Running Lessons

Remember last post I mentioned I was looking into joining a running course? Well, for those of you who might still be thinking that the fact I cancelled my 10K means I've lost momentum, I would just like to say: I am now signed up to not one, but two running classes/clubs! That's right. I perceive myself as being so crap at running that I've decided I need a double whammy of lessons in order to stand a chance of completing a half-marathon in February.

The first class/club is run right in my town at the local community centre and is completely free (yay). It will start next Tuesday at 7p.m. (not a.m. thank god - couldn't cope with that!) and keep going every Tuesday for the forseeable. I'm excited to run with this club as I am familiar with the roads around here and have run on a lot of them so it shouldn't be too much of a shock hopefully. 

The second class is run by a personal trainer in the next town over. The course is eight weeks long and would normally be fairly expensive but luckily for me the council has decided to subsidise the course and so I will get to join in for just £10! That's a win in my books. This course won't start till the beginning of October but in a way I am glad as it runs on a Monday and if both courses started at the same time I think my legs would never forgive me for the Monday/Tuesday bashing! 

So there we have it. I am excited. I'm also looking forward to meeting some potential new running buddies. And also laughing at myself internally for taking two beginner's running classes (even though technically one is a club). 

For those of you not interested in a rant about English summertime, feel free to leave now. If, however, you would like to join me in our country's national sport (talking about the weather - we should make it an Olympic event) then by all means keep reading.

I would like to register an open complaint with mother nature and her minions. Specifically the ones working in the English branch. My complaint is this: regardless of the "Indian summer" everyone is chatting about which is apparently due at some point, (although I swear I hear this every year at the end of summer - coping mechanism maybe?), and ignoring the two days of non rain we have had this past week (I refuse to call them days of sunshine), the summer is most definitely over. A summer that, from my point of view, consisted of maybe two weeks of sunshine and heat (not all in a row either) but was mainly comprised of the usual grey, rainy, windy, crappy weather we all know and despise. 

Two weeks of sunshine does not a summer make and I am sick of everyone pretending it does and going on and on about glorious picnics (sat in the damp grass from yesterday's rainfall, worriedly eyeing those ominous looking clouds over there and fighting a losing battle with an invading battalion of ants), and beautiful sunshine, and "I might actually get a tan at this rate!" jokes. No you won't, don't be ridiculous. 

In short I am tired of the collective denial everyone in this country seems to enter into every year between June and September. Let's face it: summer in this country doesn't exist. If you think it does then you need to leave the country more often and see what a real summer looks like. Hint: it has sunshine. Consistently. Rant over. 

The Silver Lining

Hello again. I hope you have all had a lovely Bank Holiday Weekend. Mine has been rainy. Biblically so. Summer is most definitely over. Anyway, I am going to get straight to the point here. Over the course of the weekend circumstances have conspired against me resulting in my having to back out of my 10K race in Windsor. I am frustrated and upset but there is nothing I can do to change the fact that this is the way things have gone. 

If I am totally honest, along with the frustrations and upsets, I am just a teeny tiny bit happy that things have gone this way. I know deep down that I wouldn't have been ready for this race and would have gone out of stubbornness and probably taken hours to get round in the best case scenario, or done myself an injury in the worst case scenario. However, the main feeling at having to cancel is disappointment. I was looking forward to running this course. The distance, the location, it all appealed to me. Oh well. 

So where's this silver lining I mention in the title? Well, here we go.

I have been rummaging around the internet recently trying to find a running group/club to help motivate me to keep running now the weather is against me - who enjoys running in the rain, seriously? I found a running group near me but the best bit is that I also found a running course. It takes you from the very basics of running (technique, breathing, stretching etc) all the way through to being able to run solidly for 30 minutes, which is something I would like to be able to do, despite my quite liking my run/walk routine. 

Yes, you are reading all of this right. I will essentially be taking running lessons. I am aware of how silly that sounds. Surely it's just left foot, right foot....repeat at speed until required distance is reached or heart attack sets in. However, I feel like this course will not only teach me some useful tips like how not to die of a stitch halfway round but also get me meeting some potential future running buddies near me, which all adds to future motivation levels. The course starts sometime around the middle of this month (this month being September - when did THAT happen?!) and I will be hearing back soon about whether or not I have managed to get a place on the course. 

So there's the silver lining. One thing has fallen through but perhaps it did so to clear the way for this new chapter of my running training. 

Also, for those of you wondering when my next race will be, the only race I have booked for now is the Brighton half-marathon at the end of February 2016. I might enter another 10K before then but then again I might not. You, my lovely readers, will of course be the first to know whatever I decide. 

One of Those Days.

So as you might have guessed, today's run did not go well. I've had my ups and downs with my running in the past but today was just one of those days where it started off wrong and just got worse. You know what I mean? One of those runs where from the beginning something tells you it's not going to go well. I should have listened to my gut on this one. It is usually right. 

I was getting ready for my run today, the first one since coming back from holiday so I was already worried about having lost some momentum in my training. I go to charge my Mp3 player and nothing happens. Cue much plugging in and unplugging again, blowing into the usb bit and hitting the reset button. Nothing. Great. I've never run without my music. Here was my first sign from the Running Gods that they were busy conjuring up a plan. Still, I thought to myself, I have been putting this off for too long, I just need to get on with it, music or no music. I put my shoes on and out the door I go. I get to the end of my street and am struck with humongous self doubt: did I lock the front door? 

Back home I go to check. Yes, I did. Grr.

I set off again, trying to focus on my pace and breathing and for a little while things go alright. Not having music isn't the end of the world. I don't feel as psyched as I usually do but I'm not bored out my mind so it could be worse. Famous last words. 

As I get to the halfway point of my run (which takes me over a gravel path) I put my foot down and feel the gravel slip from under me. I don't fall down (that would have been the cherry on the cake of crappy-ness) but it does make my ankle start to twinge. Excellent, just what I need. Could it get worse?

Yes, yes it could. The Running Gods don't seem to understand sarcasm. 

It starts to rain. Ok, so not to the levels of my run in the hail back in May but still not exactly pleasant. At this point I give up hope of being able to turn this run into a positive experience and just focus on getting home. 

So there we are. The Running Gods punishing me for my two week hiatus from pounding the pavement. Hopefully my ankle will be ok by Thursday. It doens't feel too bad so lots of rest tomorrow and I should be fine. I would say it could have been worse but I'm not going to tempt fate for next time. Those Running Gods, they love a challenge. 

Back to Reality

Delightful rainy England, waiting to welcome me home as I stepped off the plane. Yay.

Excuse the long-ish absence. Returning to real life was not fun and not as smooth a process as I would have liked. First world problems, huh? Anyway what this means is that other than my daily swimming in Italy I haven't really done much exercise recently. This will change very shortly as I have finally settled upon a 10k race to enter and so will need to begin training in earnest if I'm going to stand a chance of actually running that far on the day. The day in question is the 26th of September and the race is the Running4Women 10k in Windsor. I was torn between this and one in Finsbury Park but decided that I would enjoy a change of scenery from London. I've been to Windsor once before and it was beautiful so I am looking forward to running there. Also the race starts at noon which means a tiny bit of a lie in for me! Which is always good, right? 

What this all means is that training is about to kick up a notch in order for me to hit the new distance. As much as I love my easy, breezy two mile runs, I am going to be waving goodbye to them and replacing them with 5k runs instead. They will have to become my easy, breezy runs. Am I dreading this slightly? Yes I am. I'm worried that, when I eventually do run 10k, it will take me so ridiculously long that everybody will have packed up and gone home. 

Ok, so I exaggerate slightly but you get the point. 

Anyway, wish me luck over the next 50 days (according to the race website countdown) and as always I will attempt to keep you updated on and (hopefully) entertained by my struggles... I mean training. 

Life's Tough

So here I am half way through my lovely holiday. It was my birthday on Monday and I celebrated by getting up at 4am to go stand in many queues at Luton airport before landing in the 34 degree heat that is northern Italy right now. The 4am part wasn't ideal but at least I had the whole day ahead to enjoy my birthday. Since then I have done a bit of swimming, some sunbathing (although I will still be depressingly pale upon my return to England) and a lot of eating. Ice creams, proscuitto, salami, homegrown tomatoes and all of the fruit ever grown in this country. I have to say it has been a struggle, but someone has to do it. 

As for any running, well I didn't pack any of my kit so that's not happening. I am swimming every day though so hopefully should be able to pick up where I left off when I get back to training next week. The thought of doing any planned or regimented training at the moment is far from my mind. It is beyond hot and humid here. While this means I need a fan on all night in order to sleep it does also mean I can completely justify floating about in the pool with a cold drink all day. And (most importantly) I can have multiple ice creams a day. It is almost encouraged! 

Anyway, I am off for a swim now. I will leave you with a photo from yesterday's pre-lunch drinks in a town near my house.

Next Steps

So here I am, just over a week from my first race. I have to say I may have rested a little more than I really needed to but I also spent a lot of time thinking about what's next for me. My first milestone has come and gone in a sort of anticlimactic blur. It was amazing on the day but then the next couple of days I found myself at a bit of a loss. I went for a short run today which has re-awoken my motivation somewhat and this week will be the beginning of the new training period leading up to my next milestone: the 10K race. I haven't actually signed myself up for a 10K race. Don't get me wrong, I fully intend to very soon. As you know I use races to motivate myself (coerce might be a better word) into actually sticking to training, I just haven't been able to settle on which race yet. My favourite at the moment is the Running 4 Women 10K in Windsor at the end of September. Not only does this give me ages and ages to train, it is also a nice course which takes you down that long road away from Windsor Castle and round a big scenic loop before bringing you back to the Castle again. Also I hear it is supposed to be quite flat. I know I should try to like hills more or at least incorporate them into my training but really, (really?) let's get real, nobody enjoys hills. Unless they're the downwards kind. Or you have some sort of mechanism to get you up them. Like a car.

Anyway. I have to say I am feeling slightly daunted by the distances I'll be running. I know in my head that 10K isn't that far but I can't help thinking past that to what will come next. I will have to be doubling my running distance every three months until next April if I'm going to do what I said I would and actually run a marathon. I'm also going to have to get a tad quicker because while 5K races don't really have cutoff times, half marathons and full marathons certainly do and I don't think I could cope with being branded a non-finisher (unless medically necessary).

So you can see I most definitely have my work cut out for me. Am I constantly asking myself why I had this bright idea in the first place? Yes. Am I cursing myself for starting this blog because it means I can't slack off or everyone will know it? Yes. But at the same time, I know that when I ask myself in a year's time if this will all have been worth it, the answer will be YES. 

Oh and also, next week I am going on holiday to Italy where most of what I will be doing will be eating and sitting by the pool in the sunshine. I will aim to get some swimming in as a form of cross-training (and so I don't feel totally lazy) but I think I will limit my running and just enjoy myself. So yay!

This is not my photo or my dog but a) it looks like my dog and b) it accurately represents my plans for while I am on holiday.

Race For Life Hampstead Heath

The big day has finally arrived. I went to bed last night thinking I'd actually manage to get a decent amount of sleep. Ha. Of course last night would be the night a thunderstorm decided to come rolling on through. Don't get me wrong, with the heat we have been having recently I'm glad it happened. I just wish it could have happened when I wasn't trying to sleep. Anyway. I got to Hampstead Heath an hour before the race (which is what the organisers say you're supposed to do) and found there was absolutely no point in me getting there that early and I could have had an extra hour's sleep instead. Never mind. It was a gorgeous day today which was both a blessing and a curse. Blessing because it's always uplifting to see clear skies and feel the sunshine on your face, but curse because it was 26 degrees and humid so not ideal for running really. 

There I am before the race, still feeling fresh and showing off my number and sign at the back. Everyone else who was running today was over by the stage taking part in a group warm up but given the heat I figured the last thing I would want to do would be to stand in a large crowd under the beating sun and jump up and down for fifteen minutes so I gave it a miss. 

The race started on time (to my surprise and the organisers' credit) and the 1000+ people all set off. There was no staggered start so it took about five minutes for me to even get past the start line and, once past it, another while for the crowd to thin enough for me to actually be able to run without trampling anyone. 

Making my way slowly towards the start line

Now, the description of the course on the website said there would be "a few hills and mostly tarmac surfaces". HA. Where it says "hills" read "small, extremely steep mountains" and for "tarmac" just substitute "the entire course was gravel or uneven woodland". To say I was unprepared is an understatement. I have been training almost exclusively on nice, smooth tarmac roads and, while on my usual route I have to navigate a few inclines, I have never come up against something quite like this. So that was frustrating. I tried to stick to the pace I had set for myself but soon found that I wasn't going to be able to keep this up and, much to my disappointment, I had to stop running and walk between Km2 and Km3. Still, the park is beautiful so I tried to  soak in my surroundings and the atmosphere instead of dwelling on how my plan had completely gone out the window. By the time I got to Km4 I had perked up a bit, felt less sorry for myself and managed to find my rhythm again. While kilometres 1-3 were out in the open under the beating sunshine, the final two kilometres, thankfully, were through the woods and thus in the shade. I could hear the crowd at the finish line as I passed the 4km marker and before I knew it I was passing a sign telling me I only had 500m to go. I felt like I had enough left in the tank to sprint the final 500m and it felt great to speed through the finish line within the time I had set for myself. 

In all honesty today didn't go how I thought it would but, once again, I have nothing to blame but my over-inflated expectations. I didn't factor in the heat and how much all the unexpected hills would mess with my pace. Still, I made it in one piece, I wasn't the fastest by a long way (apparently the fastest person crossed the line in 23 minutes) but I also wasn't the slowest by a long way.

Overall I would say today has been a success and I'm very happy I did it. I probably won't be able to walk at all tomorrow but I am glad nonetheless. 

Here I am looking decidedly less fresh post-race but I got a nice shiny medal for my efforts so I'm ok with that.

Last but not least, I would just like to say thank you so much to those of you who sponsored me. And now I'm going to go have a nap.