After a bad run comes...

Friday 22nd July

Yes, it happened, a good run, not just a good run an epic run. This week's run 3/3 I think was the best run I've ever done, why because I enjoyed it, ever minute. That was the intention I set, to enjoy every minute, every time Mr Nike told me x minute I focused on enjoying it until I heard his voice again. I set my pace to 'loving this' mode. Until the time I heard him say 1 hour, my legs hadn't ached, my breathing was was smooth, I was loving it, I didn't feel tired at the end & could have happily gone further, I felt like an entirely different person to the one that ran last time. I wish every run could be like this. Fingers crossed for the next one.

24/07/16 update

Nailed another 8km on Sunday, not as smooth as Friday but still good all the same, I'm getting there and feeling fitter and stronger every day!!

Learning to love bad runs

21/07/15  5km spot on

Last night was toughhhh.  I don’t know if it was the heat (its been in the 30s all week) or because I’ve not eaten much the last few days (because of the heat) or because it was a new area, or because of any impending girlie reasons (ahem) but it was a battle start to finish, mostly me just wanting to cry.  I managed 5km. 

At the end I sat in the park (watching all the other ‘better than me’ runners), and thought a lot about what just happened.  I realised I have got to learn to love ‘bad runs’. I mean not every run is going to be good is it?

I think what upsets me the most is that this year, I have tried to get back into running, but every bad run has knocked my confidence, and made it much harder to get back out there, I started back in Jan, I’d do a couple of goodun’s then a bad one and then a month would go by before I try again, and every time the month off would have me starting back at point one, frustratingly.  But every time I’d wish I’d just got back out there and done it, and not given up.  If I had kept going from January, I’d be running marathons by now I’m sure, and would be so much fitter and better which is the goal.

As I sat and pondered my run I also had another revelation, that actually it wasn’t a bad run, my legs didn’t hurt like they normally do, my breathing wasn’t horrendous like it normally was, so Celeste what exactly was bad about it?  At which point I realised that it was all psychological!  It was lead legs all over again (I'll write about the lead legs saga another time). The only bad thing about it was my mental ability to believe that I could do it. Which means it was a good run physically.  Time to start building the mental muscle maybe.

The most important thing is now that I get back out there for run 3/3 (I’m aiming/committing to run 3 times a week, no argument, no fears).  Hopefully after the bad run comes a good one, and every run is building my ability and fitness and I just have to focus on that. I’m not where I was 3 weeks ago, I’m not where I was in January.  So bad runs are an awesome reminder of all that and a time to reflect.  I do love bad runs honestly!

What's in your marathon mind?

19/07/16 - 7.96km (oooh so close to 5 miles)

Last year I read that a good base for a half marathon is short runs being 5 miles, so I’ve been aiming to build that up the last  few weeks, last night I ran for an hour and managed literally 4.94 miles!  I’m pleased with that but it still seems such a long way off.  On the other hand I’m starting to feel fitter, and the start of the run was much more pleasant (dare I say easier) than it normally is, the end was also pleasant, the middle bit was ugh.  I will press on, I’m making progress, I just need to stick with the plan.

One of the nice things I noticed last week, is that my mind is starting to relax a bit (which is a sign its getting easier) I’m not focused on every movement every minute, I’m looking up and around at the view and relaxing a little more, that’s when I start to enjoy what I’m doing, and that feeling is growing.  But of course as soon as I stop I love it and want more!

I read a good book on the weekend "Don't Stop  Me Now' by Vassos Alexander.  I highly recommend it, if you love running, or are thinking about doing a long distance run, I got runner's high just reading it. He sets the book out as each mile of a marathon, as he describes a marathon he ran, intersected with stories from his running history and pieces written by famous runners as to how they got into it and what they love about running.  

Its funny but I just can’t imagine what its like to run thirteen miles (or 26 for that matter) the book was helpful.  I remember feeling that way when I first started to think about the camino: what was it like to walk 30km a day? What goes through your head with each step?  That was when I decided to walk 26 miles across London one day to find out.  As I sat on Greenwich Hill looking out over London, absolutely wrecked, it did cross my mind I’d just walked a marathon.  Since then I’ve done 30km-40km  (walking) numerous times, and I love it, I hope I get to feel that way about running one day.

Fit Fabulous Four Oh

We've had PilgrimCeleste and now we have...drumroll... RunningCeleste as I embark on my first ever half marathon.

This blog is more for me really, to record my trials and tribulations of getting back into running, and heading towards my goal of fit fabulous four oh.

So one of my big aims for the big Four Oh was to get fit.  I remember in my early 30s sitting in a class, the teacher (who I really admired) came in and told us she had just turned 40, she was fit happy and healthy, and just glowed.  I remember thinking I want to be like her when I grow up/turn 40.  She was a runner, I can’t remember exactly how I knew this (she must have told us some story about running something ) but since that time I’ve come to equate being fit at 40 with running. 

Last year at my fittest (and lowest weight ever) I really got into running, and was loving it, I was training for a 10km, with a half marathon in mind just beyond that.  I loved the runners high, I loved the feeling that my running was getting better each week, I loved the achy legs the next day, and inside I felt a bit smug that I was ‘fit’.  I even really enjoyed the 10km I did.  But after that I got lazy, went back to my old lazy ways, and piled on the weight; and I find myself this year having to fight to get back into ‘it’.  What’s more annoying is after three years of applying to the Royal Parks Half Marathon ballot (and not getting into it) this year I got a very very surprising ‘congratulations your in’ email (aghhh because this year I wasn’t really that bothered about doing it). 

My training has been very very slack, I kept telling myself as long as I was up and running by May I’d be ok (and could get back on track on the same schedule I was on last year).  But May came and went with a few piddly runs, that to be honest knocked my confidence a bit. 

I think as well in the back of my head I kept thinking I can just defer, but then two weeks ago I read the rules like a good girl and… no deferral.  So I’m committed, but you know what, it’s a good thing, it means I’m forced into getting fit for 40, and who knows maybe forty might just turn out to be my marathon year.