Author: Maria Runs

Dreary weather, fun questions

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a depressing post. But the weather is dreary! Last night I went out straight from work, and got home very late. I didn’t sleep well, and we had to be up at 7 as Andy is expecting a delivery (between 7-12 although at 3pm it still has not come). I think this coupled with the dreary weather made me feel less than enthusiastic about my run today. My plan was 10 miles, and once I was out there I did enjoy myself. I ended up going 10.5 miles in 1hr53 mins. My pace was pretty varied, but I think that was due to the wind. As my route has loops I almost had one mile of easy running and then one mile or hard running. At one point I felt like I could have leant parrallel to the floor and not fallen over as it was so strong! I was trying to think about landing gently on the ground, and keeping a gentle slow rhythm, and when I finished I felt like I could have gone on still. Marathon talk was talking about intervals, and how it is important to add them to marathon training, which has spurred me on to keep on at them in the week. It is hard to believe that a year ago I had just started training for my first half marathon. I found I could do 7 or 8 mile runs ok, but once I went over that distance I was shattered and really felt like I was dragging myself home for the last few miles. I am pleased that I can compare my running to this time last year and genuinely see an improvement.

Once home I had a peanut butter clif bar and some chocolate milk, and then after my shower I made myself have lunch pretty quick (to avoid the crash).

My lunch was delish! 2 slices of toasted seedy bread, filled with mashed banana and a little pb, sprinkled with cinnamon. Yum. Plus a pear and half a graze box (some brazil nuts and dark chocolate buttons).

(I took a bite before I decided to take another picture).

I have been reading blogs and I was excited to see that the lovely Jess has tagged me in a blog question thing. So here are the answers (and questions);

Four TV shows I watch.

The biggest loser

30 Rock

Burn Notice

The Office (american one)

(Yes I love american TV! )

Four things I am passionate about

Being healthy

Helping others

Running

Baking

Four words/ phrases that I use too much;

High Five!

like (instead of said- a bad bad habit I know!)

Morning (in a chirpy way- it annoys all the non morning people!)

On marathon talk this week….. (this drives Andy mad!!!)

Four things I’ve learnt from the past;

To not worry about what other people think, but to be happy in my own decisions.

That I can do more than I thought I was capable of.

That sometimes you grow apart from friends and that does not make you bad people, just people on different paths.

That if I am worried about something I should think “what’s the worst that could happen?” and then get on and do it anyway, because the worst does not usually happen.

Four things I am looking forward to;

Buying a marathon talk hoodie as my post marathon treat! I would feel a fraud wearing it (it says 26.2 on the front in big numbers) before I have actually done one!

My holiday in the summer- especially discovery cove 🙂

Seeing my friend get married in Italy later this year.

Doing some baking (this is a short term goal haha)

Four things I love about winter;

Feeling totally hardcore when I go running in the freezing weather!

Hot water bottles

Warm hats, scarves and gloves (and hoodies, and jeans, and massive fluffy socks)

A steaming bowl of soup after being outside in the fresh air

So now I have to tag four people. I have seen this on a few blogs and I can’t remember which ones, so sorry if you have already done it.

Laura at Box, run, eat!

Lara at Eat less, move more

Emma at sweet tooth runner

Stacey at the Habit of healthy

Sorry if you already answered! But if I didn’t tag you and you want to answer the questions, feel free 🙂

I am excited because I am going to do some baking tomorrow! 🙂 I have not baked for ages it seems, as we have been having all the christmassy things. So I have not decided what yet, but I am excited 🙂

Now for some tea 🙂

Yes! Body Pump! And hair washing

Hooray!

Thursday night means body pump! I love it! As you all know!

We had some more newbies today- I love the fact that all the regulars get all the equipment out and help people to choose their weights etc- we are a friendly bunch.

We have had the new songs for a few weeks now- I find it takes a while for them to grow on me- at first I tend to like one track, but as I get to know the others it helps with the enjoyment. Tonight I found myself grinning like a mad woman to the triceps track ( I have no idea who it was by or anything, not up with the chart music)- it really helps to have some good music to keep going. There are squats repeated in the lunges track near the end, and they are an absolute killer! Makes me grin though 🙂

To refuel I had a lovely dessert (no picture I was too hungry!)- cherries, dark chocolate alpro and cranberry granola. Yummy 🙂 And some dragonfly rooibos chai, which is amazing as it tastes like normal chai, only it is caffiene free so better for later in the evenings.

Onto the hair washing- I have very thick hair, mid length I suppose. It takes ages to dry in the evening, even if I use a hairdryer. I sometimes use dry shampoo (normally on a rest day if I can’t be bothered to wash and dry it) but at the moment I tend to wash it monday-thursday as I do exercise each day and feel sweaty after. I think the ends are getting a little dry (more due to the hairdryer I would think, but if I go to sleep with wet hair, it is still wet when I wake up as it takes hours and hours to dry naturally). So, my question (really for the girls) is, when do you actually wash your hair after exercise, and when do you not? Do you always wash it? I just wonder what other people do? I used to only wash it every other day you see, whereas I know some people always wash their hair every day.

Thanks

(Hobbling off to bed now)

Move away from the plodding

In Born to Run last night, (I won’t spoil it) I read about how most people get very good at running a certain speed, but they do not go fast enough in their fast runs, or slow enough in their slow runs. This rang true with me as I am still running faster on my long runs than the suggested pace. I was thinking that as I run further, I will naturally slow down, but on thinking about it that will really mean that the last few miles will be slower, whereas overall I want to maintain a steady but slower pace. It also made me a little more inspired to keep at the intervals.

Today (after a peanut clif bar at work) was my 6 mile tempo run. Due to the rain all day I was not really looking forward to it, but I had put all my running clothes out ready, so I did not have long to think about. I found an old baseball cap which I put on over my earwarmer; my intention being that it would keep the rain off my face and my glasses, but the rain was pretty much sideways for half the run so that didn’t work! I did make sure I had more water today, although I could have just run along with my mouth wide open?? The plan was a 2 mile warm up, which was 22 minutes, then 2 miles faster (one mile was 8.5 mins, one was 9 mins so both pretty fast for me) and then cool down for the last part, which ended up being a little under 2 miles for 18 minutes- I think the thought of getting into a hot shower was spurring me on for the last bit. I was quite pleased with that, as I know I have a tendancy to go out at the same speed. During the faster running I had to really think about my breathing, but practise makes perfect. The rest of the run was spent avoiding the puddles.

Dinner was delish- a freezer meal of pumpkin pasta which was great- when I got home Andy had already put the oven on, so I put the pasta in, jumped in the shower (he also cooked some green beans to go alongside) and I even had time to half dry my hair 🙂 Just what I needed after that run.

Later I am going to foam roll some more, and maybe have some stollen with my tea.

Night

Smiles all round

Evening peeps 🙂

Thanks for all the comments yesterday- I am still not sure what the problem actually was- but I am going to be careful from now on and make sure that a- I am hydrated, b- I have been to the toilet, and c- I do not eat apples right before a run!

I was fine in the evening, and have been fine today too, although a little tired.

I did print off the masterplan and as it started last week (I am such a cheat with my lists!) I got to tick off 4 runs in one go! How satisfying. And another smile 🙂

Today was aerobics- I shared a trek flapjack between my morning and afternoon snack to fuel me up. I was very excited as last year one of my friends started coming to aerobics with me, but since then she has moved house and finds it hard to get there, but I found out earlier that she was coming tonight 🙂 More smiles! 🙂 🙂

Aerobics was fab- there were more newbies again (this time of year there are always more keen people!), and although at the start I was feeling a bit weary, as it went on I felt like I had more and more energy- even more smiles 🙂

Soon I am going to finish reading the fab book I got for christmas, Born to Run , so I might do a little book review sometime in the next week or so. Another smile 🙂

Night

Intervals bleurgh

I used my foam roller yesterday, because as the day wore on I got more and more stiff. I watched the video (thanks for the links) and managed it all except for the IT band stretch. For some reason I was not balancing it right. I thought that it would hurt my hamstrings the most, as they always get so stiff, but actually it was most painful on my quads- weird. Really painful!

Onto today;

I am not a fan of intervals. I do not think I am build for speed- I am built to plod very slowly. Now I do try to tell myself that I feel good after (and sometimes, well, most times I do) and that it is like when I started running, where I did intervals of walking and running. Back then, I liked the walking and didn’t like the running. Now, I like the recovery bit but not the fast bit! But I know they are good for me to get me used to running different speeds, and to hopefully help me speed up as well as numerous other reasons. So I went out and did them.

Today after work I had an apple (possible mistake) and a seed stacked bar (my last one- sniff), and then headed home for a quick change. I was good and even got my running clothes out ready this morning, as I am likely to wander around at home, slowly gathering all my bits, maybe tidying up a bit as I go, basically procrastinating. So I was out the door after around 5 minutes of being home. Possible mistake number 2. My plan (the masterplan is complete by the way and I had bad dreams last night as near the end I have some 8-10 mile runs that need to be done midweek and so I dreamt about those) was for 3.5 miles- I am easing myself in gently. 1 mile warm up, 1.5 miles of intervals of faster (not sprinting) running, around 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, then another mile to cool down. I felt fine, but then after about 2 miles I started getting weird stomach pains. I had to stop a few times as my legs felt all wobbly too. In the end I got home, but I abandoned the last few intervals in favour of jogging home in pain. It was so strange as it has gone now. I was pretty thirsty and think it could be because I did not drink enough yesterday. During the week I have a real routine of water with breakfast, water at work, rooibos tea at work, water when I get home, tea with dinner, water in the evening, and maybe more rooibos tea, and on my long run day I have water before I go, take some with me, have a drink once I get back and drink all afternoon. But on sundays I am terrible! I have breakfast later so I don’t have water until later, then I am busy and am out so I don’t get around to it. Anyway, it could have been that. It also could have been the apple as I normally have them after my run. When I first started running I could not eat anything before a run (not even porridge until recently), and it has taken me a long time to train my stomach. So it could have been this. I also did not go to the toilet before I went out (sorry if that is too much info) because I was in a hurry, and I normally go before my runs just in case.

Anyway, after coming home, having some water (and going to the toilet) and having some dinner, I feel fine.

I might try the foam roller again later- I think I need to get into the habit of using it.

Anyone love intervals? Or hate them? Perhaps they are like marmite. Although, for marmite, I am in the camp of quite liking it, going against the whole campaign!