Finally feeling like a runner and the fear of competitive sports

This week one event achieved two running firsts....

Popping my running face-plant cherry

Scott clearly didn't find me too irritating on our last run so I was delighted when he suggested another bimble round the Chevin (unless he really is looking for somewhere to bludgeon me to death and ditch the body) - and it finally gave me a chance to try out my new Merrell's :-)

Things were going really well, I'd completed a full kilometre at 10:05 min/mile pace and still feeling pretty good when, it finally happened - I struck a tree root and suddenly decided to pay the floor some close-up attention. Fortunately in my case it's true what they say about trail running, the landing is softer and the view on the way down more scenic than running on the road, so all I suffered was a couple of bruised knees and hip. I didn't even notice I was bleeding for another couple of miles.

I'm not sure why it should be that lying face-down in the dirt should be the thing that finally made me feel like a runner - but it did. In my mind I felt like I could proudly pronounce that I do adventurous and dangerous (sort of) stuff, and now I have the bruises to prove it!

the immediate aftermath

a couple of days later,
the bruises coming out nicely
(good job midi dresses are in
this season)

Whilst I found flirting with breaking various bodily parts fun and exciting, something else happened this week that would fill me with fear and dread...

As I have mentioned previously, I do not exactly have what you would call an illustrious athletic career behind me. In secondary school, where team sports was more of a popularity contest, I often ended up being chosen after the kid with the limp (I'm hoping this was equally due to being rubbish at sport as to not being in the "popular" clique), I don't really remember doing any running, except being sent out on the local park as "cross-country" once a year (I only remember the year I finished last, after numerous girls who already at that point had a 10-a-day habit). Sports day itself was voluntary and I can't say the teachers ever bothered me about entering.

Junior school, bizarrely, was a very different matter, there were weeks of heats in the run up to sports day, where we would spend PE lessons running various distances up the school drive (looking back it was great hill training) to determine who was going to run the actual races on the day. Those who didn't make it in were dumped in the ball-and-hoop team race, where we were encouragingly told that we all got a point just for taking part. Even my 8-year old brain could work out that we could all just not take part and it would have no affect on the House scores. Needless to say I was in the ball-and-hoop team every year.

Clearly this has left me mentally scarred as when Scott decided I was going to take part in the local Parkrun on the 31st, the Fear started. Watching the Leeds and York 10k I thought that possibly I could do that, there's lots of people who are not necessarily runners but are doing it for charity and a worst case scenario I know I could walk 10k within the cut-off time and not be noticeably at the back. But these are people keen enough to be up and running round the local park at 9am on a Saturday morning - I barely even know Saturday HAS a morning!  Having spent an hour avidly checking previous results I have ascertained that I'm going to be somewhere in the last 10, and if it's even a fairly quiet week - most probably last (Scott is adamant that I will run better than usual but I have no idea how that is meant to work...). I'm sure everyone there is a lovely bunch, but the truth is I am ashamed of level of fitness, I know I should be able to run better than I can. I'm not overweight, recovering from a heart attack, or 103-years old. I pretty much have the build of an olympic swimmer (long legs, broad shoulders, small boobs) - if that olympic swimmer had spent 8 hours a day for the last 13 years sat behind a desk rather than down the pool. Seven months in and I should be able to run 5k by now, rather than being grateful if I manage to wheeze my way to a mile. The shame of the poor volunteers having to hang around waiting for me to cross the finish line, when they could be off getting a coffee and a bun is weighing heavy on my mind...  

WEEK 6 - a 4 run week - GO ME!

Monday 12 August (early evening)
18m 05s. 1.5 miles. Average Speed 4.96 mph. Average Pace 12:05 min/mile
3:21r / 1:30w / 1:23r / 5:00w / 1:39r / 1:00w / 2:06r / 1:00w / 1:06r

As I was leaving the flat to go for this run, two of my neighbours were also clearly heading out for a run. Fortunately I took the long route off the street and they took the shorter option, meaning I was behind them and able to witness them running off into the distance in beautiful smooth harmony, while I wheezed and wobbled behind. But I'm not jealous, not at all, honest.....

Come to the conclusion my right achilles is generally just a miserable little tendon. Getting out of bed this morning I was walking like a pirate (i.e. wooden leg, not swaying from too much drink, although that is equally as possible), but although I was aware of it whilst running, it didn't feel too bad.

Not the best run of late, as well as stiff calves I also spent a fair amount of time walking, trying to find my way back home. Seriously, I really should wear my contacts if I'm going to try a new route.


Tuesday 13 August (late afternoon)
14m 10s. 1.26 miles. Average Speed 5.32 mph. Average Pace 11:17 min/mile
4:50r / 2:15w / 1:40r / 1:00w / 2:33r / 0:33w / 1:19r

This was my regular short route along Morris Lane and up through Morris Wood. Still a fair bit of walking involved but only on the uphill sections so I'm feeling pretty happy with this.


Thursday 15 August (afternoon)
38m 43s. 3.12 miles. Average Speed 4.91 mph. Average Pace 12:13 min/mile
5:20r / 2:00w / 1:36r / 1:59w / 2:16r / 1:00w / 1:33r / 5:00w / 1:23r / 1:11w / 1:59r / 2:35w / 1:17r / 2:00w / 1:32r / 1:00w / 1:32r / 1:00w / 1:45r / 0:45w

Living on a hill that seems to run in at least 3 different directions at once, I thought heading down to the canal would provide me with a nice flat-ish run, so I was disappointed to have to start walking so early. I don't know if it was a result of the massage yesterday but my legs felt really tired, and despite there being a lot of cloud it was surprisingly warm. At one point a runner and his dog flew past me.  As they passed me again in the opposite direction (probably having run another 5 miles before turning round), and shouted kind words of encouragement I managed a grimace and made a mental promise to myself that if he passed me again I was throwing my trainers in the canal.

Disappointed at the time, and disappointed I finished by walking the last set but by the time I got to my virtual finish line (the doorway of the Vesper Gate Inn) I honestly thought I was going to vomit, and my complexion was a still a disturbing shade of puce half an hour later.


Saturday 17 August (early evening)
15m 06s. 1.35 miles. Average Speed 5.37 mph. Average Pace 11:11 min/mile
6:17r / 1:32w / 2:19r / 1:01w / 3:12r / 0:45w

Another day another dubious stomach, but ravioli on toast and I was good to go an hour later. This was my regular little jaunt along Morris Lane and back through Morris Wood (although somehow it always seems to come out at a different distance when I map the route afterwards - another reason for a nice shiny GPS watch methinks...).

Rain and nettling aside I was happy with this run (although still too fast). 

WEEK 7

Sunday 18 August (afternoon)
36m 59s. 3.1 miles. Average Speed 5.03 mph. Average Pace 11:55 min/mile
6:28r / 2:00w / 1:12r / 2:00w / 1:47r / 2:00w / 1:02r / 2:00w / 2:02r / 1:01w / 2:09r / 2:30w / 1:04r / 2:00w / 1:39r / 2:01w / 1:38r / 1:00w / 1:27r

A nice sunny day, not too warm and with a pleasant breeze so another 5k run along the canal. I set off with the aim of not allowing myself to walk for more than 2 minutes at any point (apart from the massive hill two thirds of the way round) and I had to run for at least a minute per set. The only problem being that I managed to end up having to run up the locks. Calves felt a little tight but otherwise I'm relatively happy with this, managed to knock nearly 2 minutes off my last canal run and finished feeling pretty good.


Tuesday 20 August (evening) - my longest (in speed and distance) and slowest run to date
1h 08m 34s. 4.26 miles. Average Speed 3.73 mph. Average Pace 16:05 min/mile

The now infamous Chevin "bimble"...

trust me - it's hillier than it looks

don't think that 2nd split was too bad considering
I was lying down for some of it

I'm pretty sure this isn't really a path....

I'm rapidly realising that Scott's navigational skills are a little iffy without a satnav so what followed involved a lot of walking, wheezing, fear, praying to any deity that would listen, and scrambling uphill pretty much on my hands and knees (at least for me, Scott meanwhile was making like the proverbial mountain goat) whilst we covered 587ft of elevation.

another hill....

....and the rest of it

I have to say that although I felt like I was dying for a lot of the time, it was just the best fun. Obviously just having company alone is so much more enjoyable, but the difference between trail and road running is like the difference between a chocolate hobnob and a rich tea biscuit. Time flies by, and although it's hard, it feels so much less like the seemingly endless slog that road running can feel like. 

Following day damage - my knees look like they belong to a small child and I'm moving like a 90-year old!


Friday 23 August (evening) 
13m 31s. 1.17 miles. Average Speed 5.18 mph. Average Pace 11:35 min/mile
2:39r / 2:00w / 1:23r / 0:20w / 1:01r / 1:00w / 2:25r / 1:30w / 1:13r

Finally feeling like I could move something vaguely like normal after Tuesday, and the fear of an impending Park Run in a week's time, I headed out for a short run. I'm glad I did it, although it wasn't the greatest success, and I felt exhausted from the start. Made me feel better about the 4 pints I then went on to consume that night though.

The big lie they tell you about running....

Feeling newly motivated following my forest run with Scott last week (read his excellent blog hesscotttorun which is full of runs actually long enough and interesting enough to read about, and lots of pretty photos - not of him, he's almost exclusively gurning), and more importantly, armed with a new feeling of hope, I did what any normal person would do...went out and splashed out a chunk of cash on some new trail trainers.....

my lovely new Merrell's - still waiting to be unleashed

As my usual circuit has approximately 200 yards of wood to run through and about a mile of tarmac to get there, my new trainers are still sat in their box, patiently waiting for me to pluck up the courage and take them somewhere exciting (and preferably flat). 

Reasons for indulging my shopping habit aside, my run with Scott was an eye-opener and really highlighted the one big lie that runners (particularly those on the internet) tell non-runners - 

"running is easy and free, you just put on a pair of trainers and head out the door"

Now technically this is true, and maybe is even true in practice if you already do regular exercise and have a good level of fitness, or are closer to 20 or 30 years old than you are 40. However, I'm convinced this lie is the main reason that a lot of people quit after their first run. Running just doesn't feel easy at first, it feels bloody hard, and frustrating, especially if you are making life hard for yourself and your expectations are too high.

It's fair to say I've consumed a decent amount of running books and starter training plans in the 7 months since I took up running, and the information is there, but, for me at least, turning that into something that means something out on the road is easier said than done....

 So here are a couple of things I learnt that Scott, within about 20 seconds, identified that I was doing wrong, and that is already making a huge difference to my running.

Pace...

Everyone will tell you that you should run at a pace at which you can still hold a conversation. Great. I run on my own, and live in an area where running and talking to yourself is likely to end up with you being sectioned. My first problem is that the legacy of my mother frog-marching me everywhere means I'm a fairly fast walker anyway (I'm generally a top finisher in the Platform 3 Rush Hour Commuter Death Race), and very often I don't even walk at a pace which I could comfortably hold a conversation. Add to this the fact that my logic says that walking is slower than jogging, and jogging is slower than running, so in order to feel like I'm actually "running" I have to go at quite a lick. Unfortunately this big slobbery lick is far too fast for me to be able to maintain for very long.

So newly armed with the knowledge that I was running too fast for myself, all I have to do is slow it down, right? Turns out this is easier said than done. This week I have been managing to run further, but I'm still going far too fast. I have no idea when I set off whether I'll be able to maintain the pace I'm running at 4, 6, 10, 15 minutes (if I ever get to 15 minutes I'll be very happy) down the road, and regardless of how slow I start, I have a tendency to speed up. So, it's clear that hoping to use any sort of inbuilt speedometer is not going to work for me. I do own a very simple sports watch (simple as in it does the basics, it's certainly not simple to operate), but I basically just use the lap timer to record the length of my running and walking sets (imagine my mirth when it flashes up 'BEST' at the shortest time when I know full well this is most likely the shortest time I managed to run before giving up). This means I have no idea how fast I'm running until I've got home and mapped the route out using MapMyWalk (I can't quite bring myself to use MapMyRun yet, I don't really feel I've earned the right). Although common sense tells me it's pointless to drop £100 on a GPS watch when I'm barely running 7 miles a week, that little trainer-wearing, credit-card-waving, devil on my shoulder keeps whispering in my ear that at least I would be able to pace myself....

My perfectly good little sports watch that is
increasingly likely to find itself consigned
to a drawer in favour of a more expensive option...

Gait....

Nearly every running website will tell you to go and get gait analysed to make sure you get trainers suitable for you. I personally believe this is largely baloney. Buy trainers that feel comfortable. My one caveat here is barefoot trainers, I love my merrell's, they fit like a dream and feel like slippers on my feet, and they feel great to run in, but.... even though I am a forefoot striker and therefore should be perfectly suited for them, I suspect my feet and ankles are a bit weak at the moment for running more than very short distances. I really do believe that generally "barefoot running" and hence barefoot trainers are the way to go for injury-free running, but they shouldn't be slipped into lightly....

Anyway, my point about gait is not about trainers, but about how you move your legs. As I've mentioned before, my over eager calves are my big problem, and it doesn't take much before they tighten up like the proverbial lid on a jar of olives.... Scott instantly saw that I was barely lifting my feet off the ground as I ran. Contrary to all logic, lifting my knees up and staying bouncy (when I'm trying to remember how it feels, I know I'm about right if it feels kind of like I'm playing horsey - I just hope I don't look as stupid as I feel), seems to actually conserve energy and stop my calves tightening up so quickly.


Breathing....

In my defence, when I ran with Scott I was already struggling to get used to a pace that felt abnormally slow, as well as trying to think about lifting my knees, and consequently trying to find a regular breathing pattern was proving difficult  - and despite nearly 4 decades of experience, breathing is something I'm not very good at anyway, as any of my yoga teachers would attest. But, finding a regular breathing rhythm that works with your pace really does help (at least until the wheezing eventually takes over).


I can't admit to bottoming out any of these problems yet, but they have given me something to work on, and although the improvements have hardly been earth-shattering, I am relatively happy with how this week's running has gone.

WEEK 5

Monday 5 August (evening)
12m 06s. 1.05 miles. Average Speed 5.22 mph. Average Pace 11:29 min/mile
4:50r / 2:00w / 2:06r / 2:00w / 1:10r

This was the first time I've tried using a running app on my phone. Apart from the GPS going a little haywire it seemed to do what it was meant to, but setting it and getting it back in the armband was a bit faffy and can't say it was worth the effort. It was also a bit disconcerting when I started to hear a slightly robotic female voice suddenly talking to me as I ran through the wood. By the time I'd realised that all my mental faculties are intact I'd missed whatever it was she was saying.

It was a short run, and still too fast, but I'm generally pretty pleased with this. I had some right achilles pain pre-run, but fortunately it's still continuing to ease off as I run. My calves also finished in better condition than usual, which I'm sure must be down to lifting my knees more.


Tuesday 6 August (early evening)
15m 08s. 1.25 miles. Average Speed 4.96 mph. Average Pace 12:06 min/mile
6:21r / 1:50w / 3:34r / 1:30w / 1:23r (including Morris Mount) / 0:30w

evidence of off-road action - yes that's
actual grass seeds and mud

Really pleased with keeping going for over 6 minutes for the first set, particularly as that includes a couple of hundred metres of slightly uphill gradient. I could probably have run longer for that first set had I not decided to investigate a new path through the wood which eventually petered out into brambles and long grass and took some navigating (and guess who didn't wear her contact lenses again). I'm not sure what the passing motorists thought as I crashed out of the wood and clambered over a wall but I'm hoping they realised I was a runner and not a burglar.

I didn't bother taking water with me on this run, and can't say I missed it that much, with the exception that I seem to be to midges what whales are to plankton, and it's kind of nice to be able to wash them down with some fluid.



Friday 9 August (early evening)
42m 45s. 3.44 miles. Average Speed 4.83 mph. Average Pace 12:25 min/mile
10:01r / 5:01w / 2:30r / 2:30w / 2:54r / 2:31w / 2:00r / 2:00w / 1:31r / 3:01r / 2:00r / 4:01w / 2:39r

Having had two days off (I confess the offer of lunch beat the prospect of a run yesterday), I thought I try for a longer run. And considering it's been a while since I've run round the Abbey I was quite looking forward to it. Although an upset stomach during the day meant it nearly didn't happen at all, but a test with some Camembert and bread and with no ill-effects after an hour I decided I was safe.

As usual my right achilles was a little painful pre-run but again I managed to run it off and also didn't experience any calf pain. Really pleased to manage a 10 minute solid run, although again I covered a mile in this time and the pace was far too fast for me (4-5 minutes too fast), and no doubt contributed to having to walk for 5 minutes in order to recover. I did manage to get into a fairly regular breathing rhythm though, and barely even broke stride when I came face-to-face at head height with a squirrel on my way home. To be fair, he also barely quit chewing on his dinner so I can't have looked like much of a threat.


Saturday 10 August (late afternoon)
14m 21s. 1.21 miles. Average Speed 5.04 mph. Average Pace 11:54 min/mile
3:25r / 3:50w / 1:31r / 1:00w / 2:35r / 1:00w / 1:20r

With the knowledge that there was going to be a chinese takeaway featuring in my near future I thought I'd better squeeze in a final little run for the week. I decided to run my Morris Wood route in reverse so I had a decent length of flat road to start off with before the hills started - not that it helped, my first set was the shortest of the week. I also decided to release my Merrell barefoots from their solitary confinement and give them a little try. I don't know if it was this or just that my legs were tired from yesterday but my legs felt tired right from the start and my right achilles quickly started giving me grief, which is unusual as I normally manage to run that pain off. I think I might lay off the Merrell's for a little while.

Although I'm a little disappointed in that last run, all in all it's been a very positive week where I've felt freshly invigorated and also started to think smarter about my running - not that I'm necessarily achieving that!

Tearing up the plan...

(alternative title - The day I learned how to use the snipping tool) 

You may have detected a sense of despondency in last week's blog, and you'd be right. Having a plan can be great in terms of obtaining some sort of idea of what you should be doing and how you should be progressing, but, for me at least, failing the plan would put me an instant downer. And failing the first or second running set would effectively ruin the rest of the run for me. And when it boils down to it - this is meant to be fun!

Look everyone - I can use the snipping tool! (thanks Scott)

So, not really being able to face a repeat of week 3, I dispensed with the plan and went free-styley. I'm not saying it wasn't still frustrating, but at least it wasn't quite so demoralising.

WEEK 4

Monday 29 July (evening)

16m 45s (not inc. chippy stop). 1.49 miles. Avg speed 5.33 mph. Avg pace 11:15 min/mile

120r / 90w / 100r / 90w / 150r / 60w / 80r / 60w / 40r / 165 rest / 50r / 124w / 40r

guaranteed to protect against lightning strikes*
*probably not

Having for once made it home from work by a whole two minutes before the threatened downpour started, it was probably the definition of insanity to immediately get changed and head back out into what was by now torrential rain, thunder and lightning. So as I adorned myself in my full wet weather kit I consoled myself with the decision to incorporate into the run a visit to the chip shop.

So, armed with a tenner and the hope that running through a wood I'd have to be really unlucky to actually be next to any tree that was struck by lightning, I headed out with the plan to just run for as long as I could and walk when necessary.

The first 2-minute set got me a fair way to Morris Wood. The run through the wood was surprisingly muddy and great fun, with a brief pit stop to move the tenner from my jacket to my leggings pocket (whether it's not really all that waterproof, or whether it just seals the sweat in, I don't know, but the tenner was looking a little damp by this point). By the time I emerged from the wood the thunder had stopped and the rain had eased off significantly, and by the time I'd run/walked my way to the chippy the sun was out and looking lovely.

Post-storm

After a brief respite whilst my chip butty was expertly served up by the lovely man who kindly put my change into a coin bag to save it getting wet (wish I'd thought of that), I set off running home, but quickly stopped once I got to the york-paved slope behind St Stephens church. In case you haven't tried it, rain-slicked york paving, particularly that overhung by trees, is on the same slipperiness level as black ice with a topping of WD40 to boot. So realising it would be difficult to eat my butty without my front teeth, I walked it.

Pre-run I had some ankle pain and felt a bit headachey but both of these went off fairly early into the run. I don't know if running further in the first set had an effect but I didn't feel as good running the subsequent sets.

Lessons learned - if you are short-sighted and are going for a run through a dimly-lit wood in the middle of a storm, wearing your contact lenses is probably a good idea.

Following day damage - just the usual sore calves.

Wednesday 31 July (evening)

20:08 mins. 1.63 miles. Avg speed 4.85 mph. Avg pace 12:23 min.mile

142r / 150w / 242r / 150w / 131r / 190w / 33r (up Norman Mount) / 115w / 16r (up Morris Mount) / 39w

I don't know if getting a soaking on the way home in order to dry off just to go out and get another soaking is more or less insane than Monday's scenario, but that's what I did anyway.

Living on the side of a hill that seems to slope in several directions at once means that whatever direction I go from home I'm running either up or downhill before I get to anywhere flat. I tell myself that I walk the first couple of streets as part of a warm up, but basically I'm just trying to avoid running the first hill. Unfortunately, once I get to the flat, it's only a matter of a minute before a slight uphill gradient starts again so although this time I made it running all the way to the wood I was knackered by the time I got there and spent most of my stint through the wood walking, but it was still muddy enough to be enjoyable and walking gave me the opportunity to recce a new path. Although the first running set felt hard, the second felt much better and I felt quite happy to manage four minutes. Still feels very much like my calves are doing all the work though...

I finished the run with sprints up Norman and Morris Mounts, which was fun, but slightly vomit-inducing. 

Friday 2 August (evening)

3.43 miles. Now I don't want to cast blame here, but you'd think the person with the fancy GPS watch would remember to turn it on...

Imagine my surprise that my favourite runner, Scott (I have to say that, he's the only person that reads this), required MY help with HIS running! As it turns out, now he's got a little gap between races he is transitioning into barefoot trainers, meaning he needs some very short, slow runs - making me the ideal pacer, hmmmm.

Despite my attempts to convince him I could really slow him down if he just pulled me along on roller skates, he was having none of it, so it was with a sense of trepidation on my behalf that we headed off to Otley Chevin for my first accompanied, and proper off-road run, and possibly Scott's slowest run ever.....

Our route round the Chevin
(I wouldn't dream of mentioning that there's no timing for this)

As it turned out it was Scott that was having to slow me down (my previous training appears to be more suitable for the 10 metre dash than any sort of distance running), with instructions to slow down, pick up my feet, remain bouncy, and try to find something that vaguely resembles a breathing rhythm, despite not having any measured times (ahem, Timekeeper), I'm pretty sure I did manage more running than I normally would, and miraculously we were about two-and-a-half miles in (I hasten to add that I hadn't run all that distance) before I realised I had no pain in my calves. Of course, approximately 10 metres after I realised this, I did start to experience some calf and achilles pain :/  But considering the distance I finished feeling better than a lot of my runs and it was great fun to have a running companion/coach, and I feel newly motivated and once again hopeful that I am going to get there eventually :)

New mantra - bouncy bouncy, horsey horsey, SLOW DOWN.

Following day damage - nothing! My calves feel better than they have since I started running again.

Sunday saw me finishing the week as race support as Scott grunted his way to the finish line of the Jane Tomlinson York 10k (in a very admirable to me 40:08 mins). And despite my phobia of crowds, early-morning starts, humiliation, and the lack of available toilet facilities, the idea of signing up to a 10k is starting to look slightly less horrific......

Scott determined to beat the rush to the free massage tables