Category: The Athons

Janathon day twenty-three: socks

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Last night I declared that I always sleep badly the night before an early run. It turns out that poor sleep is an essential part of me getting up at 5.30 – I went to bed in plenty of time and slept well, so well in fact that I slept straight through my first alarm… The next alarm went off at 6, which is when Miles and I should be already out hitting the pavements. Ooops.

This meant I had to squeeze in a quick three miles after work so I would have time to stuff my face before yoga. Some people might have you believe that yoga isn’t proper exercise, but my legs would tell you differently. Throughout the class I took heed of my teacher’s words and took a curious interest in what my body was telling me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear most of my limbs for my legs yelling “will you just sod off and leave me alone” before they stomped off, slamming their bedroom door behind them.

The class itself though paled into insignificance against my greatest achievement this year… I WAS WEARING MY HAND KNITTED SOCKS.

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I have finished the eternal socks that have lived with me, travelled the world with me and sat in the pub with me for two years. And I think that they’re rather splendid.

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The toe seams leave a little bit to be desired, but other than that they make me very happy.

Janathon day twenty-two: races

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A couple of years ago I declared “I don’t do races”. Then I did the Liverpool Women’s 10k in 2010, enjoyed it and didn’t race again for over a year. The next year I ran the Blackpool 10k in preparation for doing the Folkestone Half. Last year something went terribly wrong and I did five (the Age UK Wrap Up and Run 10k, theBolton 10k, a Badger 10k, the inaugural Port Sunlight 10k and the Royal Parks Half).

Medal Monkey - guardian of the race bling

Medal Monkey – guardian of the race bling

I have no idea what has happened to me this year, but we’ve not even finished Janathon and I appear to have acquired a race calendar. I don’t know if it’s the weather (looking forward longingly to spring) or just the fact that I’ve really enjoyed Janathon this year or what*, but (so far) I am signed up for three, am pondering one and have one pencilled in.

There has been very little planning about entering these, I am ruled entirely by my heart in these matters. I can see a race that is perfect in terms of distance, route and where it fits into whatever semblance of a training programme I have, but if it doesn’t make my heart flutter and put a smile on my face, I aint doing it. There’s no set formula for what draws me into a race, it just is what it is. So my immediate future looks like…

February: Mad Dog 10k – it’s rated as one of the top 10k races in the country by Runner’s World, you get the friendliest emails in the world from the organisers, I’ve read somewhere that someone won a toaster as a spot prize and it’s Southport, therefore it is flat. I like flat.

March: Cartmel 10k – apparently a hilly but beginner-friendly trail run in beautiful scenery and according to my mate Andy who knows about such things, “It’s tough, very soggy, but terrific fun”. Oh, and it would be the perfect race for Henniemavis – its full name is the Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding 10k.

April: Blackpool Half – I seem to like a coastal race, it’s flat, it’ll be the first half that I run in the same half of the country where I live and Fortnight Flo is running it so there’s a chance to meet more lovely twitterers. Splendid.

April: Bolton 10k – Another hilly one, this time in Leverhulme Park, Bolton. I ran it in a downpour last year and it still put a smile on my face.

May: Liverpool Spring 10k – This is a new race being organised by the people behind last year’s Port Sunlight 10k, which I loved. This one is in Sefton Park and Matt the organiser has plans for bands, bunting and cake. That’s my kind of race.

Phew.

Tonight’s Janathon was a 3 mile out and back picking my way along crunchy pavements without falling over.

*Yes. I know. I like a medal – just call me Muttley…

Janathon day twenty-one: surprised

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Yesterday the main roads and their pavements were mostly snow-free. ‘Brilliant’, I thought, ‘late shift at work, long run in the morning, job done’. I woke up to this:

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So I went out and ran in it.

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For three miles.

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It was rather good fun.

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Especially running across fresh unsullied snow.

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Janathon day twenty: group

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Well I only went and faced my fears didn’t I? Skating across the car park made me realise that an off-road run was a good idea, so what the heck I might as well join the beginners trail running group I had seen on facebook. It was being run by a well-known running shop who are based at a posh gym a few miles away. I say gym, when I was shown around it, I was told repeatedly that “it’s not a gym, it’s a lifestyle centre…for people like you…”. Clearly the man had been misinformed about what I am like and certainly hadn’t seen my car outside (whenever I visit, I am acutely aware of the risk of it being towed away as an abandoned vehicle).

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The group was led by the same woman who ran the beginners group (via the now defunct Women’s Running Network) that got me started all those years ago. I have long since abandoned running a group as I seem to prefer to get on with ploughing my own furrow and this is one reason why I was nervous about going along, what if I looked as if I haven’t run in the two years since I turned up last?

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I went. I didn’t embarrass myself, I didn’t fall over (despite continually over-estimating the length of my legs whenever I went over stiles) and I didn’t injure myself. I did see people I knew from the old club and it was nice to say hello, I did enjoy myself and I did enjoy the biscuit at the end.

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I’m not sure what it is about my pace, but I always seem to end up between 2 groups of runners – Not fast enough to be with the long-legged gazelles at the front, slightly faster than the group at the back. Even if I hang around the middle, I find myself on my own. Oh. Wait a minute… Anyway, regardless of the reason for this, it always makes me think I may as well be out on my own, however reading about other people’s club running has made me aware that I would benefit from sessions for speed and hills (which I will not do on my own).

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If I remain brave, I suspect that this will end up being painful…

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Janathon day nineteen: snowed

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After complaining that it hadn’t snowed and with the Met Office forecast being ‘cloudy’, it only went and flipping snowed yesterday. I was very relieved to have got my Athoning out of the way in the morning.

Today I procrastinated by building a snowpenguin…

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And when I did put my running kit on, I realised I was rocking a very stylish look of black trail shoes, white socks and knee-length tights…

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Feeling like a dodgy bloke on the pull in an 80s nitespot, I took myself down to the valley for a play in the snow. I used to run down here with my old running buddy and it’s where I ran the Badger 10k last Juneathon, but as a rule it feels a bit too lonely to do on my own.

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There was nothing to worry about today as it was packed with excitable sledge-towing children and hundreds of dog-walkers…

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There were some nattily dressed hounds, including a black labrador wearing a jaunty red scarf knotted around his neck and a quartet of greyhounds in matching jackets…

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Passing all these people made me realise that running in the snow wearing knee-length tights generates several types of response. 1) I will not make eye contact with you – If I look at you, you will infect me with your madness 2) I will look at you but disapprovingly – You are clearly a mad woman and we should not encourage this sort of behaviour 3) I will look at you and beam at you with delight – You are clearly mad but it looks bloody brilliant. Number three was rare but lovely when it happened.

SAM_2123After misjudging a path I went bounding off into the undergrowth and was crossing my fingers that I would be able to cross the river without having to do an embarrassing U-turn… When I did reach a crossing point, my heart sank to see stepping-stones. Those of you who know me will now that this was a potentially cold and wet disaster in the making.

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Luckily, I scampered across like an agile mountain goat and was able to get back to the path I know before looping back to the car park to make it three miles.

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I’m faced with the opportunity to go on a group trail run in the morning, but am a little afeared of this. We shall see…