.

I’ll let you know when I tackle strength and balance sessions – could be amusing!