Gail Hates Running

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.

"It's never going to be *that* bad", I said to James as the storm clouds amassed. "It can't be *that* bad".  My career in meteorology is, most definitely, not assured.  However, I have been having a real shitter of a day and if I don't go outside for a run I''m probably going to end up punching someone. I ran on Monday, but it was just a 30 minute jog round the Meadows, I'm due to run for 60 minutes today and, by Christ, do I need it.  James and I then spend the best part of an hour being indecisive (due to the insane snow showers and the gusting wind) until there's a proper break and my overriding "fuck this" gene kicks in. I brought my wet weather/ stay dry and warm kit with me. What's the worst that can happen? Safe to say that my eyes were so much bigger than my belly.  The photos don't really do it justice, but it was brutal. There were points when visibility was nil. I lost all feeling in my fingers ...

Ok, got to fess up, work has been mental for the past 2 weeks and I have, yet again, been utterly rubbish at updating this blog. I promise promise pinky swear promise, that I will be better on the coming week. Honest, Guv'. Training has been going well. I'm now comfortably running for over 2 hours on my long runs - did my first ever half marathon distance last Sunday (2hrs and 3minutes) and this week, I took an energy gel mid long run for the first time AND I didn't spew. Very impressed about that. This week I'm off to Chester and the week after, I'm off to Aberdeenshire, so I will have to work out my long routes before the respective Saturdays. Today I ran with a waist pack, which one of my work chums lent me (THANK YOU DENISE xx) and on the back of that, I've ordered one off Amazon and it should be here in time for this week's long run. Today was a lot slower than last week, but training called for 2 hrs slow, so that's what I did, plus ...

Massive confession: I've been a real lazy shite this week in terms of blog record keeping.  But most importantly, I haven't been lazy in training. So I'm shit, but not totally shit. Following on from the "big run round the fucking big hill" last Saturday, I was pretty knackered. More worryingly, my calves were killing me: really tight and twinging when I walked, regardless of how much stretching and foam rolling I did. That's what led me to the swimming pool on Sunday. I really really really dislike swimming. Mainly because I'm so utterly rubbish at it. However I found that after 20 minutes of laps and a good ten minutes in the sauna, I felt miles better. I've also been trying to increase the amount of conditioning and stretching work I've been doing, so I'm becoming a regular face at the 0630 Tribe Yoga classes. Not only have I found that it's helping with my overall flexibility, it's really good for setting me up for the rest ...

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"