Category: Running

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

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!

This is what I have been doing this afternoon (and also last night);

I have been looking at so many plans (Thanks Rob for the suggestion of getting this month’s runners world mag, I picked it up on my way home yesterday). Out of interest I have also logged my details on the smart coach on the website- this gives me a 16 week plan (it would not go up to 20 which is what I have), although it only gave me 2 runs per week- maybe my half marathon time was too slow!

I am finding it hard, but I am getting closer, and have even started a work document which I am going to print off and tick the runs off week by week. I am trying to plan in advance for when the runs will need to be moved (eg parents evening week, weeks with extra staff meetings and so on) so that I do not have to decide each week, I will just know when my runs will be.  I am sticking to the 3 runs per week, and also to the one 20 miler. (I know I keep going on about marathon talk but today the person they interviewed (last UK man to win London marathon) was saying again that newbies and slower runners should look at time on their feet and do a longest run of up to 3.5 hours, which for me would not get close to 20 miles, so I think I am happy in my decision not to do more of the really long ones).

This morning I had decided on 9 miles, as I have been doing the 8.5 ish run for a while and want to take the time to gradually increase. In the end I accidently did 9.6 miles- oops. I thought I knew the route but it turned out it was longer than I thought. I did see a poor little girl forming a phobia- she was being hissed at and chased by some horrible white geese which must have been the same height as her. She was crying and trying to run away but they were chasing her, and the guy with her was not picking her up. I always give those geese a wide berth so no wonder she was upset! My pace again was pretty even, and I even managed to speed up a little towards the end- on average it was 11.14 per mile. I think I might have to slow down a little more as my runs get longer, but we shall see. I want to maintain the same pace all the way through (which I did today) so I am going to see how the training goes. The smart coach has my long runs at a pace of 11.57, which might be more appropriate as they get longer.

I finally got home after 1 hour and 46 minutes, and then had to rush to the post office as I had missed a delivery.

Look what arrived;

A Foam roller ! Now I just have to work out how to use it- I did have an old copy of Womens Running magazine which had a load of pictures of different stretches (do you call them stretches? rolls?) to d0, but I think I accidently recycled it. That might be my job for tomorrow. Or if any of you kind people have links then please let me know. I had a quick roll on it- just for the backs of my thighs and it actually felt quite sore. I did not really think it would hurt. But it will do some good I am sure.

I also painted my nails this afternoon (I never usually use those boots vouchers when they give you £5 off, but it meant that nail varnish was only £2 so I got one, called Beanie, it looks like melted milk chocolate)- this was a good strategy as I really fancied opening a box of christmas chocolates but could not because the varnish was drying haha!

Enjoy the rest of saturday peeps 🙂

Is that a word? My brain is tired!

Anyway, I am having it as my title today!

My teapot was calling to me today! “Maria, why have I been stuck in the cupboard for the last few days? Maria, you have used me every day for the last 2 weeks. Are you mad at me Maria? What happened? Is it me?”

Work was super busy (blah blah I won’t bore you all!) and I had originally planned a 6 mile run after work, which for me is about an hour. But I had totally forgotten how dark it gets, and also what time I actually get home. Plus I was actually still very tired after aerobics last night. It was one of those times when I could not decided if I was too tired and really needed some tea and a sit down, or just a bit lethargic and going out would do me good. So in the end I braved the rain (it was only drizzle by the time I got out there) and decided to do a shorter run with some intervals instead of the longer steady run. I warmed up for a mile, but during the first interval my shins started hurting, so in the end I decided to slow it down to normal pace and make it a bit shorter. I want to do 3 runs a week and so if I run this saturday (no reason why I won’t) then I will have done my 3. So in the end I got back after 38 mins, 3.8 miles, just as the rain got really heavy- perfect timing! My poor teapot had to stay in the cupboard though- maybe tomorrow!

I have been thinking about being flexible recently, especially with regards to goals. When I first signed up to the marathon I used a few different calculators to estimate my finish time, and they all come up at around 5 hours. But then I was listening to an old marathon talk podcast, I think it was the Edinburgh marathon, and they had people which they interviewed before they ran, and then after, to see their goal times and then how the race actually went. Quite a few people had finished slower than they would have liked- it was very hot that day. I was glad that most people were able to see the achievement of finishing, even if they did not get a PB. It is something I want to keep to the forefront of my mind, because if I finish then I want to be really proud of myself. Does that make sense? I suppose with a marathon being that much longer, there is more time to go wrong, and also if you slow down by a few seconds, over 26 miles they add up more than they would over a 10k. But I don’t want that to take over from the overall experience. I do want to challenge myself (and I have no chance of walking as I think the course has a 6 hour time limit which makes me nervous every now and then!), but I also want to enjoy the experience and not get hung up on finishing times so much. One person I heard was gutted as they wanted to get in under 4 hours and managed 4.01 or something like that- you know it is still an amazing time. Anyway, my point to this is that I am going to be flexible in my training- I don’t mean I am going to cancel half my training sessions, but I want to be sensible and listen to myself and if I am having a very busy week or are really tired then I will cut back. And I want to be flexible, even during the race- so if I am aiming for a particular time and I slow down then I am not going to get upset. Although I can actually picture myself crying as I run it- I find running really emotional- I cried as I crossed the finish line to my first half marathon, and got teary during my first 10k (it was my first “real” race, not a race for life, so I was doing it for me and only me, not to raise money or anything like that). I might need to write that on a post it note and stick it on my water bottle!

On a different note, I was given yet another box of chocolates today at work, and I popped them in my cupboard. At lunch I was rushing about, had not had lunch and was so hungry, and I was so close to opening the box (and probably eating far too many while I did my marking)- it was actually the thought of writing it on here this evening that put me off them! The box is still closed phew!

Post run was some freezer chilli and a sweet jacket potato- yum. My freezer is stocked at the mo- I did a lot of batch cooking (as much as the little freezer can take) and so in there I have some squash soup, veggie chilli, pumpkin tofu pasta and chickpea stew. I love easy meals 🙂

Off for some more star gazing now- night 🙂