Category: Running

Janathon: day one

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I’m not really one for New Year’s resolutions, I certainly have no intention of giving something up and then banging on about it to everyone I meet for the next week (I am steeling myself for all of the inevitable diet talk at work tomorrow). However at 7.30 this morning, I was plodding through the village looking every part the January First Enthusiast.

I had no desire to be out at that time, but Ginge was working today and as long as I was back for him leaving at 8.15, I could tick off my run and avoid having to go out at a stupid and as yet unknown time at night. For once, I managed to get myself out of the door without any procrastination or foot-dragging, but then it is only day one.

Oh and Mini-Ginge did his bit to show his support before he completely outgrows it…

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It’s happened again…

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Every year I think, “maybe I’ll not do Janathon this time” and every year I find myself signing up for it yet again. This year is Janathon’s 5th birthday, so it seemed rude not to say yes to JogBlog when she bullied reminded me to sign up.

The reason for my hesitation this year is that I like to do things properly and although I know that the Athons are festivals of activities and excuses, I have three complete, running every day Janathons under my belt and after that, anything feels like a bit of a cop out. As I said to JogBlog, I miss being hardcore. So what was her reply? “You can do hardcore”. And then told me that she and Hels have faith in me.

So I told Ginge about this, fully expecting him to tell me not to be daft, and do you know what he said? He said “you can do it” and then “it might be what you need”. This is despite the fact that my triangle of work, domesticity and childcare is held together by gossamer threads before you throw running every day into the mix…

But it might just be what I need.

Hello stranger.

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Crikey it’s dusty round here. Are those cobwebs…?

I have been absent from the blogging for absolutely ages because of a lack of both time and inclination (I’ve felt like I’ve done nothing of interest that I can write about, but it’s suddenly dawned on me that this has never bothered me in the past). I’ve also gone back to work and am still getting used to the highly skilled art of juggling that this requires; let’s just say that many balls have been dropped during this transition.

Annoyingly, my running has been a bit like a drunk being kicked out at last orders – a definite case of one step forward and two steps back. On the one hand, I have earned my first post-baby bling (which was a bit of an adventure and defintely warrants a post of its own when I get round to writing it just three months after the event),  but on the other hand I still haven’t managed to run more than twice in a week. Or two weeks in a row. However! I am starting again (again). I’ve been inspired in part by Lipstick, Lettuce and Lycra who has managed to sum up my attitude to going back to square one with far more eloquence and positivity that I could ever muster.

My mindset has been shocking. It’s been slow progress, but finally I have gone from actively avoiding running (sample conversation in our house: “Do you want to go for a run?” “No” “Why not?” “There’s no point/I can’t do it/I’m not a runner anymore”) to passively avoiding it (basically letting the day slide away so that, oh look, there’s no time for a run) to actually getting my lazy arse out of the door.

Tonight was only 20 minutes because I had let time slide away so that there was only 25 minutes before Ginge was due to go out. It would have been very easy to let another 10 minutes escape and provide a convenient excuse for staying at home in the warm, so I think that this is progress.

Not Juneathon day 15

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As has been the case for the past few Athons, I have let myself slide gently off the Juneathon wagon. I had a sudden realisation that I had started to do crap yoga, was writing increasingly boring blogs and that doing yoga in the front room has limited scope for posting photos of wildfowl. So I put my weasel pants on and weaselled on out of there. Worryingly, I actually managed a longer Juneathon last year when I was full of baby.

Ah well.

Today though, I ran. Alright, so it was after the usual procrastination (I tried to declare that my running kit was actually pyjamas. When asked, I explained that it had hi-vis on it in case of emergency. Pressed for further details I elaborated that there was a risk of “a bed emergency”) I hoofed out of the door in the opposite direction than normal. The route that I’ve been doing during the C25K is the flattest that I could think of, whereas turning left out of the front door is a slightly more undulating route.

I’m very proud to report that I managed a whole TWO miles!

One thing that I’m finding tricky is slowing down when I need to recover from a hill or a burst of misplaced enthusiasm. I know that sounds daft, especially as my pace isn’t exactly blistering right now, but all I seem to be able to do is walk or come to a standstill. What I can’t do is just plod on, moving my body in a way that looks a bit like running only much, much slower. I’m not sure if this is important (I think it is) and have a dim recollection of being advised to slow down, not walk, when I was first starting out. Is it important? Are there any tricks to getting your breath back? Preferably ones that don’t involve a nice cup of tea and a sit down (although you do know I would love to do just that).

Juneathon day eleven: on the trail of fun

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While I’ve been starting to run again, I’ve been running the same route. On the one hand this has really helped me to see my progress as each session I’ve been able to see that I’ve gone just that little bit further. On the other hand, it’s quite boring.

Today I had the freedom to run during the day so I hopped in the car and went off-road. Well I went running off-road, not off-road in my car. I drive a Clio, it’s not built for that kind of thing. Anyway, I went down to Cuerden Valley (home of the Cuerden Valley parkrun) and tried to avoid the hills. Rather than take the direct route down to the main path, I adopted a policy of “oooh, where does that go?” and kept darting off down paths and tracks, sometimes tackling a little bit of hill (just to remind my legs and lungs that they exist) and sometimes discovering that they didn’t actually lead anywhere.

SAM_2932It was all very stop-start, but it was so nice being out in some scenery.

SAM_2931And I timed it perfectly to avoid clashing with a group of excited, welly-wearing schoolchildren. Which was just as well because I had an overwhelming urge to run through this.

SAM_2933So I did.

And then squelched back up the hill to the car park, pausing to take a photo of some cows (because it’s not an Athon without taking a photo of cows for JogBlog).

SAM_2936Today’s run was shorter and slower and probably completely pointless in terms of the couch 2 5k plan, but it put a massive smile on my chops and sometimes that’s far more important.