Janathon Day 27: In Which I Dodge The Wall Of Water

Posted: January 27, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | 4 Comments

Met Office said heavy rain this morning at 6am: I looked outside speculatively at 6.30am and it seemed OK to me. So I decided to risk it, I am v bored of the treadmill and the opportunity to run outside in the morning doesn’t happen every day.

Waited for Garmin to acquire satellites. It took forever. But I didn’t mind, because up in the tree above me a bird was singing its little heart out. It’s not often I stand in a quiet world in absolute stillness listening to a bird sing, so thank you Mr Garmin for building this functionality into your device.

Then, finally, off up through the village, past the church and the insanely large puddle/lake on the road. In busy times it forms a contraflow, most cars waiting for a clear road to go round rather than through it, but the occasional Landy or 4WD ploughs through it with abandon. On the way out I climbed the brambly verge to avoid the worst of the water, balancing along the kerb at the end to try to stay dry. Pointless. I fell off the kerb, got soaked in icy water, swore, splashed on. By this time the rain was coming down too.

Once you’re properly drenched however you’re liberated: from then on I simply ploughed through the puddles with abandon, à la Grim. On the way back I was actually looking forward to the Puddle of Insanity but just before I reached it a 4WD-type car overtook me and ploughed through it ahead of me. It was spectacular: a vertical wall of water arcing through the air just ahead of me. I ran briskly through the wake, desperately hoping he didn’t have a mate following just behind.

photo 2No dawn as such but a gradually softening sky. No pics as such so I took a quick headtorch selfie when I got back. Colder and wetter than the treadmill, SO much more fun.

Janathon Day 24: In which rain stops play

Posted: January 24, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

I had such a brilliant idea today. We were going to have such a great time. This was going to be such a great blog, And then: it started persisting it down and it just didn’t stop.

rain on the windowMy brilliant idea was that I’d take Child 1 out for a run this afternoon: she couldn’t go swimming as she has an ear infection, so I thought while Child 2 has his swimming lesson Child 1 and I could nip out for 20 minutes or so running together from the Sports Centre. I’d planned a route and everything, she was well up for it. But as I went to pick them up from school at 3pm it started raining, that heavy, insistent ice-cold rain with the threat of sleet about it. No way was I going to haul her around in that. We went to T K Maxx instead.

So it didn’t happen, but it did get me thinking: I’ve had to be much more imaginative this month about how and when I squeeze in the runs. No reason I can’t think like that more often. And as Child 1 is obviously keen, I’ll try involving her when I can.

As it goes, tonight it was another barefoot blast on the treadmill once the kids were in bed – and it’ll be the treadmill all weekend as Mr IM is away. I feel comfortable barefoot now but I can still feel the ache in the calves. Off to source a foam roller and a cup of tea.

Still thinking other future-type running-related thoughts. More soon.

Janathon day 6: In which the trick is to keep breathing

Posted: January 6, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | 4 Comments

soggy shoesThis morning I realized the full power of Janathon: not just run/exercise every day, but blog it. That’s what keeps you honest, isn’t it? This morning the Met Office promised a break in the relentless rain just when I needed to run, and so I ran trustingly into the darkness – ten minutes later the rain started again, accompanied by winds making the sort of melodramatic whooshing noises usually associated with old radio sound effects departments. Wisps of my hair were dancing so wildly in the beam of my headtorch it was practically strobing. A twig fell off a tree and bounced on the ground immediately in front of me, a bit further along I hurdled a fallen branch. It would have been so easy to turn home and finish the job on the treadmill. But I couldn’t face blogging that after my lame performance so far, so I ran on. 4 and a bit wild, exhilarating miles, mainly on road, through puddles and round half-fallen trees.

The soggy shoes are now stuffed with paper and lying atop a radiator, a scene which I’m guessing must be familiar to most Janathon participants.

I decided to try following my own advice and work on keeping the steps short and light: I usually breathe every two steps, so I adjusted it to every three steps, ie a full out and in breath every 6 steps, forcing my body to breathe more deeply and do more with each breath and making my feet turn over faster. After a while I had the same slightly panicky feeling I get when swimming front crawl: it’s not that I can’t breathe, it’s just that there doesn’t seem to be quite enough of it, and it’s anxiety-making. Also I discovered it needed continual attention: a slight change in effort or a distraction and before I knew it I was back in the 2/2 pattern again.

It would be good to make that my default pattern, but I’ve been breathing this way for as long as I’ve been running, it’s a hard habit to break. Little and often, just like Janathon.

EDIT: also 90 seconds ‘proper’ (ie on elbows) planking, followed by back extensions to keep things even.

Janathon day 4: In which I am grateful for my treadmill

Posted: January 4, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments

rainThere were two ‘uh-oh’ moments when I hauled myself out of bed this morning. The first was a stiff, sore sensation in my calves (oh that’s right, I took them barefoot running yesterday didn’t I?), the second was the sound, so familiar now that when it stops the silence will be deafening, of rain lashing against the window. Saturday mornings when Mr IM is here are my one chance for a long run out of the house, and I’d been looking forward to this one.

Now, I do realize that it’s perfectly possible to do a long run in the lashing rain when the roads are flooded and the fields are bogs. I even know some people who prefer it that way. And I also know that if I’d had to do it I would have done it, and it wouldn’t actually have been that bad. But there’s a perfectly good treadmill there, and I spent a lot of money recently getting it fixed, and I persuaded myself it would be rude not to use it.

So I ran 6km progressively in the comfort of the conservatory instead. I remember when I first got the treadmill that 10km/h was my ‘safe’ place. I rarely if ever went below that, but it was the comfortable place from which I built up. I was aiming for a 5km pace of 12km/h to get under the magic 25 minutes for parkrun. Over a year or so 12km/h gradually became my comfortable/recovery pace, from which I’d run intervals up to 16km/h, and my 5km pb dropped to 23:30. So it’s a bit gutting to realize that two years on I’m pretty much back where I started. Today I ran a progressive 6km as follows: 1 @ 10km/h, 1 @ 10.5km/h, 1 @ 11km/h, 1 @ 11.5km/h, then 1.6km/1 mile @ 12km/h, with a cool-down of 400m.

The good news is that the mile at target pace felt glorious: more challenging than it should have done, of course, but still a glorious feeling to be stretching my legs, and my form felt more fluid than it has for months.

I know it’s not very Iron Mum of me, but I do love my treadmill.

I also planked – did I mention I’ve been planking after Janathon runs? Up to 80 seconds with a straight-arm plank yesterday. Today I decided to try the bent-arm plank, which I’ve always assumed must be easier as you don’t need to keep the arms locked. Turns out it feels much harder – I guess because the angle’s lower? I managed 60 seconds, will shoot for 80 tomorrow.