Janey's running ramblings
Tuesday 23 April 2024
Jeffing your way to the finish line.
Wednesday 25 October 2023
The road back to New York
It is now less than two weeks to the New York Marathon and I could not feel less prepared. Earlier in September I caught covid, although didn't know I had it at the time, but my asthma sure let me know after the event. It took a few weeks of recovery to get over that and then I was back on form. Managed several long runs and then did my 20 mile training run on the 9 October.
I felt brilliant, had a great run. Beautiful day along the Hillfoots road and in and out of the Hillfoot villages to Alva. I have been using the Jeffing method of running. Which is Run/Walk/Run based on a method developed by Jeff Galloway. It took a bit of getting used to but it has been amazing. It has really helped regulate my pace, keeping me trotting along at an even pace the whole way.
But then, BAM, I got a cold, out of nowhere. The cold then turned into a chest infection and then I pulled a muscle in my side coughing. The last week has been a combination of coughing and yelping with the pain in my side.
So right now I feel like running a marathon might be a challenge (or more of a one that it normally is). But as my best mate, Yvonne said to me "the trouble is your mind is stronger than your body" so I will be on that start line. It is what I do, I start. I know I can walk it if I have to and I will not go all the way to New York and not take part in one of the most amazing marathons in the world.
Today is the first day that I would say my side has finally stopped hurting as much as it had been. So I am going to look back on some of my training and the amazing runners I have shared the training with.
Earlier on this year we all headed down to the Lake District to take on the Keswick trail races. It was a Kilted Lassies (me, Hazel and Yvonne) day out with Rhona and Mark joining in. It was the usual mix of bogs and hills. Brilliant fun as always.
Wednesday 15 March 2023
Thank you and cheerio to my Jog Scotland Penicuik Family
In Feb 2018 I sent an email to Jo Stevens enquiring about going along to meet up with the Jog Scotland Penicuik group. Despite having been a leader for several years at Edinburgh College I was still nervous going along to another group, meeting new people, and hoping I would keep up with them.
I have absolute confidence in myself as a runner, I don't care one jot about the fact that I run much slower now than I did in my younger days. But I often find that new people I meet worry that I am not keeping up and that it might be bothering me. That is until they find out how much running I have done in my days and then they get it. I run to enjoy life, I run to meet people, I run to see new views, I just run, that's me. Won't stop until I genuinely can't run another step. I love Jog Scotland because no one is too slow, there is always someone to run with, it is a genuinely inclusive running club, and it is for everyone.
One of the things I have enjoyed so much about being a leader is inspiring and supporting people to find the joy and love in the past time that I have enjoyed for most of my life. I started running at 16 years old and have not stopped. I don't see myself as sporty, running is just what I do. I get so much out of meeting someone for the first time and hearing their worries about starting jogging and how they don't think they will be any good at it and then week by week they gain confidence and strength and before they know where they are they are running a 5km and completely hooked. Two beginners I have supported at Jog Scotland Penicuik have gone on to run half marathons and even become a leader. I could not be prouder.
In my time as a leader at Jog Scotland Penicuik, I have met loads of lovely people, not least two of who have become my best friends, Norrie and Yvonne. All the leaders I have had the pleasure to work with are amazing and I will miss them so much. And our joggers, all with their own inspirational stories. Jog Scotland makes athletes out of people who would never have believed it of themselves.
We have had so many adventures along the way, too many to mention. But to name a few, we did Strava art in the dark once Christmas, we have had Halloween fancy dress 5kms, team events, Penicuik 10km trips out, and fantastic Christmas nights out.
The thing that I am most proud of was my nomination to Jog Scotland Leader of the Year. I was surprised and thrilled to receive the email saying I had been nominated and spent a wonderful night in Glasgow at the Scottish Athletics Awards event. It is a pleasure to turn up to support people with their jogging journeys and to be recognised for doing it was just the icing on the cake.
Another thing I am very proud of in my time at Jog Scotland Penicuik was being part of the Menopause Campaign. We had an inspiring night discussing Peri-menopause and the menopause, it was really great to see everyone come together and bring what is perfectly normal out into the open, not sure the young guy behind the bar was quite as comfortable as we were mind!
We have had so much fun over the years, not to mention the night we celebrated Jog Scotland's 20th Anniversary by going to the park and making 20's on the ground with us! We had a great cake that night too, courtesy of Yvonne. It was a special cake as it had 20 on one side and 8 on the other to celebrate 8 years of Jog Scotland Penicuik!
Jog Scotland really is a brilliant organisation, and I will be continuing as I have been finding out all about Stirling Striders but Jog Scotland Penicuik is very much part of me now, and to all our Couch to 5Km group, you have arrived in a very special place, lots of friendly, enthusiastic people to support you on your running journey. I can't wait to see you graduate as you run 5km on the 27th of March. You are all amazing.
There are lots of names I should mention but I would no doubt leave someone out so I will just say I will miss you all. Thanks to Jo, Billy, Norrie, Susan, Donald, Clare, Lyn, and Lyn P for being a great team of leaders to work with.
I won't say goodbye, just cheerio as the Jog Scotland world is a small place and we will no doubt cross paths again very soon.
don't worry, be happy x
Jane
Sunday 5 June 2022
My Virtual London Marathon Walk - October 2022!
Tuesday 3 May 2022
It isn't about when you get there it is about how you get there!
It isn't about when you get there it is about how you get there! |
Being a runner the length of time I have been (now 36 years!!!) you have the privilege of being able to reflect upon what you have done and what you have learned. And I guess the biggest thing I have learned about running is that the places you see and the people you meet are what matter the most.
In my twenties and thirties, I took getting a personal best time very seriously and followed training plans religiously to scrape off the extra second from my previous time. I got my sub-hour 10km, smashed my sub two hour half marathon and came within sub 5 hours for the marathon by a teeny tiny margin (seconds not even minutes). But as I have grown older my 9-minute mile has slipped to a 12-minute mile (on a good day). I did go through a period of thinking I should give up as I was getting 'slow', there I said it 'slow', but then things changed and I started to just enjoy running for the great benefits that it brings.
Running has helped me deal with huge personal challenges. After Alistair died I took on the hardest running challenge I have ever done and the one I am most proud of. I took eight hours, YES EIGHT HOURS, to get myself around thirty-one miles in the Kielder Ultra. The front runners would have been home, fed and watered three hours before me, but a mile is still a mile. My body and mind got me around thirty-one miles - and I ran most of it. It taught me that time isn't the only thing you get when you cross the finish line. I had spent a wonderful day out in the wilderness, meeting and chatting with amazing like-minded people. I spent the day solving challenges and problems as they arose. I got lost at one point and instead of panicking I retraced my steps until I found the trail. I had issues with my backpack rubbing against my back, so I had to work out how to stop that from happening. I had a funny moment when seemingly in the middle of nowhere with no one around I stopped for a quick comfort break only to have another runner appear around the corner - we both just grinned and said "when you gotta go you gotta go".
I had to dig deep mentally when the miles began to grow and the time lengthened. But crossing the finish line was a wonderful feeling. I was met by a man who I had chatted to out on the course who had been running the longer distance, turns out he was the winner. He waited on me at the finish line and bounced up congratulating me on my first ever ultra and fabulous PB. He said he won but his time wasn't all he had hoped for. So while I was on cloud nine he was away to work out what went wrong for him. That was a huge lesson learned for me.
I hear others worry about holding clubmates back, and being too slow to run with others. I am guilty of it myself sometimes. Particularly if I am injured or a bit unfit. Someone on our Jog Scotland chat said the other day that it isn't about others it is about your own running journey. That is so true.
My running journey has been long and varied. I was once a die-hard road runner but now I have fallen in love with hill running. I am definitely not quick up the hills but I get there, slow and steady. The view from the top is just as stunning if you get up there quickly or slowly, the hill is just as hard and the downhill is just as glorious. My body is starting to object a bit to running and my recovery time is longer but I am not done yet. I still have at least one more marathon in me and many many more hill runs. And when I can no longer run up the hills I will walk. It isn't always all about the pace, it is about letting your body show you what it can still do for you, it is about maintaining a happy healthy mind, seeing beautiful places and meeting wonderful people. That is what running means to me.
Lovely shared memories at mile 10 with lovely friendly runners |
And honestly, nobody else cares how long it does or doesn't take you, they are too busy focusing on how long it takes them! If you are my age, then you may well be in this frame of mind already however if you are one of my younger friends who are runners for you it will still be about the pace, but please don't beat yourself up about it if you have a slower day, enjoy the rest of it.
And if you are one of those people who say you are "too slow" to run or go out with other people, please know that if someone faster says they are happy to run with you, let them, you are not holding them back, if they offer they want to run with you. And focus on what is right for you! I am just getting slower, occasionally I speed up a bit if I am feeling like it but I am now content to just still be able to run.
If you are injured it can seem that the whole world is running away from you and getting fitter while you struggle just to maintain what you still have. There is no quick fix, you need to heal but know this you will heal, and you will get back to running. I broke my foot and then in less than a year went on to run the New York Marathon. Being injured is one of the times that you have to draw on the mental strength you get from running to help you through. You need to set yourself reasonable goals on the road to recovery. This will help you get back to what you want to do. But ultimately being injured sucks.
Recovering from injury! Walking the Keswick 10km |
My running buddy said she needs to get rid of the word 'slow' from her running vocabulary. I completely agree. Slow compared to who? You may not be as fast as Paula Radcliff or Mo Farah, but not many people are. You are way faster than the person who talks about thinking about starting the couch to 5km program. You are you, and you are amazing.
As for me, I will continue to trot up and down the hills, until I am a wizened old runner walking up hands on knees, still wearing my Hokas and imagining I am running effortlessly up and down the fells in Keswick. Once pace leaves you for good, you start to appreciate all the other stuff running brings you.
I once read an article by an older coach in Today's Runner (a magazine from long ago) who said that when you are an older runner, it is worth resetting your PB every year to get the thrill of beating your PB again. I have done this for a few years now and it is brilliant. It lets you pace yourself against yourself without the stress of worrying about how slow you are and hankering back to days when you could trot out a sub 60 10km no problem. Another tip is to always enter races that you have never done then you always get a PB!!!
I guess what I have reflected upon is doing what works for you, not measuring yourself against others, and enjoying all the other stuff if you have a day when you just aren't running that quickly. I still love running today as much as the day I started 38 years ago, it can't all be about the pace!
don't worry, be happy.
Wednesday 11 August 2021
The Two Railways Marathon - June 6th.
I'm not sure quite when Yvonne and I dreamt up the Two Railways Marathon. But I do know the idea came from a run we did down to Musselburgh where we were running down the Loanhead railway and as we passed Dalkeith we were musing whether it would be possible to run down one railway and back up the other.
Turns out you can, with a bit of planning.
We decided on a date close to mid-summer and started training back in the winter time. As part of our training we set about training for a half marathon in March. We decided on a route in Dalkeith Country Park. It was a two loop route around the perimeter of the park. The first loop was great but on the second loop Yvonne started to find it tough mentally. I think running twice around the same loop on a half marathon was just really hard. But we did it and that reassured us that we were at the half marathon point in our training.
The next stop was getting up the distances. On one of our longer training runs, Yvonne and I were slogging our way along a main road on route to Carlops. I saw Yvonne ahead of me look into the bushes and then move on. When I got to that point, I looked to see what it was she was looking at. A wee pink teddy had been discarded/lost at the side of the road. He was dirty, his head was hanging off and his stuffing was coming out at his feet and arms. I picked him up and popped him into my bag. Later when I showed Yvonne she laughed and said that she had seen him but never picked him up. From that point onwards he was named Ron (after Ron Hill) he has his own Instagram page @ronthehillrunningteddy. And he has now become our wee running mascot.
We gradually got ourselves to the point where we were ready to run 20 miles. Yvonne suggested a route from Callendar to Killin that she had done for her previous marathon training. So we planned our day up in the highlands. Mark dropped us off at Calendar and ran the first 3 miles with us then he left us at Loch Lubnig and we headed off further into the hills.
It was a great day out in the hills, although very tough. Yvonne kept apologising because she had forgotten how hard the route was. But I loved it, just my kind of route.
As marathon day approached, the nerves kicked in. Although it wasn't an official marathon because of Covid-19, it was just ours the whole day had grown arms and legs with Tracey joining us as our bike support crew, Norrie met us at Musselburgh with water and food, and then Elaine, Norrie and Kirsty joined us at Loanhead to take us back to the finish line at Roslin. At the finish line, Rhona, Ethan, Mark and Arwen were there to meet us.
As with every marathon, the day started with getting my kit laid out and eating breakfast. I hate bananas but they are good slow release food so I choke one down before a marathon. Not sure if it makes any difference.
And off we go! |
The run itself was really tough. The day was the hottest of the year so far. We started off really early to try and miss the heat of the day, the irony was that was the hottest part of the day. As we got ourselves into Dalkeith, Tracey came cycling back to us saying that the route we had planned through Dalkeith Country Park was closed and that we couldn't go that way, which meant we had to go round the road adding a mile or so onto the distance. From that point onwards we had to change our route finishing at Roslin instead of Penicuik.
The road around Dalkeith Country Park was brutal, the sun was baking us both as we ran with the pale coloured stone wall of the park to our left the whole way. By the time we both got out the other end we were absolutely roasting and exhausted. But we were still not even half way. The sun continued to beat down on us, we walked and ran, to just keep moving forward. We ran out of water really quickly, so having Tracey there was absolutely brilliant.
We changed our route slightly going into Musselburgh so that we could run along the coastal path with the sea breeze cooling us a little bit. Seeing Tracey and Norrie at Musselburgh harbour was both tough and great. Great because it meant we were half way and they had fresh water and snacks but tough because we had to leave them and head off on the second half of our marathon.
Thankfully, the clouds came over a bit and the second half was not so warm. I think we would both have given up if it had stayed the same as it was so hot. As we moved further on up the railway we both started to get tired, each taking it in turn to motivate the other.
Tracey gave us a bit of light entertainment (and heart failure) as she stopped on her bike (because I had stopped) and promptly just keeled over bike and all - she forgot to take her feet out of her clipless pedals (a rookie error from a non rookie). Her head bounced off the ground, in slow motion, and Yvonne and I just looked on in horror not quite sure what to do. Once we knew she was okay we all had a laugh but kept checking on her as we went.
As we got nearer to Loanhead we knew that our running support crew would join us soon. Norrie, Kirsty and Elaine were on their way running from the finish point in Roslin to meet us. It was so nice to see them, but so odd to see them so bouncy and full of energy and us plodding along, 20 miles already in our legs. Kirsty took my back pack for me as my back was getting really sore with it, I was so grateful to her. It was nice to have them with us but I knew that Yvonne and I needed to keep together to keep each other going and there was a short moment where we felt we needed to be social. After a while though we gradually came back together and got on with the job of getting to the finish line.
As we got closer to Roslin we knew we were not going to have enough distance left to the finish line to make it 26.2 so then we began to have to start working out where to go in Roslin to make up the miles. We ended up plodding around Rosslyn Chapel and up the Main Street, then we did a few loops around a housing estate and then another wee loop around the nature reserve. Finally, we were at the distance and we could head to the finish line. Rhona, Ethan, Mark and Arwen were there waiting for us. We ran in with our support crew following behind.
last wee bit! |
The Two Railways Marathon was finished. Rhona gave me a massive hug and then Mark moved in to hug me too. Norrie hugged Yvonne and then directed her and I to Mark. Rhona, Mark and Arwen were excitedly handing us bags. We were so tired it took a while to realise they had all colluded and Mark had put together finishing bags for us. Inside the bag was the most amazing wooden medals with our names on them and the t-shirts I had gotten printed. And the bags had our names on them and were full of the best finishing pack goodies I have ever had. Including a lovely bottle of fizz.
It may not have been an official marathon, but the distance was just the same, it was just as hard, if not harder because we were the only two doing it but it is definitely up there as one of my favourite races.
Massive thank you to everyone who made it the day it was. And to my running buddy Yvonne and of course wee Ron.
Was that hard work Ron? |