The Reluctant Runner - Blog

Our thoughts are with you Boston

slowbutsteady — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:14:48 GMT

Was it ever going to be possible to write a light hearted blog this week? I don’t think so. I know I wasn’t the only one glued to the TV this week, filled with horror. Boston marathon is a race I could never take part in, but have always revered, as do so many of us. My pace would never allow me to be a ‘Boston qualifier’ and I doff my proverbial cap to those that can do it. My respect for them already knew no limits – and that has now multiplied to an infinite amount.

No doubt we have all read of countless acts of bravery and selflessness. I dare anyone not to feel their heart swell at the number of athletes that having run 26.2 miles and experienced the trauma of those explosions, just kept on running till they got to the local hospitals to give blood. I dare anyone not to be amazed at the determination of those that still managed to finish, the medals for the 2013 marathon are truly badges of bravery. And I dare any runner not to swallow a wry smile as the news footage showed runners instinctively reaching to pause their Garmins amongst all the chaos…

But most of all, I dare anyone to deny how much the support of the crowds makes any large sporting event special. I dare anyone to deny that any of us could take on this crazy pastime without the support every day of our families and friends. And I dare anyone not to shed many, many tears at the thought of the celebratory and pride filled hug that an 8 year old boy gave his dad on completion of his marathon, not knowing it would be the last hug he ever gave.

Of course, the ultimate question we all have is – how dare THEY? The faceless, as yet anonymous, coward that carried out this act of butchery. How dare they?

And how dare we - how do we dare to carry on? But how do we dare to stop? Do we let them stop those feelings of achievement? Do we let them stop all that phenomenal fundraising, the amazing improvements to health and wellbeing and the life-enriching camaraderie that running offers so many of us? Am I a coward for now being relieved that my kids aren’t able to come and support me at my next event, as much as I had wanted them there prior to this tragedy? Now I’d rather run and just know that they’re safe.

I don’t have answers to all these questions. All I have are prayers and heartfelt condolences for those lost and those injured or bereaved. I have a heavy heart that I’m sure is shared by the entire running community.

Our thoughts are with you Boston.

xxx

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Mind Games: Psychology and Running

slowbutsteady — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:26:43 GMT

The title of this week’s blog suggests serious research and heavy, analytical content. I would love to pretend that I could get all clever and intellectual at this point of my ‘bloggage’. A word? If it isn’t, then it should be.

However, I shall confess that what follows is yet more of my own personal ramblings and pontificating regarding this strange old pastime we all have in common, of putting one foot in front of another at (varying degrees of) speed, over and over and over again! Running that is (in case you needed clarification).

I have had some interesting revelations as my running ‘career’ has progressed – and it does make me laugh, very nearly out loud, at calling my running a ‘career’. That would suggest an element of skill, or perhaps financial recompense of some sort, both of which are sadly and notably lacking.

So, running is a mental exercise, nearly as much as a physical one. Many of you worked this out a lot earlier than me, but I thought you might be interested to hear some of the moments of clarity and revelation I have had over the past 3 years…

1. In the non-running world, 4 x 5 may very well equal 20. However, you are now entering ‘Run-ville’. This week I was not going on a 20 mile run. I was going to run 4, more manageable, 5 mile runs, they just happened to run consecutively. If I told my body I was taking it and my trainers out for 20 miles it would curl into a foetal position and frantically start eating the kids’ Easter eggs as a survival tactic.

2. In the non-running world, lying is wrong. In ‘Run-ville’ lying is a motivational tool. ‘I’ll just run to the next lamppost, then I’m calling a taxi’ is one of my particular favourites. I haven’t done it (yet), but I can bribe myself through miles and miles using this tactic, and as long as there are still lampposts ahead of me and battery life in my phone I believe myself every time! Just how gullible am I?!

3. In ‘Run-ville’ we get to call chocolate milkshakes and flapjacks ‘recovery food’. This adds greatly to the enjoyment element of our chosen hobby and often serves as a very good reason to put on the trainers. Unfortunately I keep my scales in the real world and not in ‘Run-ville’, but the less said about that the better…

4. I get to have some lovely daydreams where I come over all ‘Chariots of Fire’ and imagine myself winning things…this isn’t delusional in ‘Run-ville’, this is the power of positive thinking and I am playing ‘mental imagery scripts’ to improve my confidence (and I am quoting from Runners’ World. Hark at me, research?! Like a proper writer!? Who’d have thought it?

5. A carrot on a stick doesn’t just work for donkeys. Look at the new Brooks Adrenaline GTS13s…then realise that another 100 miles on the trainers you have at the minute will render their supportive qualities practically useless…hello? Hello? No, you see, you’re away for a run aren’t you?!

So the mind, as much as the legs, can get us out of the door, get us round our routes, no matter how long or short, and occasionally help us to do it with a modicum of success. Not only will our calves be more defined, but our minds will be razor sharp into the bargain…running rocks!

Happy bribing, daydreaming, lying and running everyone ;-)

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It's no Larne, or should that be 'its SNOW Larne'!

slowbutsteady — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:37:00 GMT

Like much of the country, my little patch has been afflicted by terrible weather in the last week or so. Without getting all 'Michael Fish' about it and bamboozling you all with fancy meteorological terms (yeah, right!), suffice to say it has been flaming awful!

Occasionally I have a rough idea of what I'm going to write about each week here on the Running Bug, (yes I know, you'd never guess would you?!) Well this week you were to be treated with a (no doubt) riveting and inspirational report on my Hal prescribed practice event, that being the Larne half marathon.

Now let's establish something here, Larne has kind of become my running nemesis. Other than the odd Race for Life and some relay sections of Belfast marathon, Larne was my first 'proper' event, 3 years ago. And I have to tell you, dear Bug-ers, it frightened the living daylights out of me!

First of all I had never seen so many serious 'amateur' athletes in my life, nor quite so many vests and tiny shorts! Daley Thompson eat your heart out (and obviously there I am harking back to an era that some of you possible don't remember. Google him, or think 118 118 and you'll be close enough.)

Secondly, I had no idea just how nervous I would get and how intimidating I would find other runners, particularly as all those other runners appeared to be much, MUCH faster than me.

And thirdly, I was not prepared for the enormous, horrifyingly huge, intimidating bloody great hill in the middle of the course! Wow-sers! That's what I would have said had I had even the tiniest morsel of air left in my lungs at the top of that particular challenge! To cut a long and limping story short I did make it round the first year, though you could probably have watched Titanic (at least once) if were you were waiting for me.

Having said all that, I did go back for a second year! They changed the route and eliminated the crest of Heartbreak Hill, as I liked to call it, and I took over 20 minutes off my time. Fab. Happy days. It was still unbelievably hard and I'm still not sure I could say I enjoyed it, but hey, a PB is a PB! Even if I am very close to the back of the pack, look how far I've come. All the way from my sofa!

Now Larne have never done medals. Great t-shirts, even better sandwiches and a beautiful view, but no medals. And oh, how I love a medal. I'm a girl, it's an accessory after all - and it's an accessory that says 'Well done you're amazing' even on the days you don't feel very amazing! But this year, round 3, there was to be medals! Real, proper running jewellery! I have been training harder this year in preparation for Edinburgh and I really felt that a PB wasn't out of the question into the bargain. I did feel under pressure, I was unbelievably nervous, but it just had to be done. Hal said so.

All week the weather forecast for the Saturday of the event was awful. And every day it looked a little bit worse. By Friday the snow was coming down thick and fast, power cuts were rife and gale force winds were blowing most of us into next week! But the event was still on.

I met up with 2 fellow entrants for a carbo-loading buffet based lunch. I drove home (through the snow) and set out my kit, my gels, charged my phone and sorted my music. I had adjusted my schedule so that my last long run of 17 miles was 10 days earlier and I had had 2 rest days. I was really, really ready...if it didn't look like the Arctic out there! I changed my mind about a hundred times (a minute). I was definitely doing it, if it wasn't safe they wouldn't hold it. I was definitely not doing it, this isn't about Larne, it's about Edinburgh and I can't do Edinburgh on crutches...and so on!!

And then the word came. On the advice of the police, the event was 'postponed'. Half of me was absolutely delighted, half of me bereft. I was glad not to have to 'choose' or to feel like a big, fat chicken if I decided not to run (and a chicken riddled with chronic guilt syndrome at that - I'm sure that's a thing?! And it should be if it isn't!)

I was glad that I wouldn’t have to feel stupid for going anyway despite the conditions and ending up injured. But here I was all carb-ed up and had nowhere to run! And even worse, I was 13 (.1) miles short for the week if I couldn't run - and with my kids Easter holidays coming up and a certain couple of short weeks run-wise, I'd been really counting on this. And - hold on a cotton picking minute, did anybody remember that this was THE END OF MARCH?!?! Last year spectators at Larne were practically picnicking! I wore a vest top! And this year I have yet to run without gloves?! What about global warming?! Seriously?!

So Saturday morning saw a rather confused and forlorn me at the kitchen table. And our little town seemed to have miraculously avoided the worst of the weather. Then the postman called with a box from Wiggle (other suppliers are available!) Here were my new running tights - thermal, compression, magic, run the run for you they're so good! And they'd only put in a free pre-run energy bar! That was IT! There was my 'sign'! It was time to run. No Larne? Ok, I'll run my own flamin' half! My hubbie waved me off with some relief, I fear I may have been rather a nightmare up to this point...

Well, my tights were great! The same cannot be said for the weather. I did take on the 'running ninja' look for the 'Reluctant Half', my hat pulled low, a neck tube pulled high over my nose...and I think the snowflakes sticking to my eyelashes really added to the effect! But I did it, 20mph winds and all. And I got a PB! Not an official one obviously, and no medal, but no great big hill either so I guess that's fair!

I hope the running is a little easier for all you runners out there - and if it isn't I hope you're enjoying the rest days.

Happy running. Or snowman building.

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Feed Me!!! Refueling on the Run

slowbutsteady — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:10:55 GMT

My word. What 20 stone weight lifting man has stolen my appetite and left theirs with me? (She types as she shovels in a mouthful of a generously filled ham & tomato sandwich, with tortilla chips)

Now I’m on week 9 of (the hallowed) Hal’s marathon programme, my appetite cannot and will not be sated. I try (very half heartedly) to watch my intake for perhaps, ooh, as long as a morning, then I start to worry that restricted calories will affect my running and my energy levels…and so shove in another bowl of granola. Oops. It’s a little like that weird, vaguely hallucinogenic period when you have just had a baby.

As sleep is not an option to replenish your chronically depleted energy levels you turn to high sugar, high fat foods…unless you’re Victoria Beckham, in which case a wheatgrass juice will do. And when you’re halfway through a marathon training programme, a week of TV watching and blockbuster reading, meeting friends for coffee and general frivolity are an utterly impossible solution to tired bones, tired body and a tired mind! So, if you’re anything like me, its food. Food, glorious food.

I am trying, really, really trying to make the incoming onslaught of extra calories healthy ones. I’ve bought oatcakes and granola, I’ve roasted lovely smoked ham and filled the fridge with Greek yoghurt. But then I go and fill myself with crisps and biscuits and chocolate, because if I can’t do it now, then quite frankly, I’ll never get to do it and then, equally frankly, what is the point?!

Then we have the whole subject of fuelling runs and the ‘gel’ issue. Nearly 7 years ago now, I walked my first marathon and started this whole long distance nonsense – and the snacks that I had on my long trips out training were second to none. For the ‘moonwalk’ itself, the reason for all the hours away from home trudging the highways and byways when I had a 10 month old baby at home, I carried a rucksack, (I kid you not), and my sister had even baked her trademark ‘energy bars’ (for that, read – really deliciously calorific flapjacks, crammed with nuts and apricots.) FAB. For my first ‘running’ marathon I was really looking forward to the refreshments…imagine my distress, dear blog reader, when I tried to enjoy the bag of lovely jelly beans I’d brought along for my ‘big’ training run. I found myself faced with the following facts…

I could barely get the bag open as my fingers always seem to lose any dexterity when I run.
I can’t actually chew and breathe at the same time, which resulted in either…
Wearing half-masticated jelly beans down my front, or…
Swallowing jelly beans whole and having a sugar ‘knot’ in my gullet for the remainder of the run. Or…
Turning what was probably a rather alarming shade of blue.

Clearly, things had to change. The next trip out I took Green & Blacks espresso chocolate. WHAT?! Don’t laugh! It made sense to me at the time! I love, I mean really, REALLY love chocolate. All these technical looking gels and powders and drinks were full of sugar and caffeine. Ergo, I was onto a winner. Apparently not.

It would seem me and chocolate do not get on when I am plodding the County Antrim roads for 3 hours or more. Who would have thought it? There is a time when chocolate is not the answer?!

I never really found the ‘answer’ re fuelling for that first marathon, probably accounting for the rather dramatic meeting of the infamous ‘wall’ at around mile 23 – I could see the finish, I knew that should I get there on hands and knees I would get to it, but for the life of me I couldn’t work out how the hell I was going to do it!

Some great kids in a normally quiet spot of Belfast filled my hands with their Haribo, I switched on a couple of power ballads on my MP3 and I got there, but it was far from elegant and there was a LOT of tears ( and snot, but lets not go there, it isn’t very Chariots of Fire is it?!)

So now, I ‘do’ gels., but it doesn’t mean I like it. I decided this week that gels are the ‘anti-food’. They go against everything that food is to me. They go against all the reasons I have always done exercise! They don’t taste particularly nice, I don’t enjoy them, they can’t be savoured in front of the fire with a big pot of coffee or enjoyed with friends and a glass of wine. Really, what is the point? Because in all honesty, even if it is purely psychological, they help me. They seem to give me a little boost, not in a piggy back way, that would be really good, but as a well known supermarket might say, ‘every little helps’. I wonder would horsemeat make me run faster too…?!

Anyway, this week saw me complete a 17 mile run, in bitterly cold conditions and half of it into a very strong wind. Whether it was the company of a very motivating running pal for 12 of those (fairly miserable) miles, my own stubbornness, the huge excess of calories I consumed all week (in preparation for the run, honestly, not out of greed!) or the 4 gels I practically licked out of the wrappers, I do not know. Either way, it’s done.

I do hope you read my blog for entertainment as opposed to information, but if you are looking (in a misguided fashion, clearly) for advice, then I would say eat and be merry and then try every gel/energy bar and/or go faster drink that’s out there until you find something that doesn’t set off your gag reflex…and it might just help!

Happy running this week everyone, however you are fuelling it!

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The Concrete Necklace - aka The Long Run

slowbutsteady — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:52:22 GMT

Is it just me that has a feeling of dread each week until the long run is in the bag? As I usually do my 'biggies' (or 'stupid-ies', depending on my mood) at the beginning of the week, I find that when I have to delay it for any reason, whether that be family 'stuff', injury, ill health or life in general, I get more and more anxious until the deed is done, so to speak.

You shouldn’t dread long runs. Read about the Thrills of Hills and Long Runs.

This week I ended up at the physio after all my positive thinking last week. That'll teach me! The old sciatic nerve appears to be joining in the 'broken bits party' and caused a quite special form of distress over the weekend! Now this week my LR was up to 15, so as far as I'm concerned things are now getting serious! I was dreading it. I know I've done these kind of runs before, but I always develop this kind of 'abducted by aliens/out of body experience' type feeling when it comes to these achievements. I just can't believe it was ever actually me?! So there is a rarely a feeling of confidence when I set off on these 'adventures'. In fact usually I use a great deal of denial, cajoling and bribery when I'm heading out of the door for the rest of the (damn) morning...

*It's 'just' 3 x 5mile runs, not 15 (no, maths never was my strong point, but this is all about dressing this up to be something it's not!)

*I can turn back whenever I want (yeah, right, like that's going to happen?! How bad would that feel? Worse than my hips after 15? Yes. 10 fold.)

*If I complete this one I can skip one of the other runs for the week. Yes, if my leg drops off, perhaps.

*If I run this I will earn 1800 CALORIES and I can buy a star bar and ENJOY IT!

When the Physio suggested that there was a possibility the long run was in jeopardy this week my heart sank a little. Half of me would love not to go. The other half is scared not to go because I'd love not going and then I'd never run again...I'd end up chronically depressed and so huge that the fire brigade would have to knock down a wall to get me out of the house to transport me in a truck to my gastric band surgery...perhaps I am thinking a little tiny bit too far ahead of myself, but you see where I'm coming from?! And when I described my long run to her as a concrete necklace, I thought perhaps I had hit the nail on the head. I feel the weight of the challenge around my neck and it always an overwhelming pleasure to take it off. And I'm not even sure I like it!

But you know, she sorted out my nerves (sciatic and otherwise!) and the following day I headed out and I got my 15 done, slowly, grumpily and reluctantly but with that wonderful feeling of relief and achievement when it was over. I even got in an ice bath and did a double set of stretches to try and ensure that I was fit to do the other 15 miles in total that I had to do this week. And I did! 30 miles this week and a step back week to look forward to next week, so the concrete necklace is marginally smaller and lighter. But still damn ugly.

I hope those of you out there with your long runs ahead of you manage to con yourself out without too much stress and upset - and until you all manage to take off your concrete necklaces, work it like a supermodel!! If Mr T could do it, then so can we!

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What do you think about (when you think about) running…and calories…and stretching…and ice baths?!

slowbutsteady — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:41:30 GMT

This was week 5 for me in Hal's Novice 2 programme. I have quivered over the decision to move on from Novice 1...a statement that surely only other runners would understand!! I really didn't want the miles to prove too much and have to 'step back' to Novice 1-we all know that more than half of the challenge of running is mental, and a 'backward' step, no matter how sensible a move it is, will never be motivating or reassuring!!

But here I am, week 5, and I have to say I have been really, REALLY tired. My energy levels were sinking...not surprising as my legs now appear to be made of lead! Hauling these limbs around Tesco has been proving a problem, never mind forcing them to run over 20 miles a week.

So, as I started to examine my energy levels I realised a couple of things.

Realisation number 1, I cannot limit my weight watchers points as much as I try to. I need to fuel my runs. I'm not saying I should be eating all the pies or the contents of the Cadbury factory, but I think an extra round of toast or a baked potato when I'm ready to chew on my arm cannot possibly be a bad thing?!

Remind me of this when I'm rummaging in the attic for my 'fat wardrobe'. I would add 'lol' to that, but that would be a lie, I could more appropriately add 'csimc' ( crying silently into my coffee, obv!). I am trying really hard not to use this new relaxed attitude to 'points' (or calories, for the non- initiated!) as an excuse to hit the crap cupboard...but isn't that half the joy of marathon training?! Or possibly more like 3/4?!

I have spent most of my adult life watching my food intake. I am one of those unsympathetic souls that screams, yes, SCREAMS at the 'super skinny' person on a well known Channel 4 series who manages to put on 4lb in 2 months...I do that in A WEEKEND!! But then I really, REALLY like the idea that I could finally, maybe, possibly be the weight that all those BLOODY charts say I should be!! Even if its only so I can say 'you see, that is FAR too skinny'!! How likely is that?! Hell. Freeze. Over. Arrange in a sentence.

Anyway, that's realisation number 1. Realisation number 2 comes courtesy of YouTube. Yoga and running can exist together, side by side, really very amicably indeed. I am naturally a Yoga girl. I am reasonably flexible and I enjoy the calmness and balance of yoga practice. I love the look of a yoga body too and LOVE the idea that maybe I could get one!! If only it burned enough calories to counteract steak, chips and onion rings…However that is not the point here.

On YouTube I found a yoga post-run stretch routine that I have been doing religiously, at least once, after every run. It is by 'flexiblewarrioryoga' and called (appropriately) 'post run stretch' for anyone that's interested. And hopefully, this is the link (and please excuse my techno-ignorance if this is totally wrong)

Over the summer I was running significantly less miles and having SIGNIFICANTLY more physio for dodgy hips, tight lower back, threatening plantar and even the knee that was starting to come out in sympathy. Now, I'm not saying I don't have niggles, but really all things considered, I'm not doing too badly! I even made a little Amazon purchase, 'Yoga for Runners'. Who knew?!

Now, it is far from pace-y, there is very little 'buzz' when it is finished and there is a little bit too much talk and ‘mountain pose-ing’ for my liking. But that said, I keep coming back to the fact that I am currently able to run over 20 miles a week without having to be glued back together or having my limbs taped back on every week by my Physio. I know my mileage is lightweight compared to some, but as I've mentioned before, I am not a 'natural' runner. I do not resemble those singlet wearing, lean, long limbed running machines that we all see at every running event. I am a fairly dumpy, pear shaped, short legged 41 year old mother of 2. I know, I'm really selling myself aren't I?! But my point is that, by my standards, I am doing bloody well. Maybe it's the extra calories. Maybe it's the yoga.

Or maybe, my husband is right...I got back today from a particularly challenging 7 mile run. It was a beautiful day, I (nearly) enjoyed the run, I kept to an average of just under 10 min miles, which for me is 'going it some', as Brendan Foster might say. I did my post run yoga, all was good. And then my hubbie announced he had run me 'a nice bath', things couldn't get better! Then I went upstairs. Not 'a nice bath'. An ICE bath. Ohhhhh. Not QUITE what I had in mind!

His theory is that this is what my leaden limbs were needing after I'd been training hard. I think he just likes to laugh at me squealing as I get in! But I managed 10 minutes, after which the angel that he is had a lovely, warm, bubbly bath waiting and a roast in the oven! What do you mean, what had he done?! ;-) I have to admit though, that my legs did feel a little fresher that evening than I anticipated. Is realisation number 3 that my hubbie is right and discomfort and effort now, reaps rewards later?! Oh I do hope not…

Has running given anyone else some ‘light bulb’ moments? Probably far deeper and more intellectual ones than I have had this week?! Whatever they are, I hope those realisations bring you pleasure and positivity – and if they don’t, just enjoy the calories!

Into week 8 of training I go. Gulp. Maybe this week my goal should be more running, less thinking?! Enjoy your running everyone.

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Back on the Wagon

slowbutsteady — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 10:46:05 GMT

For anyone that pays particular attention to my ramblings, you may have noticed that I haven’t ‘blogged’ for a while. I have no excuses, no reasons, and NO idea why I have avoided doing something that I enjoy doing and feel better for completing. Doesn’t that kind of sum up the way most of us feel about regular exercise though?!

It is rarely as bad as you think its going to be before you begin, even on a really, really bad day. And afterwards, you never regret that bit of exertion, whether it’s a walk down the road or a 2 hour slog into the wind and through a hailstorm…no prizes for what I battled through this week ;-)!!

I can’t deny that when I have one of my nice little (far too regular) daydreams, I manage 9 minute miles and a publisher or magazine snaps me up to witter away at an unassuming public in return for a few quid. Or chocolate. Or trainers. What can I say? I’m cheap. But the bottom line is, I’m back, not in a threatening ‘Arnie-esque’ way I must add, just back to wax lyrical about daily life and a little bit of running talk thrown into the mix if you’re really lucky…

So, it's that time of year again for a lot of us. Whether it be the dawn of the new New Year's Resolution or time for the Spring marathon training programme to begin, trainers all over the world are being wearily laced up and the mince pies are being hidden at the back of the cupboard (or given to skinny friends, curse them and their diminutive thighs!)

Edinburgh Marathon is the challenge I've chosen for this year, for any of you that haven't followed my blogs. It was an appealing choice as I knew it meant I could have a relatively restful Christmas! I did do a bit of cross training- and not just of my wine glass lifting arm, cheeky!- but between Christmas shopping, Christmas plays, the kids off school, putting up trees and entertaining (phew!), runs were definitely few and far between.

I managed to get up to 9 miles before I ramped down (in a fairly major fashion!) so I did feel that I could ignore compression clothing and deep heat for a little while longer without too much guilt! Much to my surprise I did find myself pounding the pavements on January 1st, and I was even more surprised to feel a frisson of enjoyment as I heard the reassuring 'bleep' of my Garmin to signal mile 1 of the year was complete. I managed 4 miles, and then another 2 runs that week, even with everyone still off school and work. Smug? Why yes, I think I was!

But now, real life has to kick in. If I didn't have a marathon to train for I would like to think that my house would be much, MUCH cleaner, considerably more organised or perhaps I could do something while my boys are at school that actually pays?! Instead I start tough negotiations with some very intimidating individuals, all fighting for my business...yes, it's time to pick a programme.

In the red corner, we have Hal 'the man' Higdon. Now we have form with Hal. He got me through Brighton and taking 40 something minutes off my PB was really very pleasing. But then I discovered the Asics website and they were looking strong in the blue corner! I loved the website and the way that I could tailor the programme to 3 or 4 times a week and specify the intensity I was prepared to work at. It looked for my previous running achievements and how hard I wanted to train and then gave me a predicted time and guidelines for what speeds to run at. Then of course, inevitably we have late entries from the Runners' World weekly emails and the Edinburgh marathon site itself. Oh the decisions!

Of course, being both 'slow but steady' and 'reluctant', always means that at this point of 'pre-training' what I'd always really like is a plan where a surrogate does all the running for me and my plan just says 'But you're marvellous, you don't need to do anything at all and you'll get a sub 5 hour marathon before breakfast and we'll give you a lovely medal too...' Yet I know that whilst the running world indubitably does not need me and my ploddy miles, I need it. I need the routine, the headspace, the me time, the feelings of satisfaction and completion, the retail opportunities and the calories!! Hey, I have never pretended to be anything but shallow. And so I stand on the edge of the proverbial cliff once again, ready to launch myself into another trainer chomping schedule.

What have I decided on? It has to be Hal. I am quite simply too afraid to try anything new. ‘If it ain’t broke’ and all that. I started the Novice 2 programme a couple of weeks earlier than I needed to to allow for my kids’ Easter holidays and the inevitable sickness/injury or 2- either my own or the family! And so far, so OK. I can’t pretend that I haven’t already had a few mental wobbles (especially after this week’s, previously hinted at, hail strewn run…man, that HURT!). I can’t pretend that I have found it near impossible to keep to my Weight Watchers points allowance, even with the extra points factored in for exercise. Nor will I pretend that my energy levels aren’t sometimes completely zapped. On the positive side, I do love ticking off my plan, anal yes, satisfying, HELL yeah! I also admit, I have had some nice runs. And its true that all this exertion means that I do appreciate rest days soooo much!

So as I head into the next week of the programme, let’s take it like the sofa addict that I really am, 1 day at a time! Watch this space!

Happy running till next time everyone

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Running Music Playlists: Warning May Contain Copious Amounts of Cheese

slowbutsteady — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 16:50:00 GMT

I am a devoted listener of ‘tunes’ when I run. I know it is a statement guaranteed to raise the hackles of some otherwise chilled and relaxed runners, but hey, that’s the way I roll. Very occasionally I like to hear the world around me. Perhaps the juggernaut coming up behind me is a good thing to notice before I have to leap into a hedge? But really, country lanes and company are pretty much the only things that keep me from my playlists.

In recent days I have been giving more thought to my music, since the running has become more regular as I build up to ‘proper training’ for Edinburgh (as opposed to improper training?! Ooh, sounds a bit ‘Grey’!) I think I need to have a serious sort out. New playlists are in order and perhaps I need a new approach. With so many miles ahead of me I think I need a new level of organisation. Simply having a collection of favourite songs on shuffle may not be enough…so maybe the following idea will help??

*** Warning: The following suggestions are not suitable for those with a dairy intolerance due to copious amounts of cheese…***

Playlist 1: The ‘Get off your bum’ collection.

For those days when your sofa looks like the perfect spot on a sun-drenched golden beach and your cup of coffee takes on the appearance of a frozen margarita and putting on the trainers seems like a REALLY stupid idea.

Track 1 for me? ‘Black Betty’ by Ram Jam or ‘My favourite game’ by The Cardigans

Playlist 2: The ‘Angry’ collection.

Traffic? Overslept? Burnt the dinner? Kids fighting? Boss/Spouse/Friends/WORLD annoying you? Sometimes we all have all imagined we are stamping on someone’s face with every single step of our run and quite frankly a run like that deserves a damn good soundtrack.

Track 1 for me? Surely it has to be Ms Gaynor and ‘I am what I am’?? Or ‘Would I lie to you?’ by The Eurythmics or ‘Single ladies’ by Beyonce? Oh so many angry tunes to choose from…!!

Playlist 3: The ‘ Happy as a songbird’ mix

You know the times you’ve needed this soundtrack to your outing. Your pace felt strong and smooth. The sun was shining I’ll wager, the roads were empty and there was probably some form of wildlife in the vicinity. Yes, it may all sound a bit ‘Snow White’ but hell, don’t those moments make your day/week/month?!

Michael Buble with ‘Haven’t met you yet’ or Van the man and his ‘Brown eyed girl’ are surely well qualified to accompany you? And there’s always REMs ‘Shiny, happy people’, obviously!

Playlist 4: The ‘I’m a yogi and all is well with the world and all the issues in it and my 25 minute pace is fine for today’ soundtrack.

On the days I have really, really forced myself to go out and feel good for just having got out of the door, I think its time to set up a nice, nurturing or philosophical soundtrack that gently eases me into my run.

For me? ‘The only exception’ by Paramore or ‘L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.’ by Noah & the Whale and a bit of Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’ never goes amiss..

Note: Very often a Playlist 4 run has been found to flow seamlessly into a Playlist 3 moment…nice.

Playlist 5: The ‘Bloody good cry’ numbers

There is nothing, NOTHING as cathartic as a damn good cry on a run. Of course, it plays havoc with your pace and you may take a good breath before you begin or you might pass out. And I suggest a rainy day if you want to retain some semblance of dignity. And maybe not one for a Parkrun?

‘All by myself’ by Eric Carmen. On repeat. Or possibly ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’ by Eva Cassidy…excuse me, sniff, sniff, I’ve got something in my eye…give me a moment…

Some might say that all this time on the roads just gives me too much time to think about all this nonsense. I say all this nonsense is what just about keeps me sane! Maybe a ‘Now That’s What the Running Bug calls Music’ is called for?!

Happy running – and listening- everyone.

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Running and Weight Watching – Multi-tasking of the Highest Level

slowbutsteady — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 10:09:00 GMT

My name’s Sarah and I’m a Weight Watcher. There. I said it. It’s less of a 12 step programme and more of a 2 step…eat less, do more. It sounds so simple when it’s put like that doesn’t it?! Well it is really, but that doesn’t mean to say that it isn’t incredibly hard to do at times. Need weight loss advice? Check out our Food and Weight Loss section.

I’ve been an enrolled Weight Watchers member on and off since 2008 and my progress has been variable, to put it delicately. I had fallen off the wagon so many times, it really was time to think about putting up guard rails. It was becoming a Health & Safety issue, quite frankly.

Of course, let’s not overlook the fact that before Weight Watchers there was Rosemary Conley, before her, Carol Vorderman, before her, Slimfast and lets not forget my dabbles with Alli, Adios, etc, etc…I have been a diet trollop! Wherever the results were the fastest and the enrolment fees the lowest, I was there (till I got fed up, or the next magic cure came along).

There was one vital fact that I always seemed to overlook throughout this lengthy period of calorie-counting promiscuity. I love food. I love trying new things and savouring old favourites. I love cooking newly discovered recipes and finding ways to get my kids to enjoy olives and squid and anything else that bears no relation to a chicken goujon.

What is a weekend without a slap up meal and a nice glass or 2 of wine – and a pudding, naturally!? I like to think of it not as greedy, but gourmet! (Maybe a little bit greedy when a cinema ‘sharing’ bag of Galaxy Counters is involved, but the less said about that the better. Sharing?! Pah!) Don’t discount chocolate. Here’s our article on Chocolate and Your Running Diet.

Then 2 and a half years ago, I started to run and the joy of ‘activity points’ opened up to me. No doubt some of you out there are lucky enough never to have calorie-counted. Learn how to Calculate Your Calorie Needs. Maybe you have never used one of those disgusting, demoralising weighing machines situated in high profile locations in public places in the hope that it weighs lighter than the scales at home. Maybe you don’t know what a ‘tracker’ is, or know about the tedium of ‘counting points’?! You lucky, lucky buggers.

‘Points’ are basically Weight Watchers version of calories. A ‘tracker’ is a Weight Watchers ‘tool’ (yes, quite) for recording what you eat - a very technical process, I’m sure you’ll agree. Yet, for me, it helps. Yes, it makes me feel about 6, but seeing what I’ve eaten in black and white sometimes reminds me that really, I’m not hungry. I’m probably bored, upset, lonely…or now, it maybe means that actually, I need to go out for a run!

Last year Weight Watchers had a re-jig of their system. Fruit and most veg became ‘point free’ and earning extra points through activity became more enticing as the limits that were previously set per week were lifted.

There have been weeks that I have earned a whole extra day’s points from exercise, meaning a nice meal out can be utterly guilt free and I still maintain, or even lose a little. I have to admit I have set my own ‘goal weight’ and it is higher than Weight Watchers would say I should aim for – but if I reduce too much then I neither have the energy nor the inclination to run.

Food is a passion and a pleasure and if sometimes the thought of ‘earning’ a chocolate éclair is what gets me lacing up my trainers, then so be it! Also, it must be said that sometimes the running helps me to see food as the fuel it really is and occasionally I will chose something that is for energy or strength as opposed to just for indulgence and pleasure!! N.B occasionally!! I haven’t (and couldn’t) change that much! Here are 5 Nutrition Tips to Fuel Up Without Getting Fat.

I don’t know how many of you out there are on a similar path to me. It does always seem to me that a lot of the runners that pass me on the roads, or that I see at races, have never worried about a calorie in their lives. All I know is that running has helped me to worry less about calories and enjoy food even more. I know if I fill my body with rubbish, then the runs are harder – and if I hydrate properly too, then runs are more enjoyable, I can trust my hunger and I just feel better! Do you feel dehydrated on runs? Try these Hydration Guidelines for Running.

If you’re like me and striving for that elusive ‘ideal BMI’ then I salute you! God knows, it isn’t easy to undo a lifetime’s work of eating what I like and doing very little, but I’m trying. There’s days that I’m not trying, obviously, but let’s hear it for the good days! Running and health, both mental and physical, just seem to go hand in hand. Shame it isn’t easier though!!

Happy running this week everyone (and if the running isn’t happy, then at least think of the calories…now, where’s the cheeseboard?!)

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The Edinburgh Marathon 2013 Mission: Winter Cross Training

slowbutsteady — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 09:59:19 GMT

Well, the new mission has been accepted. I’m not entirely sure I chose to accept it, but accept it I did. Edinburgh. May 26^th 2013. 26.2 miles. Marathon number 3. Eek! Find a Charity Race Place for the Edinburgh Marathon.

There is an element of satisfaction in having decided on my next challenge. I was quite enjoying the cross training – spinning, yoga, bodypump…bingo wings BE GONE! Buns of steel, here I come! Thighs like Chris Hoy…ooh, not quite so good for a girl hankering over skinny jeans, but still…it was all good! Here are 4 Essential Cross Training Techniques.

But then I had a moment of clarity (I don’t get many, so it was easy to spot!) The cross training was more enjoyable because I saw it as a way to help my running and the element of my running that I find the most satisfying are those long, slow, day-sapping ones. What is long run training? The Running Bug explains.

As much as I wish that I was one of those runners that can storm a Parkrun or knock out 7 miles in my lunch hour, I have to accept that I’m not. What gives me a sense of achievement is when I can put my feet up in the evening and think ‘I ran 12/15 or 18 miles today’! Maybe there’ll come a day when that no longer sounds extraordinary to me, but in the meantime I derive great satisfaction in surprising myself every time I manage it!

There’s something so self-indulgent about sacrificing an entire day to a run too. It isn’t like disappearing to a spa or going shopping, it can’t really be seen as spoiling myself - but in a world where we all multi-task, even when our work is in the home, then a day where we do little else but run, eat and wash is mentally very refreshing, if physically exhausting.

That’s what I have missed about my long runs, which have been few and far between since the Spring. Each long run demands a different approach depending on my energy levels, the weather or my poor old legs!! Sometimes I count (channelling Ms Radcliffe and hoping that her pace rubs off a little!). Sometimes I sing (in breathless ‘bits’ of verse and chorus that probably sound unhinged to any surprise passers by and fields of cows!) Sometimes I just think about my breathing, or what my feet are doing.

Mindless running sometimes rests my overworked thought processes. Sometimes I solve the problems of the world (or at least decide what I’m cooking for tea, which is nearly as good). Silly problems that may have niggled at me for days seem to be more easily solved on my feet. It is just so much easier to ‘edit’ my worries when I’m concentrating on ticking off the miles, finding a good song to pick up my pace or distract me, or just avoiding dog poo (see my last blog!!).

Stupid, schoolgirl worries are more quickly dismissed as I see them in a more objective way and if I identify a real concern as I bounce along, there is a peace in having pinpointed the trouble – if I don’t ‘solve’ the issue of the day while I’m out, then at least I know what I have to sort out when I’m back.

So here I am, on the cusp of the next challenge, waiting for the fun to begin. Naturally, I will need reminding of how much I said I liked long runs and focussed training whenever I’m moaning in the middle of February about sore legs and my enlarged appetite and all the washing and that the house is a tip because I’ve no spare time, but hey, that’s all part of marathon training, right?! Need help training? Find marathon training plans.

Hope your running is filled with renewed vigour this week too, enjoy.

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Every Runner's Worst Autumn Nightmare: What Lies Beneath (The Leaves)

slowbutsteady — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 11:06:00 GMT

Ah POO...

On my trainers that is, this is not just a random expletive. Poo. In every excruciatingly deep and now seemingly bottomless, cavernous channel on the sole of my Brooks.

This is far from the first time that I have had to dig out animal *** from the underside of my running footwear. I have even set aside a special brush for the job with ‘POO BRUSH’ subtly yet succinctly printed on the handle in permanent marker.

Most of the year it really isn't too difficult to avoid these little ‘presents’ that generous dogs leave behind (or their owners, more to the point). But then Autumn arrives. There is something quite wonderful about a crisp, sunshine-filled October morning and my desire to run is never greater than at this time of year. Five Ways to Love Autumn Running.

Your breath is visible as you head out the door, but the sunshine soon warms the air and short sleeves are not yet permanently resigned to the bottom of the drawer as we drag out the last of the tan topping, mood boosting rays.

The leaves have started to fall and lie in heaps of crunchy colour, just waiting to be pounded through (the little kid in all of us never really goes away does it?) Can any of us see a pile of undisturbed leaves and run round it?! NO! Crunch, crunch, crunch, woooaooh, slide, slip, heel skid…WHAT?! Oh yes. It’s the Autumn gift of ‘Poo in Leaves’. Other Ways To Tick Off A Runner.

Non-pooper scoopered items are near impossible to detect at this time of year. Stealth technology has surely been deployed. And then, the worst part is that I spend the rest of what may, (or may not, granted), have been a lovely run cursing the canine population (or really irresponsible owners) and thinking about poking bits of poo out of the bottom of my trainers! Surely that’s not fair?! If you feel like you need some new trainers, or any running gear, check out The Running Bug Shop.

Now, I’ve nothing against dogs. I grew up with dogs and I would love to have one. Runners, dog owners and dogs must be the primary users of the nation’s pavements – we are team mates! But, as a whole, runners do not soil pavements (other than Paula, that one time, and the less said about the better)

So, Rover – and Rover’s mum and dad!- could I ask the same of you? All I ask is all crunch and no slide. Take the danger out of leaf piles. And if runners’ trots gets the better of me if I manage to start ramping up my mileage again, then I promise to bring a plastic bag.

Deal?

Here’s to a non-slippy week of running everyone ;-)

Did you enjoy this blog? Check out more Blogs by Sarah.

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Training for elevation gains: PB or not PB, that is the question

slowbutsteady — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 14:30:00 GMT

Runher Stormont 2012 – Race Report

So, after the rigours of ‘Silly September’ and all that my Reluctant Runner’s Bootcamp had put me through, the day of my 10k challenge had finally arrived. See Our 10k Training Plans.

The Runher Events in Northern Ireland are great. As the name suggests, they are women only events and yes, there are the inevitable time chasing club runners, but also an equal spread of run/walkers, dogs and buggies! The atmosphere is usually fairly jovial with local radio there blasting out the power tunes, coffee vans and Fitness First offering a warm-up session and another firm offering post-event massages. Most importantly there are usually plenty of supporters!

This is my 2^nd Runher event this year, the last being a ‘Coastal Challenge’ 10k which was great despite (or perhaps because?!) it measured nearly half a mile short! I knew that particular PB was out of reach! It may have been my first sub 1 hour 10k – but it was also my first sub 10k 10k!

And so a bright, cool Autumn Sunday had dawned and although my nerves were through the roof and the start time of 2.30 meant that mealtimes were totally thrown, I was really in a very good mood! What a fabulous day - I often declare how much I love running in the rain – what I do not love is standing around at an organised run in the rain waiting for the kick off, so for once to stand basking in sunshine was just glorious! Five Ways to Love Autumn Running.

This event was to be in the grounds of Stormont, the Northern Irish parliament buildings. I had travelled down with a friend and some friends of friends, sharing bananas, running stories, fears and directions all the way and then to have company with which to people watch and chat to in the (inevitable) queues for the Porta-loos was just the icing on the cake!

The 5k event went first and being able to cheer them on to the finish line was very motivating – though watching the struggle of the last kilometre was a little disconcerting…as you can see from the picture above, Stormont has a stunning location, on a stunningly intimidating hill! The last kilometre of this run brings you back to the front of the parliament building. Up that damn hill! And with the 10k being 2 laps of the course...yes, we got to do it twice!

Nerves were not helped by a late start, but at about 2.45 we were off! Yee haaa! Look at me go! I was flying (or so it felt!)…down the generous, forgiving downhill I ran…and then, you can see the moment I realised that this wonderful, generous, forgiving hill was soon to be matched by an equally ‘un’wonderful, ungenerous and unforgiving uphill!! Twice! Eek!

You may surmise from this information that I had a horrible realisation that my ‘hill training’ was woefully inadequate. Oops. Hill Training Explained.

In all honesty, most of the course was gorgeous. Stormont is surrounded by beautiful woodlands and we ran through tree lined paths and over wooden bridges, glorious in the sunshine. I tried the ‘running on my toes’ thing up the steepest trail-like paths and loved the acceleration it gave me. In little bursts, I found that I was really enjoying the challenge (ish!).

The hardest bit was that last kilometre of each 5k loop. We toiled our way up the grand sweeping, zigzag path up from the side gates to the front of Stormont. What a slog. ‘Sparky’, the Ulster Rugby team mascot was halfway up the hill, high fiving everyone and cheering us on.

Now, first time round I loved the encouragement and kept running the whole way (possibly not at a running pace by most people’s standards, but it was running, so there!) The second time round I looked up the incline and I have to admit my heart sank. I stopped running. I started to walk and I started to hold ‘Sparky’ personally responsible for this horrible experience. High five? I’ll give him a flamin’ high five! If you're struggling for motivation, see our Seven Tips to Motivate Yourself.

Halfway up I gave myself a stern talking to. At the top of this was the finish and then I could sit on my backside and eat Dairy Milk all afternoon if I wanted, so get those damn feet moving! So I did, and after 1hour, 4 minutes and 1 (lousy) second I finished (complete with a little retch). What a feeling of accomplishment.

But this was not a PB…my best (full length) 10k was 1.02. But that was a flat course. My (short) 10k, where my pace was nearly 30 seconds quicker, had an elevation gain of 280 feet. This challenge had an elevation gain of over 400 feet. SO what makes a PB? Is it purely about the numbers? And when did I get so nerdy about all this? And when did it all start to matter so damn much??! See running coach Fiona Bugler's advice on How to Run a Personal Best.

I am reasonably pleased with my time, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I’d like to have seen an improvement in the numbers! I’d never done this course before and I came in around the middle of the 450 odd runners (and big thanks to the local DJ who said ‘That’s the end of the runners now, now it’s the joggers’ as I came up the hill. She took at least a minute of my time from rage!)

Still, I think that I’ve achieved something. I think that my Bootcamp mentality for the last month has paid off – my clothes fit a bit better, I’ve found it easier to fight off the ‘Back to School’ bugs my kids bring home and my spirits were lifted.

But a PB? Yes, for this course…but no, not really! I can get as nerdy as I like with my Garmin but the bottom line is, the numbers tell me that this wasn’t my best - but it was definitely my best that day – and the soreness in my muscles for the next 2 days that has been missing, (though not necessarily missed!!), post run, proves how hard my body worked.

So no ‘PB’, but maybe an ‘NB’ - ‘Not Bad’? That’ll do I guess.

Happy running and happy racing everyone

Did you enjoy reading this blog? Why not read some more blogs by Sarah?

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Spinning Around…Looking NOTHING Like Kylie

slowbutsteady — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 08:32:00 GMT

So, we’re on week 3 of the ‘Reluctant Runners Boot Camp’. That meant that this week saw the 3^rd attempt on my part not to retch during my newly discovered Spinning class. It is not going well!

As my relationship with running is very much of the love/hate variety, I thought that adding in this whole ‘cross training’ approach would really work for me. I thought I would discover my running getting better without actually having to do any more running! Result! However…it seems that I only thought running was really, really hard because I hadn’t discovered Spinning yet. Yikes.

Read more about Essential Cross Training Techniques.

I had endured a class of this dreadful form of torture in my dark and distant past. This was an era in my life when I was very much part of the ‘I’m at the gym aren’t I? That should be enough, I don’t actually need to break sweat too!’ team. I remember spinning as a truly horrifying experience with the pain in my legs only being surpassed by the agonising, excruciating and unrelenting pain of my bottom and lady bits!! As I hobbled my way, a-la John Wayne, to the changing room I swore...and then I swore that I’d never, ever, EVER do that again!

But then, as I find myself heading beyond 40 to 41, I found myself drawn to this dark side again. I was under the misapprehension that having run 2 half marathons and 2 marathons in the last 2 years, that I had increased my fitness levels since the good old days of sipping a herbal tea whilst gazing at a treadmill! Oh, how very wrong I was?

I am left confused, sore and pondering several issues…1^st question. Why do they always put these things upstairs? Have they never seen ‘Run Fat Boy, Run’? (And if you haven’t, I thoroughly recommend it especially for any slightly less high achieving runners like me!)

Or, is that why they do it? Is it just to have a bloody good laugh at us mortals as we wobble our way cautiously back to our cars to try and recover with a modicum of dignity (after we have scraped said dignity off the floor of the Spinning studio, naturally)?

Or, is it some kind of bizarre cool down ritual of which I am unaware?

2^nd question. Who on earth dreamt this up? Who has a mind that sick?! Who thought this would be a nice workout?! Whoever it was, hospitalise or incarcerate them immediately, their evil surely knows no limits?!

And finally, 3^rd question. How much can one person sweat?! I do wish there was a set of scales at the door of the studio. I bet I weighed about 25 GRAMMES when I come out of the class. I have learned to take a towel in with me now to stop me sliding off the end of the handlebars, so I guess you could say I’m progressing…I’m just not improving!! I really thought that by my 3^rd session some of it might be feeling if not easier, then at least more familiar. But then they keep changing it! Evil!

A week after my self-inflicted boot camp month I have signed up for a local 10k run. If I don’t get a PB I may just hang up my gold hot pant notions forever! Granted, this may be a good thing, but you see where I’m coming from. I must admit that when I’ve finished a Spinning class, it feels amazing – possibly just because they’ve let me stop, but equally possible is the notion that part of me gets something from it.

The instructor this week was great – really useful tips, sensible advice as to when to push and when to ease off and a satisfying and reassuring puddle of sweat around his own bike by the end of the class. I haven’t quite got the hang of what resistance I need and I think I lean too much on my arms…oh NO!! Does that mean that I have to keep going until I get it ‘right’?!

Perhaps the main downside of these classes is, of course, that every class costs money, where a run only costs in regard to a little more wear on my trainers.

It also seems wrong to exercise cooped up in a windowless, airless, strobe-lit room whenever the great outdoors is out there waiting for me – with its Autumn sunshine, slippy, leaf strewn paths and gale force winds. Every weather front brings its own challenges! Sometimes Nature pushes me far more than any resistance on a stationary bike!!

In reality, I know the answer to all this pondering. Variety is the spice of life, a change is as good as a rest, moderation in all things…these sayings didn’t spring out of nowhere did they? I will continue with cross training throughout ‘Silly September’, as I now think of it, and let’s see what state I’m in by October…

Happy running – or otherwise!

Do you go to spinning classes? Do you think it helps with your running? What other cross training techniques do you use as part of your running training programme?

More from The Running Bug

4 Essential Marathon Cross Training Techniques	Low Impact Training Techniques	7 Cross Training Kit Essentials	Core Stability Training Exercises for Runners
To help you become a better and more complete athlete here is a targeted programme of resistance training.	The best non-weight bearing exercise to keep CV fitness high and condition the whole body.	The best cross training equipment for runners and how to get the best out of them.	Why core stability is relevant to runners and demonstrates four exercises to improve your core strength.

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Chocolate, Wine and Sleep: Runners Rest Day

slowbutsteady — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:42:00 GMT

I’m now in Week 2 of my self-inflicted, post summer holiday exercise routine and good grief I am tired! I know that if I can sustain this for even a month hopefully I will have reignited my ‘fit’ mode and things will start to feel easier, but at the minute it just feels dreadful. I have already found myself having to ‘tweak’ my plans..and that makes me very, very unsettled. Mmm, running with a side order of OCD anyone?!

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I have the luxury of making weekdays my exercise days – and then, come Friday evening I assume the horizontal position, open the wine and crack off a chunk or 10 of my favourite chocolate. Heaven. (How to include Chocolate in Your Running Diet) This Friday found me a little jaded though, having completed the first week of the ‘Reluctant Runner Bootcamp’. Week 1 schedule was as follows:-

Mon: Spinning

Tue: Long run & core exercises

Wed: Hilly run & core exercises

Thurs: Short, fast run & core exercises

Fri: Yoga

Saturday: …collapse.

Sunday: …try not to collapse. Collapse anyway.

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For me, that was quite a week. There was a scathing enquiry as to whether I was training for Rio. Not unless they’ve changed the guidelines significantly to include middle-aged under achievers was my equally scathing response. Ooh, tetchy? In my defence, I was tired and didn’t really take the light hearted comment in the spirit with which it was intended!

By mid-morning on Sunday I had to slope off to bed for a couple of hours before I disembowelled a random family member with a teaspoon. It should hardly have come as a surprise when there was a fairly passionate plea by Wednesday of Week 2 that I cut it back a bit and take a day off mid-week. So, I have. But I don’t like messing with the programme!!! I cut the grass instead…but there aren’t any miles to log in my running diary! Not good!

You see, after my (very) full week last week, I discovered the wonder of contrast. All of my activity, followed by 2 days of complete rest, meant that those 2 days felt amazing! I didn’t relax any differently to any other weekend, but it felt like I did. I was a gold medal winner of relaxing! And it was the same with the food.

I had been fairly careful all week and tried to pick the healthy, energising choices. I did have a little bit of chocolate every day, I’m not entering ‘The Betty Ford Clinic for Green & Blacks addiction’, but I have realised that if I have whatever treats I want every day then the treats cease to be special. Still delicious, granted, but not special, no longer a tasty loveliness to be savoured, but sadly relegated to the lowly realms of normal food.

I can tell you, when I licked my Dipped Flake wrapper clean on Friday evening, I knew I had really, really savoured the moment. I’m a little depressed to realise that denial is a good thing. And so does it follow that denial of sofa time is a good thing too?

Discipline, routine, control, denial…it’s all getting a bit Christian Grey isn’t it?! But even our Christian had to learn to lighten up a little. I guess I’m still trying to learn to be flexible and read the signs that my body gives me. I always suspect my mind and body of betrayal and deceit when it comes to evaluating the need for a rest day - I always believe I’m just looking for a skive! Yes, I need a schedule and more discipline now my kids are back at school, but to quote my husband, ‘You also need to exercise a bit of bloody common sense!’ I think that could prove more difficult than completing my Bootcamp!

Wish me luck and good luck sticking to your own plans this coming week. Happy running!

More from The Running Bug

Low Impact Training Techniques	Chocolate Cake Diet	Food, Nutrition & Weight Loss	Chocolate and Your Running Diet
The best non-weight bearing exercise to keep CV fitness high and condition the whole body.	Fretting about excess body fat will often lead you to diet plans, of which there are plenty of choices.	Running to lose weight? Get your diet right to shed pounds and enjoy running.	Chocolate: Is it a bad food for runners, an addictive drug, and the instigator of dietary disasters? Or is it a health food?

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Running Wrecks Your Knees: How to Tick Off a Runner

slowbutsteady — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 09:37:00 GMT

Now, I get that I don’t like running. I do. And hopefully, even those of you that leap for joy when the alarm goes off to tell you its running time understand that?! It's hard, it can be lonely and boring, and for all the lovely, sunny Autumn day runs with a steady pace, there can be days and days of discouraging runs and painful recovery. Sometimes running makes itself very difficult to like! But this week I’m coming at this from a different direction. I might not like running most of the time…but why the hell do people that don’t run, people that have never run, dislike it so damn much?!

Is it just me that has been told by random strangers that:-

‘Running causes wrinkles you know?’

‘Oooh you won’t lose any weight running’

‘You’ll get enormous legs’

‘Oh, you don’t want to do that running nonsense, it isn’t good for you!’

and of course, the regular favourite…

‘You’re wrecking your knees you know?’

All of these things may, or may not, be true. But really, if I think its doing me good and I’ve got up off my backside to do something that I think is doing me good, (even when I don’t like it very much and I’m not very good at it), then can’t the doubters shut the **** up?! Is my running hurting their knees? And why do I keep getting asked ‘Are you running AGAIN?!’. Trust me, I am not the type that would wear that much lycra if I didn’t feel it was necessary. Lycra is not a fashion statement in my wardrobe, it’s to hold my tired legs together and stop them from disintegrating! If I’m wearing ugly, skin tight leggings, a big, chunky watch that goes bleep and a pair of trainers, then I’m going running! And my last bugbear? ‘You’re addicted, you are!’ Oh if only that were true! Surely if I’m addicted I would be gagging to get out?! And surely an addiction is a bad thing? Is exercising regularly (or trying to) really a bad thing? Because trust me, the delivery of this particular accusation is not one filled with admiration. The tone is usually fairly disparaging and, occasionally, one of downright disgust.

I am so lucky in that I am surrounded by overwhelming and unfaltering support. I take my hat off to those of you that head out Lycra-clad without support at home or throughout your day. I have a hard enough time battling my own mind and the demons within it, without taking on the fight with other people’s!!

You don’t like running – fine. Neither do I. We agree! But I’m doing my very best to like it and I really don’t need anymore reasons NOT to run added to my already extensive repertoire. I was overwhelmed last week by the amount of people that seem to feel rather like me about running. There seems to be quite a lot of us who have to go through a lot of mental jousting before we head out the door ON TOP of the sore legs and burning lungs!!

So, here’s a request to all the doubters that don’t run out there from all of us doubters that do – DON’T. Just don’t. OK? Because we do it – whether we want to, whether we like it and, sometimes, whether we really can! So negativity is not helpful. You don’t get it and that’s OK. Neither do we. So do like your mother told you and if you haven’t got anything nice to say, say nothing at all. Or even better, put your trainers on, download ‘Coach to 5K’ like I did and give it a go. I was a doubter that didn’t run once. I worried about the joints of the poor, misguided souls that I saw charging up and down the roads, woefully underdressed in singlets and shorts in February. Yet despite all my reservations and prejudices, I now have 2 lovely marathon medals hanging in my house which, given my total lack of athletic experience or natural ability, mean a hell of a lot to me. So go on, give it a try – and if you like it…please tell me why?!

Happy running everyone, till next week.

More from Slowbutsteady

Confession: I Don't Think I Really Like Running	Is She Still a Runner?	PMB (Post Marathon Blues)	The Day I Ran Like a Cheetah! Brighton Marathon
I have a strange relationship with running. I’m wondering is it just me? Is there anyone else out there with my slightly skewiff attitude?	You may have guessed that miles have been few and far between this week.	I wish I had the ability, the strength, the time and the money to pop out every weekend and knock out another 26.2!	At times I was sure the day would come, but that I wouldn’t be in one piece when it did!

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