End of year (2019) review

Date: Wednesday, December 31, 2019

Distance: Too ill to run

Listened to: Myself coughing

You may have worked out that I am not a patient patient. I hate being stopped in my tracks. This had always been the case but it’s even more acute now that I am running. I did try a treadmill run yesterday and covered two miles, but not sure my lungs thanked me for it. There will be no running today. So I will write about running instead!

I have just read my blogs of 2019. Here are the headlines:

• 2 x half marathons
• 1 x night-walking marathon
• 3 x completing Cattery hill

I am chuffed with all of these and how far I had come. My goal at the end of 2018 was to run 10 miles and I have done that multiple times this year. I also started 2018 training for a 10km event and now regularly run that distance as part of my regular routine. Lord…I have a regular routine!

There has been a big shift in me in 2019. I started the year fearing the first half marathon I was going to run in March to ending it wanting to run further. Routine has given me physical and mental strength. 

I would attribute the change to four main factors (I love a bullet point!):

• Running in miles not kilometres
• Virtual races (that are measured in miles)
• Running when visiting other places
• Enlisting John’s help to set me and write me training programmes

Running miles has made me run further. I know I could do the conversion but once you are aiming for a half marathon, you are aiming for 13.1 miles. Why mess about with 21 kilometres? I just want to keep it simple and aim for the distance I need to achieve.

The virtual races are in miles too. These have forced me out when I have not wanted to. In my last blog, I wrote about aiming for 100 miles to honour my cousin’s son Tait. I did it. It was a self-imposed target I needed to achieve and a precious medal to remember an utter legend of a boy.

Clocking up the miles means running when you may not have normally run, e.g. a romantic weekend away to Venice! However, running is actually a very efficient way to do some sightseeing! Our 15 miles in Venice made sure we nailed all the major sights before most people were up. I have popped my training gear in my bag for all my trips away this year and it is always nice to run somewhere different: Eastbourne, Lichfield, Birmingham, Bakewell, Brixham, Swansea… and Lake Garda – crazy mix!

I have also trusted John’s advice. I am fortunate to have a physiotherapist with a wealth of sports knowledge at my side, who knows me and my fragile ego. He ran/walked every step with me for my first half and set my programme to train me for my second. He upped my game to four runs a week and has tweaked that programme since to make me stronger. He types it up, sticks on the fridge and I just do it. I plan my route to get the miles I need, but other than that, it has become a tick exercise. He has also given me the time to run. With us both wanting to train on top of our jobs and seeing the girls, time can be tough to negotiate, but he has always been very generous with supporting my running endeavours.

John’s training plan and my friend Lisa’s support, at the start line and in the lead up, meant I enjoyed my second half marathon more than the first. I took three minutes off my first half marathon time on a hillier course. I did not get a stomach ache afterwards and was not stiff the next day. John achieved a PB too!

I was a little bewildered as to what to tackle after October’s race so repeated my half marathon plan with some hill runs added in on the treadmill. This phase coincided with my original plan to do 75 miles in November, which I consequently upped to 100 after Tait passed away. Tait’s inspiration and the new training regime saw me run up hills I had not conquered before. It gave me a new determination to just get the distance done. When it came to ‘race day’, I ran 13.1 miles on my own around the South Hams’ hilly country roads in 2 hours 13 mins to take eight minutes off my last half marathon time, and that included some walking on Cattery. I was elated, not just with the distance but that at no point did I want to just stop. I had found some mental fortitude and confidence in my ability.

John then set me a new four-week plan to run three sessions a week, covering the same kind of mileage as when I was running four, but added in some different exercise – I chose spin – before starting another half marathon training schedule in the new year. I wanted to see if I could run further than 13.1 miles too. One six-miler, 11 hilly miles to Salcombe and a spin class later…and the lurgy set in. Pah! I hate being ill and as an asthmatic, I need to look after my lungs. I just want the coughing and sore chest to go away now, so I can get my trainers back on.

The four-week plan has not gone to plan but there are still goals for 2020. I am booked up for two half marathons in February (with Cath, Abs and Emma) and June (with John). Hoping to do another one with Lisa too. I will also form run two legs (equalling a half marathon) of a relay marathon team to honour Tait when I visit Ottawa in May. Will hopefully add a few more medals to Pooh’s neck!

I still have not officially nailed that sub-hour 10km (the only time I revert to kilometres) and I would like to run further, but progress has definitely been made in 2019. Thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way in 2019, especially to my girls, Ella and Maggie. They always ask me how far I have run when I appear red-faced and sweaty through the door, and then heap love and praise on me. It means a lot.

#runningfordad #runningfortait #runningforme