Day 100 #runstreak

Just after Christmas each year, when the turkey dinner and the Boxing Day excesses have settled (burp), my thoughts turn to the New Year and what resolutions I might make. The usual 'I need to lose weight' one was in there again, along with a few of the other usual suspects which I think everyone decides upon only to get a week into whatever it is and give up.
This year, I wanted to see if I could do something a bit different. After taking 15 months out from 'training' starting in October 2010 and finishing in December 2011 to get myself healthy after my spectacular burnout resulting in adrenal exhaustion, I was getting itchy feet again. I love running, always have, and have ran since the age of 11 in some capacity or other. Admittedly, I went through a few years when the only running I did was for 70mins on a hockey pitch, twice a week. Then for a few years when I retired from hockey in my early thirties sometimes I ran only once a week, sometimes only once a month. However, running has always been a constant in my life. I've always known it would be there. Whether I'm running flat out for 5K or plodding myself through a painful 26.2miles, I'm happiest with a pair of trainers on my feet.
So I wondered if I could run every day for a year, ending with a big finale of 12 marathons in 12 days in the twelfth month of the twelfth year. I'm still wondering to be honest.

I've reached 100 days of running today. I've done something like 97 hours and just over 600 miles. It sounds a lot but if you break down the stats, it's not really that impressive. It works out at less than an hour, and around 10K or running per day. However, in reality some days have been a lot more, some a lot less. I set out originally to do a minimum of 30mins per day but this didn't really happen. Sometimes I was doing a 5K TT or my weekly tempo of 3.4miles which ended up being less than 30mins.. I decided pretty early on that I'd just run every day regardless of time or distance.

I wish I'd blogged more often over the last 100 days to give a bit of an insight as to what it's like to run every day. After the first 3 weeks it became a bit of a habit and instead of my immediate thought on waking in the mornings being 'oh god, do I *really* have to run?' I'd just get my kit on and go on automatic pilot.
Of course starting on the 1st of Jan coincided with some of the coldest and iciest conditions we've seen here for a while. We've had a few bad Winters over the last few years with dreadful snowfalls, but I've never experienced cold like the Winter just gone. Typically I'd be wearing a buff over my head which I then covered with a woolly hat, another buff on my neck pulled up over my mouth to warm the intake of cold air, 2 long base layer tops, 2 technical t-shirts, one windproof hi-viz jacket, gloves, long tights and woolly socks. A lot of the time I'd get home and have a frozen face and quite often would lose the feeling in my legs and fingers. Most of the first few weeks were pretty grim indeed. Thanks to my purchase of a pair of Yaktrax, I didn't have to resort to going to the gym and running on the dreadmill. Oddly enough, I managed to avoid the gym for 94 days but had to succumb 6 days ago due to the wildest day ever with horizontal rain and gale force winds and my need to get some quality tempos/interval sessions in.

I've got my first marathon of the year in 4 weeks time. I have no time targets in mind and my ultimate goal is to just enjoy the day.

Here's to the next 100 days!

When I Grow Up.....

.....I soooo want to be an ultra runner. Sadly, I don't think this will ever happen, not in this lifetime, but I just love speaking to, and mixing with these people. Nearly every single one of them I've come across has been so mellow, down to earth, and humble. But when you think about what they do, and what they put their bodies through, they must have such an inner raging tenacity which burns brightly even when they hit their darkest moments.

You may ask what has prompted my gush about these legends? Hmm...well....

During my run today, I entered a field after a mile or so. In the not too far distance, I saw a man on a bike. It looked as though he'd borrowed it from his 3 year old but thankfully it was minus the stabilisers. He was riding alongside his wife (I presume) who was running. Their dog was running alongside, on his lead.

I'm not at all that competitive and didn't even contemplate trying to pick up speed to catch them. In fact I was hoping they'd pull away from me as I just knew that if I caught them, my minute walk would coincide with that exact moment and they'd think I either a) had just sped up to catch them and then couldn't sustain it, b) was totally mad, or c) both.

I was happy when the distance between us was kept at a constant, that was until their dog stopped for a wee. No worries I thought, since they started running again before I got to them. OK, the distance between us had decreased but it wasn't getting smaller.....until the dog stopped for another wee....how many wees does one dog need in the space of 100m?? This time I did catch them, and yes, it did coincide with my minute walk break...arse! Remind me, did I say I wasn't competitive? I'm not - really! So why did I decide not to take my walk break, and instead carry on? The man on the bike opened the gate for me while he waited for his wife and dog to resume running, and I shot through it like Usain Bolt and decided then and there not to take any more walk breaks.

I knew she was running virtually the same pace as me and now we were running into the wind. If my pace dropped and hers didn't, she'd pass me again. I could never let that happen (I'm really not competitive - honest) so I kept my head down and pumped the arms.

For the next mile I wheezed myself onwards not daring to look back in case they thought I was running scared. Which I was. Every sound I heard convinced me they were gaining ground on me.

I eventually made it to the road where I had to wait for a car to pass. It gave me an opportunity to sneak a look behind. Expecting to see man, bike, woman, and dog right there, I was surprised to see them way in the distance....YAY!! With only a little over a mile to go, I was sure I'd won that personal battle....

Smiling with a self satisfied smugness only a slow 42yr old (nearly 43) woman can pull off, I was alarmed when about 30 secs later I heard a runner on my shoulder. NOOOOO! They were at least 2mins behind me, surely they couldn't have ran that fast to catch me?? My smugness at passing them and not being passed again was short lived. Dressed in just shorts and vest (we Scottish inhabitants rarely run in vest and shorts in Summer, never mind January)and carrying a massive backpack, a woman runner who was also sporting a skinhead, exchanged a few words with me. I found out she had already run 15 miles and was planning on another 10...yikes! After bidding farewell, she then pulled away from me and bounded up the hill as if it wasn't there, and left me wheezing in her wake to finish the last mile of my 3.35mile run - oh, how pathetic did I feel....I was humbled, silenced, and de-smugged....I was also inspired - that woman rocks!

New Year

A belated Happy New Year. I feel as though I should do a 'round up' of the last year.

So what did I do last year? I've asked myself this umpteen times during the last week since we entered 2012 and have struggled to find an answer. Usually, I'd be able to plot my year via the various races I've done - I tend to do the same ones every year - and have a set of results in which to measure my progress. However,  I only did 3 races and 2 of those were charity events and weren't really races as such, so you see my quandary.

In the past, like most runners I expect, I've been driven by statistics. Numbers on a page indicating how far, or how fast I've ran are all that I've needed, but since October 2010, I ditched the training diary, deliberately, in a bid to get myself back on track. For the last 15 months, I've kept no record of training, or races. This has been liberating, that is when I eventually got over my meltdown at having nothing concrete to compare my progress with. It's amazing how many of us runners are dictated to, and live by our version of the 'little black book'.

So, after establishing that I can't read back over my stats for the last year, I'll just have to do my 'round up' from the heart.

To be honest, there isn't much to say about the last year. My aim was to get myself healthy again and I'm pleased to say, I think I managed it. I ran 3-4 times a week with my Hubby for around 30-40mins and supplemented this with other stuff, mainly skipping (or jump rope for my US friends). I didn't set any records alight but could feel myself getting stronger. My motivation returned and I started looking forward to getting out there again and trying new things. I introduced some run/walk sessions and mixed up the ratio's a bit - sometimes I did 4:1, sometimes 9:1. I've tried this in the past and haven't got on with it but with time on my side, I persevered and it seems to be paying off.

Looking back, it seems as though I haven't made great progress but then I read a blog post from last January. I remember the featured run very well and I was really hanging on for dear life. I've just done the same run today, and although it wasn't easy, it was far easier than last years run and almost a minute quicker per mile.

I've started logging my training again and have entered a marathon in May but I'm determined not to get obsessed with training and miles, and times. That led to my downfall the last time and I don't want that to happen again. If I don't hit the required sessions for the marathon, then I'll have no hesitation in backing off.

I think the aim of this year will be more of the same....enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!