A failed experiment.

Two of the things I like best about running are: A) it's outdoors, and B) it's free.  So, perhaps I should have known that this experiment was doomed to fail.

As I have mentioned, running is taking up a lot of time by this point.  I have a busy weekend coming up, so I thought that I should try and get an extra long run in on a weekday evening.  Running outside when it's cold and dark is not always my favourite, particularly not on long runs.

So, I took out a one-day membership to a very cheap local gym and decided to try a post-work treadmill session.  If it worked out, maybe this would become a regular thing.

I read a lot in advance.  I knew to set the incline at one degree to better emulate road conditions.  I was prepared for it to be a bit more boring, so I downloaded hours' worth of Desert Island Discs.  I was all set.  Right?

You know by now this isn't going to end well.  I just really, really wasn't prepared for HOW boring it would be.  It was so weird.  I love running.  I really love it.  Yet on a treadmill, after about ten minutes I pretty much wanted to kill myself.  I'm barely even exaggerating.

It didn't help that I hadn't anticipated gyms to be so NOISY.  What with that and my crappy iPod headphones, the gentle tones of Kirsty Young were barely getting through, so my plan for a DID fest had to be grumpily abandoned.  I cranked up some No Doubt as an alternative (I never said I was cool).  Still not cutting it.  And if Gwen can't inspire a person to exercise their arse off, I don't know who can.

So I was grumpy and bored.  Without fresh air whipping around me (and let's not even start on the fluorescent lighting), I was also extremely hot and sweaty.  It's weird, but the unnatural conditions of running on a machine felt all wrong.  It was harder than it should have been and time seemed to slow down to an evil creep.

I managed a grudging 10K and then decided that life is just too short.  Running usually makes me happy and this was doing the opposite.  I'm just going to have to fit some more running in this weekend, somehow.  Lovely, outdoor running.

In a funny way, this small experience has made me appreciate my usual runs all the more.  I don't care if I have to have no social life between now and April; I have to get the miles in and I now know that treadmills are not an option.  I can't wait to get running outside again.  Even the windiest, rainiest, coldest nighttime run is better than THAT.  Oh, outside - how I love you.  It took me a long time to realise it, but I am totally the outdoor type.

So, a failed experiment but one that has left me all the more inspired to get on with it.  That plus the fact that a lot of wonderful people have now sponsored me (thank you so much), and I am raring to go.  Just not under fluorescent lighting.

Flexibility

Ooh, this week has been the first week that I've had to shift my runs around a bit.  I was busy yesterday, so am doing my usual Thursday 4-mile run today.  This is making me feel disproportionately panicky.

There's a lot of training still to go, so I really need to chill the f**k out about this sort of thing, I think.

In other news, yoga for runners would also probably be a good idea.

Tin Rattling

I would like to preface this by saying I don’t expect you to sponsor me.  (I hope that would be obvious, but I want to make sure I’m being polite about this.)  However, you can if you would like: here.  I would be extremely grateful.  I hope that raising money for a charity that I really believe in will both do some good in the world and help me to make it around that 26.2-mile course.

I am very aware that sometimes it can feel as though we are being constantly bombarded with requests to be sponsored – for everything from a 5K walk to just not having a drink for a little while.  It gets ridiculous, particularly if you work in a big office or other workplace.

I feel that selecting the charities I choose to support is a very personal decision, and I don’t like people trying to pressure that decision.  In case you’re interested, I give small monthly donations to carefully chosen charities, but I am really happy to make one-off donations to people who are doing worthwhile things for great charities – so I hope you don’t mind me asking whether you would like to do the same.

I decided to run the Brighton Marathon for the Katie Piper Foundation because my mum does a lot of work with them.  This means that I have been to some of their events, met some of their team, and seen first-hand the great work that they do – something that feels very important to me.  I honestly wouldn’t have done this if it were for some arbitrary faceless charity, just because I quite fancy running a marathon.

KPF’s work, in a nutshell, is built around the ethos ‘making it easier to live with burns and scars’.  In practice, this means that the aims of the charity are to:

·      improve outcomes for burns survivors

·      deliver – directly or indirectly – intensive, comprehensive burns rehabilitation (post acute care discharge) in the UK

·      support burns survivors throughout their journey of recovery.

Katie is an inspiring woman, to say the least – you may recognise her from the documentaries she has made about both her story and the Foundation.  If you haven’t seen them, I recommend having a watch (should be free on the Channel 4 website, but I’m not sure how/if this works for my international friends).

It sounds fatuous, but many of us really take for granted how much easier life is when you look ‘normal’.  The Katie Piper Foundation’s work is really important and I am happy to do all I can to support it.  Running a marathon is quite a big deal for me and I hope that all my hard work will be worthwhile.

So, a quick recap…  You can find out more about the charity here.

And sponsor me (if you would like to) here.

Thanks very much for reading.

Some improvement.

I was determined that last night's 'medium' run should not be a repeat of last week's pathetic performance.

And (hurrah) it wasn't.  I set out determined to do much better and I powered up the hills I had inexplicably struggled with last week.  I did this by the use of cheesy mantras in my head, which kind of went: 'you are getting better at this; you are doing the training and it is working; you feel stronger all the time'.  Etcetera.

And it worked, cheesily.  I completed my eight miles and made it home in record time, as well.

However, in the interests of full disclosure, I should probably also mention that this may also be because I have almost finished Dr Sleep (Stephen King' new sequel to The Shining) and could not wait to get home and pick it up again.  It is truly terrifying, so the adrenaline of panicking about what might happen next powered me along at a good clip.

Horror novels are clearly the key to fast running.

Keeping On.

I'm into week three now.

On Saturday, I ran 16 miles.  It felt... really OK.  No aching afterwards - after my last long runs, I found myself walking sideways up and down the stairs for a good 24 hours.  Not this time, which I hope is a good sign that I am getting stronger.  I'm doing the training and it's working - I hope.

This might sound really thick, but the most challenging thing now is that the runs are getting so very bloody long - in terms of time rather than distance.  I know that getting the hours and the miles under my belt is the only way forward.  But I don't want the training to eat into my entire weekend.

On Saturday morning, I made it out by eight o'clock.  I thought this was not bad going.  I was running until eleven - I am quite a slow runner.  Obviously, over the next few weeks, the runs are going to get longer.  I am just going to have to get up earlier.

This last week has been the first in which I have really struggled to fit running in around my social and work calendar.  Deadlines and meetings and lunches, as well as some really fun parties and activities.  Lucky me.  Still, on Saturday, I had barely an hour after my sixteen miles in which to get cleaned up for my dad and his girlfriend visiting; then on Sunday, I was disproportionately pleased with myself only to have two glasses of wine at my best friend's engagement party.  It's kind of my own fault, but the whole weekend felt as though it revolved around that one big run.

I love running but I like to do other things as well.  I may have to become a bit nocturnal, or at least get these long runs started while it's still dark in the morning.  It's only until April, right?

Just so as not to leave a bum note at the top for now.

Today: A great day on many levels.

Running: Only three miles tonight.  Pouring rain.  Neighbours think I'm crazy.  Every step a delight.

Fin.

Meh.

What makes the difference between a great run and a really-quite-rubbish run?  Is it a million little things that are barely discernible to the human eye?  Maybe a bit of work stress, naughty foxes hanging out outside your bedroom window at night, that lump of cheese you ate this afternoon?  Who knows?

Tonight was only seven miles - the route I so enjoyed last week, but with just one extra mile added.  For some reason, or none, it felt SO HARD!  This is the sort of distance I have been super comfortable with for years, way before this marathon training lark began.

It's quite a challenging course, with lots of hills - but my 'medium' runs are supposed to be harder than the long ones.  Tonight it just felt like Too Much.  I hit a real slump about halfway around, and even 'had' to do some run-walk-run-walk intervals going uphill.  I say 'had' because there was no real reason for it except that my legs felt really heavy.

At one point, I could have taken a shortcut that would have lopped the last couple of miles off my route.  I seriously considered it and paused for a second at the crossroads while I thought about it.  Happily, in the end, I didn't.  While they were by no means glorious miles, I at least completed the requisite number of miles.

I'm always telling my new-to-running friends that you can't expect an upward trajectory every single time, don't be disheartened, etc.  I know this is true.  But this is marathon training, dude - I'm supposed to be taking it up a notch!

Well.  It will be better next time, hopefully.

I was embarrassingly happy to get home to a hot bath and 'Where D'You Go, Bernadette?'.  The latter is as good as everyone says; I really recommend it.