Suck it up Princess

On February 25, 2017 By Girl Running CrazyIn General2 Comments

Running is hard. Running is harder than it’s ever been (if you can actually call it running at all) and I’m really struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel (there’s going to be a light isn’t there…please tell me there’s going to be a light??)

I’ve moved on from the run/walk strategy. It was good while it lasted, mostly because it took the huge pressure off hitting a pace I was vaguely happy with rather than my foot, but it had to end at some point. In all honesty I hadn’t planned to end it quite as soon as I did but it was actually snowing in London and my blood is 100% southern so, you know, I get cold and running is quicker than walking. I didn’t dare look at my watch.

Of course after I had transitioned to continuous running there was no way back, you don’t make progress by taking steps backwards, and so for the last 2 weeks I’ve been shuffling around London trying to remember how to be a runner again. It was hard and it was scary and it wasn’t particularly enjoyable. I didn’t know why I was doing it.

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The last two Saturdays I’ve made an appearance at my local Parkrun on Tooting Common. Running with other people helps me to forget that I’m running and that I’m finding it hard, Parkrun is the perfect place to learn to run again. It feels kinda safe.

The only problem was trying to run a Parkrun without running as fast as I could, that was another new one on me. Being much slower than I usually am is difficult to deal with, but I have been enjoying running again and that was the whole point. You’re ace Parkrun, thank you!

You can’t be at the top of your game all the time, there will always be times when you’re just a little bit rubbish. But you don’t make progress by hiding away and doing nothing about it, you have to get out the door, suck it up and do it. So that’s what I’m doing. I’ve also never got as much Strava kudos for so many rubbish runs so THANK YOU for making me feel better about it, it really does help.

I will get faster and I will get back to the top of my game but, for now, I need to suck it up and plod on. Joy.

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Back to Basics

On February 2, 2017 By Girl Running CrazyIn General11 Comments

So it turns out that after breaking your foot you can’t simply throw your trainers back on and run 12 miles. Not even close. But that’s OK because, you know, it’s winter and it’s dark, and it’s cold out, right?

Yep, that’s really OK…

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I’ve had some physio. Sometimes we got on (when she let me run) and sometimes we didn’t get on (when she didn’t let me run), so throughout most of our relationship we didn’t really get on much. But we did have a common goal, and as frustrating as I found it, I did everything she told me to, like rest, and glute activations, and mobilsation exercises, and squats, and more rest…which was, you know, lots of fun.

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On my final physio session, 6 and a half weeks after surgery, and after lots of squatting and hopping and jumping around, I was actually allowed on the dreadmill. It was the BEST DAY! We’re talking 2 whole minutes of running…OK maybe ‘jogging’…but still huge progress!

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What I’ve really had to learn is to simply go back to ~~the boring stuff~~ basics, which has been mentally challenging. When my physio told me I was allowed to go for a little run that weekend, after an excessive warm up of course, BUT I was only allowed to alternate between 1 minute running and 1 minute walking, I wasn’t sure my ego could handle it…I mean, what if people SAW me?

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However, I did as I was told, well, almost, my legs being the little rebels they are settled into a pattern of 2 minutes running and 1 walking but it was close enough. It was actually quite enjoyable because it took the pressure off trying to run at the pace I was used to, so I just didn’t worry about it at all. Three miles successfully completed and I was back in the game!

The one thing I’ve found most difficult to deal with is my running confidence hitting rock bottom. Just the very thought of actually going outside of my house and running in the actual outdoors made me anxious and nervous, how I ever managed to run a marathon was beyond me. Something that used to be so natural, and a normal part of my life, now seemed a little alien and a little intimidating. I now understand why people find the thought of taking up running daunting.

Of course, I really didn’t have a choice, I HAD to find my confidence again because, you know, running is like oxygen. So I’ve been getting back into it slowly with short runs of 3 minutes running, 1 minute walking which has helped both physically and psychologically, as well as getting around because I can finally run home from work again (yeah, screw you tube strike!)

I’ve also taken the running-down-time to up my game in the gym which has helped improve my strength and stability and I’ve promised myself it will remain part of my regular routine, ya hear that body? PROMISE

It’s taken a couple of months but, this morning I woke up with my entire body aching and feeling exhausted, and that makes me soooo very happy because I actually feel like my old self again! Well, being well rested and ache free is for wimps right 😉

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The one where they told me I needed foot surgery

On December 15, 2016December 15, 2016 By Girl Running CrazyIn General6 Comments

So I have a broken foot. Yes. A. Broken. FOOT. I know I’ve been quiet for a while, but when you’re a fitness blogger with an injury that will only let you do one legged planks and tricep dips (so that’s fun then), you find you don’t really have much to say.

My foot’s been wonky for a while, I’ve even used it to excuse why I’ve fallen over thin air after a few proseccos, but I’ve kinda been ignoring it. The problem was, I was starting to get shooting pains through my foot not only after I had been running, but when I was simply laying down too. I knew there was a problem.

It turns out that my big toe hasn’t been doing what it should and my other toes were taking all the weight. Whilst this apparently isn’t too much of a problem for muggles, for an obsessive compulsive marathon runner (I’m coining the term OCMR), it’s a real pain in the arse…and the foot…and in fact the whole bloody leg.

So, the official diagnosis was ‘Wonky Foot’ and the bad news was that surgery was the only way to fix it. On the plus side, it explained a lot and explains why I was getting frequent injuries in my right leg, it was all related to a gradual change in gait to account for my wonkiness.

So I had a choice:

Don’t have surgery, continue to be wonky and struggle to run, but always have an excuse for prosecco based tumbles
Have surgery, have an injury that would stop me exercising for a while and lose the prosecco based tumble excuse, but potentially get fixed and comeback stronger

Before I had a chance to change my mind I was booked in for surgery.

Apparantly the procedure was fairly simple, they break the bone, realign it with pins and sew it back up to leave a double-hard action man scar. Of course when I tell the scar story later it’ll involve a crocodile and the heroic rescue mission of an adorably cute puppy…

So this is my Frankenstein’s Monster foot. Just be grateful it’s the post-manicured picture:

After being pretty much housebound for the dullest 2 weeks ever, I was finally allowed out to play again last week for Christmas fun (you know the, sensible, well planned out controlled type of fun we all dream of), it made me so happpppyyyy!

Sensible, controlled fun has never really been my strong point so after a few mulled wines on Saturday morning (yes morning, it’s December, it’s fine), I found myself jumping (OK hopping) at the chance to participate in the Chaser pint mile relay!

It’s pretty easy, you just drink your pint as quickly as you can, run around the track as fast as you can, then tag the next person. I went 4th in our team to avoid getting in anyone’s way and succeeded in completing a 3 legged hobble of the track putting our team firmly in, ahem, last place. Honestly, I have never been more excited to go around that bloomin track!

So, it’s been nearly 3 weeks and my broken foot is on the mend. Not being able to run, or indeed fit my foot into anything other than an Ugg boot, is driving me completely insane but it’s Christmas so I’m trying to to chill out and let myself heal. Who would have thought relaxing would actually be so challenging?

Hopefully I’ll be back in my trainers very very soon and I can work on my #ComeBackStronger approach. In the meantime I still have these memories to remind me what I know I can do and a whole lot of sensible, controlled festive fun to look forward to 🙂

“The biggest mistake is doing nothing because you can only do a little”

On November 3, 2016 By Girl Running CrazyIn General1 Comment

I don’t know who said that but, for now, I’ll credit it to Dad French. Not long ago I came back from a 5 mile run (I say run, this most definitely fell into the ‘jog’ category) downhearted about both pace and distance. ‘When will I get faster again, it was so slow I may as well not bothered’ I moaned to my Dad. He simply turned around and said:

There aren’t many people that can just go out and run 5 miles, they say the biggest mistake of all is doing nothing because you can only do a little

And he was right. As I try and get myself out of a real running rut it’s time to hit the reset button and shake off the mindset that anything less than 10 miles isn’t worth getting out of bed for. Easier said than done though.

Instead of going out for shorter runs I found I was making excuses not to go out for 12 mile runs. My thought process went a bit like this

What if I can’t run that far?
What if someone I know sees me?
What if I forget to switch my watch off before it uploads to Strava for the world to see how slow I am?
What if I get attacked by a dog?
What if I get attacked by the Beast of Wandsworth Common?
What if I can’t actually run at all anymore?
What if I fall over?
Well, 12 miles is quite far isn’t it, maybe I should just go for a run round the block?
No, that’s just stupid, what’s the point?
Maybe I’ll just stay here and watch the next episode of Stranger Things then…

And so that’s how it went. Of course, eventually I ran out of excuses and finally managed to bribe myself into running 3 miles round the block with my favourite smashed avocado on sourdough. I even managed to face the Beast of Wandsworth Common. Don’t be fooled by those friendly eyes and little twitchy nose…

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I think it’s all so easy to get swept up in marathon madness and forget that it’s actually OK to run shorter distances (even at the weekends, yes really) and it’s much better to run a little, not matter how slowly, than to not run at all.

A couple of weeks ago I ran the Cabbage Patch 10. That’s 10 whole miles. I was dead nervous. I woke up early on a Sunday morning to a miserable day pouring with rain and felt sick. Honestly, if I hadn’t of promised Graham a lift to the race there’s a 90% chance I wouldn’t have turned up.

But I did turn up, I ran, and I got the t-shirt. Plus, if you take out the pain of seeing my Garmin flash up embarrassingly slow miles, and the fear of coming last, I actually enjoyed running. I needed that race to kickstart my confidence again.

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Sure, I’m slow. Sure, I’m scared of long distances right now. Sure, I can’t see myself improving. But I know I will as long as I keep going. Besides, I don’t really have much choice now I’ve signed up for the Brighton Marathon in April…

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Tallinn Marathon: The one that wasn’t

On September 26, 2016 By Girl Running CrazyIn Marathon Chat, Race Reports4 Comments

At mile 8 I was still hopeful
But at mile 9 my right leg really wasn’t so sure
By mile 11 my jog had turned to a distinctive shuffle
At mile 12 I was walking…
…and at mile 13.1 I was well and truly OUT

Just 2 and a half hours after I had started the Tallinn Marathon, I was back in my hotel room, physically and emotionally broken, having only completed half of the course. I wasn’t sure how much cider and wine I was going to need to deal with the situation.

It turned out to be a lot, luckily I had good company…

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It was never going to end well. I was undertrained and injured. But my head was in a different place to my body, in fact, it was so far away, it may as well have been on a different planet. Through a combination of really not wanting to go running, being too busy, and carrying some kind of leg injury that quickly shut down my late attempt to get marathon ready, it really should have been the one I never started.

But I did start.

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Tallinn is actually a very beautiful city, and with the weather bright and sunny, and some Chaser buddies around me, it really could have been a lot worse. After a lot of thinking, and trying to figure out how I felt about the situation, I realised that although I didn’t run the full marathon, and I didn’t get my BQ (which was the reason for signing up in the first place), I still ran half of it and had a really good weekend in a place I had never been before.

The marathon is part of a weekend of events that consists of a kids 5k on the Friday evening, a 10k on the Saturday, and the marathon and half on the Sunday. The marathon is 2 laps of the half, which starts later in the day.

The kids 5k in full swing

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Beginning in Freedom Square, the route takes you around the city and heads out along the coastline for around 7 miles, before switching back to the city again. It was actually better supported than I expected, I thought it would be quite low key with less than 2,000 runners in the full and around 3,000 in the half, but there were people cheering along the route and a few bands making some noise.

It’s pretty flat, and a great course for a PB, although it could get quite windy by the sea in different conditions. There’s also a smell, a kind of putrid dead fish type of smell that gets worse as the day goes on and really puts you off your caramel macchiato caffeine gels. Be warned.

I was feeling OK for the first 8 or so miles, I was running slowly, but I felt OK and was even enjoying running again. But somewhere on the way back to the city, my right leg started to hurt and my hip flexors felt tight, I was getting slower and slower. It was frustrating, and I was trying to calculate how I could adopt a run-walk strategy to the finish but, by 12 miles run-walk was more walk-walk. It wasn’t happening.

As Freedom Square got closer and closer, I had to make a decision. And I knew what the decision needed to be, I just didn’t want to admit it. I could have carried on and shuffled around, but I really didn’t see the point, I was injured, I was going to be painfully slow, and I was already back near the hotel. As my watch hit 13.1 miles, I pulled out.

Tallinn is a well organised event, I can’t take that away from them, but I wasn’t impressed that they wouldn’t let me get off the course very easily, and they wouldn’t give me any water despite having run 13 miles in warm conditions. It didn’t help my mood. Plus, as I hadn’t officially downgraded to the half, I didn’t even get rewarded for my efforts despite having run the half course.

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Well yes actually, I do. And I deserved one. So I got one. And I wore it allll night. Thank you to Paul and Lorraine, who managed to sweet talk the Estonian medal police into letting me have one, it made my day!

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Although Mike unfortunately couldn’t run due to injury, the rest of the Chasers ran really well with a sub 3 PB for Paul, a sold BQ for Rob, a great run from Emma despite hurting her back 2 days before, and an awesome PB for Lorraine in the half.

What then followed were a lot of drinks, some dinner, some more drinks, some silliness and some music.

There’ll be other marathons, and other opportunities to get a PB and a BQ but, right now, I’m a little bit over 26.2. I’ll face up to the fact I’ve signed up to a mountainous marathon in Gran Canaria next year a little later…

WeTRAIN: A New Fitness Concept in London

On September 6, 2016September 18, 2019 By Girl Running CrazyIn General, ReviewsLeave a comment

It was hot, muggy and humid at a sweaty Brixton warehouse, in a stifling 31 degree London, when WeTRAIN hosted their WePLAY Launch Party. I wasn’t entirely sure what was in-store, but I was promised an evening of HIIT, Barre and Yoga so I was prepared for a tough workout!

WeTRAIN is a new fitness concept to launch in Clapham and Brixton that brings you a range of classes, from Insanity and HIIT, to Sunrise Vinyasa Flow, Rocket Yoga and even ballet inspired Barre, in small groups of 8. They call it ‘The Shared Personal Training Co’.

The idea is that you mix socialising with your workout to give you a personal training experience, without the extravagant cost or commitment of a series of sessions. You’re free to go to any session you fancy, when you fancy, and just pay as you go. Just make sure you book first as I have a feeling this is about to take off!

When we arrived we were greeted with Strawberry Serotonin Smoothies and Energy Chickpea Blondies courtesy of The Thinking Kitchen which was just the kickstart we needed (and both tasted AMAZING, I need that blondie recipe!)

I started off with a Power Yoga session and quickly realised my stiff limbs have been missing their weekly downward dogs and pigeons! We went through a series of postures and stretches, with hip openers and strength poses, before a very welcome savasana.

This was followed by a Barre class. What’s Barre? Well, I didn’t know either, but it’s a mix of ballet, pilates and yoga, all set to a hip hop soundtrack, I loved it! The class was made even better by the instructor, Hillary Cannon, who has a refreshing approach to teaching where twerking midway through Fiddy’s Candy Shop is not only acceptable, but actively encouraged…

It challenges you by working each muscle to the point of exhaustion, in a full body workout, to build tone, core stability and strength. Think push ups, planks, tricep dips, plies, clam shells, and everything else that hurts like hell.

There were actually quite a few exercises I was ordered to do by my physio last time I was injured with my lazy arse (true story), so I really think it’s the perfect session for a runner. Don’t expect not to wake up the next day in a world of pain though, as Hilary says ‘pulses hurt like a mother f**ker!’

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As the classes were small, it was easy to follow what was going on and the instructors could make sure we were doing the moves correctly, always helpful when muscles start to tire and form drops (and, err, what’s a plie again?!)

After the oh-so sweaty workouts, we re-hydrated with (ahem) prosecco and re-fueled with salad tubs from Gym Bites whilst WeTRAIN CEO, Adrian Mooney, explained to us a little more about how WeTRAIN works.

Finally, GB triple jumper Julien Allwood talked to us about how WeTRAIN donate a percentage of their fees to the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, a charity that empowers disadvantaged young people, so you can be sure your workout is doing more more than just keeping you fit!

I genuinely think WeTRAIN is a great concept and a welcome addition to the London fitness scene, there are even plans to expand their offering into other areas of London next year.

For people who are looking for a bit of flexibility, and some bang-on-trend classes, without the monthly spend commitments, this is definitely for you. I’ve already done another Yoga and Barre class and I’m booked into Fit for Function (with the lovely Elle from Keep it simpELLE) and, yep, more Barre!

Classes are just £12 a session and with only 8 people (max) per class, you can be sure you’re getting a much more personal experience than in a gym.

I was invited to the WeTRAIN launch party to try out some of the sessions on offer. All views are my own.

Nothing to prove. Not a damn thing

On August 29, 2016 By Girl Running CrazyIn General, Marathon Chat7 Comments

In just 11 sleeps time I’ll be heading to Estonia to run the Tallinn Marathon. Tallinn is the last chance to get a BQ for next year, which is one of the reasons why I entered. So, how’s training gone? Well, it’s been pretty non existent to be honest. And I’m not sure I care.

Genuinely, I haven’t run more than 12 miles in one go since London and I haven’t done any training of significance over the last few months. Again, don’t care.

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I’ve committed to a marathon training schedule for the last 7 seasons in a row and I forgot what it was like to just do whatever the hell I wanted. Stay in bed on a Sunday morning, get drunk and dance on tables on a Friday night (not my fault), fall off said tables on a Friday night (definitely not my fault), go out for dinner with my friends on a Tuesday instead of going to track. Just to say yes to things I would normally say no to..

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Sometimes, life happens. And life did happen. Sometimes you just have to go a little crazy to get through it. Sometimes you realise how lucky you are to have some pretty awesome friends to be crazy with. Because they’re friends with you because you’re you, not because of how many miles you’ve run. Sometimes you realise there are more important things in life than running. Yeah, I said it.

I was never sure if I really wanted to run Tallinn, purely because I just didn’t want to do the training. But somewhere along the line I entered anyway and just decided I would see what happened. I got sucked into the idea of a weekend in Estonia and the promise of a post race party, it gets me every time.

Of course, I’m not one to sit still for 5 minutes so I’ve still been sweating it out in my lycra at 7am with the best of them, I’ve just been doing different things, a bit of running sure, but mostly anything but running.

I could, and probably should, downgrade myself to the half, but I just can’t bring myself to do that. I know I’m not going to run a half PB anyway, and the half doesn’t start until midday, so I may as well just spend the morning jogging round Tallinn…

Being so underprepared is strangely liberating because there are absolutely no expectations at all. I almost broke myself training through the winter for the London Marathon, I was bang on form and still managed to f**k it up. This time there’s nothing to lose.

So, I’m going to Estonia, I’m going to run a marathon, I’m going to get drunk and I’m going to try not to miss my 6am flight to Croatia. And I don’t care how long it takes me. Because I really have nothing to prove this time. Not a damn thing.

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Front Crawl Masterclass with Richard Stannard

On August 22, 2016September 18, 2019 By Girl Running CrazyIn GeneralLeave a comment

I always loved swimming as a kid. I mean, I kinda had no choice, my Mum threw me in the deep end of the pool when I was about 2 years old and told me not to get out until I’d earned my 5m badge. I almost drowned that day (I remember it clearly) but I came away with my little pink badge and, after I’d finished choking, a big smile on my face.

Of course I exaggerate (slightly) but I think learning to swim at a young age is an important life skill. I would have missed out on so many fun activities without that skill and, if nothing else, it teaches you not to be fearful of the water when your brother tries to suffocate you in the rapids on holiday (and he wonders why I used to lock him in sheds?!)

Whilst I’ll always be the first person to run into the sea, swimming is one of those things I haven’t really tried to improve as I got older. Last week, Olympic Team GB partner, Fitness First, invited me to their Hammersmith pool for a front crawl masterclass with 7 time Triathlon and Biathlon World Champ Richard Stannard. Given the time it took me to dig out my swimming cap, googles and sensible swimming costume (sequin clad bikinis don’t really scream ‘credible athlete’ do they?!), I realised it had been some time since I had gone swimming. I was a little nervous.

FF Hammersmith’s brand new 17.5m pool

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Of course I had no need to be nervous as the Fitness First team immediately made me feel at ease when I turned up, and Richard and Jas, from The Triathlon Training Centre, were more than welcoming. We were lucky enough to have the pool all to ourselves and, after an intro where Richard explained the correct way of putting on a swimming hat and goggles (I didn’t know there was a right and wrong way…) we were ready to jump in the water.

As soon as Richard got into the pool and glided effortlessly through the water it was clear why he’s nicknamed The Fish. It turns out learning the correct front crawl technique is a little like learning to drive, a lot to think about at the same time but, once you get it, it all falls into place. Once you get it..

We went through a series of drills up and down the pool concentrating on a different aspect of front crawl each time. The one thing that way made clear was that, if you want to improve, improve one thing at a time.

Breathing:

We started with a focus on breathing, but apparently that’s the most difficult bit to master. Breathing out in the water has never really felt natural to me so it took a few minutes to remember not to simply hold my breath! Luckily, I’ve always been a front crawl rather than breast stroke swimmer, so a lot of the basics came back to me quickly (ie. I didn’t drown or embarrass myself).

Legs:

Next we focused on leg work using a kick board to allow us to concentrate on fast, straight leg kicks. Apparently many people ignore their kicking and rely more on the arms but a good leg technique reduces effort. The goal is to kick from the hip, rather than the knee, with a straight leg and pointed toes, this helps to keep the body flat in the water rather than sinking. I think I got this bit…

Arms – The Catch:

Finally, we moved on to arm technique we where we learned ‘the catch’. The catch isn’t something I’ve heard of before but it’s a technique where you create a paddle with your arm to push yourself through the water. You press the water behind you rather than down to swim faster. Makes complete sense…until you try to do it…along with the hip kick thing and occasional oxygen intake which just gets in the way of everything.

Apparently I started off well but defaulted to my usual stroke towards the end of the length, I put this down to my concentration moving rapidly from my arms to my lungs! I think my catch will take a bit more practice.

That’s me on the left, err, smooth as a fish…

My evening in the pool reminded me how much I used to love swimming, and the bonus is it’s much easier on the joints than pounding the streets in my trainers. Maybe they’ll make a triathlete of me yet 🙂

Fab bunch of Fitness Bloggers with Richard and Jono – Photo courtesy of Abbi at Upraised Living

I would like to thank Richard, Fitness First Hammersmith, The Triathlon Training Centre (and Nandos for the post swim salad!) for a fabulous evening in the pool, I honestly enjoyed every minute and you’ve inspired me to go swimming more often!

#FFSwimSquad

Eye of the Tri-Ger: Thorpe Park Triathlon

On July 19, 2016 By Girl Running CrazyIn General, Race Reports4 Comments

It was 4:15am when the alarm went off on Sunday. I ignored it. The first thing you learn about triathlons is that they start early. As in, you have to get up in the middle of the god damn night early. It was the morning of the Thorpe Park Olympic Triathlon, our club champs, and I had decided I wanted to be part of a relay team. At 4:15 in the morning I couldn’t tell you why.

By 4:38 I realised I absolutely had to get out of bed, throw on my race kit, get myself down to Thorpe Park for the briefing, and assure my teammates I was alive and kicking and ready to race.

The lake was ready and waiting

I decided pretty late in the day I wanted to be part of the club champs, there were over 100 Chasers signed up and we were co-hosting with the Tri Project, so my FOMO got the better of me. On the plus side, I figured if I managed to get in a team at this stage, I would be with other people late to the party so I would be in a ‘slower’ team. Wrong. So very and frighteningly wrong.

When Rachael said she was looking for a cyclist and a runner to be part of a team I jumped at the chance. The only problem is, Rachael is a very strong swimmer, she’s practically a fish. I tried not to worry about it. Then Darren decided he wanted to join as the cyclist… I didn’t know how fast Darren was on the bike, but I knew how fast he was at running and given he’s spent the last year or so focusing mainly on the bike, I could only assume he was up there with the best. Looks like I was the weakest link then.

We named ourselves the Eye of the Tri-Ger (see what we did there?!) and I quietly hoped they weren’t expecting us to win (OK, maybe not so quietly, in fact I was quite audible about it, especially as Darren had actually been in the winning relay team last year).

The swimmers are off

It was 6:10 when I arrived, a little later than promised but I’ve never been a morning person (which may be why I’ve never got into this tri thing…) and it was heaving with friendly Chaser faces. I found the team, we went to the race briefing and it was time to cheer on the swimmers. Everyone was together, because there were so many of us, all Chasers, both solo and teams, were in Wave 1. The water didn’t look as intimidating as I thought it might but we had been warned there were patches of weeds that could cause panic if you got caught up in them so I was glad I wasn’t in there.

After Rachael set off on the 1500m swim, the nerves kicked in. There wasn’t anything left to do but hang around, go to the toilet 6 times and panic. It wasn’t long before the swimmers came in, Rachael was, unsurprisingly, one of the first out, a little distressed from losing both her swim hats but otherwise OK, she had smashed it and Darren was off on the 40k cycle.

Darren and I hanging around in transition and Rachael coming back from the swim

I still had about an hour to kill. The swimmers were finished and chilling out whilst the runners were pacing around and wondering who would be back first. We had a lot of quick cyclists out there so it could be a number of people. The first was back in under an hour, it was one of our solo triathletes, quickly followed by 2 more. It was really difficult to tell who was coming in off the bike because everyone was wearing Chaser kit, a helmet and sunnies.

The 4th cyclist came in. It looked like Darren. Was it Darren? Oh no, it was Darren, he was in 4th place and we were first in the relays! After a brief helmet issue, the the timing chip was on my ankle and I was off on the 10k run…in 4th pace…whhhaaaaaa.

As I set off, with just 3 people in front of me, I tried to keep my cool and not panic. I ran up the grass with cheers behind me and rounded the corner to a path. It was empty. How exactly do you set the pace on an empty road when you’re trying to race a 10k without burning out too early but still giving it your all? I didn’t know. I just ran.

It was warm. The sun was beaming down and bouncing off the ground creating a mugginess that’s unusual for 8:30 in the morning. There wasn’t a breeze. I tried to relax and enjoy the epic lead whilst it lasted. The course was 3 laps so it wasn’t long before I saw the boys in front of me heading back in the opposite direction. At 1k my watch beeped, I hadn’t started it properly, dammit!

On the switchback I saw Rich Bull from another relay team, he was about 1k behind so I knew he’d overtake me soon. He did. He flew past. As did several more over the first lap. I was expecting it to feel quite demoralising being overtaken at such speed, it was quite clear I had no business being in this end of the field, but it wasn’t, because I was surrounded by Chasers.

The course twisted round the park and past a few rollercoasters which was fun, or it would have been fun if my lungs weren’t burning and my legs were moving as quickly as I told them to. Most of the marshalls were Chasers and at about 3k I saw one of my favourite Chasers (and running mentors) Mike. He gave me a confidence boosting cheer and I was so happy to see him…I don’t think I smiled.

A smiley Mike

Past a few more rollercaosters was another Chaser gem, Danny, he also gave me a big cheer…I don’t think I smiled. Before I knew it I was running past the finish line and on lap 2. By this point the course was busier as more people started the run leg. I had no idea who was overtaking me and who was still on the first lap although Danny confirmed I was still 2nd woman.

It was still very warm. On the 3rd lap I simply concentrated on reaching Mike. He gave me another big cheer. I still didn’t smile. Then Danny. He gave me a cheer. May have managed a thumbs up. I then started to speed up thinking the finish was round the corner, but my sense of distance was messed up after starting my watch late. It went on. And on. Finally I reached the finish line, a bit of a sweaty mess.

Eye of the Tri-Ger. 3rd place Chaser Relay Team

I didn’t know what time I’d run but I knew it wasn’t very fast. It turned out I’d started the run in 4th place and finished in 15th, of the Chasers at least, I’m not sure where we ended up when all the waves were accounted for (sorry guys!). Only 2 women overtook me though so it could have been worse.

Chaser Domination

Rachael and Darren found me, we got our medals and ate some cake. It’s what all good Chasers do. Despite my fear of letting the team down (completely unfounded fear, no one put any pressure on at all), I had a great time, it was fun to do something a bit different.

Huge thanks to my supportive teammates Rachael and Darren, it was a privilege to race with you, I enjoyed the feeling of being out there in the front for a change! Huge thanks to Mike and Danny, who I genuinely looked forward to seeing on every lap despite my poker face. And huge thanks to everyone involved in organising such a logistically challenging event. I may, very possibly, attempt to go solo next year.

Chaser cakes!

Confessions of a Runner

On June 7, 2016 By Girl Running CrazyIn General, Thoughts3 Comments

1.We’re obsessed with Strava

Who ran what, where, when and HOW fast?! No way, the GPS must be wrong…oh yes, that complicated zig zag, that’s not right is it?
Errrr, excuse me, I’ve just run a Parkrun PB, why hasn’t the random-guy-I’ve-never-met-but-stalks-my-every-move given me kudos yet??
It really looks like that guy sprinted the last half mile of their run to improve their average pace. That’s just silly. I would never do that.

Yep, we spend much more time stalking Strava than any other social network. Because we have to. Kudos.

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2. When people ask us how far our next marathon is we want to jab them in the eye with a pencil

Don’t say I didn’t warn you. AAARRGHHHHHHHH.

When we don’t quite know someone well enough to poke them in the eye with a blunt object, and we have to smile politely and explain how marathons work, a little part of us dies inside.

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3. When we get drunk we sign up to all the races

Most people get drunk and do stupid things. But when we get drunk, our stupid thing is to sign up to all the races. It doesn’t really matter what distance they are, or how far away they are, or if we have to race against wild horses, or trains, or jump into freezing bogs in the middle of them (all actual races by the way). No, one bottle of prosecco and we sign up to all the races that exist in the whole wide world.

Then we wake up and wonder why we’re poor.

THEN we realise what we’ve done and that we actually have to run the damn things.

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4. We Lie

Not all the time. But sometimes. You know when we tell you we can’t go for a drink on a Friday night because it’s our neighbours, cousin’s, best mates annual BBQ and we promised to look after their pet tortoise Jimmy? Well, that’s not strictly true. It’s actually because we know one drink leads to 16 and we can’t possibly risk having a Parkrun hangover. In our defense, it’s not just Parkrun…there’s usually brunch and cake and stuff…

Sadly, little Jimmy the Tortoise does not exist in real life. Well he might do, but we don’t care if he gets fed or not.

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5. We own more pairs of trainers than any other type of shoe

And we need all of them. Don’t ask questions.

6. We suffer extraordinary things to make sure a run goes to plan

Not long ago I was getting ready to run to my tempo session from work when I realised I didn’t have any socks. None at all. After begging everyone who was left in the office for the socks they were still wearing, I finally came up trumps with a pair of colleagues gym socks…that he had already worn to the gym earlier that day…and were still sweaty.

I see no problem with that.

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7. We don’t always have time to wash our hair

Running can take up a lot of time, what with having to do muggle activities like working and sleeping as well. It means we don’t always have time to partake in life’s little luxuries such as washing our hair. Sometimes, just sometimes, we’ll take a hairdryer and just dry the sweat right out.

Ironically, these always seem to be the days when people politely comment ‘your hair looks good today, have you done something different?’ Yeah, it’s sweat mate, 8 miles of pure sweat.

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8. Post long run pain is our favourite

When we’ve run a long way it hurts. It hurts during the run, and it definitely hurts after. We put our legs up against the wall, waddle up stairs, climb down them backwards and shuffle along the street. But we like that pain, it means we worked hard, and it will make us stronger. In fact, that pain just means we’re winning at life. So giggle all you want, we don’t care.

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9. Injuries make us angry. Like, really angry

You need to understand that, when we’re run-injured and we can’t run, it is the end of the actual world. And you can’t help in any way. In fact, you can only really make it worse.

I know it was only a few days ago we were moaning about our training schedule and how tired we were. But that was when we could run. And now we can’t run. So that means the only thing in the world we want to do is run.

No it’s not ‘nice to have a rest’, it’s not ‘good to take a break’, and it’s definitely not ‘fun to go for a swim instead’. JUST. BACK. OFF.

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10. We don’t understand why you recoil in horror at our ‘easy 10 miler’

Because an easy 10 miler is simply that, we’re running 10 miles and we’re keeping it easy. OK, maybe running 10 miles isn’t ‘easy’ but, what we mean is, we won’t be adding any strides, fartleks, tempo or MP (I know, I know, I lost you).

The problem is, our concept of distance is completely distorted, we think nothing of our 15 mile weekend run and, for that reason, it’s never wise to ask us if we think somewhere is close enough to walk. We only know how long it takes to run there. And therefore the answer is always yes.

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11. We don’t always WANT to go for a run

Despite everything I’ve said, we’re not always filled with joy at the prospect of going for another run. Sometimes running is hard, and it hurts, and we would much rather sit on the sofa with a box of Lindt balls and watch back to back Friends episodes we’ve already seen 100 times. But we run anyway. Because running is life. And it’s the only life we know. We don’t expect you to understand.

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