Category: Reviews

Although Jantastic has finished, I have enjoyed doing these weekly reviews for my marathon training. Last weekend I did my long run on the Saturday, to combine it with parkrun, so on Sunday I only did a short run (I was relieved as the weather was horrible- so windy and rainy). I then went out for breakfast with friends- the place even had a log fire burning- very cosy indeed.

Monday: I kept it as a rest day, although my long run had been earlier, I don’t do too well running more than 2 days in a row.

Tuesday: OH ladies run. Most of the runners cancelled for various reasons, so it ended up being just two of us. We did an out and back, fairly hilly course, and both of us were surprised with how fast we went (I think we were trying to outrun the wind and storms that kept blowing over). 3.5 miles in 34 minutes- not bad considering the hills.

Wednesday: Nothing. I was going to run, but work has been so manic and I felt exhausted, so was sensible and rested.

Thursday: Body Pump. Also the start of the Easter holidays at long last!

Some yummy chocolates and cards from people at work:

Friday: 4 mile run first thing- it had stopped raining so dashed out before it started again. Achy legs from pump meant it was a bit slower but not too bad (41 mins I think). Later on we walked around the town and did a bit of shopping.

Saturday: Parkrun! Hooray!  Just me this week, but I met a running buddy at the start line- she is usually faster than me but had hurt her knee and had not run for a few weeks, so we ran together, chatting (well, at times- not on the hills!)- very enjoyable and I think my third fastest time at Panshanger. Later on, more walking as on Friday my click and collect order was lost, so I had to go back.

I won some Hot Cross Bun tea from the Bluebird Tea facebook page (the awesome tea shop in Brighton) and it came on Saturday, so we enjoyed a pot of that in the afternoon. Scrumptious! 

Sunday: 8 mile run. I decided to do an out and back route, because my usual loop is closer to 9, with added optional extras, and I wanted to be sensible. I decided to aim for 10 minute miles, and apart from the first two (and at the start of the second I had to slow to take my jacket off) they all began with a 9. I felt good.  Just two more and a bit to go next weekend…

While I was out my phone beeped, and when I got home I saw it was a reminder for the marathon next weekend (as if I could forget). I listened to the latest Marathon Talk (well, the first 80 minutes) and their training talk was just what I needed to hear. They were talking about long runs, and how to approach the final few long runs (a bit late for me to change anything, but it helped to set my mind at ease). They did have a rule of thumb for the longest 3 runs to total 60 miles, and mine don’t quite (I think they total 58), but they were also talking about going beyond 20 (I did- 0.6 beyond!) and not going on time but going on miles (which I also have done). Some more reflecting will come later in the week, but I am feeling alright about the training now it is basically done.

So, 4/4 runs. 18.7 miles.

Most of the people I know training for marathons are training for London, so they are still in full swing, and it does feel a bit strange having less miles to run, but I am trying to embrace it and trust in my plan.

How have you been spending the long weekend?

Gosh, these last 3 months have whizzed by so fast! I find it hard to believe that I have logged my final workout of the challenge, and equally hard to believe that the marathon is in 2 weeks time.

From my Wednesday run- You can see how long my shadow is here- the sun was just about to go down.

So, how did the last week go?

Monday- I was pleased with how recovered I felt from the 20 miles the day before. I felt a little stiff moving about, but not as bad as last time. At one point I was going between buildings and broke into a jog, but my legs told me “no” so I slowed to a walk.  I had a meeting at work so when I got home we just relaxed, no walk that evening.

Tuesday– Running club. Thankfully most other runners had run a half marathon on the Sunday, so no-one wanted to go far, which suited me just fine. We headed out together on an out and back route, but I kept slipping further behind the group. When we got to the turn around, the other girls stopped to stretch, but I wanted to keep going. I kept thinking that they would overtake me, but I got all the way back without anyone catching up with me, so instead of standing about in the cold I ran back along to the top of the hill to see if I could spot them coming up it.  I couldn’t, but luckily I was too tired to run down and back up again, so I ran back to the meeting place. No-one was there, so I went back to my car with the intention of sending them a facebook message along the lines of I hoped they were OK but didn’t want to wait. But they were all in the car park- apparently there was a short cut which I didn’t know about, so they had taken that to avoid the hill on the way back, and were starting to worry about me! I am very glad I didn’t go back down the hill again. 4 miles anyway.

Wednesday– I was home earlier than usual, so went out on the fields on my own instead of waiting for the SRC to start. I felt a bit bad but I knew my brother wasn’t going as he was ill, and my other running buddy was going on some trails later on. The trouble is it doesn’t start until 6.30pm, but in reality we start running at around 6.45, and even if we only do a 5k I then run home and get back after half 7- then I have to shower, have dinner, and any work that needs doing it done very late after all that. Whereas I was home before 6.30 which makes a huge difference. Plus it was light enough to go on the fields, whereas at half 6 it probably wasn’t.

 

4.8 miles around the fields. Love it.

Thursday- Body pump. We had the new release, and to anyone who got the song in their head after my “all about the cake” post can be satisfied in knowing that it will be in my head after each pump of this series as that is one of the songs. Sensibly kept my squats weight a bit lower.

Friday– Lots of walking around London and then walking home from the station.

Saturday– Needed to do 12 miles (as had breakfast plans for Sunday) but wanted to do parkrun. Luckily my dad offered to pick me up and drive to the St Albans one (which is really in the wrong direction for him), so I could do that and then run home. We ran together, although he is faster so in the final half mile I told him to go ahead if he wanted to. It was so funny; initially he said he would stay with me as he had enjoyed it, and then about ten seconds later went “er, actually I am going to speed up” and overtook 12 people (we compared our finish token numbers). The temptation is always there with parkrun so I had to tell myself “it’s not my finish line today”. I was pleased with my parkrun time (just over 28 mins) and then kept a good pace for my run home. It went so much better than my last 12 mile run- I arrived home feeling strong, confident and optimistic. We walked around town for a bit in the afternoon too.

Sunday – 3 mile run- I was awake very early (6.30, so really 7.30 with the clocks moving forwards) so went on a quick 3 miles in the wind and rain, before going out for breakfast with friends.

So, 4/4 workouts done. 24.2 miles for the week.

Excitingly my monthly mileage is 129 (compared to 98 in January and 104 in February), and I am planning a run on Tuesday evening so it will get a bit higher still. It seems crazy, but I suppose 2×20 miles makes a big dent in that.

My final Jantastic score is 100, but the blue circle is not quite joined, because I was 10 minutes off my predicted time. I did play both my jokers, so I didn’t keep the 4 workouts every week, but I think apart from 2 weeks I managed it which I am really pleased with. I don’t think last year I was quite so successful with it.

If you did Jantastic, how did it go?

Last weekend I had a very tough 12 mile run, but after looking at the stats it turned out I was running faster than I thought, and of course I learnt my lesson about breakfast. With that in mind, I decided to try and be positive.

Monday– Rest day. Walk after dinner.

Tuesday– 7.7 mile run. I finished work early so drove to the club meeting spot early, did 2.7 miles out and back, then 5 miles with the girls. Felt fine, but once I got out of the shower at home I felt totally awful. I was worried I was getting some germs (tonsillitis is going around at work and I had had a sore throat) but nothing came of it thankfully. I was questioning why I had signed up to a marathon at that point, as it seemed to be taking over my life- feeling so shattered in the evening is just not fun.

Wednesday– 3.7 mile run. Missed SRC due to being home a bit late and also worrying about keeping up with the speedy ones- just myself on the fields (and no dogs this time!). That was far enough for me and again I was shattered afterwards.

Thursday– Pump. Found it very very tough. Same weights as last week, apart from squats where I dropped some in anticipation of the 20 miles to come. My weird stiff hip had come back, but once I was warmed up at pump I was fine.

Friday– Rest. A bit of hobbling at work as my hip was stiff again, but when I was moving around it was fine.

Saturday– Parkrun with my brother. Told him to run ahead as I was stiff- did some of those dynamic stretches again. For the first minute of parkrun I was regretting my decision, but literally a minute in something small went pop in my lower back, and then my leg was fine. I took it steady and finished with one of my slowest times, but I was just pleased my leg was OK.

After pancakes for breakfast I had a lot of work to do. I did try to get up to do various jobs, and popped to town to collect post and do a few bits, but I was pretty much sat down all day so again my leg was very stiff come Saturday evening. I did a lot of foam rolling and stretches to try and help but I was getting fed up with it by then.

Sunday– 20 mile run.  My leg felt fine when I woke up, and stayed fine for the whole run (and has been fine since). I really have no idea what it is, but movement actually helps, not resting, so of course I will be gentle but I am not going to sit about. The recovery is getting better too- as soon as I got home I had some coconut water, and then had a shower. Once out of the shower I had a chopped apple in muesli (could not be bothered to make anything), Andy made me a cup of tea, and I relaxed for a bit. Then I did some foam rolling, Andy made us a smoothie, and then we went to town to get some cake (I was trying to persuade him that at the organised race they had cake, so I was due some after running all that way)- we had a free cake voucher for John Lewis so walked there and shared their delicious gluten free chocolate fudge cake (I am not normally that much of a chocolate cake fan, but this is delicious). Then once we got home, I went for a nap, and then made some cookies, and had dinner. On Monday I was feeling OK- slightly sore legs when I started to run between buildings at work, and a bit of a stiff back, but nothing awful. So despite a bit of a wobble earlier in the week, and not a great start to the weekend, it ended with an OK note.

So, 4/4 runs done. 34.4 miles. Long run of 20 miles done. Time trial missed by 10 mins (I guessed 3hr 40 and I did 3 hr 50). Onto the final week of Jantastic, and even better, into the glorious taper!

The tough go to sleep?

So it seems that the 20 mile run last weekend totally wiped me out. We had a walk in the afternoon, and I had a sleep, but the next day I was really stiff.

Monday– Rest day. Walk after work, foam rolling and bath with Epsom salts helped.

Tuesday– OH club run- 5 mile route but reversed so included a big hill. Tough. I kept up with the front girls for the first mile but after that my legs were not playing ball. It was frustrating as even going up the hill my breathing was not challenged but I just could not move my legs any faster. Luckily I packed my torch as two of us ended up running down a pitch black alleyway to get back to the car park (turned out we went the wrong way).

Wednesday– After the day before I ducked out of SRC and opted for a run on my own. Went on the fields but by the end it was totally dark so had to come back via the streets. Got jumped at by a dog- possibly a boxer (my google search of “horrible dog breeds” showed me a few pictures of them)- it had about 6 inches of drool hanging out of its’ mouth and kept jumping up at me. I stopped (I normally stop anyway if I come across a dog off a lead as it seems they find the running more exciting)- anyway the person walking it was saying “heel” in the quietest most un-commanding voice ever. I surprised myself by shouting at him to please control his dog and speak to it in a commanding way so that it actually followed his instructions (normally I am too scared of them setting their dogs on me, but this guy was very drippy in his behaviour and I wanted the dog to stop jumping at me). Honestly I really get annoyed by dog owners who are not responsible (eg who do not pick up dog poo etc)- if your dog can’t be safe off the lead then keep it on a lead- it’s not that complicated!!!!! Rant over.

By the time I got home I was properly shattered and my legs were so tired- another 5 miles done anyway.

Thursday– Pump. In the biceps track I decided to tack some extra weight on the end to see how I would go- my friend commented that she was surprised I was trying it, so I was extra pleased when I got to the end of the track without having to knock them off!

I was sent some high protein pasta from the folks at My Protein this week, so I had that with pesto, veggies and pine nuts before pump. The pasta is made with pea protein, durum wheat and eggs (which must be free range, as it has the vegetarian society symbol on the website) and is 50% protein. We mixed it with some normal wholewheat pasta as we had some in the kitchen already, but I could not tell the difference in texture or taste. I do like pasta but as I don’t have meat it tends to be a lower protein meal, so a little boost can’t hurt.

I also had a mini panic when I realised this marked 1 month to go.

Friday– Rest. We went into London to see Idlewild- it made us feel old as I think the first time we saw them was about half our lives ago! Anyway, it was fab, but my leg was feeling a bit sore, and so standing for all that time wasn’t good, and walking down the steps at the tube station on the way home was a bit painful.

Saturday– I had arranged to go to parkrun with my dad, but in the morning I could not decide as my leg/ hip was a bit stiff. I did some jogging in the living room, and soem dynamic things (yes that is the proper term) like leg swings and lunges, and I felt OK, so I decided to go, but tell my dad to run ahead as I needed to take it easier. After the first mile I felt pretty good so decided to speed up a bit. I also just totally loved the run- the sun was shining, there were lambs in the field that was run down through, the lakes at the bottom were beautiful blue colours and glinting in the sun. I even surprised myself by overtaking some people on the final uphill stint- I am not celebrating the act of overtaking (one girl told me “great work” as I ran past her- I love parkrun) but the fact that I was feeling strong enough to take it on. I think it was my third fastest time on that course, not bad at all. Later we walked around town, did some jobs at home, and had a walk in the evening, but the late night combined with a busy week (3 before-work meetings and 3 after work meetings) meant I was totally shattered. We spent a lot of time watching The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt which is just so funny- anything Tina Fey is involved in is great by me, and then watching a lot of Songify the news (have a look here as I can’t explain it)- sort of Flight of the Concords meets Day Today crossed with the trapped in the closet song. Anyway he did the theme tune to the TV show.

Sunday– *Only* 12 miles was on my plan this week, and initially I had grand plans of going further, but that soon changed! I was so tired on Saturday, and looking back I don’t think I have not set an alarm for 3 weeks at least. I have had a few busy weeks at work, and I really think the 20 miler took it out of me more than I initially thought. So I set my alarm as a back up, and ended up waking up at 9.15am after probably nearly 11 hours of sleep. I clearly needed it! I had to map out a route as I hadn’t done that yesterday, so it was gone 10 when I finally set out. I didn’t have breakfast, because I wouldn’t normally for a run of that distance, but looking back I should have, because of the time of day. The first part of the run went fine- I had a bear yoyo at mile 8 and another at mile 9, but then my legs got very stiff (I think actually it is my lower back, but that seems to affect my hamstrings) and I was shuffling for a bit. By the time I got home I had managed 11.96 miles and I felt so shattered that I could not even contemplate running up and down the road to get the full 12. I felt so cold when I got inside, and after getting a drink and an apple I had to sit down for about 20 minutes before I could even get the energy for a shower.

I made some chocolate pancakes this week- one egg, 5g cocoa powder, 35g buckwheat flour, almond extract and almond milk to make the batter thin enough. Alongside some cooked blueberries, Alpro coconut yoghurt, vegan butterscotch sauce (that little jar is lasting an impressive amount of time) and chocolate pb on the pancakes. I had coconut water while I was cooking them, and a teapigs chocolate flake tea with the pancakes, and still after that had a lie down on the sofa as I felt so awful. I think the last time I felt this way after a run was at the Bath half just over a year ago.

So, 4/4 runs done. 24.9 miles. Long run of 12 miles missed by .04. Next week will be better. And I have learned a lesson- just because I can run 12 miles before breakfast, does not mean that I always should.

Also Garmin keeps failing to upload my run grrr, so I can’t look at that, or on Strava, or log my final Jantastic run of the week. Sigh. I am too tired for all this nonsense!

How do you pick yourself up after a hard run?

Do you like going to see bands?

Do you get scared of dogs on your runs? (Or geese- I don’t like the big white geese either). It’s the one thing that puts me off running around the fields as I see loads more there off leads (even where the cows are, where it says clearly to keep dogs on leads, but no, of course that does not apply to your dog, only all the other dogs…)

Have you watched anything good on TV recently? 

*I was sent the pasta in exchange for a review- all opinions are my own.