Weight! I’m not ready to race yet!

In my dreams, I am a tall, svelte, cheetah-like runner who could easily be mistaken for Paula Radcliffe if it was a little overcast. In reality I’m not tall, I am not at all svelte, and I would say I was less cheetah like and more…well, as my boyfriend says, more like a lion – and a well fed one at that (I would add). Actually, after my hiatus, I think I most resemble my black and white cat, who has had to go on a diet as she was getting too large to get through the cat door.

No, I don’t say I am fat – it would be tough to say that after running a sub 4 hour marathon. But I am certainly heavier than I was before. And goodness me, can I feel it! Every time I get out to run, it is just that little bit harder. I can’t help but think that the extra kilograms I am carrying with me are like picking up a bag of potatoes at the supermarket and nipping out for a 5 miler whilst carrying them in my arms. It just makes things that little bit harder.

I am sure I have mentioned here before that an article I found a while back suggested that dropping a stone could improve your marathon time by a minimum of 8 minutes. Wow! That would get me down near the 3.50 mark or less! But losing a stone…what a miserable thought. That would mean…

Argh!

That would mean I might have to eat less!!!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t overeat by any stretch of the imagination. I eat a very normal and usually pretty healthy diet (if you don’t count my favourite and very necessary glass of Pinot Grigio that I just have to partake in after getting home from the office). But I like food. I really like to eat. I get enormous satisfaction from eating out and trying new restaurants. I am not much of a cook, but I do thoroughly enjoy every bite I have. And I am known to nibble on chocolate in the evening – never very much, but enough to satisfy.

One of the reasons I run, I am quite comfortable admitting, is so I can enjoy my glass of white and my bit of chocolate. It is only because I haven’t been running that I have put on the weight. Normally it all balances out quite nicely. But I am also aware that if I want to come close to challenging any of my personal bests while I still can, I probably should try to discard a couple of potatoes at least. That way I will be far more ready to launch into my race schedule and will be far more likely to really finish the four marathons I want to do before the close of 2008.

So, on that note, I am going to get my running gear ready for the morning, and I think I will just have a salad for dinner. And perhaps another splash of the Pinot Grigio…

A New Dawn: Getting up with the Sparrows

It’s been a while since I have written, as I have been on a running hiatus. I have been hoping that my sciatica might have got better, but despite physio, a good chair, osteopathy and rest…it’s still there. I got to a point where I decided that no matter what, it was going to hurt and I really wanted to get back to pounding the pavement, so I am accepting it as part of life.

In the past month, the company has moved to a new office in central London and I have found myself commuting again for the first time in 10 years. Of course, knowing my dislike for getting out of bed, I was left with a dilemma…

When was I going to run?

My choice was, either get up and run before work, or run when I get home. However, I don’t usually get home until 7.30 or 8.00pm, by which time I am shattered and can’t do much more than have a glass of wine and a good sit down. So I finally admitted to myself that if I wanted to get back to running, and really achieve my goal of running four more marathons this year (yes, you heard correctly), then I was going to have to get over my pillow love and start running first thing.

Well, a week into running and three weeks into the new commuting experience and I am up at 6.00am and have got myself back up to 4 miles of a morning. Don’t fall over with shock – I didn’t do it overnight. I knew that if I was to achieve the morning jog, I would have to ease myself in.

Each morning, weekends included, I have been getting up 5 to 10 minutes earlier. Each time I did it, I congratulated myself, and it got a little bit easier. Of course, the fact that it is summer and light at 6.00am is helping, but I am actually enjoying getting outside bleary eyed, before I have even had my coffee, and going for a run. Although it apparently takes 30 days to create a habit, so I still have three weeks of it to go, but I am pretty damn proud of myself.

So, I am back…again. And the sparrows are thrilled.

Thanks, Hamed Saber, for the sparrow picture!

It’s All in the Mind – Re-Forming a Running Habit

Once we have completed a big race, the temptation is to give ourselves a good rest. In fact, taking a week off is actually essential to replenish your body after the work it went through. The difficulty can be that, once you have achieved your goal, your training no longer has the same level of direction or meaning. Because I had caught a cold, I ended up taking two and a half weeks off before I got out to run again.

And suddenly, I am out of the routine.

As I was struggling to do my regular 4.5 mile circuit yesterday, I was contemplating the difficult business of habit forming. Good habits always seem to be tough to instil. Bad habits seem to only take days and they are ensconced. It only took me 17 days to get out of the good habit of regular running, so I am back contemplating how to form the habit again.

There appear to be several elements:

1. 21 days seems to be the accepted time it takes to form a habit. My feeling is that it can take anywhere up to 30 days. Several years back, I formed the habit of going to the gym every morning at 6.30am. The routine was made a lot easier by the fact that I had to be at work at 9.00 anyway, but I remember after a month I wasn’t exactly leaping out of bed, but I never had a problem getting to the gym. So habit forming requires the ability to stick at something for a period.
2. There has to be some level of enjoyment involved. This is why I suspect bad habits are so easy to gain – generally because they are quite enjoyable. It isn’t difficult to get into the habit of eating chocolate every day after dinner, but getting back out of it is a lot harder. To form a running habit, you need to get some enjoyment out of it – whether it be out of the actual act of running, or the weight you are losing, or the strength you are gaining. It’s pretty difficult to put in the requisite month if you hate every second of it.
3. There has to be some achievable goal involved – your habit must have some kind of a purpose. I know this is one of the reasons why I have so quickly got out of the running habit – I reached my goal and my next one seems a long way away. Put some interim goals in and the process will be easier.
4. There is a bit of mental strength involved. However, if you can run a marathon – or any race at all really, then you know you have the mental fortitude to form the habit. If you can keep going through pain to cross the finish line within a certain time, you are pretty well prepared.

Now that summer is on its way in the Northern Hemisphere, a running habit isn’t such a difficult thing to re-form. I am going back to revisit my challenges. I am sure it won’t take long…I’ll report back in 21 days.

Mmmm…thank you to Sifu Renka for the picture

My London Marathon Finish 2008

Wham!

Oh no. I’ve hit it. That damned wall. I don’t know how to describe it. I have just passed the 20 mile marker. The Docklands is a memory, and there is only the long straight along The Embankment to go. But from one step the next, everything that ached before suddenly begins to scream, and worse, the battle with my mind begins.

“I hurt, Nancy, I really, really hurt. My legs feel like they are half a ton each, and the weak Spring sunshine feels like I am heading into a furnace. I have to stop, please.”

Instead of thinking in miles, I begin to think in steps. Just a few more steps. One foot after another. I try and still the voice in my head which is crying to me “stop, please, just for a few moments”. I begin reciting a mantra, at first in my head, then under my breath, then out loud.

“One foot in front of the other, you can do it, come on, you’re nearly there. One foot in front of the other, you can do it, come on, you’re nearly there”

21 goes by, then 22. It becomes difficult to see straight. I grab water, knowing that nothing at this stage will assuage my thirst nor give me a burst of energy. All my energy has been used up. It is now simply will that keeps me going.

23, then I see the tunnel. I know that Bachi is on the other side – he told me where he would be. My emotions have gone all over the place. I want to see him, I want to cry, I just want to stop. I come out of the other side of the tunnel and there he is! I pass him my pack – it is so close to the end I don’t need any gels.

“I’ll see you at the finish!” he cries. It is the boost I need. I don’t stop. I want to stop.

I know people are calling my name. I can’t hear them. There are runners walking. I look at the ground and pass them, all the while repeating my mantra. I know how they feel. I know they have given in to that voice. I won’t give in. I can’t, I am just too close. The cheers and cries are so loud and yet it is like I am in a bubble, the walls of which are muffling the noise. Houses of Parliament, I turn towards Birdcage Walk. Soon the signs begin.

800m to go. I try and up my speed. I can’t. There is nothing left. After what feels like another hour, 600m to go. Come on, Nancy, pick up speed. Miraculously my legs keep pushing and my stride extends. I only have to keep this up for a few more minutes and then I can stop. It is the thought of stopping that propels me forward. 400m to go. I still can’t see the finish line, but I am under 4 hours and it is so close. 200m to go. Can I sprint? Sprint? I can hardly move! I can feel tears chocking me, but I want to laugh out loud as I round the bend and there it is. After nearly four hours, it is almost done.

I cross the line.

I did it.

I’m Back! Post-Marathon Blues, a New Structure and a New Challenge

The past two and a half weeks have been spent nursing the post marathon blues. You can’t help but fall into them. For weeks and months you have been building to the big day, and then afterwards you suddenly find you are missing something. That and the fact that after a marathon, you become prone to catching a cold or flu due to your vulnerable defences. I had gone for weeks without being sick – my post marathon cold has now lasted almost a fortnight. Ah well, it was worth it.

However, I am back and with the dawn of a new challenge comes a rethink about the structure of this blog. You see, in a similar way to training I think a bit of structure could be a good thing. I get so many ideas of topics to write about when I run, but then when I sit down at my PC, they all disappear. I don’t want this blog to just be a dull monotonous “yesterday I ran 4 miles and felt good”, “today was sunny and I ran 10 miles and felt good” and “I just ran 7 miles and felt good” because that would send me to sleep as quickly as it would send you the same way. So, I am going to try a bit of structure.

Each week I am going to write something about Mind, Body and Inspiration. The Mind aspect will be about the mental side of running, such as motivation, confidence, success and failure and so on. The Body post will talk about health, training and injuries, and the Inspiration section will look at some of the ways to inspire you (and me), whether it be amazing people, challenges or goals. I am then going to allow myself a Post of Self Indulgence each week which will be all about me, me, me, me and me – how my running is going, what I am aiming for, and perhaps even a bit of “today I ran 5 miles and felt good” if I really want to indulge myself. I don’t expect this last post will be very interesting, except to Mum and Dad (hi, Mum and Dad!) but hopefully with the structure, it will prompt me to actually write about some of the things I muse about when I run.

Of course, I will be doing my usual good, bad and ugly race reports after each race as well. I kind of enjoy those.

Now, the new challenge. I want to run the Dublin Marathon on the 27th October this year. However, as a bit of a challenge, I am going to do two other marathons as my long training runs rather than head out myself for a 22 miler. The other two will be run without any real consideration of time (although I will record it – as if you could run a marathon and not!), I just want to use them for getting used to the distance and because it means I don’t have to carry drinks with me . My osteopath asked me whether I wanted to try for the 100 Marathon club.

Er….I think I have a bit of a way to go yet…

Race Report (Part 1): Flora London Marathon – 13th April 2008

The race was so incredible that I simply have to spread my report over several days, otherwise the posts will simply be too long – so do bear with me. I am in a lot of pain still. My quads are protesting very loudly every time I attempt to sit down, stand up or try and climb or descend stairs. My emotions are still all over the place. And I am still pinching myself because I can’t believe it is over.

But the question on everyone’s lips is…

Did I do it?

Did I break my 4 hour barrier?

I contemplated leaving everyone in suspense until I had done my good, bad and ugly, but I just can’t. I crossed the line, whipping almost 7 minutes off my previous time, in a scorching 3:58.25. It was all I could do to sprint that last 800 metres through the haze of pain and exhaustion, when I knew I was so close and my watch was telling me that if I kept up the speed I would do it. But I have achieved a marathon time with a “3″ in front of it. I still almost can’t believe it.

The race, as usual, was fantastic. The crowds were huge, despite the unpredictable weather. We started in the cool sunshine. By mile 8 we were sloshing through a deluge – soaked to the skin from the rain with water dripping off our noses and hat brims. The Embankment was run in sunshine, and the rain hit again just after I had crossed the finish line. At least it meant the temperature was far more manageable than it was last year (which is clearly reflected in my finishing time).

I am thrilled to say that I didn’t walk once, unless you count getting trapped in one of the bottlenecks as walking. At one point around mile 22 I had that odd sensation where your mind suddenly gets a mind of its own (so to speak) and my legs nearly stopped running. I am sure the people around me must have jumped in surprise (or they would have if they weren’t so exhausted themselves) when I shouted ‘NO! COME ON NANCY! GET MOVING!” at the top of my voice which snapped my mind out of it and kept me going. I had hit that mental wall at 20 when you suddenly feel you can’t go on, but still managed to keep a steady 9 mile a minute pace going until around 24 when all the world felt like it was going to end and I was sure I was going to drop dead on the spot. But by that time I had stored up enough ’spare time’, even with the two 10 minute miles at the beginning thanks to the crowds, to still cross the line within than magical 4 hour barrier.

I will do the ‘bad and the ugly’ tomorrow and then the ‘good’ on Wednesday because the race is so monumental I feel that finishing it on a low note would be doing it a disservice. But I have my 2008 medal, and I can’t wait until 2009…

Long Runs with Drinks Included

I went to the pre-London Marathon Expo at the Excel Centre yesterday to collect my race number and spend some requisite ££’s on socks and shirts and other stuff (it’s all part of the ritual), and I was stopped by a friendly chap at the SIA Stand (Spinal Injuries Association) and we started to chat. Of course we began with the standard “are you running on Sunday?” and “what time are you hoping for?” but when we began to talk about how many marathons I had run, he told me a story…

“I have a friend” he said “who is just about to run his 450th marathon”

My jaw literally dropped.

“He started off just like you, in his 30’s, thinking he would do a couple. Then he did 10. Then he saw there was a club for people who had run 100 marathons, so he aimed for that. Then he decided to find out how many marathons he could run in a year. He’s now just about to turn 50 and he is still going strong”

I was speechless, although I managed to stutter out…”what kind of times is he getting?”

“Oh, he used to average around 3:15 although he is finding now it is more like 3:30″

I couldn’t help but be so utterly impressed. Wow! What an inspiration. Here we are getting ourselves all nervous about what is a big race, and this chap does them as training runs. The funny thing was, as I thought about him, I realised that nerves are good (I get nervous before every race, no matter how big or small) but that this race isn’t the be all and end all. If I don’t make my 4 hours on Sunday, then I’ll do it next time, or the time after, or even the time after that.

“If you think of it this way”, the SIA gentleman continued “it is like doing your long training run, but someone very kindly provides you with drinks along the way”.

Hear hear to that. Mr. 450+ Marathons whoever and wherever you are, I take my hat with ears off to you. You are truly and inspiration.

Thankyou Clean Wal-Mart for the image

The Guilt of the Taper

I have had so many ideas for posts over the past week whilst I have been running which I have noted down for future days, but I wanted to talk specifically about the feeling which I and I am sure around 39,000 other people are currently experiencing as we head towards the big day this Sunday. That is the guilt we feel about the taper.

It is always this last week where every good book recommends you take it easy. Do a reasonable run a week before the marathon (I did a 12 miler), and then spend the next week looking after yourself, getting plenty of sleep, cutting the running down to a minimum and carbo-loading. I know it is the right thing to do, but you can’t help but worry. If you don’t taper, you can exhaust yourself before the start of the marathon, but if you do, then you are probably feeling the same as I.

I’m going to stack on pounds…

It’s pasta week for me. By Sunday, I won’t want to see another plate of pasta ever. The meals planned for this week are pasta and tuna, pasta and salmon, pasta and vegetables, pasta and chicken, lots of water, lots of fruit and vegetables and lots of pasta. We all know nowadays that eating a lot of carbohydrate isn’t so good for your waist line if you aren’t burning it off so, although I know it is psychological, this carbo-loading period still makes me feel like I am piling on the kilograms and I won’t fit into my running shorts by Sunday.

My fitness is going to vanish…

Of course it isn’t. In fact, I have read studies which say that easing up significantly on the miles before the marathon actually helps your fitness (don’t ask me how, the physiological part isn’t really my area). But that doesn’t stop us feeling like we are being lazy and minute by minute, the fitness is draining away.

All my injuries are getting worse…

Purely psychological again, but as worry begins to build leading up to the race, you start to become more aware of it. I have discovered that my so-called hamstring problem isn’t a hamstring at all. I have somehow managed to inflame a disc in my lower back which is causing a great deal of pain to my sciatic nerve which runs all the way down my right leg to my ankle. The irony is the injury doesn’t come from running – it comes from sitting too much!! I have several appointments with an osteopath to try and help it (it hasn’t helped so far) but because I know the race is coming up, it just seems to be getting worse and worse…

Anxiety dreams…

I always used to get them before exams – dreams that you forgot to show up or when you arrived you had studied for the wrong exam. Well, I now have them about marathons. I have already dreamed that I lost the ability to run, that I forgot to go the expo to get my race number and that I forgot what day it is and missed it…

Nerves…

The marathon is as much a mental exercise as it is a physical. When your body no longer wants to keep going, the only thing that will push you forward is your mind. What we should be doing is picturing ourselves getting through the wall, and picturing ourselves crossing the line. What we are actually doing is remembering how painful that wall is, and wondering how the hell we are ever going to make it to the 26 mile mark.

But overall?

Overall, I am so excited. I love this. Yes, I know I am going to be in pain. Yes, I know I am going to want to give up at mile 18 (and I won’t give up). Yes, I know I am going to be questioning my sanity as I run along the Embankment. But this is what I run for. Good luck to everyone on Sunday 13th who is running the London Marathon (or any other marathon for that matter). We’re in it together and it is going to be amazing.

Race Report – Kingston Breakfast 16 Mile Run – 30 March 2008

The day started early – very, very early considering the race started between 8.00am and 8.30am and the clocks had gone forward overnight leaving us  with one hour less sleep than normal. It was pretty dark (and raining) when I got into the car, but the day was due to brighten up. I only live a 15 minute drive from Kingston but I am so glad I got there early. I made it into the allocated multi-storey car park without queueing (by the time I had walked downstairs, the queues had already started) and I made my first toilet visit without queueing (but boy, that was a miracle). It was cold, but knowing the route was flat, I was looking forward to a fast run.

The race started at 8.00 (for the 8.2miler), 8.24 (for the elite women) 8.25 (for the men) and 8.35 (for the women). Don’t worry, everyone else was confused too. And unfortunately, the lack of toilets left a 30 minute toilet queue so when I got to the back of the line at 8.10 for my last visit, it was touch and go whether I was going to make the start. As it turned out, I ran from the toilets around the corner and just made it to the back of the starting pack as the starting gun went for the women.

Despite my hamstring issue (or whatever it is. I am wondering now whether actually it is another muscle back there), the course was flat, fast and fabulous. Two loops again which had the delightful result of you knowing exactly how far you had to go and what was coming up, and with my first ever negative split, I finished in an unbelievably fast 2:20.33. That is faster than 9 minutes a mile and a very comfortable race. And best of all, I felt pretty good and although I couldn’t have done another 10 miles at that pace, I could have done another 10 miles. So all set for two weeks time.

Anyway, as usual, here is the good, bad and ugly rundown of the day.

Good

1. Weather: It started off raining, but as the morning arrived, so, eventually did the sunshine. Although handing my fleece in at the bag room was a difficult thing at the start (it was rather cold!) by the end of the second mile, I had already warmed up and was congratulating myself on my pre-race resilience. So many others were toting coats, jumpers and long sleeve T-shirts while I was feeling just right in the spring sunshine.
2. Flat course: Ah, the best thing about a river route is that it is flat! And flat routes mean fast times. In contrast to my last race, it was a pleasure to be able to concentrate on speed rather than saving whatever you had left to get up the next hill. And because this is my usual training haunt, it was even better.
3. Personal Best and negative split: I never thought I would manage a negative split. I ran the first 8 miles in 1:11.48 which meant the second half was run in 1:08:12! Granted I did really push myself for the last mile, but even so. When I passed the 9 mile pacer, I knew that it was going to be a good race for me. As for personal best, well, I am saying it is because the truth is I have never run a 16 miler before so in fact it is the only time I have. But I won’t tell if you don’t.
4. Marshals: The marshals were friendly and ready with a smile and a clap. I always try and save a little bit of energy to thank them and smile at them as I run past. I think – they have given up their morning to stand in one place for several hours and argue with impatient drivers, so I am pretty grateful. A smile and a thanks is the least they deserve.
5. Close to home: No long drive back – I was lying in a bath eating a naughty chocolate bar within an hour of finishing the race. It doesn’t get enormously better than that.

Sorry about the endless picture of me taking pictures of myself, but there isn’t anyone else there to snap me!

Bad

1. Start times and slow men: The start times were a bit of a shambles. Most people who were waiting in the toilet queue didn’t have a clue when they were due to start. And I am not sure what the purpose of starting the men 10 minutes before the women was. I started passing the trailing men at about 6 miles and then spent the rest of the race trying to dodge around them. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the paths weren’t narrow, but they were and overtaking manoeuvres weren’t always easy.
2. Crowd support: Crowd? What crowd? Yes, it was an early start and with the time change, most people in their right mind wouldn’t have been up at that hour on a Sunday morning, but the race was pretty lonely from a support point of view. What crowd there was congregated at the finish line, and there might have been one or two pockets of people on the way (and a big thank you to them). It made it feel like a rather busy training run.
3. Bag room attitude: Yes, there were a lot of runners. Yes, there were plenty of people to get through. But I have been to plenty of races where the bag room was free (it cost £1.00 here), the bag volunteers both took and retrieved bags (here, you had to get your own bag at the end), and they did it with a smile, a congratulations and a delightful attitude. I don’t want to be unfair – some of the people in the bag room were fine, but several appeared to resent the fact they were there and weren’t going to raise a smile or a friendly word for anyone.

Ugly

1. The toilet queues: This was by far the biggest ugly. There were simply not enough toilets. There were half the number of toilets available as were available at Tunbridge Wells, and there were more runners. And, the toilets had been planted right in the middle of a very muddy patch of grass which made the whole experience even more unpleasant. As the race start(s) approached, the queues got longer and longer. I timed my wait – just under 30 minutes to get to the toilet. As I said, I only just made the start, so there were probably 20 or 30 people who missed it. And as this race didn’t have timing chips (why not?) then those people would have been relying solely on their own watches to get any kind of accurate time. I hate to say it, but it just wasn’t good enough. With the number of sponsors they had for this race, and the cost of entry, then surely they could have afforded a few more porta-loos. Judging by the queues, toilets are possibly the most important thing at a race and whether there are adequate ones or not will really affect one’s experience.

Humph! So speaks me! And judging by the ratings on the Runners World website I am not alone in this sentiment. Nevertheless, I was pretty pleased with the run and settled down that afternoon with a coffee in my finishers mug.
Would I do it again? For the personal best potential, most definitely. I would like to see a few changes in the race perhaps, but otherwise why not, seeing it is on my doorstep?

Hamstring Hell – Which Sadly I Deserve

I am sitting here with an icepack on my right hamstring. I felt it niggling a couple of days ago, then on last night’s run I felt it go ‘crunch’ and despite stretching, lots of Deep Heat, and a good sleep last night – it is worse today. I spent the morning searching for articles on what to do about it and after reading through several (Runners World had a good one, Runners Rescue was also good and the Physiotherapy Corner at Nismat also provided some good information). Essentially, all of them say ice the area, rest, and…stretch…

Sadly, I deserve it. Yes, less than a week before a 16 mile race and 3 weeks before a marathon, I pig-headedly went out running each day without stretching properly. In fact, I rarely stretch properly and this discomfort is obviously my body finally giving up in annoyance and saying “well, if you are not going to bloody well do it, I am going to MAKE you!” I don’t know why I am so bad at it? I know that going out on a cold night without a good stretch beforehand is courting disaster but sometimes I am not very clever and I only acknowledge how silly it is once I have done something painful.

I think it is because I am usually in such a rush. 24 hours in a day just isn’t enough and when you have to sleep 8 of them like I do, you try and maximise every other waking minute you have. Stopping for 10 minutes and stretching before a run always seemed like 10 minutes I was losing off my run. Well, I have learned my lesson now. That extra 10 minutes is going to floor me for several days I suspect. Ho hum. It kind of serves me right.

Of the articles I have read, several have said I can keep running, others have said to rest. The sad thing is (and this is quite sad in more ways than one) I wanted to start a little Tiger Running Streak. I say it is a bit sad because I had managed a whole week. When you pick yourself up from the floor from laughing, a week is pretty good for me! Every journey starts with a single step, I like to say, so every running streak will have to start with a single day. I felt so good getting out and running each day, but clearly not so good that I actually stretched before I went.

So, when I am back on my feet again, the challenge is to spend at least 10 minutes before every run stretching. In fact, my Tiger Running Streak (which is going to have to start again with a single step) should have an extra condition attached especially for me.

I will run every single day for a year for at least 1 mile with at least 10 minutes stretching before I run. There you are. I have set myself the challenge. Unfortunately, the icepack means it will probably need to start in a couple of days time.

Lesson learnt

Thank you CellPhoneSusie for the loan of the photo (which will hopefully remind me from now on)