Be kind to yourself

Ok let's get it out of the way nice and early, I have been absent for some time and really there is no excuse. Ok maybe one excuse I haven't found anything interesting to write about, shock I know.

My running mojo had taken a nose dive(again), I've been going out but it wasn't as fun as it use to be,  my pace had dropped considerably and I was constantly comparing myself to be previous form and ability. Beating myself up for how unfit and and lazy I had become; which is madness and if any of my friends had said this to me I would have told them to stop being so my hard on themselves, so why one rule for them and one for me?

Reflecting back on my year it really hasn't been too bad, I ran a couple of new races, I ran the Virgin Money London Marathon, took part in Thunder Run, ran my first trail

half, coached and ran with friends in the potteries marathon relay  and ran another international half marathon in Lisbon.  All in all a good year and I should be proud of my achievements and be thankful that

a)I have the physical ability to run 
b) it is safe for me to run 
c) made some amazing running buddies.  

Wait I forgot,  I also became a UKA running for fitness coach!! A very good year really

So why do I still feel sad, perhaps it is because I have recently changed jobs, which although it was through choice, something I was looking forward to and I knew things would change. But perhaps I hadn't mentally prepared properly for how much I  miss my home life and running with my club mates and friends.  I now work in London 5 days a week and stop down there for the most of the week, which means I miss out on club night and my weekends get compressed to trying to spend some quality time with loved ones, washing, shopping, ironing and trying to get some relaxing in. This means my desire to go out to xc or weekend races this year has really waived this year and staying home closest to nearest and dearest has won out. 

I think because I now identify myself as a not only a runner but a member of a club  of runners that although I can still (and do) run in London I have lost a little of the joy of running. I also don't think it helps the time of year I have started this new job but hopefully after December the night will start getting lighter and I will be able to see a little more of the city. All is not lost I still have parkrun  and I get to see most of them at the start and finish and if I am lucky one or two take pity on me and slow down to run with me.

I know I need to pull up my big girl pants and get on with it and start thinking about

what I can do and not focus on what I can't!  I also need to be nicer to myself, become my own best friend and start acknowledging my achievements and the occasional pat in the back 

All good things

I had a lovely time on my holiday recently, it was nearly 6 months from booking it to getting on the plane and sampling my first margarita, well worth the wait! I had a lovely two weeks soaking up the sun in the Dominican Republic.  Quite often our favorite pastime is to plan the next holiday and this year was no different, looks like we are planning to run Vegas RR marathon in 2016, the waiting begins!

While we were on holiday I caved in and ordered my new Garmin Forerunner 225 with built in heart rate monitor in the wrist, I thought my body was worth a chaff free run :) it helped that I did quite well on the tables in the casino.  The only problem  would be the wait the watch was due to be released in June but Runners Need was keeping it very quiet about when.  Then last Friday I got the text message it had been dispatched and was on its way to me (GREAT NEWS) the only problem is that they wanted to deliver on Monday,  curse having to work for a living!! The next suitable delivery was Wednesday another 2 days wait, then I it was a full day of work (till 18:00)  until I could finally unpack, set up my watch and go for a run. But finally my watch is here and I have done my first run

You may have seen from my recent posts that my running has not being going too well, I have been getting out there and running, but nothing is really feeling comfortable, easy or fun.  There are no injuries to speak of, other than my body wishing it was back on a sun lounger in the Dom Rep, I seem to be suffering with a serious case of impatience with my performance. So the one thing I am going to wait have for a little longer is achieving some personal bests. 

But hopefully my couple of weeks rest from my holiday and my new watch will help me to achieve some personal bests this year.  As they say all good things come to those who wait 

Day 10 Running Streak miles covered 46.6 miles, number of blog posts 3 

National running day

So today is national run day, which I think started in in the US and is slowly leaking to into the UK like a lot of good ideas. This fitted really well with my June running streak and I started my day with a 2 mile loop at 6am this morning. It looks like I timed it quite well  as I stepped out of the shower I noticed that the weather had taken a turn  for the worse and it had started to rain.

My legs felt ok for the 1st mile but after that the fatigue from last night's 1st rep sessions (4*5mins) started to bite and I struggled for the last half mile. I'm a little bit worried by my tempo session tomorrow  night but sometimes you just have to put yourself in a little bit of pain.

Day 3 - 11.6 miles 

Streaking

Not a nakey streak but I'm going for a running and blogging streak during June 2015. That is running at least 2 miles  every day  for June and blogging about it (can't promise to blog every day, my life is not that interesting honestly!!).

Today was my 1st day back running in the UK since we got back from our Dominican Republic holiday ( or vacation for our USA cousins).  I didn't really get much running in on holiday it was too humid to run, I did try but only managed a couple of 5k (on parkrun day) and a 2 mile beach run. 

So my total was 8 miles for two weeks, which for me it's very very low, don't think it has ever been that low. I always knew I would struggle so I was looking forward to the (enforced) rest as I have been struggling with both my mojo and pace for a while.



I think it has paid off my run tonight was the best for a very long time, both in terms of pace and temperature, however, the views where not as spectacular and my post run drink was not a tequila sunrise  which was a little disappointing but you can't have everything. 

Day 1 4.12 miles in the bank and tomorrow is club session,  so that is going to be a hole new challenge 

The pain of training by heart rate

Being of the female variety and runner I suffer with terrible chaffing when I have worn heart rate monitors in the past.  I understand that running is tough and it is going to hurt at times, but I draw the line at wearing something that is going to have me whimpering in the shower at the end of my run.  

Now trust me I am accustomed to the odd chaffing incident  here and there (wearing a wonder bra for 26.2 miles will leave both physical and mental scars for a long time) but very much like wonder bras and ill-fitting shoes I will only do it once, learn and never do it again!  So this was where I was at with my heart rate monitor it didn't matter how much Vaseline I still felt the familiar sting and I am sure feel the familiar sensation of your skin been rubbed away millimeter by millimeter is not going to do your heart rate any good, 

So I put away my heart rate monitor into the back of draw and resigned myself to never really understanding my heart rate zones, but safe in the knowledge that I may be able to wear a bikini on holiday.  Then I saw that purelime have incorporated a heart rate monitor holder into their compression running bra,  worth  look I would say.

Now running bras are not cheap and to be truthful I don't think that a running bra is the place to scrimp and try and save the pennies, it is suggested that ladies breasts will move quite considerable amount when running.  Apparently they move in a figure of 8 and can oscillate up to 8 inches, want to see how your boobs move check this out…. 

So I thought an extra fiver to incorporate a heart rate monitor would be a bargain, not only in terms of getting a firm grasp of my boobs but also to get to grips on my heart rate monitor training.  However, I feel that the extra pounds I am carrying and training in the spring showers,  didn't really realise the chafe free running I was hoping… undeterred when I saw shock absorber had also incorporated a heart rate monitor I gave it another go… but the results where the same :( 

I know I could get a watch which incorporates the heart rate monitor in the strap but as it stands I have had a new running GPS watch every year for the past 3 years, so this free sport of running is becoming quite an expensive habit.

So instead I am now going to try and loose a few pounds and hope that the weather improves, I'll keep you all informed if I can indeed have a chafe free run and if not Christmas is only 7 months away, and Garmin have brought out their latest watch with integrated wrist strap HRM.

Running ain't pretty

As the title suggests running is not  sport you undertake if you want to look glamorous,  well unless you are Nel McAndrew that is, she is one person who can run a sub 3 hour marathon and look brilliant at the end of it, I am putting it down to good genes.

I see some ladies at the start line with full makeup on  and wonder if they will end up looking  like Alice Cooper at the finish, I know I would! I have contemplated wearing waterproof mascara and stay put foundation, but my main focus on the morning of any run is trying to calm my hair down and asking the question "do I really need another wee?"

Then there is the race photos,  there are some kind hearted souls who give up their Sunday morning, in all weathers to spend hours taking photos of the runner as they go past,  they are indeed kind hearted souls but they have a mean streak, which is why they will find a great spot at the top the steepest hill on the course, when you are blowing out of our backside and looking a soggy sweaty mess and you try and raise a  cheery smile. However when you have built up enjoy energy to

check your photos on line later you could frame it and use it to scare the kids away from the fire.   I imagine that there are even worse ones that even the Internet gods just say No to.

Let's not forget the physical side of things, your feet as a runner would make bilbo baggins feel ashamed, you have to paint your toe nails or the front of our toe where your nail use to be to make them look halfway famine. Blisters are another blight of the runner, no matter how you try they do not look pretty so summer slingbacks and flip flops are out of the questions. If you don't suffer the blight of blisters, well done your feet are now that hardened that you can successfully walk across cut glass or hot coals and not feel a thing.

Chafing is a other charming side effect of running, currently I look like I am sporting the Rihanna style tattoo just below the bra strap from my recent obsession with heart rate monitor bra,  I thought it was a better alternative to my heart rate monitor strap but alas no.  I am really hoping that it goes before my holiday in May, but with training for London Marathon  I doubt it. I suppose us women do fare much better than men when it comes to chafing, I have seen many a gentleman finishing a run/ race with two red streaks down their running tops and I hear that it can get much worse, but I have opted not to dig much more into the topic with them, but then again some men do not help themselves ------->

The runners tan is another delight,  I love spring and summer running you get to be out and about when  the sun is shining,  however the strange tan line we end up with are legendary,  as the summer moves open the three quarter tights give way to shorts and then even shorter shorts and the tan gradually raises up your legs but completely misses your feel. The problem is most female runners are not Gemma Steele or Liz Yelling so the running pants are a pipe dream ( thank goodness)
however it does lead to an embarrassing couple of days on holiday while the rest of the body catches  up.

But then again I guess we don't do it for the glamour, we do it because we can, we do it for the health benefits, we do it for the personal challenge and we do it for the bling!

Doing things differently

Albert Einstein defined Insanity as

" doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result" 

This is my current mantra which is circulating round my head at the moment, I am mixing up my running again and I have joined Dec's club training sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These are tough sessions but instead of running up and down Campbell Road and dodging the trucks with the lads team, we run around the streets and this involves hills (by hills I mean the up part) during our tempo and interval sessions!

Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying that debs sessions are any better or worse than the lads sessions,  but it is horses for courses and the sessions even join up every now and again.  What I think works is that as reads will now I have struggled with my mjono over the last few weeks, but these sessions have helped me find my enjoyment I  running again, challenging myself and feeling uncomfortable. 

So just pulling on my trainers was not going to help because as  Albert says this  is indeed the definition of insanity,  but changing and challenging my self has helped, yes it is still tough at times but then again nothing worth having  ever came easy.  

BHAG

Well as another year starts our minds turn to the goals we want to set ourselves for the up and coming year.  As I realized last year, I didn't actually commit any of mine to paper, so it is understandable that they fell by the wayside.  Having said that I did achieve a number of things and took myself out of my comfort zone, thanks to a last minute Thunder Run entry and the XC season.  But  I didn't pushed myself, in terms of pace, which is why I have been spending some time putting together my marathon training plan for London.

Last year a local marathon legend developed me a marathon plan which saw my achieve a goal of getting the qualifying time for London however, I seriously disliked the long rep's (5 minutes) and I started to loose a bit of my running mojo; I was just going through the motions which is never good. 

So this time I have decided to create my one plan, using some of the excellent sessions from last years  plan and adding some of the things I like to do as well to keep me engaged. I am going to be my own experiment and lets see what is going to happen!! 

As for my goals, they are here , they do scare me a little but you need to do things that scare you at times, so here goes......