Tag Archives: #runners

A letter to the man….

Who decides to walk his dog at 6am.

To the man who then decides to skulk over to the track, where I run alone in the sleepy dullness of a rising dawn.

To the man who makes the choice to watch me as I run past, and walk right around the edge of the track as I gradually move to the center.

To the man who loiters around my pile of water bottle, jacket, gloves and keys.

To the man who has his hood up as he circles the track with his dog.

To the man who doesn’t smile, to the man who circles, to the man with the hood and hidden face. To the man who makes my palms sweat, my heart race. To the man who makes me eyes dart, frantically looking for escape routes, who makes me formulate plans. To the man who makes me hold my pepper spray tight in a shaking hand.

I keep on running, running too fast, running in flight, ready to run away.

To the man who finally walks away with his dog, as another person enters the field.

To the man who was probably innocent of all the crimes I imagined him of.

A letter to the man….. Please think about your actions so I can feel safe.

To the man, I say “sorry it has to be this way.”

Love “a mother of boys.”

The science of being slightly nuts…

My marathon training has now entered week 6 of 16 weeks – so we have 10 to go before I actually try to run my first 26.2 miles (I did the math just in case you could not 😉)

I think I may have become a little deranged. My long run today is 14 miles. I need to complete this before the sun is high enough to strip the skin off my body or reduce me to a pool of water. My running prep is now thus…..

– wake up 5 am (Jesus it’s dark)

– eat a carefully planned oatmeal, with seeds, honey and banana. Complex carbs, simple sugars and protein (check) – as I may just starve on the way round – eating at 5 means. I have 90 mins to get that sucker down and not vomit at mile 6.

– drink a large, fully loaded coffee, a) to wake me up and b) to evacuate the colon and large intestine – so there will be no Paula Radcliffe’s happening mid run. (Google Paula Radcliffe London Marathon shit)

– as I’ll be running at temperatures between 80F and 95F with humidity – I need to drink 7 oz of water 90 mins before I leave. Hydration is key.

– charge headphones – as banging house tunes may be the only way to get through the last couple of miles. Or “We are the champions”, a la Queen. Please do not judge my over 40 year old tastes?!?

– sunglasses – check

– hat – check

– sunscreen – check

– no blister socks – check

– 4 water bottles filled with electrolyte water – check

– running belt – check

– fancy Brooks sneakers – check

– phone charged – check

– Garmin Fenix 5 charged – bugger I need to do that, hold on, – check

– now time to do stretch’s – I am now 41 I need to do this or I may just seize up and fall over. Not cool.

– energy gels for over mile 10, again I need everything I can to do this shit. – check

– oh and the important part, actually pull on shorts and a running top, I’m not sure the world is really ready for me running naked. 😂

Phew I think that’s it ….. Start running at exactly 6.30 am .

Who said this was simple ?

8 miles

Today I ran 8 miles, this was the first long run of my current training plan. Boy did it suck. On paper it should have been a pretty easy run, due to the amount I currently run each week and my body is used to that distance.

Pull on my sneakers, fill up my bottles with water and Nuun electrolytes, earphones in and podcast on. Ready …

6.25 am, the sun is beginning to turn the sky pink , as it peeks above the horizon I step outside and SLAM the humidity hits me it’s like wading through a wet shower curtain that’s wrapped itself around my body and dragging me back. I start to run.

Legs are heavy and I’m sweating like a pig, water is running down my face and oh look that’s only mile 1 completed. Shit, I’m not sure I can do this, Ana Faris is jabbering in my ear, like a chipmunk on speed and I instantly hate her wanton cheerfulness scratching my ear drums. I turn her off. That’s mile 2 completed. 6 to go…..

BOLLOCKS I’m bloody dying here.

I grind it out as it grinds me down. Legs are like “twizzlers” my face a tomato and my body is soooo wet I look like I have been swimming in the ocean as salt collects under my arms..

Mile 8 – COLLAPSE, drag body through front door and am eye to toe with my naked 3 year olds feet.. “mummy why are you on the floor,” ” because mummy is fucking dying!?”

I’m not sure I enjoyed that 95F (real feel) run. No shit Sherlock .

“This week I will mostly be wearing very sweaty running gear.”

I was not going to write about the fact that I had decided to run a marathon. However, so many thoughts and ideas and perceptions were whizzing through my kid addled brain,  I needed to put them down and clear the buzz, to achieve optimal brain functionality. This is my daily purpose, to ensure I do not explode into a puff of whiz popping smoke. BOOM

I started running in October 2017, after not pulling on sneakers for such an enterprise in a good 20 years. Since then I have become stronger plus well and truly addicted to the steady beat of my feet pounding the tarmac, my breath pulling in and pushing out every three steps and the exhilaration / adrenaline coursing through my body at the end, It gives me complete and utter space to be alone like truly alone, just me and my body, drumming to my own beat, at my own pace. Intermingled with the nature around and the thrum of other humans, but never having to interact with them regardless to what is happening. I have listened to many hours of podcasts and learnt so much… “Did you know that in deep water a tsunami is moving at a pace of up to 300 miles per hour, but only has a 3m wave above the water (nuts huh?)”

Since October, I have managed to run two half marathons and a 25K trail run, with times I was pleased with as a newbie. So my love for running has well and truly been baptized and sealed within my heart. Therefore, last month, I decided I wanted to try to run a marathon (26.2 miles) hopefully in around 4 hrs (that’s my mental goal).

The trick is, I need to train, like really train, through a Florida summer and if you live here you know how brutal this will be. So now I have the added consideration of re hydration, nutrition, cross training and then trying to fit this all in with corralling three boys under 10 years of age to camp, school and activities, plus a little adventuring on top. Thank f@ck I am a morning person and by that, I can get up at 5.30 am to run a good 6 miles before the little beasties are up caterwauling for food, the blazing sun reaches its zenith and my husband leaves for work.

First stop – buy a book on marathon training, TICK, next stop  – START RUNNING a lot, but with a clear plan. I have given myself 4 months to train and I have chosen my marathon. I needed a small marathon (no Boston just yet :)) , with less people and not so much hype, minimal travel to get there, so I would not have to leave the kids and I could keep my anxiety levels to the actual event at a minimum.

Running is all very personal to each individual and I will be doing this marathon just for little ol me (how very selfish of you, people may say) I will not have a cause, just a point to prove to myself that I can physically and mentally do it. To seasoned marathon runners, this will be no biggie, but this is pretty big for me as I have never stuck to anything in my life, I usually get bored after about a month and I move on to the next challenge, leaving the last one hopelessly unfulfilled. Another reason to write this down, to make sure I stick with it. Its all about personal achievement and that is it, a very simple goal, achievable, needs minimal equipment and you can run absolutely anywhere.

Each week I have a training plan :-

Week one (this week) WC 18th June 2018

Sunday – Run 4 miles / Monday – rest / Tuesday – intervals = 4.5 miles / Wednesday – Swim (cross train) / Thursday  – 6 miles (2 easy 2 mid 2 easy) / Friday –  Spin (cross train) / Saturday  – long run 8 miles (easy pace)

So far so good – in the words of Nike “Just Do It” – well I will try at least, avoiding injury as best I can.

“This week I will mostly be wearing sweaty running gear” (Fast Show)

TO BE CONTINUED…………………..