I'm behind on the blog - need to do my write-ups from volunteering at the Devil o' the Highlands, and John Lucas 50 mile ultras. Both were great days; two very different experiences, but both were fab, and write-ups will follow in due course. Last year, I never got round to writing up my experiences about being part of both of these races, but this year I definitely will. If only because Gerry Craig will probably sulk if a race win isn't enough to get him a mention in my blog... *grin*
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| Me on the canal before the run! (Hence smiling.) |
But before that, I'll give you guys a quick update on my progress. Running is going... well, it's going scarily well. I continue to be genuinely overwhelmed with my 2015 journey, and have been knocking out some pretty impressive (to me) training sessions, and prioritising my life to fit the training in. It's giving me a sense of enormous wellbeing, to quote Blur. :-) But it's not all plain sailing - on Saturday just gone I had the most miserable training run I've had in a very long time, which was a nice wee wake-up at just the right time. I'm still slower than a snail crawling through treacle, but compared to where I was, I keep getting faster - so to finish a long run disappointed by how slowly I ended up running, despite the fact that comparatively it was a lot faster than I was running earlier in the year, is actually a positive thing, right? I managed to run 10 miles at an average pace of 11:55 mins/mile - and just one year ago I was struggling to run/walk 5km parkruns at an average pace of 13:26 mins/mile... So, yes, although it felt slow and disappointing, when I stand back and look at the bigger picture, I can't be unhappy. I learned a lot, too. And I guess the passing cyclist who told me, at around 9.3 miles, to "cheer up, and take up cycling" gave me a laugh. (I laughed later. At the time I think I was dying, and scowling, shoulders slumped and feet scuffing pebbles, as I plodded along.)
My weekly speed sessions continue to be painful, illuminating and motivational as f*ck. And painful. Did I mention the pain? *laughs* Last week's speed session was 1km repeats, tomorrow's is going to be mile repeats, with my eye on the 10k race I'm doing in a couple of weeks. (Ow.) This morning's run was 5km at easy pace, and coming as my first run after Saturday's efforts, I was a wee bit concerned, but it felt nice and comfortable. And this is ME saying that. Would you ever have dreamed I'd call a run 'comfortable'?????!
Anyway, weight-wise, the news continues to be blaaaaaah. I'm still about 3 stone lighter than I was at the beginning of the year. I have, however, been hiding the truth a wee bit about quite how much I've been eating, and what my weight has been doing, so it's time to get that all sorted and back on track. I've said that a few times now, but it's been 2 months since I've really lost any weight, and during my long run on Saturday I could very clearly, for the first time, link my woeful eating directly to my performance, so it was a great time to give myself a proper talking-to. You can't out-train a bad diet, as the saying goes... Need to get back on the path, I've had enough of a wee scenic detour now, haha. I still have some way to go, and it's time to get my head down and crack on with it.
So, anyway, a whistle-stop update on where I am now, and a promise of two blog posts to come, about two fantastic ultramarathon events. Don't say I never give you anything....... x
Unexpected tough training runs are just part of being runner, they normally don't come out of nowhere, and can usually traced back over-training, over-indulging, not enough sleep, too much stress in the days before etc. Often we just ignore all these things and just get on with life, till we get a bit of wake up call.
ReplyDeleteOn the food front, it sounds like you've lost focus a bit, this really isn't too surprising, For the first 6 months of this year you were putting a huge amount of physical and mental effort into loosing weight, you lost 3 stone, totally revamped your health. Having a bit of diet holiday to recharge the batteries might not be such a bad thing. You know how to eat well, you know how to be healthy, when you are ready you'll be able to get back to loosing weight.
Thanks for this - and you're right, I definitely put a lot of mental effort into the first 6 months, as well as physical, and it's easy to lose sight of that. It's been 2 months now, and I'm steadily getting myself back on track, but it's requiring a big mental effort again, and that's not easy. One day at a time, now, though - that's all I need to do! Focus on each day, and not worry about any bigger picture. x
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