Running - Maria Runs

Joining a real running club!

So, for a few years now I have been going to the local Sweatshop for a run every week, and I really enjoy them. I have met some great friends there, learnt about local races, run with my brother and speed myself up.

I really love running on my own- it is a great stress reliever and some time for me to think. But I have also really found benefits from running in a group. A while ago I was contacted by someone who used to run with Sweatshop, about joining her running club.

The trial went well, and so I have been going fairly regularly (minus when I had my cough) for a few months now.

I even got my vest today! So excited about this!

I went there Tuesday night. Sometimes we run in a group, and sometimes in pairs, but this week I was a bit on my own- we did a loop and every now and then the front runners looped back- I couldn’t quite keep up with them, but I was a bit ahead of the next lot, so I was running on my own, and it got me thinking about how my running has changed over the last few years. When I first started running, I ran by myself, with music to over the sound of my breathing. In my first half marathon (I ran most of it with my brother) I kept headphones in one ear with music playing quietly to keep the sound of my breathing out- I would never do that now! Running with SRC helped to wean me off headphones- I felt it was a bit rude to run with people but with headphones in, and I knew that I struggled in races a bit to run without music, so tried those runs without. As I run there and back I decided to do that without headphones either, and to my surprise it was fine!

With my dad suggesting I give parkrun a go (and me totally loving it), over a few years I have moved from 3 runs by myself per week, always listening to music, to one parkrun (either with my dad and brother, or by myself but no headphones ever), a club run, again, never any headphones here, an SRC run chatting with running buddies, and then one long run by myself with my podcasts for company.

I suppose it turns out that I love the motion of running, and being in the fresh air, and the feeling of accomplishment, and if I run with other people, that love is shared with them somehow. I am not ready to give up my long lonesome runs (and I think mentally, I need that time alone for myself, and to prepare for races) but I have really been enjoying where running has taken me at the moment.

I bought the club vest a few weeks ago and one of the lovely ladies posted it through my door today, and the first thing I did was try it on!

Yup, I can’t take a good selfie, but you get the idea! So excited!!

It even has this detail on the back! Totally love it!

Last night the run ended up being just shy of 5 miles, and in the final mile I was really feeling it. My poor legs were getting stiff after those 15 miles. My cold seemed to get worse, and I found the air really cold to breathe. Today I have been coughing a lot again (a child did cough in my face on Friday, a perk of the job…), I got home late and with an awful headache so I gave Sweatshop a miss. I was meant to be doing 8 miles, so the plan was to leave early, do 3 miles on my own, then run with them, and run home, and hope it was about right, but it is not a good idea. I don’t want to make myself more ill and then have to take more time off. Tomorrow I am booked onto pump, so at least that is inside. I won’t reach my Jantastic target this week, but there is always next week (and a joker).

Do you prefer group activities or being solitary?

Any thoughts on this? My feelings after my last marathon were that I needed to do another 20 mile run, as I only did one, which went fine, but then I really struggled in the actual race. I think I need to learn what food suits me to eat while I am running, and I can really only practise that on very long runs. The plan I looked at suggested a shorter harder run on Saturday (which is why I usually do parkruns) and then a longer run on Sunday when you are a bit tired from the day before. I suppose doing a medium run on Saturday (e.g. 8 miles) and a longer one of under 3 hours (under 16 miles I think for me) might help replicate the tired legs a bit more? I did find I was totally shattered on Sunday, and that is only going to get worse as the runs get longer.

If you have trained for a marathon, what have your longest runs been (hours and miles)?

Starting Febulous

So the old school marathon talk listeners might remember the first year of Jantastic. After the first month they carried it on and called it Febulous, and then came Marchvellous- before they decided that was long enough! Anyway, month 2 means that you select your workouts per week, and also include the distance of your longest workout each week.

Now, I can’t work out how to view them, but for the first week I had to run 15 miles as my longest of 4 runs, as per my training plan. Next week I didn’t choose such a long run because we are away for the weekend, so my long run will actually be on the Monday of the following week (half term).

This week:

Monday– Rest day. I considered a walk when I got home, but my cold was pretty bad- my sinuses were sore and my teeth and eyes were aching, so I opted for PJ’s on in front of the TV instead.

Tuesday– Club run. We did 4 miles- mostly chatting with another member- it was so cold at first it was hard to breathe or feel your legs!

Wednesday– I opted out of SRC as I still had my cold so didn’t fancy trying to keep up with the others, plus there was the option of cutting it short if I needed to. 5 miles was on the plan, and 5 miles was completed, again in the cold. Kept a pretty good pace too (just over 10min miles). I wanted to be home a bit earlier too, as my eye had been a bit sticky- I initially thought it was down to doing some Vicks bowls, but then I thought it was more like conjunctivitis. It said on NHS direct that you could go to a pharmacist, and there was one open until 9, so we went along and I was given some antibiotic eye drops- much easier than the time I got it before and had to wait at the doctors for a few hours until they had a gap in appointments.

Thursday– Hooray- booked onto pump. Kept my squats and back weights a bit lower, which I think is better for me at the moment.

Friday– Rest. Had a walk after work.

Saturday– Went to parkrun with my dad and brother (I realised I had forgotten my barcode so Dad had to turn around and drive home, so by the time we parked we had to jog to the start). I played a game of “catch the person in front” and didn’t look at my watch at all. It seemed to work, as I was very surprised to see 28-something in my watch as I crossed the finish line! All 3 of us got course pb’s! 28.35 for me- the fastest on that course and it is a hilly one! Perhaps a jog to the start is the way forward?

Buckwheat pancakes, blueberries (mostly hidden under the pancakes) and that amazing vegan butterscotch sauce to celebrate a pb! Woohoo!

Sunday– 15 miles. I need to start having breakfast before I go I think. But I couldn’t decide on anything, so took some dates with me, and ended up forgetting and eating them during the final mile. The run was OK, but I got quite stiff towards the end. Plus the weather was weird- sunny (not complaining about that) but really cold- you could see your breath the whole way around. So I got very sweaty but stayed really cold. Quite strange really. After my shower I got back into my PJ’s (could not decide what to wear), and had a lovely coconut drink (Chi chocolate coconut milk) while I cooked French toast, which I had with a banana and blueberries and sauce. I was going to laze about, but then of course active recovery is best, so we had a 2 mile walk in the sunshine.

So another successful week. 27.3 miles, only one more than last week but that was down to my cold in part. I do have a task for this week though- to actually plan something to eat before a long run- I know I need to start trying things, but I feel so much better running on an empty stomach, so at the moment I don’t have that motivation. So you can all tell me off if I don’t do it next week.

Do you have a good pre-run routine? I tried porridge for a bit, or toast, and sometimes have a clif bar before a race, but I can’t settle on something that I really like.

Podcasts are awesome

I have always loved the radio. Probably in part due to me not being allowed a TV in my bedroom until I was at uni, but generally I like to be doing things, so the radio suits me as I can potter about while it is on. The excellent thing about podcasts is that they are like the radio, but on when you want them to be. Excuse me for stating the obvious here!

Anyway, in the summer I got a new phone, and one of the first things I did was buy the Pocket Cast app. I used to load all podcasts into a little mp3 player, but it was a pain downloading them, copying them over, and then remembering which ones I had listened to and which ones I could delete. This app is amazing, seriously. Any podcast you listen to, you can add to your homepage/ subscribe to. I have a collection- marathon talk, the parkrun show, a whole load of radio 4 ones (Friday night comedy for The News Quiz, Food Prog, Infinite Monkey Cage, Feedback, More or Less), Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode’s film review, Richard Herring’s Leicester Square, Christian O’Connells Breakfast show (I tend to get these for holidays with long journeys), No Meat Athlete podcasts, and Serial (which if you have not listened to already, go and find it! It documents a journalist examining evidence in a murder trial, and is really interesting- we listened to it in Spain- I had to limit myself to one per day as it got a bit addictive!). I even found Happy Health Chat on there!

When you open the app it then prompts you when there is a new podcast to download. You can search by popular ones, or my name, if you fancy something new. If I am going on a long run, I can set up a playlist, or just choose one to be “up next”, and brilliantly if your headphones accidentally get pulled out of your phone, the podcast stops (instead of it using the phone speakers). Clever stuff. Then, once the podcast has been listened to, it automatically gets deleted, so no wasting a load of memory, and I don’t have to wonder which ones I need to delete. They are still linked to, so if you wanted to listen again you could click to download again. It also saves where you are (which my mp3 player didn’t always do) so I can carry on right where I left off.

Now my long runs are taking longer (getting closer to 3 hours) I need more to listen to, although for the rest of the week I tend to run without anything.

What are your favourite podcasts? Have you jumped on the Serial bandwagon yet?

Jantastic week 4- a little wobble

Hey peeps, I hope you all have had a good weekend.

First up, I can’t remember I forgot to mention this before. The last parkrun I did with my dad and brother, I had a rather embarrassing moment. You have to park a bit of a way from the start line, so we tend to bring a carrier bag and leave our coats and a bottle of water in the bag while we run, to keep us warm on the way back to the car. It was a cold morning so my dad also had a scarf with him, and as we were sorting out things out I realised that his scarf was right next to a big pile of dog poo (yup, how lovely) so I picked up all our bags and moved them. Then someone from SRC came over to leave her bits with ours, and we were chatting- I had noticed that one bag was a drawstring fabric bag and not a carrier bag, and I briefly thought that it was better to bring that than my old carrier bag, but I didn’t pay much attention. Then as I was moving the bits to a better (cleaner) spot a guy came over and asked for his bag back! Whoops! I had managed to pick his (Chelsea) bag up along with all of our bits. Luckily he was OK about it, but I was so embarrassed! Not sure why it didn’t register, especially as both Dad and my brother had on Watford hats! Anyway, that was a few weeks ago now.

Onto this week. Monday was a rest day, after all those runs and workouts in a row last week. I did some cleaning at home, and we had a short walk in the evening.

Tuesday– I had no meeting after work, so I got home quickly and headed out for a 7 mile run. I was contemplating my usual 7 mile route, but some of it is not that nice after dark, so I did 2 laps nearer home, adding a bit on at the end to make it up.I thought it was going to be really cold, but it wasn’t too bad. Weird to think that a month ago this was my long run length, and now it’s a midweek after work run.

Wednesday– We were going to see Andy’s parents in the evening, so as soon as I got home I did 3 miles- no SRC this week.

Thursday– I tried to book onto pump but it was full (apparently). I had a sore throat and had a busy day with work to do in the evening, so we had a walk after dinner in the freezing cold before I finished my work.

Friday– Rest day.

Saturday– Off to parkrun. I was originally going to do St Albans, as we were meeting friends for brunch at 10, but they cancelled as they had a bit of snow, so I went to Panshanger instead. This turned out to be brilliant – the founder of parkrun, Paul Sinton-Hewitt (there is a little background to how he started it all here) was there- he ran it (he is very speedy) and then went to the final corner, just before the final horrible hill, and was cheering everyone on. What a great community. I love it. The run itself was pretty tough- my sore throat had turned into a little bit of a cold, so I kept having to slow down to use tissues, plus the ground was very icy in places, so I didn’t push it. I also kept telling myself “you have to run 14 miles tomorrow, don’t go crazy”. 32.04, fairly slow for me on that course but I wasn’t taking any chances.

As our breakfast had been cancelled, I persuaded Andy that we should still go, but for lunch instead. We popped into town to collect some shopping we had ordered, and then headed to The Waffle House- yay. Hummus and avocado for me, and pulled pork for Andy (he was very happy that it was on special as they don’t have that one all the time). So cosy.

Sunday– The plan said 14 miles. I had decided on a couple of loops- my usual loop is around 8 miles, so I decided to do that once, and then go out until 11 miles (so 3 more) then turn around and come home to total 14. It was a run of three thirds (a new saying). The first third was good. It was cold, but no rain (which had been forecast) and I saw loads of running groups out, including the fit 4 fitness group, and someone wearing a Fred Hughes 10 t-shirt. Plus all the runners I saw were friendly. I listened to the end of one marathon talk podcast, and then a documentary about subliminal advertising (the one before The Infinite Monkey Cage last week). But then the wind picked up, or I noticed it more, and I came to a hill that I do not like. I really felt like I was running through treacle or something. Each time I looked at my watch it seemed to say 11-something, although with hindsight that is because I was either stopped waiting to cross a road, or using a tissue, or putting a tissue in a bin. Getting close to home, but knowing I had another 6 miles to do was also tough. And it rained briefly. And I started to feel hungry. Another marathon talk started, with Boy on the Run’s take on the Ghostbusters song (for Jantastic), and that lifted my spirits a bit. The final part of the run was really a battle with my mind, and I am sure I have more of those to come. Seeing my watch flash for 13 miles at around 2.20 was also a bit depressing, but then I told myself that I am not running this at pb pace, and that would be a respectable half time for me anyway. Those thoughts took up the last ten minutes! I was very glad to finally make it home. All in all, the 14 miles took me 2 and a half hours (although moving time was 2.20). Which initially I felt fed up with, but Strava was my saviour. My miles were wither 9 something or 10 something, and my slowest (mile 13, including another horrible hill) was 10.31- not bad at all. All I want ultimately is a sub 5 hour marathon, and so I would have another 2 and a half hours to run another 12 miles. Should be doable. But it was a bit of a wobbly moment for me then.

I felt pretty shattered after that. I had an apple and a nuun tab in water as soon as I got in, then a hot shower (which always gives me very itchy and red skin in cold weather, but I needed to warm up) and then French toast with blueberries, and also some of the most amazing butterscotch sauce which you can get here (it is divine) and a teapigs chocolate flake tea. And coconut water while I was cooking. Then I started to feel human again! I had to pop out to the shops later, so treated myself to a hot chocolate with almond syrup. Then, bliss.

Laying on the bed, watching rubbish on netflicks, with some tea bread and the rest of the coconut water. I tried to have a nap, but I am not one for daytime sleeping and it didn’t work.

A baked sweet potato with hummus, salad and some cranberry and apple chutney was an easy dinner (Andy was out so I had to fend for myself which often results in toast).

So, onto February. My weekly distance targets are set. I am still going for 4 runs a week, but I might have to play a joker at some point as we have two weekends away and I am not sure when I will fit the runs around at that point. I am just hoping that this cold clears up soon as it is no fun running with.

How has January been for you? Is Jantastic going well? Are you a nap person?

Jantastic weeks 2 and 3 (scraping by)

Whoops! I totally forgot about this last week, but I suppose last Sunday I was recapping the 10 mile race.

So, how have these last two weeks gone?

Week 2:

Monday-Rest day.

Tuesday– 4 miles of down and up underpasses and steps with the OH girls.

Wednesday– 5.1 miles- I had to run a longer route to Sweatshop, then we ran loops of a depot in some horrible sleeting rain and a very strong wind, and then I ran home.

Thursday– Body pump. I really hurt my hand or wrist- I could not work out what it was, but it was from those stacked clean and presses- I think the final weight was too heavy for me.

Friday– Rest.

Saturday– Panshanger parkrun- one of my favourite times of the week.. My Dad and brother came too, the weather was beautiful (frosty) and it snowed when we were getting our barcodes scanned.

This is the alternative ending- long and slow hill.

This is the normal ending- doesn’t look that steep but it really is!

Sunday– 10 mile race.

4/4 runs completed, 22.3 miles run.

Week 3. This turned out to be a bit of a challenge. For this year and last year I chose 4 runs as my target, as I knew that I could easily do 3 runs per week, but 4 was more of a challenge during busy weeks. They said on the show that if you achieve all of your targets, then they are probably too easy, and I wanted a challenge. Anyway, Andy had arranged a day out on Saturday as a belated Christmas present, and had told me I would not have time for parkrun that day. Fine, I can switch it to another day. But then something else came up.

Monday- Rest day. I had a sports massage booked- so many horrible knots in my shoulders.

Tuesday– We were going to go to the cinema (to see The Imitation Game which I thought was excellent). Originally we thought the film was at 6, so my plan was to leave work asap (my normal 2 hour evening meeting was cancelled), go on a short run, then walk up to the cinema. But then during the day Andy texted to say we had the time wrong, and it was actually 5pm! So anyway I rushed home from work but only had time to walk up there before it started. By the time we got home I could have gone out (it was about half 7 I think) but it was cold, I wanted dinner. At least we had walked to and from the cinema.

Wednesday– Plan said 7 miles. So I went out earlier before Sweatshop and went an even longer way there, then we did 3 miles together, and then I ran home. In total it was 6.7 miles, which was close enough for me in the freezing cold!

I also got this rather terrifying looking foam roller for my 30 Sweatshop runs. Running home carrying it was hard work- it’s heavy!

Thursday– Body pump. Went lighter on the stacked weights this time, and still at the end of the track I could feel my hand starting to get sore.

Friday– 3 miles after work- for the missed Tuesday run.

Saturday. We didn’t need to leave until 10am, so I got up early and did another 3 miles from home- I was back just as parkruns were starting. Then we went into London- more on that another day but we walked for miles!

Sunday– 12 miles scheduled. On Saturday night I mapped out a route and wrote myself a few notes (most of the route I had run before, but some of it was new). I was out at about 8.15am, and it was just wonderful. I had felt apprehensive about it- what with not having a rest day since Tuesday, and all the walking yesterday. But it wasn’t about time, it was about getting the miles done.

The lake was still semi frozen- quite comical to see the gulls “walking” on the water. I am slowly catching up with the marathon talk podcasts anyway- I am into December now! In fact I was surprised to hear a PE teacher from my secondary school on there (although he is younger than me so didn’t teach me!). I did get a little lost so at one point had to get up maps on my phone to find out the way (surprisingly the directions “right, over, right, Woods Avenue” were not that easy to decipher) but in the end I got home having run 12.1 miles in 2.13 (although moving time was 2.06)- but anyway as I said it is not about the time.

So, week 3, 4/4 runs done (by the skin of my teeth) and 24.8 miles

I did hear that the third week in January is when people are most likely to fail at their resolutions, so I was quite pleased that I managed to keep it up this week despite some busy days. I am very much looking forward to a day off tomorrow though!