Week In Review – Fun, Sun and Holidays Done!

The second week of my spring break gave me a chance to get a bit more consistent training in as part of my inverse taper, as well have a bit more fun to set me up for the long term ahead. My training ended up as follows:

Monday – Hatha yoga
Tuesday – 4 miles
Wednesday – rest
Thursday – 10k + Ashtanga yoga
Friday – PT session with Steve
Saturday – parkrun sandwich
Sunday 17 miles

It was great to be off on Marathon Monday as it meant I was able to watch online coverage of the Boston marathon in the afternoon. If you haven’t caught it already, I suggest taking a look at the finish of the men’s race – so exciting! The timing worked out perfectly as not long after the elite races finished it was time for me to head out to my yoga class. It’s a term time class, but the new school term already started in the area where I live (they came off on holiday a week ahead of the school where I work, in a neighbouring area). I already felt pretty relaxed, but it was still good to get back on the mat and start a new block of classes.

Before heading out to the class my sister had sent me a message telling me about the fire at Notre Dame in Paris (I hadn’t seen any news since I had marathon coverage on) and when I arrived home I was shocked to see the extent of the fire and the impact on the cathedral’s infrastructure. Regular readers know that Paris is my favourite city and a very special place for me, so anything that affects Paris tends to touch my heart. I ended up watching rolling coverage of the terrible blaze for the rest of the evening as there seemed to be some doubts about whether or not the fire could be contained and the building saved, so as soon as they announced that it was under control I breathed a sigh of relief and headed off to bed.

With Paris still on my mind, I pulled one of my Paris marathon tops out of the wardrobe to wear for my run on Tuesday morning. It was a very pleasant 4 mile run on a staple route, but what really struck me was how good my legs felt after my 16 mile run on Sunday. I had commented to Steve that my legs had felt fine afterwards and through the Monday, so a run was a real test of how well they had recovered. I’ve no idea why this is – maybe the additional running that is now part of my average week has conditioned them a bit better – but even with the time I had off, my legs are recovering well from my longer runs. Whatever it is, I hope it lasts!

On Tuesday evening I went to the concert hall with my parents and sister as she had got us tickets for the production of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw which was on. I know it’s a book I’ve read, however there is a degree of ambiguity around some of the action (and it’s kinda creepy in places – I believe it was an inspiration for The Woman in Black) and I couldn’t remember it very well as it’s been so long since I read it. It was a good production, but it does irritate me when the ending is a little too open to interpretation.

I took Wednesday as a rest day and spent the morning relaxing at home. I think I might even have watched a film! In the afternoon Steve and I headed into town since we had another code for a free coffee in Caffè Nero and I had a few errands to run. The sun was out so I walked into town and Steve joined me a little later for coffee. It’s nice to do things like that when I’m on holiday.

Thursday morning was a bit cooler again, perfect for a run. I decided on another 10k since I had the luxury of time. Nothing special, just a fairly standard run and more time on my feet to keep things consistent. That’s the most important thing right now.

I popped out again in the afternoon as I had a couple of errands that needed me to have the car (bags of cat litter are a bit hefty to carry home!) and I came back to find the kittens like this:

I then had my Ashtanga class in the early evening. Despite having all the time in the world, I was nearly late thanks to some heavy traffic but I made it in time to get set up right before class started. Yet again, I felt I was strong in Wheel but it wasn’t a good Headstand week for me (it happens!) and I only held it for a couple of breaths before I felt I was losing my balance. No big deal, I know I can keep improving it with consistent practice.

Friday was my most exciting day of the week. It began in a fairly nondescript fashion with a workout down at Steve’s studio. We’re mainly working on arms and core right now so he has been giving me lots of exercises using the TRX, hand weights and my own body weight. He varies things each week so I never know quite what I’m going to get.

After that I had a bit of time to myself, then around 3:30pm we were in the car and en route to Glasgow to see TAKE THAT!!! We got the tickets back in about September so I had been really looking forward to another opportunity to see my favourite band.

We learned the hard way that parking out at the SSE Hydro is not a good idea as it takes ages to get out of there afterwards, so now we park closer to town and walk in – it probably doesn’t take any longer than sitting in the queue to leave the venue car park and at least we are moving. This time we had a booking for a meal in town so parked in one of the city centre car parks. I hadn’t been to the restaurant we were booked at before, but the menu looked ideal for what we wanted that night and we had found a deal to save a little off the bill.

Loads of really American-style dishes on the menu – mainly burgers and ribs and things like that – so I opted for a classic burger and it was really delicious.

Appetites satisfied, we walked along the River Clyde out towards the Hydro as I was keen to get there in time for the support act: blast from the past Ricky Astley (yes, I am old enough to remember him from back in the day!). It’s only about a half hour walk (if that) and on arrival I headed straight for the merchandise stand to get my tour T-shirt and programme before finding our seats in the auditorium.

Rick Astley is, of course, best known for the song which gave rise to this meme:

And of course he saved it for last, at which point everyone in the place leapt to their feet to sing and dance along. It was brilliant!

Take That were, as ever, amazing. Their shows are always so theatrical and this was no exception.

They even had ACTUAL LULU for Relight My Fire!

I loved it!

Post-show we joined the throngs walking back into town, headed to the car and drove home. A late night but totally worth it. It was only when I woke up the following morning that I realised that’s 2 years in a row I’ve seen Gary Barlow on the exact same date: last year to was his solo tour which visited Perth and this year as part of Take That. I’m perfectly happy to set aside the same date next year for another evening with Captain Barlow 😂

Needless to say, I was not feeling at my freshest on Saturday morning but I knew a run would soon wake me up. I opted for another parkrun sandwich and was delighted to find that the forecast of good weather for the Easter weekend was true – I even got my shorts out for the first time this year! To put that in context, on Tuesday evening it was pretty cold as we were returning to the car after the play and on my Thursday run I wore leggings and a lightweight long-sleeved top to beat the chill, so this warm weather was a big increase in temperature for us.

Despite my tired body and the warmer conditions, I actually ran fairly well and ended up less than 20 seconds slower than last week. I expected to be much slower than that! As an added bonus, one of the local churches has a running group which is at parkrun most weeks and it being Easter, they had a little post-run treat for all the runners.

I was a little concerned about it melting on the way home, but also couldn’t face eating chocolate and then running a couple of miles, so stuck it in my Spibelt (I looked like I had a hernia haha!) and hoped for the best. I can confirm that when I ate it later in the afternoon it was perfectly fine, having been out in the fridge as soon as I got home.

After our usual Saturday routine of breakfast with Steve’s brother and getting the food shopping, I decided the weather was too good to waste sitting inside (who knows when we’ll get this again – it is Scotland after all!) so slapped the sun cream on and spent the afternoon reading and dozing in the garden. It was lovely.

I also looked at the parkrun photos from the morning and discovered I had been upstaged by a gorilla. Not something you see every day!

Photo: Roy Mitchell for Perth parkrun Facebook page

Sunday was my last chance for an “inverse taper” run before the marathon next weekend and I had originally planned to run 18 miles, however the weather was still warm and this led to me making a mistake. I really should have set my alarm a bit earlier to be out quite sharp while it was still cool, but I’m just not in the habit of that right now and I ended up going out a bit too late. I also had this kit difficulty to contend with:

The temperature wasn’t too bad when I set off, but by the time I was coming to the later miles it was getting pretty warm and that was making the run harder than it needed to be. Conscious of the need for good recovery, I cut it short by a mile. Hopefully next Sunday is a bit cooler!

And after 17 miles, the rest of the day was pretty much devoted to eating all the food! We did go out to claim our free coffee from Fitness Rewards, but with the sun still shining it seemed like the perfect week for the first Frappuccino of the summer. Delicious!

The week ahead will mean a return to work, but I will have to be very conscious of getting plenty of rest to make sure I’m ready to run on Sunday. I fully expect it to be hard work and reckon I’ll be doing well if my time is in the 4:30s (I won’t be troubling my 4:05 of last year any time soon!!) but that’s ok, as sometimes it’s about completing rather than competing. This is one of those times.

How have you made the most of the weather this week?
What was the last concert you went to?

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Week In Review – Getting The Consistency Back

If you read my update last week you will already know that I recently took a bit of a time out due to being unwell. Rested and recovered, it was time to start adding some training back into my schedule, beginning with some lighter workouts as my spring break from school began, then working back into a more “normal” routine.

That meant a light workout with Steve on the Friday, a slower parkrun (minus the sandwich as I opted to drive there and back) on the Saturday and a longer run on the Sunday. Steve had suggested I run at least 10k, ideally being able to extend that to 8 miles. In reality I ran 10 miles and felt pretty good, helping me to make a very important decision with regard to my forthcoming marathon (for which my race pack arrived during my illness – poor timing or what!). Having initially been unsure if I wanted to go ahead, I enjoyed getting out and running again so with the help of the good old Inverse Taper, I plan on being on that start line at the end of the month. I know it will be a slower time for me, but that’s fine. Sometimes our goals have to change.

So with that in mind, here’s how my first week of returning to “proper” training looked. Remember that around this I had no work commitments so was simply fitting this in around a heavy schedule of YouTube videos and playing Disney Emoji Blitz 😂

Monday – rest
Tuesday – 4 miles
Wednesday – rest
Thursday – 10k + Ashtanga yoga
Friday – PT session with Steve
Saturday – parkrun sandwich
Sunday – 16 miles

Since it’s the school holidays, that means I have to do to all kinds of glamorous things that I can’t fit into the school term. The list began on Monday with my dental checkup – oh the excitement! Fortunately all was well and after a quick clean of my teeth I was on my way. I actually took the chance to head into school to tidy up my classroom from when I was off, catch up on any important emails and get my head around what I had missed. I think the office staff thought I was mad going in, but not knowing what I was going back to after the holidays was causing me some stress so by going in at the start of the holidays I could alleviate that and get on with enjoying the break, safe in the knowledge that everything was in order for the start of the new term. I only stayed for about an hour and a half, basically arriving home in time for my lunch and ready to relax. No workout that day as I had pushed my mileage a little the day before, but I did do some home yoga as I was conscious I had let that slide while I was unwell and wanted to get back into the habit again.

When there’s no work I enjoy a leisurely start to the morning, which for me means making a cup of tea and taking it back to bed to read for maybe an hour. It’s so nice and such a treat when usually mornings are so frantic. Once I had done this on Tuesday, I got myself ready to run and headed out for a 4 mile recovery run. My calves were a bit weary, but nothing untoward and it was so nice to be getting out in the daylight after all those dark winter runs. I had read that it was Unicorn Day, so dutifully wore a pair of unicorn leggings to mark the occasion. It would have been rude not to!

Wednesday was a rest day, other than some yoga, but Steve and I had some codes for one or two freebies in town so I walked there and back in order to get a bit of movement into my day. First up, we claimed a small bag of Mini Eggs (yum).

Then grabbed a free coffee in Caffè Nero, treating ourselves to a little snack to go with it.

Quite a pleasant way to spend the afternoon, and I do love a freebie!

Thursday was another run and since I had the luxury of time, I decided to stretch the distance a bit. 4 miles is perfect on a school day, but I had nowhere I needed to be so went for 10k in the spring sunshine and it was lovely.

Later in the day I had my Ashtanga yoga class. I had missed a week while I was unwell and this was to be my second class since I returned. The previous one had been fine, but I had gone easy on myself in some of the transitions and had definitely felt that I lacked some of the strength I had been used to. What a difference in this class! I moved through the postures the way I normally would and felt much stronger in Wheel, completing 2 rounds. Even my Headstand was better. It really showed me how much better I was doing compared to just a week earlier and I was pleased to feel like I had really recovered.

On Friday morning I headed down to the studio for a workout focusing on my upper body. I really want to work more on my arms right now, and Steve added in some exercises that would also work my upper back/shoulders as well as my core. We’re mainly using the TRX and some small weights just now and hopefully I’ll begin to notice the results as the weeks tick by.

Post-workout I had a few errands in town so walked down. First, a haircut, which was followed by a sight test (told you school holidays were full of glamorous activities!). By a strange coincidence, my dad was also at the optician as he was due a contact lens check and my mum was meeting him there after some errands of her own. I emerged from my test to find my parents still sitting in the waiting area as it was time for their afternoon cup of tea and they were taking me with them. A pretty good surprise! We headed over to the cafe at the nearby concert hall (where my sister works) and had tea with fruit scones. It was very nice, but I failed to take a photo as I was having a conversation with my sister about our plans for the summer. Oh well, I guess you know what tea and scones look like so it’s not a big deal!

While I was out I also picked up another freebie I hadn’t been able to claim earlier in the week – an actual Easter egg (which they iced with my name). I’m looking forward to this one!

Since I was feeling so much better I decided to go for the parkun sandwich on Saturday (and wear my new Cookie Monster leggings!). I wasn’t sure how I would do on the actual parkun, so was pleased to squeak under 25 minutes with my time of 24:59. On the one hand, I know it’s not my best as I ran sub-24 right before I was ill, but on the other hand it was a significant improvement from my “comeback parkrun” the week before where I ran 26:15 and it felt super hard. The fitness is still in there and it shouldn’t take much to get back on track now.

The rest of Saturday was pretty restful. We finished season 2 of This Is Us (a total disaster since season 3 hasn’t reached the UK yet – gah!) and watched some recent episodes of Cold Feet. It’s actually been pretty good committing to a box set of something as it’s not something we usually do. I am going to need some suggestions for something new to watch though…

And then it was long run Sunday. SInce I’m using the Inverse Taper, things are going to be a bit unconventional. My most recent long run was 14 miles. I then missed a run before coming back with a 10 miler. I figured it would probably be ok to go for 16 miles for this one since I’ve got plenty of miles in my legs and experience of long runs. I certainly wouldn’t recommend this approach to a beginner!

As it turned out, the run went well. I expected to really fade towards the end but I still felt pretty strong, in fact I felt better than in my 10 miler the week before. I also noticed that my legs recovered well and I wasn’t stiff and sore during the remander of the day, which is a good sign.

And when I checked my stats in the Garmin app, I was intrigued to notice how many steps I had taken. I’ll take that as a marathon-based sign ha!

My mum visited in the afternoon as she needed to collect some things from me (any excuse to see the kittens as I could have given her these things when my parents dropped me off on Friday afternoon!) so we had a restful afternoon with tea and a slice of cake. Perfect!

Now I have one more week of building up through my Inverse Taper then a mini-taper of a week into the marathon. What could possibly go wrong? 😂

Have you successfully used the Inverse Taper for your marathon preparations?
Are you a freebie fan?

Week In Review – Finding Some Form?

Hola! As I write this the wind is whipping up again outside for what will no doubt turn into another storm and thanks to the current political storms, the country looks like it may very well implode in the the coming days as everything unravels around us. So what else is there to do but keep on training and hope the endorphins keep me sufficiently balanced to deal with it all! Here’s how the past week looked:

Monday – Hatha yoga
Tuesday – 4 miles
Wednesday – sports massage
Thursday – form drills + Ashtanga yoga
Friday – PT session with Steve
Saturday – parkrun open sandwich
Sunday – 14 miles with every 3rd mile faster

For the first time in what feels like ages, I actually did everything as planned, without any tweaks or changes. Go me! I’ve been trying to fit a little more yoga into my week again with some home practice, but I got the week started with my Monday Hatha class (only one more to go this term 😔). Still the best thing in an otherwise long Monday – especially at this time of year!

Despite wanting to stay in my bed forever, I am still managing to get up for my early runs and definitely noticing more signs of daylight when I’m out. Soon I think I’ll be able to ditch my hi-viz and head out into a gloriously light morning, I think that will make all the difference as I already feel so good for finishing with a bit of light around. This was my standard 4 mile recovery run and although my legs were feeling a little heavy, I did feel better and better as the run went on, finishing with a glorious Royal Flush Negative Split (which of course had nothing to do with the fact that my route goes mostly uphill for the first half and then mostly downhill for the second half!).

I did some home yoga that evening and then squeezed in another yoga session on Wednesday after work before heading off to my sports massage. Thanks to a variety of unfortunate circumstances, this had been postponed a couple of times and I was really feeling like I needed my massage as it’s such a staple of my recovery routine. I was certain my legs would feel refreshed afterwards as they have been a little weary.

I got a chance to test this out on Thursday morning with my form drills. My legs were probably not as fresh feeling as I had hoped, but I did feel that the massage had made a difference and completed my set of form drills well – even if my warm up felt like hard work as the wind was being funnelled right down the road I was running up! Fortunately once I turned off that road I was a bit more sheltered and immediately felt better.

After missing my Ashtanga class last week I made a real point of getting away from work in good time so I could get to class this week. I find I really am relying on yoga to help balance both my body and my mind so missing out is not ideal. Probably as a result of recent circumstances and the way I have trained this year, I noticed that my arms did not feel as strong as I would like when in Wheel. Despite that, I still did one of the best headstands I’ve done in ages so it can’t be all bad. It was a good class and it did make me feel calmer and ready to head into the last working day of the week.

Because of my observations about the strength and toning in my arms, I requested an arm workout when I went to the studio for my PT session on Friday. Steve dutifully came up with a circuit that used weights, TRX and my own body weight to work my arms in various ways (and my core!) and this is probably something I need to prioritise a bit more moving forward. I suspect the fact that I have been doing a bit less yoga up until now has probably played a part in this as well so it gives me a target not specifically related to running, but which will be of benefit to my running, to work on through the coming weeks as summer approaches.

Steve had an early client again on Saturday morning so I sent him off with an extra top for me to put on after parkrun. His brother was away for the weekend so we had decided to return to the “parkrun cafe” after our run and although the weather was so much better than last weekend, I knew I would still want an extra top to put on. Sending my “luggage” with Steve meant I was free to run down without having to figure out a way to carry extra stuff with me. I quite enjoyed the run as the sun was out, it felt warmer than the forecast had suggested and I found myself speaking with someone else on their way to parkrun whilst I was waiting to get across a busy junction. It’s so nice that parkrun makes us feel like we can talk to random strangers on the street without coming across as weirdos!

Photo credit: Roy Mitchell

Parkrun itself was really good. After some positive performances recently on our winter route (and in tough conditions) I wanted to try and get a measure of where I am. We were back on the main route and I set off running quite hard. I did slow up a little on the middle mile as that was initially into a headwind then over the grass, which is still a little soft, but I maintained a consistent effort and was thrilled to finish with my first sub-24 in ages and fastest time of the year. My 23:49 is actually fairly comparable to where I was last year and was probably just the confidence boost I needed as I still have a niggling doubt about how much training I have done this year when it comes to distance and overall fitness. I really do need to put more faith in the process right now – after all, I’ve completed marathons on far less than I’ve done to date!

Photo credit: Roy Mitchell

This week we were in the cafe earlier and it was packed with parkrunners. It got me wondering what other people think when around 10am the place is suddenly filled with sweaty, smelly (and sometimes muddy) runners all looking for coffee and hot filled rolls. The staff don’t seem bothered at all and are probably pleased to have so much regular custom!

The rest of Saturday was fairly restful. I read my book, had a nap and made a real point of relaxing. I still have two weeks of this term to go and it’s feeling like a real effort right now so rest needs to be a priority.

After a good sleep with no alarm, I was up and ready to run my 14 miles – and this time I actually did the “every 3rd mile faster” part. To be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about this run. Physically, it went well and I’m happy with my splits; mentally I just wasn’t in it this time. It was one of those runs that I just didn’t feel like I wanted to do and didn’t enjoy it as much. There was no good reason for it, I just seem to have had a bit of an “off” week. Maybe because I’m finally moving the miles on; maybe because I’m worried about getting enough Big Runs in before race day; or maybe just because I’m feeling a bit done right now and in need of my holiday. Whatever it was, I still completed the miles so can use this one as mental training to draw on in the inevitable tough times on race day – especially since the last 4 miles were straight into a headwind so fierce I actually managed to kick myself TWICE as the wind blew me sideways mid-stride! It’s been a long time since I was so pleased to finish my long run – I even reached the distance before reaching my front door and stopped my watch there and then to walk the last couple of hundred yards home. I guess every training cycle has its ups and downs and this hasn’t been my best all things considered. All I can say is onwards and upwards!

What are your strategies to keep going during tough runs?
What is your next event?

Week In Review – Life’s Ups And Downs

Goodness me! What a week! I’ll not get into all the details, but the short version is that work is busy, life is busy and with so many other things going on I’ve been feeling a little “off”. But not to worry, things are much better now and I managed to remain surprisingly consistent with my training.

Monday – Hatha yoga
Tuesday – 4 miles
Wednesday – rest
Thursday – drills + Ashtanga yoga
Friday – rest
Saturday – parkrun sandwich (kind of)
Sunday – 10 miles

I pulled a few longer working days at the beginning of the week to try and keep on top of things, so by the time I got to my yoga class I was DEFINITELY ready for it. Having that hour to myself to calm my mind, listen to my breath and stretch my body was just the thing to rebalance me ready for the rest of the week.

I was up early on Tuesday morning for an easy 4 mile run. After all the calf issues of the previous week it really felt like I had my own legs back under me again – thank goodness!

It was another long working day so when I got home I made sure to do some yoga so that I gave myself a mental and physical break from everything and could relax into my evening.

Wednesday is currently scheduled as a kind of rest day, the aim being that I do some yoga or some exercises set by Steve. This week yoga was what I needed, so after the third long day in a row it was good to head to the mat and unwind a bit. With orchestra finished now until the autumn, it means I have a bit of space on a Wednesday to relax a little and that’s VERY welcome right now!

Thursday was another early start for a set of form drills. It’s been a couple of weeks since I did any, but I picked up where I left off in my programme and after a 1 mile warm up completed 10 sets of 600m with a minute to recover in between. It actually felt pretty good and when I finished the run there were most definite signs of daylight! I can’t wait for the light mornings for my runs as I remember the times I tried that last June being really nice.

I managed to get away from work on time as I wanted to make sure I made it to my Ashtanga class. Another dedicated hour of time on my yoga mat was just what I needed and I noticed that my balance was much better than last week since Steve had given me some exercises to do to sort out the issue I was having.

Friday is usually a training session with Steve, but I had a few things on so wasn’t able to fit it in this week. To be honest, I probably benefitted more from the rest anyway. We did, however, enjoy a cupcake each as there had been a bake sale at school that day to mark the end of Fairtrade Fortnight. Yum!

Steve had an early client on Saturday but came home before parkrun. His plan was to drive down, go for a run, do parkrun then have a quick cool down before driving home. Since I knew we were going to be on our alternative course which is two laps of the park, I didn’t fancy adding extra laps before or after, so decided to run down and then see how I felt afterwards. I actually ended up surprising myself with my time – 24:05 is my fastest of the year so far and since the alternative course is a little longer than our usual route, that suggests that I’m in shape to break 24 minutes over the main route. Awesome! But after running fairly hard I wasn’t feeling like running 2 miles home so joined Steve for a 1 mile cool down instead then got a lift home with him. Somehow, in amongst all that I completely failed to take a photo. Clearly my brain is mush right now!

After completing our usual Saturday errands, I spent the afternoon catching up with a little more work. I had thought sitting at the kitchen table might be a bit more peaceful than trying to get this done at school, but I hadn’t considered the fact that I have 2x 10 month old kittens who find things like pencils absolutely fascinating and kept jumping onto my work!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday morning I woke up fairly sharp, made a cup of tea and took it back to bed to read for a bit. Steve left around 8am to drive up to Inverness for the half marathon (I’m really glad I didn’t enter as it just wouldn’t have been the right thing for me just now) and I had 10 miles planned. Almost as soon as Steve left it began to snow quite heavily, so I looked out my “snow running” kit, zipped up my Yuki suit (you’ll get that one if you listen to Marathon Talk) and got out the door. It actually snowed for the majority of my run and I looked a bit of a state when I got home, but I felt like I ran well and was only just outside of 4 hour marathon pace. Given that I was taking it easy in the conditions (some paths were quite slushy and slippy looking as the snow came down) and recent training hasn’t gone exactly to plan, I was really pleased with that and can take some confidence from the fact that I maybe haven’t been set back as much as I thought. There’s still plenty of time to be marathon ready, I just may have to reassess my goal for race day as I see how things progress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Post-run I had lots of time to myself as Steve’s race didn’t start until lunchtime and when he was done he had a fairly long journey back home again. I showered, had some food, finished my marking, ran a couple of errands and watched a little TV. It actually felt like I found a bit of space to relax and take time for myself, which is probably just what I needed. It’s going to be another busy week with another coursework deadline for some of our pupils, but I recognise that I need to look after myself a little better than I have been. Hopefully next week I won’t feel like I’ve been wrung out to quite the same extent!

How do you cope when work gets busy?
What’s your favourite podcast right now?

Friday Finds – 8th March

Friday Finds is a regular feature in which I collate and share interesting articles and posts on running/health/fitness which I’ve read recently. Some might be inspiring, some might be scientific, some might provoke debate. All are things I’ve found in some way thought-provoking.

Happy Friday and happy International Women’s Day. If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to focus on female-related articles this week.

To start, a post from Runner’s World to mark International Women’s Day, charting key moments in the history of women’s running. So many amazing achievements in here and I look forward to seeing what the future brings for the sport.

• A history of women’s running

Another source focusing on women’s sports today is Outside, with their piece looking at advances towards equality for women in sport. There have been so many positive steps made, but more could still be done to ensure EVERYONE has equality of opportunity.

• We’re Inching Toward Equality for Women in Sports

One change that was announced this week was around the prize money at the forthcoming Boston marathon. There was some controversy last year after some runners in the open categories finished in prize-winning positions, but were initially ineligible for prize money due to not starting as elite athletes. This was later addressed and it looks like this year’s race will offer further opportunities for women to achieve.

• After 2018 Controversy, New Rules for Boston Marathon Prize Money

This week also saw the (rather predictable) results of a study into women’s participation in sport and exercise released: those with larger breasts were less likely to exercise, especially vigorous exercise. Duh! It’s not an issue I’ve ever had, but of course having large breasts will be (quite literally) a barrier to sports such as running due to the immense discomfort caused. While there probably didn’t need to be a study to tell most women this, perhaps companies will now be motivated to look a little more closely at how to design sports bras which will allow ALL women to take part in whatever sport they want, regardless of breast size, and take another step towards offering equality of opportunity for women.

• How Breast Size Affects How Women Exercise
• Women’s reaction to breast-size study: Duh

And finally, let’s finish on a positive note with the latest Nike commercial celebrating women breaking down barriers. Narrated by the awesome Serena Williams, it points out many of the double standards women are often held to and reminds us to keep pushing forward with our dreams and being “crazy”. I love it!

• New Nike Commercial Celebrates Women in Sports Breaking Down Barriers

Happy reading,
The Running Princess

My Year Of Running 2018 (Link Up)

For the last couple of years I’ve linked up with Courtney @ Eat Pray Run DC to recap my year in running (2016 and 2017). To be honest, it’s one of my favourite posts as I get to think back over all my awesome adventures from the year just gone by. Here’s how 2018 looked…

Best race experience
Hands down the Disneyland Paris half marathon. I know I’ve gone on about it A LOT, but it was probably the best race experience of my life. No pressure to run a certain time, it was all about celebrating my Big Birthday by combining all my favourite things – running, Disney and Paris.

Best run
For this one I’m going to choose the Stirling marathon. My training was really consistent and I came super close (as in, less than a minute) to the PB I set back in 2014. This is probably the best I’ve paced a full marathon and it really gave me a lot of confidence in what I could do.

Best new piece of running gear
I’ve bought several pairs of amazing, funky leggings this year and you would be forgiven for thinking I would choose one of those…but I’m not! The best thing I bought all year was this reflective “vest” which means I’m visible on my runs through the winter darkness but can wear whatever top I want, rather than being tied to the same old “high viz” one all the time.

Best running advice you’ve received this year
To switch from running after work to running before work. I’ve always been an evening runner, but was feeling increasingly pressed for time so began to consider early morning runs instead. With Steve’s encouragement, I took the plunge and have to say it’s been one of the best things I’ve done for my running as it fits so much more easily into my day. I’d be lying if I said I enjoyed getting up early, but so far it’s been worth it for the extra time it creates in the evening.

Most inspirational runner
This year I’m going to choose my friend Tina Muir, founder of Running for Real. The Superstars community she has created on Facebook is so inspiring and uplifting. I’ve made new friends there and love some of the random discussions we have. Tina herself has been a fantastic role model in her decision to stop running in order to overcome amenhorrea and become pregnant. She will shortly be taking part in the WDW half marathon as her comeback race and I’m so excited for her to have this experience (and, admittedly, a little jealous as I’d love to be there too!). In case you missed it, Tina interviewed me earlier this year.

Favourite picture from a run or race this year
Duh! Obviously a Disney one! The hardest part was narrowing it down…

Race experience you would repeat in a heartbeat
Can you guess? Why DLP, of course! I would repeat that experience any time. Good thing it wasn’t a one-off event!

If you could sum up your year in a couple of words what would they be?
Freakin’ awesome! 2018 was the self-styled Year of Me!!!. I set myself some fun goals, and celebrated a milestone birthday with an amazing racecation. There was also a marathon, lots of parkrunning (including in Florida) and the chance to connect with lots of amazing people both online and IRL. Here’s to an equally awesome 2019…!

Want to join in? I’d love to read about your year in running.

The Year Of Me!!! – December Update And Final Thoughts

And that’s a wrap! 2018 has come to an end and with it The Year of Me!!! For the most part it’s been an amazing year with lots of fun and adventures. I also think I did a pretty good job with my goals and have added lots of value to my life. Here’s one final check-in with how things went.

1.Run 1000km (621 miles)
If you’ve been following along then you know I completed this one at the end of September and have since been maintaining my consistency to see how many miles I could run. In November I passed my highest yearly mileage ever, to guarantee a number in the 800s for the first time ever. And that final total? 837 miles. I’m feeling pretty pleased with that.

2.Commit to a minimum of 5 minutes of yoga on at least 5 days of the week
I love my yoga, but had somehow found that in the latter part of the year I was managing 4 sessions easily and not always converting that to a 5th. Throughout December I made a conscious effort to make sure there were 5 yoga sessions each week, reminding myself that just 5 minutes was all it took, so returned often to one of my favourite bedtime sequences. It was great to take that time and really helped me wind down before bed.

3.Read at least 30 books
Another one which was completed in September, but the reading didn’t stop there. My involvement in some online/social media reading groups this year has really helped me to find more time to read and as a result I ended up with 44 books read this year, an average of over 3 books per month (and with the last one finished on Hogmanay!). I’m thrilled with that and will be settting myself a bigger target for my Goodreads challenge in 2019.

4.Be in bed by 10pm at least 3 times per week
One of my favourite goals since I love my bed! The biggest difficulty here was that I tend to be a natural night owl, but the decision to switch my runs from the evening to the morning after the October break made a big difference to that and I found myself coping much better with mornings. Don’t get me worng, I’d still rather stay in my bed longer, but the morning runs have created more time in the evenings which means I can get to bed early without feeling like I’ve barely had a moment to myself. I’ll definitely be continuing with this one!

5.Watch at least one Ted/Ted X talk per week
This one was put well and truly back on track with my decision to make this the focus of a 100 day challenge I began in September:100 TED talks in 100 days. I didn’t quite manage one per day, but I did watch 100 in 100 days and it was brilliant! Hopefully that has started a habit of delving into my watchlist more regularly as there is so much great content in there and I feel like I learned a lot of interesting things.

6.Listen to at least 8 podcast episodes per week
Another of my favourites as I have become such a podcast addict. These days I’m probably listening to 1 or 2 per day (more if I’m out for a long run or doing household chores) and I just love it. Podcasts have been in my life for a while now and are definitely here to stay!

7.Respond to at least one WordPress prompt per month
Weirdly, I found this one quite hard throughout the year, which I wasn’t expecting. I thought it would be good to respond to the prompts but choosing them often took longer than I expected so they were often towards the end of the month. Somehow I didn’t quite get to it in December but I think that was because I didn’t find a prompt I was desperate to respond to. It was an interesting goal when it came to posting a little more often, but I think I found it more of a bind than an inspiration.

8.Be more mindful in my phone/social media use
This one has fluctuated throughout the year but overall I think I have cut down on the amount of mindless scrolling I do (which probably helped to create all that reading time!). December is maybe a little different as I like sharing festive activities but I try now to share my post then put my phone away again so as not to get caught up in other things. The weekly report I now get from my phone is pretty interesting and I’ll be continuing to keep an eye on that to make sure I don’t slip back into bad habits as more and more I find it important to be present rather than distracted by trivialities on a screen.

 

Overall, I have to be pleased with my progress. It would have been unrealistic to expect to be “perfect” in everything I chose, but I also chose goals that made me focus on a process rather than an outcome. Yes, I had tangible goals in my running mileage and reading, but to get there I had to enjoy several months of running and I got to sit down and get lost in lots of good books. Neither of these could ever be negative experiences for me. Now it’s all about maintaining some of the positive habits I created, but without the pressure of checking up on myself each month. We’ll see how that goes. In the meantime, I wish you all the very best for the year ahead.

How did you get on with your goals in 2018?
What is the most important thing you learned this year?