How to teach an old dog old tricks?

I know that isn't the way the saying goes, but it seems more apt for me!!

I've been a bit up and down since my last blog.  Training has been going pretty well, although I am not running as much as I should be, however my PT has been pushing me pretty hard and I have noticed improvements in a few areas.  I ran my fastest ever 5k almost by accident, and ran the last Yateley 10k in August in the pissing rain, a full 3 minutes faster than I planned, in a similar time to last year, when I had put in way more running miles.  Despite the running going well, I still keep putting off actually getting out and doing it, and I really don't know why so that's something I need to think about (or maybe not think about?  Maybe I think about it too much and that's why I get anxious about going running?!).

Post 5K PB

Soaked after the Yateley 10K

Finishing the Yateley 10K - soaked but smiling!

Home and social life has been great!  I had a particularly good birthday celebration spending the day by the river in Winchester paddling our new kayak and having a go on a SUP with lovely friends and family.  Perfect day (and it didn't rain!).

Best birthday cake, made by Donna!

Testing out the new Kayak with Frankie

Having a little go on Donna's SUP

Work has been..... Actually, I'm not going to go there.

Anyway, now that I have set myself a new goal of doing the Reading Half and getting a PB, and paid for it so it is really happening (!), I figured I would get back to some proper training tonight.  Thing is, I just didn't prepare properly!  In my defence, sitting in a cool air conditioned office all day didn't prepare me for quite how warm and humid it was outside, but really, you'd think I'd know by now that I can't just have a few cups of coffee during the day and then expect to breeze a 10k run in the evening!  Granted, I had a decent lunch of pasta with chicken and veg, but I literally didn't drink a drop of water all day.  One cup of tea, three cups of coffee (bad in itself I know!) and a carton of orange juice does not equal a well hydrated Katy.  Within a mile and a half I had a stitch and wanted to stop.  I slowed the pace and gave myself a talking to, and managed to make it up to 4.5 miles in the end.  So not quite 10k, but given how I felt after 1.5 miles, I'm still pretty happy with that.  In the last half a mile my body was telling me in many ways that it wanted to stop, so it was the right decision not to push on.  The stitch came back with a vengeance, my right knee started to twinge and I got a fly in my eye!

The reason I say you can't teach an old dog old tricks?  Because I already learnt this very lesson whilst marathon training.  I had a really awful run during training which knocked my confidence big time, until I stepped back and thought about how I had prepared for it, and realised that basically I hadn't!  And here I am, repeating the same mistake again!  Oh well, no run is really a bad run!  Apart from the last time I ran the Reading Half.  That was a bad run.  And I am determined that I am not going to repeat it again!  Onwards and upwards!

Slightly delirious and dehydrated after todays run!

So, this just happened.....

Getting the Funk Out of Here!

I write this whilst lounging with my feet up on the sofa eating ice cream directly out of the tub (Ben & Jerry's One Love - if you haven't tried it you should!).

I'm feeling pretty good, much much better than I was when I wrote my last blog.  I have been working on operation 'get the Funk out of here' in the only way I know how - getting back into a routine with the gym, and pulling my running trainers on - and it seems to be starting to work!  Yes, I am eating ice cream, however prior to the ice cream, I completed an hour long PT session, which I followed up with one of the best runs I have done this year.

I left the running for too long, and then got all messed up in my head thinking that I would be starting again and it would be hard and I would feel awful, which led to me putting it off over and over again.  I headed out to the canal towpath planning on running out one mile and then turning around and running back, just to find my feet again (really I was thinking I would just run two miles because it was probably going to be too hard to run any further. I am making progress against the Funk, but it is still there).  I settled into a lovely pace, and just didn't want to stop!  I ran a nice easy four miles, finishing strong up the only (very small) incline, which I had spent the entire run telling myself it would be OK to walk up if I needed to.  In fact, according to strava, it was a PR for me, so the fastest I have run up that little hill so far!  And when I had got back to the physiotherapy centre (where Pete was doing his PT session) I felt like I could have kept going.

So, I earned the ice cream, and the Funk is a step closer to being ousted.  A good day!

Chip Butty & Cherry Cheesecake

I was going to start this blog by telling you how it doesn't matter that I just stuffed my face full of chip butty followed by cherry cheesecake for lunch (with a 'zero' Lilt - oh, the irony!) because I'm not on a health kick or anything, so what's the harm in a lunchtime blowout eh?!

However as I sat there eating I realised that I am on a bit of a health kick after all.  A mental health kick, if such a thing exists (and if it doesn't, it should).

I have been using exercise as a very effective tool for helping with my mental state for a long time now - in fact being put on medication by my GP in late 2015 was the wake-up call I needed to make a change, and as anyone who has read any of my blog recently will know, I have been regularly attending the gym and got back into the running since then.  It has been the exact thing I needed to help my mental health, with the beneficial side effects being that my physical health is probably the best it has ever been too (and I only needed one course of those drugs and a couple of weeks away from work as a result!).

Thing is, the first half of this year has had its ups and downs, and the downs seem to have coincided with times when I haven't been able to keep up with the gym stuff for various reasons - my PT moving to a new place and therefore having a couple of months with no training, stopping a couple of classes due to work commitments and also starting to doubt my ability etc etc.  And along with the decrease in exercise, I have experienced an increase in anxiety and stress levels, and have noticed some old patterns emerging as a result.  For example, a good gauge for me is how many days do I work from home, and on those days do I get up and have a shower?  When I am feeling good, even on a work from home day I would be up and dressed.  When I am below par I tend to find myself still in pyjamas in the afternoon, and then beat myself up about it.  I berate myself - why can't I just be like everyone else and get up and dressed like a normal person?  Everyone else can manage it, so why can't I?  Then there's the housework, which I just don't keep on top of so well when I'm down.  And it's an ever decreasing circle, because being in the house when it's messy makes me stressed out from looking at the mess, and yet I don't want to leave the house, so I am spending more time there looking at the mess, and yet don't have the energy to clean it up....... You can see where I'm going here!

You would think that the solution to this would be pretty simple - get back into a routine with the exercise.  And I know that would help me immensely.  However, my brain won't let it be that easy!  My brain is convinced that because I have let everything slip, it is going to be too hard to start it up again, and I am a failure.  A failure because I'm not going to the gym as often, and because I have let the running slide to such an extent that I missed a 10k race I had entered this week.  The day before the 10k I was still going to run it - I decided that I would just take it really easy and aim to run/walk it just to get back out there, but on the morning of the race I chickened out.  I regretted it all day, to the point where I nearly got in the car an hour before to see if I could still make it to the start on time, but talked myself out of it (this pattern repeats over and over).

So, where do I go from here?  How do I get myself out of this funk?  I can't change the things that are getting me down as I have no control over them, so instead I have to change the way I am reacting to them.  I need to stop beating myself up all the time.  Yes, I ate a chip butty and a cherry cheesecake for lunch, but so what?  Feeling guilty about it won't help, just start again tomorrow.  One day at a time.  One foot in front of the other.  I'm sure I have put my favourite saying on here before, but in case I haven't;

Hail Stopped Play!

After an amazing day up at Fetchpoint for the London Marathon this year, I have been feeling all inspired and am considering trying to train for a half marathon again.  The last one I did was my worst ever run for so many reasons, and it seems a shame to leave it on that note.  So I have been pretty determined this week to get back on track with the running training.  Monday I was supposed to be doing a PT session, but I came down with a headache and instead spent the evening in bed.  Tuesday was my usual gym sessions with some friends, and so today was my first chance to go for a run.  It also just so happens that it is also the worst day for weather so far this week!  The day was intermittent hail showers and sunshine, and when I finished work and pulled on my trainers, the sky was ominously dark and I was surprised at how cold it was.  In the walk from the office to my car to dump my bags, this was the voice in my head - "Still going for a run, nah the weather's awful and I don't have the right kit, but go for a run anyway or you'll regret it, oh it's started to rain just get in the car" etc.  Luckily at the point where I had dumped my kit, I was on the JUST DO IT side of things and so I set off.
Within about ten paces, the rain had started in earnest.  Within half a mile it was hail, and I was so cold I was regretting my decision to go anyway.  I also had this niggling thought in my mind that I had just started up running and not locked my car.  Not ideal when I had just dumped my laptop, work phone and personal phone, along with all my other personal belongings in the boot!  I decided to speed up, take a short cut and get back to the office ASAP.  My ears were so cold that my head was seriously hurting - I'm sure you've all felt that pain before - and my hands were totally numb, despite running a relatively fast mile (for me!) at 8.57.
When I got back to my car, I had indeed left it unlocked.  So, all in all it was the correct decision to cut that run short!!

Still, I was a bit frustrated, as I had been looking forward to just heading out for a longer slower run, to try and build my mileage up for my first 10k in a few weeks.  I've not run further than 4 miles so far, so I need to sort that out!  As soon as I hit the motorway for the journey home, the sun came out, which didn't help, although there was a beautiful rainbow!

When I got home the sun was still out, although the clouds in the distance still looked quite ominous.  I donned a rather fetching ear buff, gave myself a stern talking to and headed out again.  And I am so glad I did - that two miles was one of the best runs I have done in ages!  I haven't run around Hermitage for a little while now, because there are no street lights in the village so running after work needed to happen at work on lit footpaths over the winter.  But now the clocks have changed and summer is on the way, there is plenty of daylight to run at home, and it is good for me as it is a bit more undulating.  I only did a couple more miles at a nice easy pace, but I really enjoyed it and I'm quite proud of myself that I tried again, after the first run had been so horrible!

And even better?  That nice easy pace, enjoyable little run?  It was a PR over that route.  Hurrah!!!!

Where did that come from?

It's safe to say that my running has been a bit slow to get going this year!  After my last post I said I planned to run once per week, however I didn't keep to my word, and have only been running twice since.
The first time was last week, when I managed a nice 4 mile run which I was pretty pleased with considering the long breaks I keep taking.  My first mile was a bit fast (no surprise there!) so I slowed up for the second mile.  Actually a bit too much, which meant I had some speed left in my legs, and my last mile was the one that felt the strongest - it was only two seconds slower than my first, which is pretty unheard of for me.

The day after the 4 miler, I felt pretty knackered and stiff!  I am the fittest and strongest I have ever been currently, so when I run I tend to feel pretty good (even my breathing is starting to calm down), however there is no substitute for actually running - you have to put the miles in if you want to improve your stamina and your post-run recovery!  I found Attack and Pump quite hard work the day after, and was very much looking forward to a Friday off work with the hubby which was supposed to be a rest day, however we ended up spending a fair proportion of it walking around Reading doing a bit of shopping, so not entirely restful!!

This week I have done my usual sessions - PT on Monday (involving a military style fit test - thanks Ashley!!), Balance and Pump yesterday (involving the most difficult shoulder and lunge tracks I have ever encountered, plus my second time using 13kg of weights for the squat track).  It's safe to say, my legs are feeling a bit tired and heavy!  When I was packing my running kit this morning, it was absolutely chucking it down outside, and I was already thinking to myself that there was no way I was going to go running if it was still like that when I finished work.  Luckily for me, the day got progressively better, and it was really nice out by the time I was ready to run.  Because I was feeling weary, and have another double session at the gym tomorrow, I decided to cut myself some slack and stick to a shorter run, and try to go for some speed.  It's good to throw shorter runs in every now and again, as you're still getting the time on your feet to build up your run fitness, but it is less intimidating somehow, and also good for cardio strength and working on different strides.  I was overtaken about a quarter of a mile in by a man who breezed past taking it easy, whilst I was trying to go as fast as possible.  Harrumph thought I!  I decided to try and use him as a marker and not let him get too far away from me.  Well, it must have done the trick, as Strava tells me I ran my fastest ever mile, and fastest ever kilometer!  And all whilst watching a rather beautiful sunset.  All in all, not a bad evening!

First race of 2017 - Royal Berks 10k, 21st May 2017.  T minus 60 days!

And we're off!

I ran today!

First run of 2017, finally off the mark!

I have continued with all the other exercise stuff, however as often happens in winter, I stopped running for over two months in the end.  A combination of being very busy, weather, and not wanting to go running in the dark.  I could have found time for it if I really wanted to, I know that, however if something has to give on the exercise front, for me these days it is running that I ditch in place of a gym session!

The good thing is that because I am doing so much other exercise, when I do go running now even after a long break, it still feels ok.  In fact today, it felt really good!  I set off with the intention of running an out-and-back two miles around GPK, because it is quiet, has streetlights and is flat, making it a nice easy re-introduction.  I also deliberately held back the pace, despite the best efforts of my legs to keep speeding up!  I ran at a speed that was comfortable for my lungs so that I never felt like it was a struggle.  As soon as my garmin beeped at a mile, I turned around to jog back feeling strong and fighting the urge to just keep going and make it a 5k, as I know that doing too much too soon is usually counter-productive.  When I got back to the office, Pete wasn't there yet (we were car-sharing so I was waiting for him to arrive to pick me up) so I continued a little trail around the car park (up a ramp, round in circles, down a ramp, dodging colleagues on their way home, round in an even bigger circle, etc. etc!) until I finally decided enough was enough and stopped - final distance 2.67 miles.

Really pleased with that!  Even happier when I looked at the pace and it was an average of 10.09 minutes per mile.  Not bad at all for an easy comfortable run!  In fact a year ago, that sort of pace would have been me going full pelt!

The plan now is to run once a week, slowly increasing the distance to get ready for my first 10k of the year, which will be the same as last year - the Royal Berks 10k in May.  I'd also like to find a few more races to enter over the summer to keep the momentum up.

Anyone reading this racing 5k or 10k, and want to send me some recommendations?!

2016 - A year in review

What a year 2016 was!  And I don't mean that in the same way as most people I guess - I am hearing so much about how 2016 was an awful year and how everyone is glad to see the back of it.
True, politically, it has been a year of shocks, but let's not go into that.  And yes, a lot of much loved celebrities have shuffled off this mortal coil (maybe on to better things, who's to say!), however when I look back on 2016, I look back on a pretty good year.  There may have been celebrity deaths, but I did not attend a funeral.  My Grandad is still going strong at 93, and has shaken off a lymphoma diagnosis with relative aplomb.  My Dad was diagnosed with type two diabetes, and rather than start taking more pills, chose a complete change in diet which has not only led to him losing around 2 stone in weight, but also reversing the diagnosis completely (I'm very proud of you Dad, in case you are reading this!).  I gained a beautiful new niece in Evie, and a new sister-in-law in Sally, and my brother got to marry the woman of his dreams.  My brother also ran his first marathon at VMLM, and raised a load of money for the NSPCC in the process (very proud of you too Greg, if you're reading!)  Pete and I had some awesome holidays, with Vietnam being a highlight, however Brecon and Cornwall also served us very well!

For me personally, the year didn't get off to a great start.  I was taking anxiety medication as a result of work-related stress, which had led to me actually being signed off work towards the end of 2015.  I'm not a massive fan of taking tablets, but they really did help to get me through a stressful period and out the other side.  However I didn't want to find myself in the situation where whenever things got tough, I ended up on medication.  I needed to find some other way of coping.

Luckily for me, Pete had signed us both up to a new David Lloyd gym that opened in Newbury in December 2015.  We went a couple of times in December and I found that I quite enjoyed it - especially after I was introduced to Racket Ball, which is like squash but with a bouncier ball.  It was nice to go there with Pete and have a little go on a bike or cross trainer, and a little hit about on the squash courts.  I remembered how much fun exercise can be, and how it is great at taking your mind off things.  In January we both went for a review with the fitness instructors there, and both ended up signing up for personal training, starting in February.  I had also started running again.  Short little runs with a colleague around Green Park, with the aim of running the Royal Berkshire 10k in May, and hoping to better my time from the previous year.  That combined with the gym sessions with Pete was really helping me to feel better.  Then Pete had to go away for work, and I hit a crossroads - I didn't have someone to go to the gym with for a couple of weeks, personal training hadn't started yet and I didn't want to lose my motivation and stop going.  So I signed up to a couple of gym classes.  This is a new thing for me, as besides Pilates I have never done proper gym classes before, so to say I was nervous about it was an understatement!  I thought people would look at me and judge me, because I wouldn't know what I was doing, and they would all be fitter than me etc. etc.  I couldn't have been more wrong, and I wish I had known sooner what an uplifting experience it can be to go to gym classes.  It isn't an understatement to say that starting those classes has completely changed me!  It took a little while to find the right classes for me (the first class I tried was a 30 minute Grit Cardio class, and even now I haven't braved going back to one of those as I honestly thought I was going to pass out and be sick, possibly even die!!), however once I found the right balance and got into a routine, there was no stopping me!  I started with two Body Balance classes a week, along with a Body Attack class early on Saturday mornings.  Then the personal training started too, and I was also still doing Pilates at a different studio, and regularly running.  So I went from being someone who had said to Pete it wasn't worth getting a gym membership and not to sign me up, to someone who was exercising most days of the week!  I was also able to stop the medication (all medication, as I had been on blood pressure medication too) as I no longer needed it.

I cannot emphasise enough what an impact it can have on your life to find some form of exercise that you enjoy.  And whatever you choose, don't always do it alone.  I have been regularly running for years now, however most of the time on my own as I prefer to run alone.  But what I learned from the gym classes is that any form of exercise is more fun when you combine it with a bit of socialising and interacting with other people!  The Attack class I do on a Saturday morning is one of my favourite parts of the week (it must be for me to get up earlier than I do for work to go to it!!) as it tends to be the same people attending, and we all get there a little early and have a bit of a catch-up before the class starts.  Since I have been going to the gym so regularly, it is very rare for me to turn up to a class or PT session and not bump into someone I know and have a little chat.  I have built up to doing seven classes each week (2xBalance classes, 3xPump, Attack and Spin) alongside PT and a little bit of running.  I sometimes drop one of the Pump sessions or Spin if I am in need of a break but that is the general routine.  I seem to have done my usual winter trick of dropping the running, having not been for a few weeks now, however I will start up again now everything is getting back to normal after the holidays!

Speaking of running (which I guess I should really, as that is what this blog was originally about!!) 2016 was probably the best running year I have had.  Obviously running London was an amazing experience, but this year has been different.  I have been much more consistent with my training, and I have enjoyed it a whole lot more.  I have kept the distance down to a maximum of 10k so as not to put pressure on myself.  I entered the Royal Berkshire 10k, with the sole aim of beating my time from the previous year (which was 1hr 15 minutes, some way off my 10k PB of 1:04:26 set back in 2008), however on race day I managed to not only beat the previous years time but also to set a new PB of 1:01:58! I was in shock at the time!  All of the other exercise I was doing was having an effect on my running speed, so I decided to set myself a couple of targets for the year.  I wanted to run a 5k in under 30 minutes and a 10k in under an hour.  I continued with the training and entered quite a few races - 11 in total in 2016 - seven 10k and four 5k, which is the most races I have completed in a year.  I bettered my 10k PB twice, once on a tough course in Yateley, and then again in my final 10k of the year where I managed a time of 1:01:01.  Not quite under the hour but getting close!  My 5k PB had been set back in 2007 at 33:52.  I know I was probably faster than that in the interim years, but I hadn't entered any 5k races as I went for increasing distances instead.  I smashed that time in my first 5k of the year with a time of 30:57, and then in my final 5k of the year at Greenham Common I managed a time of 29:26 and achieved my target!  I also started a new little tradition of going running whilst on holiday, including managing to run twice in Vietnam and once in Thailand, around a park in Bangkok.

I'm going to sign off with a few stats for you, but before I go I just wanted to say this - if anyone who is reading this is thinking about trying a new form of exercise, or trying to get the motivation to start back at something, or even starting exercising full stop, just get out there and do it!  Give it a try, what's the worst that could happen?  You don't like it?  Fine, try something else.  You'll know when you've found the right thing for you, and hopefully when you do it will have the same effect on you as this year has had on me.  Yes, I lost weight (which also meant I got to do a lot of clothes shopping!!) but more importantly I have gained so much.  I am more confident, healthier, stronger and fitter than I have ever been before.  I am also so much happier.  And I wish that for all of my friends and family for 2017 and beyond.

Total Number of Runs - 54
Total Distance Run - 173.92 miles
Total Time Spent Running - 30:56:46
Total Races - 11
Total PT Sessions - 40
Total Gym Sessions - 196
Total Exercise Sessions Combined - 294
Total Time Spent Exercising - 238:57:13
Total Weight Loss - 6.7kg
Starting weight of 65.6kg (10st 4lbs), Current weight of 58.9kg (9st 2lbs)