Gail Hates Running

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 :)

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...