Category: Running

Start running, that is.

I still view myself in many ways as a beginner runner. This seems silly when I type it, but for the majority of my life I was not really sporty (my family was active e.g. swimming, cycling, ski-iing, walking- but I was never good at any of them compared to my family or others!)- I really hated PE (although I was too scared of the teachers to try to fake a sick note!!), I was left with the races no-one wanted at sports day (high jump and shot putt normally- I am 5ft 2).

So I did not run. I hated cross country, I hated sprinting when we did athletics; I just thought I was someone who was not built to run.

All this changed a few years ago. Sorry if you already know this- someone at work mentioned doing a Race for Life- she said it was a 5k walk and so I raised some sponsorship and went along. On the day I was so inspired by everyone else running that I secretly decided to set myself a goal to run it the following year. It was a whole year away and I forgot about it.

But then I got the email reminding me to sign up, I did, and found myself a training plan.

I dilligently followed the plan to the letter- to see my plan look here. I ran 3 times a week, and started off with 1 minute of running and 1 minute of walking, alternated for 20 minutes. I found the running so hard- I think I made the classic beginners mistake of thinking I had to sprint! Each week the running increased, and the walking decreased. Each week I would panic on the Monday about doing it,and by the Friday (3rd run) would be amazed that I actually managed the training run 3 times that week!

On the day of the race I was so nervous- I had only got up to 15 min run, 1 min walk, 15 min run, but some friends had joked they would only sponsor me if I ran the whole way. Well, I did it! I was so proud of myself. I find the Race for Life emotional anyway, with all the messages on people’s backs, thinking of family members etc. But I was so proud of myself. I still am 🙂

Originally I had thought I would stop, but I actually found I really loved it, and so have increased each year. The following year I (secretly) entered a local 10k, and only told people once I was close to that distance in training.

Then last year myself and Andy (who had joined in with the running and also completed a few local 5k’s and 10K’s with me) entered a half marathon. Anyway, shortly after that I started this blog, so I won’t go on.

Basically, what I want to say is, if you want to start running, then do!

• Follow a plan (the one I followed, or a couch to 5k plan- they are all similar). Satisfying to tick off the runs as you complete them.
• Start off nice and slow- it’s not a sprint!
• Wear proper trainers (I started off with pink suede-y skechers! Not good)
• Get a proper sports bra (ladies)
• Sign up for a race to have a goal to work towards. I love the Race for Life’s as I think they have a friendly atmosphere, and of course raising money for charity is always good. But there are loads of races to enter.

I really cannot stress how much I enjoy running, and how much I never thought I would even be able to run. So I think if I can do it, anyone can!

I am still pretty slow- I am getting faster and what I enjoy about running is that I measure my achievements against myself. At races I was worried about elite runners laughing at the sight of me, but in fact races I have attended have had a lot of people doing similar speeds to me. And the atmosphere has always been supportive too.

Any other tips for beginners?

Anyone thinking of giving it a go?

Phew- my legs need a rest now!

After my lovely rest day yesterday, it was a 10 mile run post work today. It was obviously on my mind as I didn’t sleep well last night (dreaming about forgetting to take my lunch/ leaving work too late and being out in the country lanes late at night…). I took extra food with me to work (including some almonds and brazils for the calories but hopefully less fibre!), and made sure I ate it all.

My run was exactly the same route as last week, and I wanted to try and pick up the pace in the middle a bit tempo stylee, although I was not sure how I would do after the 16 miles on Saturday. I had a couple of clif bloks at mile 4 and 6, along with water/nuun. I was going to have another one but I think I ate my snacks a little too close to running so was feeling a bit icky. Anyway, once home and on Nike+ I was excited to see that a– I ran it in 1 hour 43, 4 minutes faster than last week for the same route, and b– one mile I was 8.58 pace! Woah! And a couple at 9.54. I was really pleased to get those speeds in on such a long run (although soon to be a medium run?).

Now to the blog first- you have all heard of oats in a jar, but have you had….

rice pudding in a jar??? (RPIAJ)

This was my carb filled evening snack- cooked nectarine and a pot of Rachel’s rice pud, in my empty pb jar, topped with a couple of chocolate chips. Sooooooo good! RPIAJ, go on, try it! I keep meaning to make rice pudding (I have got the flaked rice and did use to) but the pots are on offer, and when we order from the internet they always pop up! I also keep meaning to make it with Kara coconut milk as I bet that would be lovely. So watch this space (eventually!).

Night 🙂

Wow I am on top of the world right now!

Thanks for all the comments regarding my running conundrum. In the end I did the mile run at work, then walked 2 miles to the shops, did some housework and pottered about. Then I was very tired! I figured that altogether I had done 3 miles on my feet, so that was enough to check my legs still worked!

Today it was 16 miles and that was all I dreamt about last night. After porridge (with some maple pb yum) and starting off making some bread for lunch, I was ready. Then I remembered I had not actually planned my route, so had to sort that out! Anyway, I did the 10 mile route from in the week (which is sort of most of a 10k loop, turn around at the 5 mile mark and backtrack), then the last 6 miles were up to the lakes, around the lakes for a bit and then home.

The weather was beautiful. I have no idea how it was for the rest of England, but here there was a heavy frost (which had gone by the time I went out) and there was not a cloud in the sky. Just miles of deep blue beautiful sun filled sky. I was feeling so good too. I didn’t even look at my watch until over 5 miles had gone. Then I was already 1/3 done! I had some shot bloks with me which I took at mile 8, 10 and 12. I also found half a packet of urban fruit (dried mango and pineapple) in the cupboard so I nibbled on that during the second half of my run. That seemed to go alright as well although my tummy was rumbling by the end! I happened to glance at my watch and notice I had done 13.1 miles, so I had a look at the time and I had run that in 2 hours 24 minutes, which is pretty good I think. Seeing as it was feeling like a slow run, that is right in the middle of my 2 half marathon times (2.32 and 2.19)- it gave me confidence that I am still maintaining the level of fitness I built up last year. After that it started getting harder (not sure if that was partly because I allowed myself to think about how far I had run/ how long I had been out for). The last few miles again were harder as I was getting a little stiff again. But not awful- I was glad when I reached home but I did feel like I could have carried on a little bit. The running fairy was well and truly with me today! It took me 3 hours and 4 minutes, a bit of that would be crossing roads I suppose. It has given me more confidence for the 20 miler too (the time limit is 4 hours and I am pretty slow) as I am sure that I could do the last 4 miles in an hour. I keep feeling very emotional this afternoon- this was a jump from the 14 mile run, but finishing it and enjoying it (I am sure a lot was down to the lovely weather) has really given me a little confidence that perhaps I will manage the actual marathon.

Anyway, once home I gulped down a chocolate alpro carton, popped the bread in the oven and rushed for a shower as by then it was about half 1 I think-  a long time since breakfast!

The bread was sooooo good! I have not made cinnamon raisin bread for ages and it is really worth it! I have a mini loaf tin so I made it in that this time. The recipe is on here somewhere but basically I put about 90ml warm water, 1tsp yeast, 1tsp sugar, 1tbs flour and 25g raisins in a cup for a bit to activate the yeast. Then I added this mixture to 150g flour (half white, half wholewheat) and a load of spices- cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, mixed spice, ginger.., kneaded it together and left to rise in the tin. This baked in the oven (180c) for 30-35 minutes.  I had mine with maple pb (plus apple and pear) but Andy had his with pure spread and it would be amazing with cream cheese.

Later on this afternoon I had some lovely Christmas tea yummy!

During my run I listened to marathon talk, and this week they did 2 versions of the show- one with added in sections of music from audiofuel. I put both on my mp3 player in case it was annoying, but actually it was quite funny. The music is sort of like keyboard demo music, and every now and then a man talks “keep your arms relaxed….. this feels easy…. take more breath than you think you need…… you need to drink water on runs longer than an hour….. run to the beat 1,2,3,4”- it reminded me of the Friends episode when Chandler tries to quit smoking by listening to the hypnosis CD, but I think it was also pretty good! Anyone used their other podcasts as I had a look on the site and there are special training ones?

Anyway, they mentioned this site- run for Japan. We all know how much help Japan needs, and this website is raising money by people dedicating one of their runs for Japan (you say how many miles. km you ran), and then donating money (eg 10p/ £1 per mile/ per km you ran). They want to have at least one run per country in the world so if you live somewhere exotic then please dedicate your run. And even if you live somewhere boring (you know what I mean) then still please dedicate one run. Anyway, for more info look here.