Run Club: week 3 & Running Class: week 1

This week marked the start of my now weekly double whammy of running classes. Today's class, like every Tuesday, is more informal, a group of ladies who aren't "proper" runners just getting moving and motivating each other. Monday's classes, which started yesterday, are a bit more formal, and take place in South Oxhey. Both classes aim to get us running non stop for 30 minutes. Which a present I really can't do.

I definitely enjoyed yesterday's class. We did 8 reps of minute and a half jogging and minute and a half walking. There were slight inclines involved and we were also switching from pavement to grass, which always unnerves me cause I have endless visions of me slipping and landing oh-so-elegantly on my bum. Thankfully that hasn't happened. Yet. At the end of the class we were given homework. Yes, homework. Homework which consists of doing the same 8 reps two more times before next class. It's going to hurt is all I can say on that subject for now.

Despite warming up properly and cooling down properly with stretches and walking, I still woke up this morning feeling very stiff. This did not help motivate me to go to today's run club. Especially since it's so dark and damp out, and my house is warm and has a soft puppy in it. I dragged myself out anyway and I am glad I did. Normally we run around a park and do some interval training around a tennis court but as it was so dark today we decided to stick to the roads and just jog. And jog we did for 3.5km without stopping. It's the furthest I've ever run without stopping or slowing to a walk so I am really pleased with myself. 

I am not looking forward to waking up tomorrow and inevitably not being able to move but I will just try not to think about that for now and enjoy the fact that on a dark damp night I get to come home to a warm house with a soft puppy in it. 

Run Club: Week 2

I have to say, I am genuinely enjoying running class. I have never, ever been one to get the so-called "runner's high" after going for a run. Small sense of satisfaction, yes. But that amazing invincible feeling everyone goes on about? Nope. I secretly (or not so secretly) think that it's a conspiracy to lure people into running, thinking they're going to have this wonderful feeling at the end which will make it all worth it. Lies! Anyway, my point is that while I've yet to experience that "high", I actually felt quite good after this week's running class. Not in an invincible I-can-do-anything way, more in a "oh my god I can still breathe and don't feel like I need an ambulance" way. That is because for the first time since I started running, I actually ran for the whole half hour class without stopping to walk once. I know this may not sound like much to some of you but trust me, for me it's something. It keeps proving that the whole needing to stop and walk every two minutes was all in my head. I really don't need to stop. I mean eventually I will have to stop, I'm not a robot. But I won't need to stop as often as I used to. Which in my mind is progress. 

I think the only downside to the class is that it starts at 7pm and we run in and around an area which is sort of dimly lit which, as the nights pull in, will make it tougher and tougher to see. I'm not so worried about safety because there are at least ten of us girls so we have safety in numbers. I'm more worried about us crashing into each other cause we won't be able to see where we are putting out feet! So that'll keep things interesting. 

Finally, because this week went so well the Running Gods decided to intervene yet again, because god forbid I start getting too positive about all this. This time their intervention came in the form of a "thanks but no thanks" email from the London Marathon 2016 people. I had entered the ballot back in May but sadly didn't get lucky this time. However, I refuse to let the Running Gods win and have contacted a few charities close to my heart to see if I can get a charity place, so fingers crossed for me please and I will let you know if I get lucky!

Run Club: Week 1

Today was the first day of my local running club. I turned up expecting maybe four or five women total but there ended up being around ten of us! The lady running the course, Debbie, was really encouraging and simultaneously evil, making us sprint up and down a tennis court over and over again. Yay.

The class started out with a brisk walk/jog from the community centre to a nearby field and some stretching. We did some more jogging round the field, mixed in with some side steps before heading into the nearby tennis court to do speed intervals. These involved much sprinting at full pelt and then jogging and some changes of direction. Before I knew it we had been running around solidly for almost 20 minutes. Longer than I have ever run without stopping to walk! I am genuinely surprised by this and it just goes to show that any doubts I had about being able to run without run/walking were all in my head. 

After the speed intervals we were told to make our way back to the community centre at our own speed (but encouraged to jog), so I jogged back - much to my legs' displeasure- and we all did some stretching when we got back to the centre. All the ladies seem friendly and it's nice to know it's not just me starting out from the beginning. I am definitely looking forward to next week's run!

Anyway, I am starving now so am going to make myself some yummy dinner...and maybe some ice cream for dessert. I feel like I've earned it! Sort of. 

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.