Gail Hates Running

90- 100 Minutes - 15.68 km  Soundtrack: "Homo Deus" by Yuval Noah Harari So I'm in Chester this weekend and my train back up to Edinburgh on Sunday is 14.30.  Sunday is normally "long run day" but there's no way that's going to work, so after a great deal of psyching myself up, I get my trainers on and head off down the cycle network.  I'm meant to run between 90 - 100 minutes today.  As always I try and go for the upper limit. I go 5 miles to the west, which means I almost reach Connah's Quay. The run is split pretty much 50/50 between England and Wales. I meet a couple of cyclists and several very lovely dogs. Whilst the photos look pretty grey, it was a great day for a long run (albeit really warm). I only saw one other runner the whole time, which I did find strange. Although I did get to run with a squirrel for a while, which was cool - almost 99% convinced it wasn't a hallucination too. I had a real figh...

I'm putting yesterday behind me. Today I'm working in Glasgow and I get to take Lily to her first ever gig. God bless Glad Cafe , their matinee gigs and the wonder that it Meilyr Jones. Also this week I had the pleasure of seeing Siobhan Wilson and Kathryn Joseph - two of the best Scottish artists EVER. Here's some ace music for you to enjoy :) Meilyr Jones - "2013" Kathryn Joseph - "Bones You Have Thrown Me & Blood I've Spilled" Siobhan Wilson - "There Are No Saints"

40 minutes....  Ok, so this was meant to be 40 minutes. I went off too fast. Kept going. Was not smart. Stopped after 5km. Let's chalk this up to a learning experience and never speak of it again.

40 Minutes This is the first time that I have run with someone as part of my training. I don't like running with people. But seeing as I'm about to run a very big race with an awful lot of people, this is something which I have to get over, and fast. So, the boss has almost fully recovered from his ski-ing/ribs incident. Still "a bit sore" apparently, so I make sure to ask him (at least twice) during the run whether he was ok. It was a lot more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Even managed to talk on the way round without asphyxiating myself. So that's a bonus.

20 Minutes (Recovery) My training plan was very specific that, given I ran for my longest time ever yesterday, I'd need to stretch off my legs.  The weird thing is my legs don't feel tired or sore. I think I made a bit of a mistake because of that and I went a little faster than I should. I'm sure it'll be fine. I've been really really careful to keep up with stretching and foam rolling. I'm not sure if that's doing anything so far, but I'm kind of scared to stop.  Urghhh. That'll be my OCD (or my "stubbornness" according my ex-husband - he's dead on) kicking in already.  I've started reading "Eat and Run" by Scott Jurek  and one of the most fascinating things I've learned so far is the difference he found in recovery when he went full vegan. It is a fascinating book, which I thoroughly recommend.  Now, obviously, I'm not saying that the paltry miles I'm putting in are anywhere near clo...

90 Minutes I'm not looking forward to this, I'm quite anxious, in all honesty. I've never run for 90 minutes without a break before. I'm 10 minutes, having an argument with myself over whether or not I'd just be better to pack it all in now, when I pass the incredible ultra runner, and all round ace bloke, Robert Turner. He eats 50 mile races for breakfast.  It was at that point the voice in my head said "Suck it up. At least you're not running the same distance as him". The other voice in my head shuts up. I keep going. It's 10.00. It is slippy AF.  Cramond is like a ice rink. I'm expending more effort  trying to stay upright than I am putting one foot in front of the other. Maybe next time, I should plan a route that's more conducive to the weather conditions. The run along the promenade is made much more fun by the massive number of dogs. All breeds, shapes and sizes. Never fails to put a smile on my face. It was challen...

50 Minutes I have not had a good morning at work. It's been pretty shit. So when lunchtime comes around I'm almost glad to get out for a run. I'm getting used to the feeling of being alone inside my own head and not actually thinking about anything when I run. That's proving to be then nicest part of the whole thing, being able to switch off from everything else around me. The run is hard, it's cold, I'm tired and I'm still not 100% over the bug, but I manage 5 miles. So that'll do for now. Currently listening (courtesy of a recommendation from the ace Martin Little) - A Very Successful Cover Up . Which is all about Watergate and so very resonant with the current US political scene.

40 minutes It's Tuesday and I'm going to get back on the training schedule. 40 minutes at lunchtime. It's cold. It's frosty AF, but I get my carcass out there. It was NOT pretty, I appear to have turned into a snot monster, but I did it, so snotty smiles all round :)

It's Sunday.  That means it's long run day. On the calendar it clearly says I have to do 75 minutes, same as last week.  Unfortunately I am completely unable to. It takes me all the energy I have to get out of bed to take Jack for his morning walk. I headed straight back to bed thereafter. That's how my day played out. TLDR: I slept for close to 18 hours and after managing to have porridge for dinner, I go to sleep at 9pm and wake up at 6am the next morning. Feel so ridiculously weak, but I am better than I was yesterday.  I'm meant to do a 20 minute run at lunchtime, there's no way I can manage it. I'm pretty pissed of that I missed my long run yesterday. Everything I've read says that it's the most important training run of the week. But I need to suck it up and look forward. Best part about being ill, though? He never left my side once.

I went back to the dreaded abs class. The way I'm feeling now, makes me think I may have more than one ab.  So I guess it's working. Also did 20 minutes on the treadmill, which was horrid. Treadmills are horrid. I have the dog for the next ten days, which is the most awesome thing. This means lots of extra walks, but more importantly, it means lots of cuddles - and lots of dog photos here. #sorry #notsorry .

Pilates: 1 hour It would appear I've been living with a gross misunderstanding on the nature of Pilates. I had thought that it was Yoga-esque or Barre-esque. BUT NO. Turns out, it's an Abs class with a squishy ball and, God, it was hard work. Good job my single ab had just recovered from Saturday, eh? 😐 Gx

50 minutes:  https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2427908960 It was set with the best of best intentions. After Tuesday's horrible lunchtime experience, I thought I'd try something different. Get my arse out of bed and get out the door. Have all the training done before I even get showered and dressed for work. I had all my kit set out and ready to go, so I didn't even have to think about it in the morning. An excellent plan, that. Some may even go so far as to say a "cunning plan". I congratulated myself on my genius and waddled off to bed with a cup of peppermint tea and my copy of "I'm Not With the Band: A Writer's Life Lost in Music" by Sylvia Patterson , which is absolutely brilliant. The plan was almost fool-proof. However, I had not factored in a high enough 'fool" quotient. Because ass-hat here switched the alarm off in her sleep - clever huh? - and then proceeded to sleep through till 7.15am, when the proper alarm...

40 minutes:  https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2423824209 I am extremely lucky to work in an area next to the Meadows in Edinburgh. This, in theory, provides me with an excellent running route(s) that I can avail myself of during a lunch hour. I'm not a real fan of lunchtime running. Mainly as the last thing I want is to be slogging round and round the Meadows, all bloated and red, whilst everyone else wanders round eating their lunch. I mean, it's just going to put them off their food, and that's pure mean. That being said, I'm less of a fan of running round the former railway network after work at this time of year. It's dark, it's slippy and there's people living in tents in the tunnels. Quite frankly, I'd rather wait till the nights get a bit lighter. I'm even less of a fan of treadmill running, which is my last chance saloon of training options. Run was sorta ok (3.79miles in 40 minutes), but I felt really sick and lightheaded a...

My abs hurt.

75 minutes:  https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2419577078 So, my training program tells me that today is the day for my long run: 75 interminable minutes where I am to jog/walk/run "easy". I would counter that no part of jogging or running is ever "easy" but never mind. After a hell of a lot of personal cheerleading, I kitted up and got outside. The weather was glorious. So crisp and clear, with the lightest of breezes. I decided, for what I think was the first time ever, to not put pressure on myself on how I ran, and just go out there and run.  No expectations, other than to try and enjoy it as much as possible. I did not enjoy it. But I did it and it was the first time I've run for 75 minutes non-stop in years . It wasn't fast, but it was consistent and I didn't have to walk at any point. When I stopped, there was steam coming off me, so I know I put the effort in. However, what I did forget about on a long run, is "chuf...

Abs class:  https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2417823953 Half an hour class on a Saturday morning at the gym. Figures it would be a piece of the proverbial. How wrong I was. If God had meant me to have abs, I would have been born with a six pack. G x

Marathon Training: Day 1(ish):  https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2416166571 Woke up at 7am in a vat of sweat yesterday.  Called in sick to work, put my head back down on the pillow and the next I knew it was 13.00pm. That never happens. Thankfully, when I woke up I felt miles better, so worked from home in my pyjamas for the rest of the day. The downside to this is that I was meant to start my marathon training properly yesterday. I'm daft, but even I know that running when you're run down, is an exceptionally bad idea. So, after a day in the office,  I set out (in the wind and rain) to clock between 35-40 minutes of continuous running.    I managed 3.41 miles in 35.02 minutes. I genuinely think I could have gone further, had I not forgotten my gloves and been risking frost bite to my fingers. They're all miles in the bag, though. Plus, didn't kill me. Bonus, eh? Gx

Gym:  https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2412405285 That was a massive shock to the system. Yet another sedentary couple of days and then back up the road to Edinburgh (just over 4 hours on a train) and back in the office for 11 hours and then back to the gym. Are you exhausted? I sure as hell am. It was good to be back at Bodypump and doing some weights - albeit light in terms of kgs - even though it's given me a good indication of just how much fitness I've lost in a couple of weeks.  This does not bode well. Also, not feeling that great. This does not bode well multiplied by at least 7.  Gx