Run Happy

Let's just start by saying, yesterday's run was horrible. Saturday night started with me saying I wouldn't be out late as I had to run the next day...I got home around 2.30am. I also said I wouldn't drink much...I spent £35. Although I didn't feel really hungover, I was tired and dehydrated which meant going for a run was the last thing I wanted to do. Add in the fact that on Saturday it snowed a lot and the pavements were either slush or compacted snow, so my feet would get cold and wet, or I would fall on my ass. Jack came home from a run however and told me the pavements are fine, excuse gone.

After suitably hydrating, I headed out. It was clear after 2 miles that I should have take water with me as I was still suffering. The run was made easier however by the views. The snow automatically makes everything prettier and it was lovely to see how many people were out in Bellahouston park sledging and making snowmen. This definitely made miles 3-4 more bearable. After mile 4 I realised I still had 2 miles until I was home, I wanted to cry. I was desperate for some water and as I probably still had alcohol in my system, I was boiling hot. I joked to Jack when I was home that I was close to eating snow and putting it under my hat to cool down!

I managed to get back, only walking a couple of times, and collapsed on the floor as soon I was in the door. Jack was and ever so supporting husband and took a picture of this! I will not be planning a hungover run again any time soon...

Frosty morning this Saturday. As I prepared to go to Falkirk Parkrun as I was coming off shift I checked the Facebook page repeatedly until it was confirmed that it was indeed still on. Arriving early, I had a little look around the park. I was told by the husband that it was a lovely Parkrun and he did not lie. The run starts at the beautiful Callander House which is a beautiful old mansion, then, after a little bit on gravel, goes up through trails, back down past a golf course before going back into the trails and back the way you came. A really lovely setting for a Parkrun. However, what the husband did not tell me was the horrible hill that comes in the middle, heartbreak hill they called it at the run breifing. Oh my, I felt like my whole body might break going up it, even walking up my legs burned and my chest heaved! However, this does mean that there is a relaxing downhill before the last stretch which helped my poor, tired legs.

My time at this week's Parkrun wasn't as good as last week however, I was running with someone who hasn't run in a log time and it was icy underfoot. Hopefully we can go back soon and improve on our time. All in all, it was a great first time at Falkirk Parkrun, well organised and friendly event, as all Parkrun's are!

Oh man, I really didn't want to go out a run on this particular day. My motivation went from 10 to 0 throughout the day. I started off with good intention, I put on my running stuff at the end of my shift, preparing to go to a park which is halfway between work and home on my drive back. However, when I was nearing the park I realised I was starving. Still motivated, I drove to Waitrose, got a snack, jumped back in the car and instead of driving back to the park, I went into auto-pilot mode and drove home. Once back home I thought I may as well have lunch before going out, of course that meant I couldn't go running for another couple hours after that. By which point it was getting dark and colder and far less appealing to go for a run. However, Jack came in and kicked my whining butt out the door.

I was meant to do threshold runs today however, icy pavements put me off and I just did a 2.5 mile loop. Not as far as I should have gone probably but at least I went out and I am glad I went out. As many running people on twitter say - you never regret a run. On a side note, I am totally becoming addicted to twitter and following lots of running companies, blogs and just runners. Still not got the hang of it and I am probably the world's most boring tweeter. I always think twitter is for interesting or witty people, both of which I am not! However, I am constantly finding sources of inspiration on twitter, whether it's handy running tips, or seeing that I am not the only one struggling, it has a lovely running community.

All the colours!

So week 2 has begun. I also have been trying to be a little healthier this week and have made a meal plan using The Body Coach's Lean in 15 book. What I have tried so far has been amazing, and I am especially loving the higher carb post workout meals and the amount of food!

It's been a bit too long since I last posted on here. To be honest, it is because I fell off the wagon. Christmas and New Year is a busy time at my work, then of course my days off were busy with visiting family and other Christmassy activities. On top of this, for all of December I felt rotten, not 'off my work' ill but just a constant feeling of being tired and horrible. So this week I am calling week 1, back on the wagon week! I am going to try from now on to post at least once a week, maybe more if I have anything interesting to say. New year, new start and all that.

Monday - I came off shift this morning and was knackered. Had planned to go to the gym but spent the day on the sofa instead playing the Xbox, great start...

Tuesday, run #1 - A bit of a better start. Although I woke up with a stinking sore head and throat (still can't really shake this head cold), I text my friend to see if she wanted to run, she said yes which meant I had to. It is freezing in Glasgow at the moment which made going out all the harder but I had snazzy new leggings I got for Christmas to try out. We only ran for a couple of miles as I wasn't feeling great and it was hard being out again.

Wednesday - Today I was working, happy in the knowledge that I ran for a little bit yesterday. I had a look at the rota to see if I can fit in a half marathon before the big day but it is not done that far yet so will have to keep the boss sweet!

Thursday - Oh me, another day on the Xbox, am I turning into a teenage boy!?

Friday - The plan was to run today and then do my long run on Sunday however, my new parkrun wristband arrived in the post so I postponed my run until Saturday, easing myself back in you see.

Saturday, day 6 - Parkrun day! I have not taken part in Parkrun for over a year now, it might even be 2 years, gasp! On the walk to the park, the husband very kindly offered to run with me, instead of trying to be first home (a regular occurrence for him!). I quite enjoyed having Jack with me, however we spoke all the way round which meant I was probably going a little slower than I wanted. Lovely chat and cup of tea after with some of Jack's friends.

Couples who run together, say together!

Sunday - The first 'long run', or #LSR as I found out it was called on twitter. Today's run was in the POURING rain, it was so soggy. My beginners training plan advises a 45 minute run for the first week however, despite the rain, I was feeling good and managed an hour. I am going for time on feet, not distance at the moment but was happy with the 5 miles I completed.

And there we are, back on the wagon. Hopefully I can hold on for the next 16 weeks!

Hello

So this post starts with a confession...week 1 in my training and I missed a run. Whoops. I only ran just over 7km last week. Double whoops. It was yesterday's run I missed, I had come off of a double shift (a double shift for me means 48 hours at my work, working for 32 of those hours and sleeping the rest), I had a terrible night sleep at my work due to the howling wind and rain, and when I got home I had errands to run and wanted to spend time with my lovely husband. So I didn't run. But it's okay, at this point in my plan I feel like I can do this without feeling too guilty, I am only running three times a week at the moment so fitting in an extra run to make up for it isn't too much of an issue. I know some people would feel guilty about missing a run, and definitely later when the training gets more intense and important (long run Sundays I'm looking at you) I will be aiming not to miss any runs at all. However for now I am trying to ease myself back into running. Lazy Girl Running put up a blog post the other day written by her sister in which she said she was still learning to enjoy running, this is after having run for a year (the post is great by the way, have a read). I could relate to this, running doesn't come naturally to me and enjoying it is certainly a pipe dream at the moment. By beating myself up about missing one 30 minute run is only going to make me feel bad, and that's going to suck the enjoyment out of it which is the total opposite of what I am trying to do! They say it takes about 21 days to form a new habit, I have a feeling it will take longer with running so I'm giving myself a break with this one. Not to miss out completely though, I am going to do yesterday's run today and I have already text the husband to ask him to run with me after work, that way he will make sure I go out!

Vicki x

www.justgivin.com/Vicki-Rennie3

Hello.

I've never been much into sport, in primary school I played netball, which I loved but that was it. Going into high school, I didn't hate PE but I didn't love it either, I had decided by then that I wasn't good at sport and therefore PE was just for a laugh with my friends. So when I left school for university I didn't give sport or fitness another thought. I mean I dabbled in gym memberships which I paid for and then never used but that was about the extent of it.

Until I met Jack. Jack is into ALL sport, he wants to try them all but his focus is running. Jack loves running, I mean LOVES it. Those first few months we were together he would talk about running and also his love for Crossfit and I just didn't get it, how could someone enjoy exercise that much!? Slowly, over the years, his enthusiasm has rubbed off on me. This started with me doing the 5k Race for Life, then, after not touching my trainers for about 2 years, I joined a gym with a friend and started going to classes. This was in 2013 and, at that time, I also signed up for a half marathon. I bumbled around with training, I loved the gym but hated running and, although I completed the half (and loved the actual race), I hadn't done the training and so didn't get what I thought was a decent time. I then went on to sign myself up for MOKrun 10k the following year and didn't run again for abut a year and a half.

MOKrun 2014

Bringing us to this year. After watching Jack run the London Marathon in 2:37 (a minute behind Paula Radcliffe!) I felt so immensely proud and inspired. Jack had worked really hard to knock a huge amount of time off his PB and the atmosphere of the marathon got to me. Not long after I signed up for the charity bond place with Barnardo's and joined the gym. However, with planning a wedding, starting and then not completing a course at uni, and then going back to full time work, it is only now that I am finally starting on my fitness journey again.

Shiny new marathon training shoes

Vicki x

www.justgiving.com/Vicki-Rennie3

Hello

So yesterday I went out for my first run of my marathon training. Maybe a bit late to the game but at the moment I am following the Barnardo's preparation for marathon training plan. This is an 8 week plan designed to get you into running before the real marathon training starts, 16 weeks before the big day. This plan can be found here, it's not the most detailed or advanced plan but it works for me at the moment. When it actually comes to training for the marathon I'm not sure what plan I am going to use. I just want to finish it, I'm not aiming for a time (although the less time spent running the better!), so I may just follow the Barnardo's marathon plan and get my better half to tweak it for me.

Back to yesterday's run. It was miserable here in Glasgow, windy, rainy and from the comfort of my bed it just looked horrible. I was so tempted to stay in bed, even when it got to 1pm I was still in bed! When it comes to running I seriously struggle with motivation, I hate the first 3km, always, I'm not sure why but I do. Anyone else feel this? Today's run was only meant to be 20 minutes, probably only reaching 3km which meant every part of this run was going to be horrible. Perfect reason to stay in bed. However, suddenly remembering the money I have to raise, the people that have already donated and the work Barnardo's do, I hopped out of bed and wrapped up in my warmest running kit, complete with woolly hat. Also, standing in my close I went onto Spotify to find a running playlist, selecting 'shuffle play' on a playlist we had made for our wedding but didn't use, the first song to come on was Run by Snow Patrol! If that's not a sign...

The winter running gear was a bit of a mistake. Although wet and windy, it was a surprising mild day. Here was me in my long leggings, t-shirt, jacket, and woolly hat, and within 3-4 minutes I was roasting! I persevered with the hat however as I had no hair bobble or hair grips and taking it off would mean hair flying everywhere, no thank you! Cheeks were definitely beetroot by the end of the run.

So off I went, just a 20 minute run around my area. Coming out of my street I was faced with two hills, one very steep, one not. Needless to say I chose the easy option, I didn't want to put myself off running for life now! As I said before, I always hate the first 3km or 20 minutes and this run was no different. This run was miserable, I hated every second of it, that is until Stevie Wonder's 'For Once in My Life' came on through my headphones. For some reason, that first few lines made me smile and made the following three minutes actually enjoyable as I ran along singing away to myself. Anyone else find some songs do that when you are running? Not sure who I am asking at the moment as probably no one reads my blog! Anyway, thanks to whoever put that song request down for the wedding, sorry we didn't use it then but it helped me through my first marathon training run!

A wrong turn meant my run was a bit longer than intended and I was proud of myself for not stopping to walk at the 20 minute mark, something I usually do. Not the most exciting of runs but a couple miles down on the marathon road. Lesson learned on day 1, actually check the temperature outside on the forecast before wrapping up in warmest gear!

Vicki x

Run Happy

Popular Posts

Me

About

Follow Us

Blog Archive