Gail Hates Running

22 Miles  - North Berwick to Edinburgh. I'm not going to lie, I was hugely apprehensive about this run.  Not because of the distance, last weekend I ran 20 miles, an extra 2 on top of that shouldn't make a great deal of difference. I mean, running 20 miles is horrible, but once you resign yourself to that inexorable truth, adding another 2 miles of horribleness shouldn't really make much difference. My apprehension stems from the somewhat OCD nature of my training. It's not news to anyone who knows me well that I like "a plan" - I am definitely my father's daughter in that regard. I need structure and order in my life,  that has morphed into a completely different beast since I started marathon training. I need to plan my route. I need to know where I'm going. I need to know what the contingencies will be if something goes wrong. This is not a route I have chosen and it's not one I have run before. I also know that it's the Fox Trail J...

Long Run:  18 Miles - 2hrs 58mins I had planned to run out to Musselburgh but the wind off the sea was horrendous. The voice in my head was telling me to jack it in from the get go. So I made an executive decision. Based on how rotten I’ve been feeling about my progress, I decided to go back to where I started running, switch my brain off and just keep doing loops of the Warriston Path till I hit 18 miles. I realise it’s not the most stimulating of courses but it gave me the opportunity to have a proper talk with myself.  Run was ok. Weather was shite.  18 Miles in the bag. 😬

The erroneously titled: 75 minute run I'm not going to go into this in a lot of detail, but it was the worst run I've ever had.  My head is all over the place and, truthfully, my confidence has taken a massive knock. Plus I have niggles in my calves so I'm going to rest up for the rest of the week till long run on Saturday. Going to stick my head well and truly in the sand till then.

Almost 16 miles with far too many hills Armed with a Mother's Day card and having ordered flowers in advance (I know, I'm as surprised as you), I made my way up home to Aberdeenshire for the weekend.  I had my long run route all planned out in my head: 17miles along the coast and back with a little detour at the end. I knew that the course was hilly, but I figured that it was about time I started really focusing on endurance. I also needed to start taking on water whilst running, so I ordered a water belt - not really a fan of having to hold stuff whilst running round. So far, so good.  Unfortunately, we had some pretty shitty, albeit not unexpected, news yesterday, which meant I didn’t sleep the previous night. The morning of the run, I hated everything.  To top it all off, my water belt hadn't arrived so I had to run with a water bottle.  None of these things are the best of set ups for a long run, especially one over a new route. Turns out that the ...

Whilst the snowfall has stopped (for now), the snow which has fallen, has either turned to slush or it's compacted into ice. My walk to work yesterday was the thing that put paid to any allusions that I would be doing a long run outdoors.  2 hours 20 minutes in those conditions would result in several trips to casualty. So, the only thing to be done was to get on the treadmill. Thankfully the gym reopened this morning (thank you staff of David Lloyd Newhaven) and James and I reluctantly began the slog. It was more of a mental challenge than a physical one. Treadmill running is SO DULL. However, with the help of a Torq gel and some Active Root drink, I got it done. Thankfully I wasn't looking at going for a specific distance, as my treadmill said one thing, James' treadmill said another and my Garmin was in agreement with neither! But, 2 hours 20 minutes in the bag,  Hopefully the rest of the snow will sod off for next week so I can get back to training pr...

Today is a rest day and it could not have been better placed. All public transport is cancelled due to Snowmageddon so it's a walk to work.  It was "challenging" albeit ridiculously gorgeous.