Week In Review – Summer!

Yippee!! I finally made it to the end of the school year! It’s funny how at the time, it seems to take forever and a day, yet as soon as those summer traditions roll around it feels like it’s only been five minutes!

The last week of term was quite busy and I needed to be creative in order to find time to run, so I was pleased with what I managed fitness-wise:

Monday – Hatha yoga
Tuesday – early run 4 miles
Wednesday – evening run 10k
Thursday – Ashtanga yoga
Friday – rest
Saturday – “parkrun sandwich”
Sunday – rest

Having TWICE had to nap last week, I really thought I was in for a struggle this week when I needed a nap between work and yoga. For some reason I just felt worn out when I got home and knew I had enough time to close my eyes for a bit. I pretty much walked in the door, set my things down and went to lie down for a while. I then got changed and headed to my yoga class feeling a lot more refreshed. It was a bit sad that this was the last Monday class for a few weeks but I know I’ve got this to look forward to when I get back from my holiday.

Despite my Monday exhaustion, I had figured out that the best way to find time for three runs this week was to go out early on Tuesday, after work on Wednesday and have a longer run on Saturday. I therefore laid out my kit on Monday night and was out the door quite quickly on Tuesday morning for a 4 mile run. Having run early on a couple of previous occasions, I did find it a bit easier (but the first mile is still a bit of a slog!).

Despite appearances, we are NOT wearing the same top!

A morning run also meant I felt like I had earned our department end of term gathering as we opted for afternoon tea at a nearby fruit farm. I made sure not to let any food go to waste!

While that morning run was nice and cool, since we’ve been having some ACTUAL SUMMER WEATHER it was clear I was going to have a much warmer run on Wednesday evening. I wanted to run 10k so kept my pace down and just enjoyed being out in the sunshine.

Thursday was probably the warmest day of the whole week and I was able to fit in an hour reading in the garden before my Ashtanga class. Having seen the forecast I had been really hopeful that we might take the class outside so I was thrilled when I arrived and it was confirmed that it would be an outdoor session. It feels so amazing to work through the sequence in the fresh air and with the sun on your skin. I even had a go at my supported headstand! And lying in savasana in a light summer breeze felt so good. Fingers crossed we can get outside again this summer.

I took Friday as a rest day. School finished at lunchtime then I made the most of the free afternoon to spend some more time in the garden with my book. There really is nothing quite like sunshine (and the knowledge that there’s no school for 6 weeks!) to start easing away the stresses of the year.

My final run of the week was Saturday morning. In order to fit in a long run and still get to parkrun, I opted for what I’m calling the “parkrun sandwich” – a run to parkrun, parkrun itself then a run home. Steve was in Edinburgh preparing for his Ironman 70.3 the following day so there was no time pressure at all. I adjusted my routes there and back to make sure I ended up with 10 miles for the day. I also wanted to find the penguins we have in the town right now as part of a public art event in the area. There are 80 in total and 4 are in my city so it was fun to add them to my run.

Despite the extra “warm up”, parkrun itself felt ok. It was another warm day and this was the middle 5k of a 10 mile run so I ran a bit easier than usual, and was quite surprised to still finish in under 25 minutes with an average 8 min/mile. Granted, it was a bit harder to get my legs moving again for the run home, but they soon got used to the idea.

Photo: Perth parkrun on Facebook

On Sunday morning I was up and on the train to Edinburgh to support Steve. He had set off super early for the swim start and I made my way to T2 in time to see him finish the bike leg and head out on the run. Last year I found it pretty hard going as a spectator as the weather got quite chilly and there was rain. This year’s warm sunshine maybe wasn’t best for the triathletes, but for me it was fantastic. I was able to see Steve on each of his laps and give him a cheer.

Earlier in the week Steve had decided that he would quite like to go for a post-race roast dinner so we were booked into the pub we normally go to on a Friday. We both had roast beef then I opted for a waffle with maple syrup for dessert. Delicious!

All that sunshine has definitely put me in the mood for a restful summer now…

Do you do the “parkrun sandwich”
Have you ever used a run to go in search of something?

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Week In Review – Me Time!!!

Hola! Finally a bit of space in my week as we enjoyed a two day break for “half term” here in Scotland. That meant just two teaching days, one inservice day and then a glorious four day weekend to relax, read and recuperate. Perfect!

Of course training was still front and centre (this marathon isn’t going to run itself, you know!) but there was a bit more room to get things done without rushing around all the time:

Monday – Hatha yoga
Tuesday – bike reps @ the gym
Wednesday – form drills
Thursday – Swim + Ashtanga yoga
Friday – PT session with Steve
Saturday – parkrun
Sunday – 16 miles

My week didn’t get off to the greatest start as I had hoped not to have to stay at school too late, but it turned out we had a meeting at the end of the day. By the time I got away I was REALLY ready for my Hatha yoga class. I decided this was a great time to try out some new kit to cheer me up. They both came from a website called Lucy Locket Loves and while I paid for the awesome Space Adventure leggings, the headband was a free gift as I volunteered as a product tester. I don’t normally wear this style of band but was really impressed as it was comfortable and stayed in place through the whole class. I loved how bright and cheery it was too.

I’m quite impressed with the company as the owner sends friendly, personal emails and the packaging is gorgeous.

The class itself was just what I needed to unwind – gentle stretching, relaxing music and dim lighting. Bliss!

We have an earlier finish on a Tuesday and I made a point of getting away pretty quickly. I headed straight for the gym to get my bike intervals done and since I had found the intensity level quite challenging last week, I took it down a notch in order to maintain the quality of my workout. I still worked hard as my red and sweaty grimace confirms!

That evening I took advantage of my sister’s comp tickets for the current play at the theatre. It wasn’t a play I knew but was pretty powerful.

On Wednesday we had our inservice day which meant no pupils, but a full day of meetings and planning. The real highlight of the day was the curry lunch laid on by the World Challenge group. They are preparing to go to Borneo and this formed part of their fundraising. It’s the third year in a row the curry lunch has taken place on the February inservice and it just gets more and more popular. It wasn’t the “done thing” to take too much on my first visit to the curry buffet, but I definitely didn’t hesitate to lead the charge and go back for seconds!

That evening I got straight home to head out for a set of 500m form drills. I was a little wary as there had been some rather unexpected heavy snow in the morning and while most of it had melted away, there were still stretches of pavement that were slushy and slippy. I still set up my watch to do the intervals and decided that I would aim to do the workout but was prepared to ditch it for a steady run if the conditions weren’t good enough. As it turned out the first few intervals were over slippy paths but I was able to focus on good form while keeping the pace down, then as the underfoot conditions improved I was able to get some quality intervals in in the second half of the workout.

I was also really entertained by this fantastic snow creation in our street (I think whoever built it must have used all the snow in the street as there wasn’t really much left!).

I then had a really quick turnaround to get to orchestra. I’ve probably managed every other rehearsal this term which is a massive improvement on last year when I had to accept that I wouldn’t be playing in our spring concert, but this time I am going to make it.

After all that Thursday was a welcome relief. I actually allowed my usual alarm to go off just so I could have the pleasure of shutting it off and going back to sleep! I started my day with a walk to the gym to have a swim. Being able to take my time and with no other pressures on my day, I felt I got into a rhythm pretty quickly despite very little swimming of late. I really must try to fit it in more often moving forward. I spent the afternoon on some bits and pieces of tidying up then headed out to my Ashtanga yoga class in the evening. It was a small class again so once more we were able to try some newer postures, including working on our headstands. I’m really enjoying having the opportunity to try new things and am feeling the benefit of more yoga throughout the week.

I had an appointment in town on Friday morning so I walked there and ran a few errands before heading home again. After lunch I had my PT session with Steve and since my right shoulder was feeling tight (it flares up a bit from time to time) we did a lot of work to help that before some more specific exercises to help my running. As usual, we used the TRX and the Core Momentum Trainer. For the occasion I chose to wear my Wonder Woman leggings, because it’s good to feel like a superhero from time to time!

Session done, I headed round the corner to have my nails done. I fancied something a bit different this time as I usually go for dark reds/purples. A sparkly silvery colour hit the spot!

And then the weekend. Having already had a couple of days to myself meant I didn’t have a stack of things to do and was able to relax and enjoy myself. First up, of course, was parkrun. We’re still on the alternative course to allow the grass section to recover and to round off a week of madcap leggings I chose to wear my latest, and possibly maddest, pair.

My favourite picture on them is the cartoon cats with unicorn horns!

I was certain that my parkrun streak of each week being a bit faster than the one before would definitely be over but somehow found another few seconds to keep it alive. So including the New Year parkrun double that makes my 2018 “streak” 29:16 (Dundee and a trickier course), 27:20, 27:01, 26:31, 25:34, 24:56, 24:50, 24:43. I was slightly faster this time last year but I also had a stronger starting point with more consistent training at the tale end of the year, so that just motivates me to keep working hard and see if I can keep improving and get back to sub-24 form.

The rest of the day was nice and chilled – coffee and bacon croissants with Steve’s brother, food shopping and some quality time on the sofa catching up on some reading. I finished reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman and can highly recommend it.

On Sunday morning I got myself moving fairly sharp to head out for my 16 miles. I wanted to not only run my usual pattern of 2 easy, 1 harder with good form, but to break the bad habit I’ve been forming of having to stop for road crossings that could be avoidable. This made the run feel harder as I think I’ve been relying on those stops, but overall I was a little quicker than a comparable run this time last year so that’s a positive sign and I know the consistent running will make me stronger for race day.

Once home and showered/fed we headed off to Edinburgh (hence why I wanted to be out a bit earlier). Steve has been planning to upgrade his iPad ever since I got mine in the summer but was waiting until he got his new phone as he knew he could trade that in against the new device. Today was the day to go and sort it all out and there was no way we were going to go to Edinburgh after a 16 mile run and not visit Hotel Chocolat for a hot drink. This time they had Easter specials (perhaps a little early, but who am I to judge!) and the picture on the sandwich board sold me before I even walked in the door! I ordered the Hot Crossed Caramel Hot Chocolat (the caramel was mixed with almond, orange, cinnamon and molasses. Delicious!) and yes, it was the chocolate bunny on the top that sealed the deal for me 😂

By the time we’d done all that and driven home again I was pretty tired as my Sunday is usually pretty chilled after my long run. Good thing I had those extra days to relax beforehand!

And with that, another week came to an end. Apparently there are now 10 weeks until the marathon…

Do you like to wear patterned workout gear?
Read any good books lately?

Week In Review – Festive Fun!

Another week and just 7 more days until the big Ho Ho Ho! It was another reasonably restful week for me as I was suffering from some lingering discomfort around my ribs and torso from all my recent coughing, but the cough has finally subsided and by the end of the week I was ready to start enjoying the festive season.
I’m linking up once again with Jessie @ The Right Fits and Jess @ Jess Runs ATL to share more about my week.

My aim at the start of the week was to shift the last remnants of the cough and give the muscles around my ribs a chance to recover as they had clearly been under strain. I have to admit, I was pretty happy to have the time out as it was pretty chilly outside!

By Thursday the cough had pretty much subsided and I was keen to try some yoga to see if it helped to stretch out the muscles in my upper body. I also knew it would be the last Ashtanga class before Christmas so really wanted to be there. I took it easy and just did what my body wanted to do, which meant moving slowly and choosing easier options for some postures. By the end of the class my left hand side felt so much better, but my right, which had been flaring up a bit more that day, was still feeling uncomfortable. Still, it was good to do something within my usual routine again and although I couldn’t participate at the level I normally would, I enjoyed the class and still felt that I got something out of it.

I had hoped to return to parkrun on Saturday, however thanks to the icy conditions the event was cancelled. If I’m honest, this was probably for the best as it made me take another day to rest and allow my sore side to settle. My day consisted of getting my hair done, doing some food shopping and then settling down for the serious business of the Strictly Come Dancing final (Dancing with the Stars for my readers outside of the UK). It was an evening of glitter balls, dancing and kitty cuddles!

It was Sunday that was the real highlight of the week. It is our tradition to visit Edinburgh one Sunday close to Christmas. We did this for our first date back in 2008 and have repeated it every year since.

It was raining when we set off for the station and the rain was falling on already icy surfaces creating really treacherous conditions underfoot so our walk was a bit slow. Luckily we had left enough time as we had hoped to grab a coffee for the journey, but in the end only had a minute or two to spare so had to go caffeine-free!

Once in Edinburgh we headed straight to the festive ice rink at St Andrews Square as we had booked our tickets in advance. It’s always a bit strange getting onto the ice, but after a slightly wobbly lap sticking close to the sides, things usually click into place for me and I can skate with enough confidence to move away from the hand rails. Steve, on the other hand, has never yet grasped the mechanics of moving around the ice, but this year did make some significant progress!

Once off the ice we were channelled right into the bar where we were keen to enjoy a hot festive beverage. We chose the hot gin and apple toddy which was delicious!

From there we visited a couple of shops before it was time to go for some food. And where else would we go but the Chocolate Lounge on the top floor of Harvey Nichols? I was in the mood for something savoury so had the dipping plate which had olives, hummus, bloody Mary chutney and chocolate balsamic vinegar with some delicious bread. Yum! And to drink? Why a strawberry bellini of course – standards must be maintained 😂

After lunch we had a walk around some of the Christmas market stalls and assorted festivities before heading to Hotel Chocolat for a hot drink. I decided on their winter spiced hot chocolate which was delicious!

The lights at The Dome are always worth a look!

Full of yummy goodness, we headed back to the station for our train home. Turned out we were pretty tired (or full!) so both of us had a nap since we had a while before getting home.

Fortunately the morning ice had melted so our walk home was much easier, but we did make a pitstop at our local Chinese takeaway. Neither of us were massively hungry but we did fancy some food and for some reason fried rice and curry sauce sounded perfect – what a classy pair we are lol!

Any weather-related disruptions to your running lately?
What are your pre-Christmas traditions?

Week In Review – Beaten!

I think this might be my briefest Week in Review yet! Thanks to being ill I really haven’t done anything all week, but I’ve written a weekly roundup every week this year and don’t want to stop now. As ever, linking up with Jessie and Jess to share the details.

If you read my post last week then you’ll maybe remember that by the end of the week I was really struggling with a chesty cough, and it was getting worse. After giving in on Sunday and staying at home resting, Steve insisted that I wasn’t well enough to go to work on Monday (and my protests were rather feeble!) so I called in sick. As it turned out, that was going to be the case for a few days.

I spent Monday in bed trying to rest and catching up on some TV programmes I was a bit behind with (in case you’re interested, Once Upon a Time, Nashville and Will & Grace). I had coughed so much the night before that poor Steve had gone to sleep in the spare room and he did the same on Monday night which meant that if I wasn’t sleeping I could read or use my laptop without disturbing him. Not a very exciting day and when I eventually fell asleep that night it was through sheer exhaustion from coughing.

Ridiculous cat checking to see if she liked tomato soup!

Tuesday followed a rather similar pattern, however after lunch I felt well enough to get up and head downstairs to my comfy armchair instead…just in time for Steve to head to bed having picked up the bug from me. I felt bad as it was his birthday and rather than celebrating he was heading to bed with hot drinks and a bit of a fever. My turn for the spare room!

I stayed off work again on Wednesday as I knew it would be too much for me to spend all day teaching at that stage. I did, however, manage to spend the whole day out of bed. I did a little work, watched some more TV, read and tried to eat a bit more to get my strength back. Meanwhile Steve stayed in bed and I did my best to take him the things he needed. We were quite a pair!

On Thursday I went back to work. I knew I was too “well” to be at home but a day at work is a whole other story and by the afternoon I was really tired. The school has really been hit with this bug so loads of pupils (and staff) were off and I got through the day with the help of my lozenges and the good will of my pupils who were pleased to have their teacher back rather than a cover teacher. I decided not to go to yoga at night as I was not only tired, but still coughing and all the muscles in my upper body were really aching from the force of the cough. A quiet night in front of the TV beckoned for us both as Steve was getting himself up and about when I arrived home.

I felt a bit better on Friday and had a relatively light teaching commitment so survived another day. Steve went back to work too so both of us were feeling the impact of following a “normal” routine. We did still go out to eat as we usually do, but were both conscious that we didn’t need as much to eat as normal – highly unusual for these two runners!

The weekend plan was to relax. Without parkrun to go to (no running until I’m sure the cough has settled and I’m no longer sore) I was able to sleep until I awoke naturally and take my time getting ready. Steve went to meet his brother for a coffee and I walked into town to meet them as I thought the fresh air would be good for me. This meant we could get some food shopping done then relax at home for the afternoon.

After an earlier meal than usual, Steve drove me back into town as I was going to the pantomime with my sister. She works for the theatre and concert hall, so gets comp tickets for shows and I usually go with her. This year the panto is Aladdin and it was the opening night in the newly refurbished theatre. I still find it really strange as I worked there for a few years as a student so knew the old building really well and now it feels like all the doors lead to different places as there is basically a whole new building around the auditorium! Since I’ve been ill I’ve not been feeling too festive so it was nice to do something tradionally Christmassy and make me feel a bit better.

Sunday was another lazy morning (I feel so much better but this bug has left me really tired) and some chores before heading out for a coffee. Once home I spent some time putting up our Christmas tree, something that fell by the wayside last weekend!

So overall not the best of weeks for me. I am feeling a lot better now, but am incredibly sore from coughing and I can feel myself getting grumpy and irritable because I’m not getting the endorphins  from workouts. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back to some training soon as heading into Christmas without any training does not sound appealing! On a more interesting note, this week my photo has been used in some of the emails and social media posts for the Edinburgh Marathon Festival. This was taken during my 2nd of 4 events that weekend (10k, 5k, half marathon and final relay leg in 2015) and remains one of my greatest running memories. If you’re a newer reader or somehow missed it, you can read al about that particular adventure here and here.

Fame at last lol!

Have you put your Christmas decorations up yet?
What’s your favourite running memory?

Week In Review – Winter Begins…

With the clocks going back last weekend and the calendar turning over to November, I guess I have to accept that winter has officially arrived. I don’t enjoy colder weather, but I do enjoy snuggling up under a cosy blanket and looking forward to the festivities of December. In the meantime, I’m continuing to get back into the swing of regular training, but without any pressure. There needs to be some downtime after two marathon training cycles this year, so while it’s important to train, if something else comes up then I’m not going to stress about it. Join me now as I link up with Jessie @ The Right Fits and Jess @ Jess Runs ATL  (they’re both ran the NYC marathon this weekend so I hope they had an awesome race!) to share more about my week.

After being so busy in the week before, here’s how this past week worked out:

Monday – rest
Tuesday – bike @ gym
Wednesday – short run
Thursday – Ashtanga yoga
Friday – rest
Saturday – parkrun
Sunday – Edinburgh trip

I decided on Monday that rest was the most important thing as I was feeling tired. I was at work later due to a meeting then rather than go for a swim I headed straight home to get comfy. I was actually so tired that I went to bed before 9pm and was asleep shortly after. Wow!

As a result, I awoke on Tuesday morning after 8.5 hours of sleep. I was refreshed and ready to go! When I finished work I went to the gym and got set up on the bike with my Kindle again. I started a new book and pedalled fairly hard for half an hour. Often I like to go down to the sauna after this but this week preferred to head right home and spend some time with my cat as she was a little under the weather again. This also meant that I could be in bed at a reasonable time once more.

Wednesday is still a running day, even if the distance has been a little shorter of late. This week I had longer to fit in my run before orchestra so decided on a similar loop to the one I had done the previous Sunday (a bit under 4 miles). It felt good, but was the first run of the winter that was properly dark from start to finish. Time for a bit more high-vis!

By Thursday I was really looking forward to Ashtanga yoga, but found myself a bit behind schedule and was worried I might not make it. By some miracle (and spending less than 10 minutes in the house to get changed!) I got there in time. It was great to have some quiet time after rushing, and I was pleased to hold “Wheel” for the full 5 breaths again. Definitely improving at that one!

Friday was another rest day, this time because the cat had a check-up scheduled at the vet. She was much better than earlier in the week, but she hadn’t been in to see the vet for a month and I wanted to review her meds as well as make sure she had a check to see if there had been any change in her health conditions. We did make a small tweak to one of her meds, but other than that she was about the same which was good news. After that I enjoyed a relaxing evening of heading out for some food with Steve then relaxing in front of the TV with a glass of wine (and the cat!).

I awoke on Saturday to a crisp morning for parkrun. As the first Saturday of the month it was pacer day and I was the 28 minute pacer. I was also volunteering for the 25th time which means that I will shortly be able to claim my 25 volunteer T-shirt 🙂

As usual I was a little bit quick, but by less than 20 seconds which is not too bad, and had a lovely run. It’s nice to run at an easier pace and I enjoyed chatting to several others as I made my way around the course. It was a bumper event with 336 runners (a new record for us) which was great to see.

Post-run Steve and I got changed then headed into town to get some shopping (after a scone and cup of tea that is!).

It was an early start on Sunday to drive through to Edinburgh as Steve had a place in the men’s 10k. It was a chilly morning but bright so we had great views as we drove over the new Queensferry Crossing.

Safely parked, we made our way over to the Royal Mile via Starbucks for a caffeine hit and toilet stop.

The plan was for me to set off as soon as Steve was ready, but before the race began, in order to reach the finish line at Murrayfield Stadium before he finished. I set off with a podcast playing but wasn’t even past the castle before I got a call from Steve.

It turned out that as he warmed up he was getting a problem with his calf and had decided not to race. Probably a sensible decision. I returned to meet him and suggested that since it was just around the corner we (really I!) should pay a visit to the Harry Potter shop Diagon House which had opened in the summer. It’s on the street that is thought to be J.K. Rowling’s inspiration for Diagon Alley and I’ve been desperate to visit, but back in the summer the queues were massive!

Inside, I was spellbound and passed some happy time taking photos and browsing the merchandise. I bought a cloth bag with a picture of Harry Potter in cat form, as well as a couple of postcards for my classroom.

After that we went for a coffee (and the first mince pie of the season!) then had a look in the Apple Store before heading over to our favourite place – Hotel Chocolat. Their products are amazing and there’s a nice cafe. They also had festive drinks on and we had the most amazing salted caramel and clementine hot chocolate. Yum!

Then with all that chocolate goodness inside us we headed back to the car for the drive home as we were both in need of a nap after the early start (and I hadn’t slept too well the right before).

All in all, a pretty good week rounded off with a brilliant weekend, at least for me!

Are you a Harry Potter fan?
Any exciting plans for the festive season?

Week In Review – Training Peak

I’m at that stage in marathon training when the big miles are coming, the weariness is setting in and the taper is looking like an appealing prospect! Here’s how things have been over the past week – linking up with Jessie @ The Right Fits and Jess @ Jess Runs ATL as usual.

This week felt like a bit of a whirlwind, but here’s how my schedule ended up looking:

Monday – rest
Tuesday – bike reps @ the gym
Wednesday – 1km form drills
Thursday – Ashtanga yoga
Friday – rest
Saturday – parkrun pacing
Sunday – 20 miles

I actually felt quite good on Monday morning, despite the previous day’s 18 mile run. Clearly the post-birthday high tea was a great recovery tool! (If you missed last week’s post, you can catch up here). It was a good thing too as my work day was going to be a little different. Rather than be in my classroom all day, I was taking a group of 40 pupils to the Edinburgh Book Festival to see some authors speaking live. It was a good trip and the pupils were brilliant, but some of the timings were a little tight so there was a lot of rushing about to make sure we managed to do everything and got everyone home safely.

I think my young charges were all spending their money in the bookshop when I took this!

After that I decided it would be much more beneficial to head straight home and have some quality time at home rather than rushing about with going to the gym and using up a big chunk of my evening. This meant a reasonably early night and I definitely felt better for it.

Tuesday was a return to normal both with work and training. After school I headed to the gym to complete my bike reps (still hard work but boosting my fitness and making me stronger). I had considered a swim, but was a little later as I had decided to walk down there so headed home again instead so I could eat and enjoy a bit of down time (which basically means sitting in my comfy chair with the cat purring on my lap!).

On foot to make sure I hit my step goal!

I wasn’t looking forward to my Wednesday workout. I had 10 x 1km form drills to do and I just couldn’t work out a route. It’s fine to do some of the reps on inclines, but it does make it tougher. There aren’t really any totally flat routes around here though. To make things worse, I was quite late getting home and organised so it was about 6:30pm before I was heading out the door and I knew that with a warm up and cool down, as well as my recovery segments, I was probably looking at an hour and a half of exercise. In reality that’s not too much, and the workout was fine, but it meant arriving home again around 8pm, whereupon I had to shower, change and eat. I was so tired that I pretty much headed to bed as soon as I’d done all that and was sound asleep before 10pm!

The rock and roll life of a runner during marathon training!

I much prefer Thursday as I have my Ashtanga yoga class. I think this is one of my favourite sessions in the whole week. By the time I get to Thursday I really appreciate the time to unwind and stretch. I always feel better afterwards.

Friday became a rest day as I had arranged to visit a good friend from work who has recently had surgery on her foot. She’s been spending her days at home with her foot up, so was keen for a visit to catch up on the gossip as various circumstances prevented that from happening over the summer and her surgery was scheduled for soon after we went back to work. It was great to see her and we had a lovely chat over several cups of tea and a bit of cake. Lovely!

Since Saturday was the first Saturday of the month, it was pacer day at parkrun. I was down for 28 minutes so that meant I had a nice comfortable (for me) run ahead of me. Probably a good thing as I woke up not feeling at my best. Over dinner on Friday evening I felt a bit off – scratchy throat and lethargic – and put it down to being tired from a busy week as that’s usually the physical symptoms I get if I’ve overdone it a bit. I had hoped to sleep it off, but don’t think I slept well enough. I still felt fine to run (no “below the neck” symptoms) and running 28 minutes rather than sub-24 meant I felt no pressure to perform. In actual fact the run made me feel much better and I was pleased to be able to help other runners again. One friend got a great new PB, with lots of loud “encouragement” from me towards the end, and I helped a first timer to keep on going to the end. Very satisfying.

Impressive that we managed to line up in the right order (no idea where 21 was though!)

It was also Steve’s 100th parkrun (my 90th – nearly there!) and this year he has taken on the job of photographing parkrunners on their milestone run days to add to our event’s Facebook page. I was ready to leap in and take his, however we weren’t standing together and he handed his camera to someone else. It was only later that the lovely Ella pointed out that I was in “stealth mode” again lol!

Can you spot me?

Sadly no Hatha yoga this week, but that did mean I could join Steve and his brother for their usual Saturday morning post-parkrun catchup. I had a pot of tea and a bacon croissant (so delicious) before Steve and I sorted out all our errands for the weekend. After lunch Steve headed out so I finished off the mammoth stack of laundry I’d not had time to tackle during the week and had a nice nap with my furry napping supervisor. It was just what I needed and I woke feeling refreshed and much less “off” than earlier. Hopefully that should sort me out – a cold would be most inconvenient right now!

I tackled the germs hard on Saturday night with an assortment of remedies I know usually ward off any nasties for me and I awoke on Sunday morning feeling pretty much myself, but with a bit of a lingering sniffle. The 20 mile run was on! There was a bit of me that kind of couldn’t be bothered, but I told myself that once the run was done I would feel ready for race day and would be able to taper. But having fought off a probable cold, I didn’t want to stray too far from home in case I had any bother so plotted a route that would keep me reasonably close by but without too much repetition.

I’d be lying if I said it was easy, but then when is a 20 mile run ever easy? I felt absolutely fine, but my body did take advantage of the time in the fresh air to make my nose run a fair bit. This, in turn, made my mouth and throat feel really dry so by the time I got home I was desperate for a drink as I’d used up all of mine. Luckily I had the foresight to text Steve and ask him to have my drinks ready for my return so there was some ice cold water at the door for me to drink straight away, before some electrolytes and my recovery shake. By the time I had my shower I was feeling fine again.

Tired but happy post-run

I also took the opportunity on this run to try out a running skirt I hadn’t worn before but was considering for race day (I liked it so that looks like a decision made) as well as a new pair of the shoes I have been training in (always best to check in case there’s a bit of material that rubs or something). Most excitingly, I had bought a new hydration pack and was keen to try it out. I already have a couple but the sloshing of the water reservoir can be a bit annoying and I still have a scar on my shoulder blade from where the pack I was wearing in Paris worked loose and rubbed against my back in the heat. Ouch! This time I decided to invest in a Salomon pack, where you buy a specific size. It came with two soft flasks on the front and loads of storage for phone/gels/tissues and anything else I consider indispensable. There’s also space for a reservoir, but I just went with the soft flasks today as that was new to me. I have to say, the pack was amazing. It doesn’t really move, there’s no sloshing from the soft flasks and is barely noticeable while I run, yet I know that everything I need is easy to access without having to stop and faff around. Perfect!

So that’s my longest run done and now it’s time to taper. I’m definitely ready to cut back a bit and plan to really focus on rest, especially sleep, over the next three weeks so my body is ready to go for it on race day.

What is your next challenge?
What’s your preferred method (if any) of carrying hydration for a long run?

Week In Review – The Final Countdown!

I made it! As I write this the school year is over at long last and I’m settling into “holiday mode”. Read on for a bit more about life and training in the last week of term as I join Jessie @ The Right Fits and Jess @ Jess Runs ATL for their weekly linkup.

As usual, I followed my established routine for the week (for the most part):

Monday – swim
Tuesday – bike reps @ the gym
Wednesday – run
Thursday – Ashtanga yoga
Friday – rest
Saturday – parkrun
Sunday – rest

On Monday I was feeling pretty exhausted. My brain was fried from the demands of the year, especially my recent exam marking which is enjoyable but takes a lot of brain power. I was also a bit daunted by everything I had to do in order to move classroom before the end of term. Getting into the pool for some gentle lengths was exactly what I needed, and I took it fairly easily as my whole being has been screaming out for rest! My swim always makes me feel refreshed though, so it was a worthwhile visit.

Admittedly, the last thing I felt like doing on Tuesday was a set of bike reps, however I also knew that this was the last set of reps before heading away on holiday and a repeat of last week‘s set. The knowledge that it was the last one and that I had successfully completed the same workout the week before gave me enough motivation to get to the gym and work my way through the reps. Finishing felt like such an accomplishment! After hitting the mats for some stretching and mobility work, I headed to the sauna to relax and unwind for a bit.

Last week I skipped my Wednesday run partly to allow the tightness in my right leg to settle and partly because I had a prior commitment. This week my leg was much better, but it still didn’t seem like the best idea to be doing a set of hill reps. Instead, I decided on a short run, but somehow getting myself home from work and organised for a run seemed to take forever. I was definitely procrastinating, but knew a run would make me feel much better. I told myself I could either run a 2.5 mile loop or a 3.5 mile loop – one meant turning right at the bottom of the road and the other left. Of course as soon as I got to the bottom of the road I was settling into the run and turned left for the 3.5 mile loop. This left me feeling energised for the remainder of the evening.

Thursday was the day I had been waiting for – the end of term! It was a half day and I headed into school knowing that I could get the classroom move sorted out quite quickly. I had already packed up the contents of both my classroom and the one I was moving into, so simply gathered a crack team of movers (pretty much any pupil who turned up in my classroom!) and got the whole thing done really quickly. I still have to go and sort out where I want everything, but that can wait until later in the holidays.  By the time we finished up at lunchtime I had already taken over 7000 steps just from marching up and down the stairs with boxes! I spent the afternoon getting a few things organised at home before heading to my Ashtanga yoga class. I LOVED the class this week. I don’t know if it was that end of term feeling or if it was something else, but it just felt really good. I mentioned it to my teacher who said that she had felt it too – like everything just flowed really well that night. I guess sometimes you just get classes like that. Whatever it was, it was such a nice way to begin the holidays.

On Friday morning I had intended to sleep a bit longer, but my body had other ideas, pre-programmed as it is right now to wake early. Still, being up gave me the chance to do some tidying and organise my life a bit before heading to the gym to relax in the hot tub and sauna before taking care of some pre-holiday errands. A relaxing day made that night’s meal with Steve even more enjoyable!

Saturday was in some ways a little different. Steve headed off to Edinburgh to get organised for his Ironman 70.3 the following day, while I headed to parkrun where I was the 27 minute pacer. Once more I was a little fast, finishing in 26:46, but I know I helped some people so that was great. It was a really busy parkrun and we got a new attendance record of 295 runners!

After getting showered and changed I walked to the hairdresser for my holiday haircut and reached my step goal on the way back home. That brings me to a full year of reaching my step goal and that makes me really happy. More about that in my forthcoming update on my 7 goals for 2017.

I also took delivery of the medal from a virtual race I had signed up for. Wonder Woman is ALWAYS going to sell it to me!

The rest of my day was pretty relaxing, then Steve arrived home (complete with sliced hand from a sharp rock he got up close and personal with whilst checking out the swim course!) in time to eat then he had to get the last of his gear ready for an early start on Sunday.

I declined the chance to leave with him at 4:30am (!!!), instead getting a couple more hours of sleep all snuggled in with the cat. We had worked out that there was little point in me being at the swim start as it would be so hard to actually spot Steve or work out what was going on and much more interesting to watch the bike and run. After some checking of various options, I got the first train to Edinburgh at 8:50am and walked the short distance to the finish area at Holyrood Park (where the 5k and 10k of the Edinburgh Marathon Festival take place).

I arrived just in time to see the first finisher cross the line then battled for a bit with the online tracker to try and work out where Steve might be. In the end I discovered that there were some problems with that tracker and found another one that was a bit more helpful. Having established that Steve was out on the bike course (I was afraid I might have missed his transition to the run) I watched the first female finisher as well as the podium ceremonies (I got a bit too close to the women’s one and got splashed with champagne – cue me spending the rest of the day smelling of alcohol!).

I then made my way back over to the transition area and was able to spot Steve coming in then got some photos a few minutes later when he emerged from the transition tent.

The run course was three laps but I sought some shelter from passing showers during Steve’s first lap then caught him on the second.

There was then just enough time for a cup of tea (the weather had by this time completely forgotten that it’s July and I had several tops on!) before taking up my position to get a photo of his finish – a respectable 6:19:48!

I have to say, it was a bit strange watching the event. I knew the swim had been shortened due to the weather conditions and the bike course certainly wasn’t for the fainthearted, so spent the first part of my spectating thinking NOPE, not for me. But the more I watched delighted athletes crossing the line (and of course I was watching running, a familiar discipline) the more I thought “maybe one day…” and now feel inspired to refocus on my swimming again as I feel my progress here has stalled a bit. What I’m doing complements my running well enough, but it could still be much better. Let’s see what the next few weeks bring there…

Would you ever try a 70.3 triathlon?
What sporting event scares you the most?

Week in Review – A Break From Routine

Like last week, this past week hasn’t exactly followed my normal pattern, but I’m pleased to report that I still completed all my planned training. Go me! As ever, I’m linking up with Jessie @ The Right Fits and Jess @ Jess Runs ATL for my weekly recap.

The structure of my training is now pretty well established, but here’s how this week looked:

Monday – swim Hatha yoga
Tuesday – bike intervals @ the gym + swim
Wednesday – hill reps
Thursday – Ashtanga yoga
Friday – mobility
Saturday – parkrun + Hatha yoga
Sunday – 9 miles

The week began with a degree of training uncertainty. As part of my exam marking role I was required to be out of school again on Monday for a meeting in Edinburgh. I got the train so I wouldn’t have the stress of driving into the centre of Edinburgh on a weekday, but this meant I wasn’t sure when I would get back to Perth. Steve dropped me off at the station as my train was at 8am and I walked from the station in Edinburgh to the meeting venue (about a mile) so was already more active than usual for a Monday. The trains are about once an hour so I couldn’t be sure what train home I would get. In the end I arrived back in Perth around 5pm and walked the mile or so home from the station. This meant there wasn’t enough time to squeeze in a swim before going to yoga (I had another missed class to make up), but had the bonus of reaching double step goal on a day when I normally have to be quite creative to meet my goal at all! I enjoyed the class and really appreciated the time to myself after another day focusing on the intricacies of exam marking, but sadly it wasn’t enough to help me drift off to sleep that night and that poor sleep set the tone for the week.

Tuesday was a bit of a struggle as I was feeling really tired from not sleeping enough, but I still went to the gym for my bike reps. I was perfectly prepared to back off a bit and go by feel, but the reps actually made me feel a bit better. I used the chance to also do a bit of mobility work before hitting the pool for a swim. I really like having a swim after the bike session but don’t always manage to fit that in. I had hoped that this would mean a good sleep, but I made the mistake of working too long into the evening and just wasn’t in bed for long enough. Oops!

Wednesday was warm, but not as much as last week so I felt much better during my hill reps. I’ve had the same session for the last couple of weeks so it’s easy for me to compare my performance week on week and consider the impact of factors like weather and how I’m feeling. Although tired, I felt my performance was better than last week so I was pleased. Still not enough sleep that night though – I just didn’t learn my lesson!

On Thursday my day was a little different. I was in school, but only with one year group (the seniors were still on study leave and two year groups were out on various activities). It was a bit of a weird day and for various reasons I just didn’t achieve as much as I had hoped. Heading to Ashtanga that evening was a welcome relief! We were back in the studio again as the weather wasn’t as good, but it was a great class, despite my tiredness making my balance a bit iffy in some of the postures! Afterwards I (yet again) got caught up in some exam stuff and worked a little too long. Not ideal, but it’s only once a year and the marking period is relatively short so I can cope.

Friday was another different day for me and I really enjoyed it. As part of our annual health promotion week the junior classes are taken out for a day on an organised walk. I had been assigned to accompany the year group heading out on Friday and was pleased to find myself with a really nice group of 50 pupils. Their walk was taking place at Loch Leven (where I recently ran the half marathon) but on a portion of the heritage trail. Our starting point was where we had registered for the race and we were led from there onto the path which we followed for about 3.5 miles around by the loch to reach our lunch venue. Fortunately it was dry (in fact, conditions were ideal for walking – dry and mild but not too hot) so it was really nice having our picnic on a nice grass area. We spent about an hour there and the pupils had a group activity to complete about responsible behaviour in the outdoors. After lunch we set off again for a slightly longer stretch (not quite 4 miles) to our bus pick up point (there were two other groups out walking around different stretches of the trail so we were a bit more spread out and unsuspecting walkers wouldn’t have 200 young people suddenly descending on them!). The kids were brilliant: super behaviour and no complaints, although I was amused at the fact that they had covered less than half a mile before they started asking when lunch was ha!

Once back at school I had a bit of a chat with my colleagues (we had all been on various activities over Thursday and Friday so hadn’t all been together) then drove straight to the studio for a mobility session with Steve (I had spent the day in workout gear so there was no need to change). We worked through a series of exercises targeting the usual spots: upper back, hips and core. The temperature picked up during the day so I did have to clean myself up a bit afterwards before I was fit to be seen in public when we went out to eat lol!

I had been hopeful of a longer sleep, however the cat decided to allow me just half an hour extra before declaring that starvation was imminent and I had to get up and fill her bowl. I did manage a short doze afterwards, but it wasn’t quite the same.

It was pacer week at parkrun so I was down sharp to collect my pacing bib. I had 29 minutes this time and to be honest I found it pretty tough to settle into the required pace and ended up finishing in 28:39! Oh well, I can’t imagine anyone would complain about getting a faster time than they wanted! I ran most of the course with a lovely woman who is quite new to running. Turned out she had met with Steve during the week to discuss some training and we had a nice time chatting while I gave her a bit of advice on her running. It was only her second parkrun and she did brilliantly, sprinting off in the last kilometre while I tried to keep the pace even and encourage some others around me. Much as I love to run a hard parkrun, I also really enjoy pacing as it gives me a chance to chat to new people and run at a more leisurely (for me) pace. I would definitely recommend it if you ever get the chance.

After parkrun I had a quick change then headed off to my Hatha yoga class. I really feel the benefit of that post-run stretch and it sets me up for the rest of the day which, right now, is mostly centred around the exam marking and my team management duties.

On Sunday Steve headed off on a long cycle as part of a brick session for his forthcoming half ironman. I, meanwhile, had a bit of a tidy around the house then got ready for my 9 mile run. It was sunny but not too hot, so shorts and a vest were ideal. Of course the weather suddenly became very changeable and I got soaked in a midrun downpour, but it was still a good run. I have been running a very similar route every Sunday, with slight tweaks to vary the distance, and my plan remains the same: capitalise on the endurance I’ve built by running a bit faster so that after my holiday I will (hopefully) find marathon pace feels a lot easier as I build up the miles again towards the Loch Ness Marathon. Given that my route features a pretty big hill, I was pleased to finish with an overall average of 8:46 per mile, only a tiny bit slower than last week, but with much more of a headwind through large chunks of the route. Needless to say, by the time I was finished I looked pretty bedraggled!

Next week I’m hoping to get my sleeping pattern back under control. The marking process should level out a bit, with my team perhaps not needing quite as much input, and I’ve changed my bedding as I know clean sheets help me to sleep better. A day off work on Monday should help too! I’ll let you know how it goes…

How has your training gone this week?
What is your next event?

Week in Review – A Change Is As Good As A Rest

It’s been a bit of a different week for me. Apart from the arrival of summer at last, I was away for a night on a work trip – something that’s a bit of a rarity in teaching – which meant a change to my routine. Read on as I link up with Jessie @ The Right Fits and Jess @ Jess Runs ATL to I recap my week.

Despite my trip I did manage to keep the structure of my week (mostly) as planned:

Monday – swim + Hatha yoga
Tuesday – Bike reps @ the gym
Wednesday – Hill reps
Thursday – Ashtanga yoga
Friday – PT session
Saturday – parkrun + Hatha yoga
Sunday – 8 miles

Monday was a bit of a rush as I had a dental checkup at 5pm and got stuck in traffic on my way home from work. Luckily I made it. Just! My dentist is near my gym so I was able to head in for a swim afterwards and benefitted from some tips from a very good swimmer who has taken an interest in my progress. He often gives me advice on how to make form tweaks which will help improve my swimming and I find this really helpful as I have no idea what my form looks like as I make my way through the water. After my swim I had time for a short relax in the hot tub before getting showered and changed. Since I had missed a couple of my Saturday Hatha yoga classes I was going to a Monday class instead to “make up” (we pay for a block in advance). Going on a Monday evening was a really nice way to round off the day, especially after all my rushing around after work!

It was on Tuesday that my routine began to change. I am involved in the process of marking and quality assuring exam papers, and the preparation for this each year requires me to be out of school for two days while the standard is finalised. This year my meeting was taking place in Edinburgh and I opted to stay over in order to remove the stress of driving up and down the road in peak traffic, through lots of roadworks. This also helps me to clear my head and focus on the task ahead. Since teachers don’t often have meetings or courses outside of school, one of the highlights is always the food! So for my readers who are teachers, this was my lunch:

I wasn’t staying at the same venue as the meeting but my hotel was just a few minutes away, right next door to the zoo! This made my “commute” much shorter, giving me plenty of time to make use of the hotel gym facilities for my bike intervals. Using different equipment made it harder to get the right intensity level on the bike, but the most important thing is that I still got my workout done and was able to spend time on some mobility work as well.

I also did a few lengths of the pool to try out the form tips I was given on Monday, before making use of the hot tub and sauna!

Since I was viewing this solo work trip as a bit of a treat (I was working hard during the day, but the evening was my own), I opted for a steak dinner and a small glass of wine which I enjoyed whilst catching up on some blog reading I had fallen behind with.

And no hotel stay would be complete without a relaxing bath. Yes, I take hotel stays VERY seriously lol!

My short journey back to the meeting venue on Wednesday meant I could sleep slightly later, although I did end up waking up a bit sooner than I need to so enjoyed time reading in bed with a cup of tea before getting organised and heading to breakfast. Given how seriously I take hotel stays, it should be no surprise that I fully availed myself of the spread available to create a three course breakfast!

The remainder of the day was spent over marking preparations, pausing of course for lunch!

Once home at the end of the day I had hill reps on my schedule. It was a hot day and I’d spent two days eating heavier meals than usual, but I gamely headed out anyway. I’m not going to lie, some of those longer reps were hard work, but I completed the set before heading home to melt into a puddle in the garden! It’s nice to have some good weather as I enjoy doing my post-run stretches (and jumping about!) in the garden.

Thursday was another hot day so it was lovely to arrive at Ashtanga yoga and have the teacher suggest taking the class outside. I know they did this one night last year, but I think it was when I was away on holiday so missed it. We took our mats over to the North Inch and worked through the series of postures on the grass, surrounded by lots of other people out enjoying the warm evening in various ways: sunbathing, dog walking, sports… It was perfect! It felt a little odd having a different surface under me, and one or two times I had to shift around on my mat a bit due to a bit of uneven ground, but I would definitely do that again.

On Fridays Steve has added a mobility session to my programme. Ordinarily I will do this at home on my own, however he had a cancellation this week so was able to fit me in at the studio. It was another hot day so in the end I refused to go inside and I completed my session in the car park! I may have had a few funny looks from those departing for the weekend, but at least I got to enjoy the fresh air and nice weather for a bit.

It was so nice that I actually took a short walk once I got home as I wanted to enjoy the sun for a bit longer. I then took my MacBook into the garden and worked there for a while until it was time to go and eat. It was a bit warm for my usual choice of chicken curry, so I opted for a chilli burger instead (yes, I did cut it in half before remembering to take a photo – bad blogger!).

The run of hot weather continued into Saturday morning and I knew parkrun was going to be a toasty one. I wore pretty minimal kit, but the bulk of the course is in direct sunshine so I got pretty warm and ended up being a little slower than last week with a 24:03. To be honest, I thought I would be slower! It was a really busy parkrun and we had a new record turnout of 286 which was brilliant. There was also the annual volleyball tournament taking place in the park so the area was really busy and buzzing with activity.

Of course I was a pretty sweaty mess afterwards but managed a quick turnaround to freshen up and head to my Hatha yoga class. It was a really good class and I must have been really relaxed at the end as I suddenly became aware of the teacher telling us to start moving our fingers and toes at the end of the relaxation. I must have completely drifted off!

Saturday afternoon was quite overcast and there was a little rain, with a bit of thunder later on, but by Sunday morning this had cleared to leave another hot and sunny morning. Once more I found some minimal kit and headed out a bit earlier for my run. I had 8 miles to do and was taking the same approach as last week to run harder in order to capitalise on the endurance I’ve built by adding a bit of speed. My route was pretty similar to my 10 mile run last Sunday and the sun definitely made it tough in places, but I finished with an overall pace average a bit quicker than last week so I was pleased. If I can continue to perform well in warmer weather then I should definitely gain some performance benefits as the weather cools down into the autumn. Right now I’m all about finding those marginal gains that will make a difference to my marathon performance!

It’s been so good to get some warmer weather, even if it did make my workouts a bit harder! Still, I’m happy with how I performed throughout the week and I know strong performances in the heat will be beneficial in the long term.

How do you fare in warmer weather?
Do you enjoy staying in hotels?

My Marathon Journey

Today is a very special day. Do you know why? Well, today is Marathon Day: 26th February = 26.2! (yes, I know my friends in the USA write the date the other way around and that my continental friends use kilometres, but just go with it – it is a thing, honest!) For a Marathon Day special I thought I would write about my own marathon journey. Some of this has been touched on in other posts, but I thought it would be good to take the time to reflect on how far I’ve come and why 26.2 miles remains so important to me.

It all began waaaay back in the pre-blog days of 2009 and frankly, it was all Steve’s fault! 2009 was the year I “graduated” from being a bit of a fair weather plodder, to being a “proper runner” who trained regularly, regardless of weather, and signed up for “proper” races (rather than mass-participation charity fundraisers) thanks to the encouragement of a certain PT who had recently become a fairly permanent fixture in my life. I knew Steve had run many marathons (he was probably the first person I was ever aware of who had actually run any marathons, let alone several!) but I don’t think I had ever really considered marathon running as a genuine possibility for me. Despite a lifetime of watching the London marathon on TV every April, I still believed marathons were reserved for the super elite and the super fit. Surely impossible for someone like me? But that year’s London marathon changed all that. I knew Steve was training, but had little concept of what that really meant in terms of the commitment he was making, it was only when I travelled to London with him and watched the race live that I began to get a taste of what marathon running was really all about: the palpable excitement and nerves at the expo, the enthusiasm and energy of the crowd… and the people just like me running through the streets of the capital. I distinctly remember thinking, if they can do this, why can’t I?

And so the first steps on a journey that would change my life were taken. By the time the year was over, Steve and I were engaged and we had both signed up for the 2010 Paris Marathon. It may not ultimately have been the marathon experience I dreamed of, thanks to an injury sustained during training, but despite all the naysayers I completed that race (in a rather slow 5:01:03 – might have dipped under 5 hours if I hadn’t stopped for a toilet break!). Before the race if people had asked me about marathon running I would say something about how I wanted to do it just once to see what it was like, to be able to say I had done it, but far from a “one and done” experience, actually running the race made me want to do it again. I crossed the line tired, sore and feeling like I was under attack from my emotions, but I also crossed the line knowing that I DEFINITELY wanted to do it again. In London…

I was incredibly fortunate and secured a place in the 2011 London Marathon via the running club I was a member of at the time. Looking back, I can’t believe how lucky I was to get in and I don’t think I realised it at the time having never experienced the repeated ballot rejections that I have since become so familiar with! This time training went much more to plan and I completed the race in a much more respectable 4:35:28. I was overjoyed: I had actually run the London marathon, the same London marathon I watched on TV every year, and had achieved a time I felt to be much more representative of my abilities. For many, that experience would be the end of the road, but not me. My journey had barely even begun.

A few short weeks later I was lining up at the start of another marathon, this time in Edinburgh. I had taken on a double marathon challenge to raise money for a local charity, but having one marathon already in my legs that spring I had no idea how I would fare. I had achieved the time I wanted to in London, so this race was all about the experience, about completing the challenge I had set for myself and raising money for a good cause. But having run a marathon already meant that I could go into this race feeling much more confident and I felt no pressure to perform. Perhaps that’s why I was able to set myself a new PB of 4:32:17, despite running into that Edinburgh marathon headwind for the last few miles (my dad was running the last leg of the relay that year and as he caught up to me and asked how I was doing I could only grunt at him and watch, helpless, as he disappeared into the distance on his fresh legs!). I could have ended it there: 3 marathons, including London, a decent finish time, and a fundraising experience. That’s more than many others would ever do, but now my journey was to take a new direction: I wanted a quicker time.

And so my thinking changed. I was becoming more and more immersed in the world of running, something that led to me starting this blog, and I wanted to run a sub 4:30 marathon. I knew that 4:30ish was an “average” finish time and I wanted to be above average (delusions of grandeur, haha!), but this was not to prove as straightforward as I had hoped…

My first crack at my new goal was in 2012. My marathon of choice was the now-defunct Lochaber marathon, an out-and-back course on country roads around Fort William. It was always a popular marathon among Scottish club runners and I knew it would be a very different experience to the big city races I had taken part in so far. Training went well and I was hitting the paces I would need for a finish closer to 4 hours, but towards the end of March I developed a problem with my left calf and continued to battle with it right up to race day. My physio gave me the go-ahead to run, but with the caution that I should stop if the pain in my left side worsened (thanks to a biomechanical issue, I had developed bursitis in my hip and was getting referred pain in my calf as my body tried to adapt). I completed the race, but was off pace from the start, the last 10 miles were an uncomfortable, lonely plod and I burst into tears as soon as I finished. My time was still respectable at 4:35:08 (faster than London!) but I knew it didn’t reflect my training and what I thought I was now capable of doing. I had to chalk it up to a speedbump in the road and remind myself that there would be other races.

But contrary to my expectations, it was not to be in the following year as the road got even bumpier. With the niggling problem in my hip resurfacing at the end of 2012, I made the heartbreaking decision not to take up my place at the 2013 Paris marathon and work instead on getting back to basics, addressing my biomechanical issues and rebuilding myself as a stronger, more robust runner. As it turns out, this was probably for the best as in February of 2013 I succumbed to the flu. Proper flu. The kind where it hurt to just lie in bed and even a trip to the toilet was a huge undertaking (a visit to the doctor completely wiped me out despite my otherwise good physical fitness and for the first time I truly understood why much more vulnerable people could be at such risk if they caught the flu). Still, a year of focusing my training in a very different way meant that I could go into 2014 feeling much stronger and ready to take on the challenge of aiming for a 4 hour marathon, my new target after my training for Lochaber suggested I might be capable of this.

2014 was a year of challenge. Steve and I committed to raising funds for Macmillan Cancer Support and my part in this was to take on 3 marathons – 2 in the spring and 1 in the autumn. The first of these was Paris, having been so disappointed not to get there the year before. Spring training went well and I was delighted to finish the race with a massive new PB of 4:05:07! But my good fortune was not to last as yet again I picked up an injury as I headed into my second marathon of the year – Edinburgh. This time it was my tibialis posterior. I couldn’t believe that I had yet another injury and there was a lot of “why me?” angst. Much like in Lochaber a couple of years before, I had the ok to give it a go and once more found myself with a painful hobble through the final miles, this time finishing in 4:40:02. Quite a difference from Paris! Even worse, the problem continued all the way through the summer, forcing me to pull out of my autumn marathon in Loch Ness to ensure that I could properly heal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Throughout my injury time I began to really seriously think that maybe marathon running wasn’t for me as I kept on getting injured, but my time in Paris made me think that I could aim for a sub-4 hour time and as my body healed I decided that I had to have another go. My journey was not over!

I had secured a place in the 2015 Paris Marathon and as the new year began it was time for the now-familiar routine of marathon training. That training began well, but as I headed into March the wheels came off. I had issues with nutrition, with feeling stressed about work pressures and something had to give. Inevitably that something was my body. What began as a tight calf soon evolved into a problem with my quad and I began to fear that once more my hip was going to be at the root of things. Fortunately a trip to the physio put my mind at rest when a mild strain to the quad muscle was diagnosed. Even better, I would be able to run in Paris, but had to make some sweeping changes to my training in the final weeks and found myself out on my bike rather than running. On race day my quad was reasonably comfortable, but I was aware of the muscle, a little like a constant itch that needed to be scratched, and what had begun as an assault on 4 hours turned into a much more sedate affair, clocking in at 4:43:39. Aside from that PB in 2014, I was actually getting slower! Yet once more rather than consider giving up, I decided to try AGAIN! I’m either incredibly tenacious, completely delusional or just plain mad!

I recovered well that spring and ran strongly throughout the summer, really enjoying my running again. And to cheer me even further, I actually WON my place in the 2016 Paris Marathon. Then it happened. What at first was a slightly niggly foot got worse and soon I was hobbling to my podiatrist hoping for a miracle. Instead, I got the diagnosis I had feared: a stress fracture of the second metatarsal. In the past all my injuries had been to do with muscles or tendons, things that would heal reasonably quickly, but this time there was damage to the bone. I had an Xray, I had taping and I had strict orders not to run. At all. Once more, I could see my marathon dreams slipping away and once more I considered whether or not I had reached the end of my marathon journey. But as I recovered well (following my podiatrist’s advice TO THE LETTER as well as listening very carefully to my body) I decided that since our trip to Paris was booked, there was no harm in actually trying to complete the marathon – after all, I was by then injury-free, I was just a tiny bit undertrained with my 10 mile long run and weeks on the bike. Still, what was the worst that could happen? I’d rather DNF than DNS and thought it would be fun to completely take the pressure off and just enjoy the experience. Which is exactly what I did. I kept the pace easy, stopped to enjoy a “buffet” of orange segments and sugar lumps along the way, took selfies and had a generally fantastic time. I learned a lot about pacing and was rather surprised to end up finishing faster than the year before with a 4:38:38. Maybe my marathon journey wasn’t done after all…

After several years of injury-blighted spring marathons, I decided to try something different and sign up for an autumn marathon. My thinking was that a lot of my training would take place in the summer when I would be at my most rested, and I looked carefully at my training plan to shake things up and reduce the impact on my body. I was convinced that my injuries were coming either from biomechanical issues (which had largely been addressed) or training mistakes (which I didn’t plan to repeat). I also decided to keep this one secret and see what happened when there was no pressure on me to succeed. Sadly, I didn’t quite make it to the start line. My hip was to blame again, but this time for very different reasons. The yoga I had been doing had helped to significantly loosen off the offending hip, but then it wasn’t strong enough to withstand the demands of my training. Despite my physio saying I could run the marathon without doing any damage, I decided it just wasn’t worth it. I had nothing to prove, after all I had completed marathons in much more dire circumstances. Instead I oped to pull out, work on strengthening my hip, and try (yet) again. To be honest, if I was reading all this about somebody else I’d be wondering why on earth they kept on returning to the marathon when more often than not it resulted in injury, yet I just can’t let go of my sub-4 hour dream yet. I’m so sure I have it in me and am determined to prove that I can do it, using all I’ve learned from past failures to make that dream come true.

Which brings us right up to date. I have a place in the 2017 Paris Marathon (spotting the pattern yet?) and so far training has gone well, although I am conscious that I’m now hitting the stage where things are more likely to go wrong. Still, I believe that I was simply unlucky at the tail end of 2016. I don’t really consider my hip problem then to be an injury as nothing was damaged, it was more of a reaction to operating with greater mobility and a lack of strength. Rather than a training error, this was simply bad luck. I also believe that I got the pattern of my training right and have continued to work with that in my current cycle. At this point, I am further into the training than I was in the autumn and I continue to prioritise strength work for my hips and core in my PT sessions. I’m also using yoga to help me stay flexible, having regular sports massages, trying to prioritise rest and listening very carefully to my body. So far it seems happy and I’m hopeful that this time I can complete a successful cycle of training and prove that my roller coaster journey to date has finally levelled out to a much smoother path. Regular readers have perhaps been following my training in my weekly updates, and with just 6 weeks to go, I’m still feeling optimistic. Only time will tell if I can finally reach my goal and use the (often hard) lessons from my marathon journey to find what I’m looking for. Wish me luck!

Tell me about your marathon journey. Have there been many bumps in the road for you?
Do you have a favourite marathon experience?