Jantastic 2015 & Feeling Positive

Happy New Year 2015 everyone!

I'm pleased to report that I'm starting 2015 feeling extremely motivated and positive and in a lot better head space than when I last posted.

To give a bit of background, at the beginning of December I was offered the opportunity to step up to a management position at work on a temporary basis, it turned out that this step was actually a gigantic leap into a freezing lake...well ok not quite but at least thats what it felt like at the time. I felt like I'd bitten off more than I could chew and started to feel very disillusioned. 

Another area of my life that I felt disillusioned by at the beginning of December was running. Looking back at my 2014 running year, its hard to understand why I felt like this. I ran the London Marathon in April, a goal I'd been working towards for 3 years. To top this off, I ran it in well under my target of 5 hours, coming in at 4 hours, 43 minutes and 34 seconds. That should have been it surely? If I wasn't in love with running by then, then running the London bloody Marathon should have made me fall hook line and sinker. To tell the truth I was in love, but like all good relationships, running and I hit a rocky patch.

I was expecting to recover within a couple of weeks and then be able to run half marathons (I was at least trying to be a little bit realistic) at the drop of a hat. Wrong! I ran about 529.4 miles in 2014, but only 70 of these miles were post marathon. I wasn't in pain as such but my whole body felt like lead, my brain was telling me to stop and my heart wasn't in it. I ran a few races in this time, hoping in vain that my mojo would return. I even said it did a few times in an effort to fool myself.

One positive to come out of this was discovering Pilates. I discovered a new way to exercise, learnt a lot about my body and how this could help me with running. I now take regular classes at The Pilates Pod and is an avenue I'm intending to continue travelling down in 2015. However I was still determined to get back to running.

I've always been a goal orientated person and with hindsight I think having achieved my end goal of running a marathon, I had nothing left to aim for. There wasn't anything left to run towards so I just ambled off (slowly and not very far) into nothing. Cue a little event called Advent Running. 

I first learnt of Advent Running through a few runner friends from UKRunChat who were talking a lot about run streaks (where you commit to running for a certain number of days in a row). The aim of Advent Running was to run every day between the 1st and 25th December. With a desire to get back into running and a love of all things festive I decided to sign myself up. On saying this, having not had much success with finding my mojo in other events I did not have high hopes. However I think not having a huge expectation and not putting pressure on myself actually helped.

Having a goal set that wasn't surrounded by times and distances was the best thing that could have happened to my running. I still had something to aim for whilst removing the pressure of 'having' to do a certain distance or time which I had been bound by during marathon training. For the first time I just ran for fun and to keep fit, the reason I started running back in 2012 in the first place. Pretty much from day one my mojo was back and this time I wasn't kidding myself. 

As I said before I was finding work quite stressful and having something else to focus my energy on really helped. Whenever I hash tagged runforsanity I wasn't kidding!

Equally as exciting as the return of my mojo was finding a whole new community of runners through the Facebook group (isn't the internet flipping' wonderful sometimes). Seeing people's posts and hearing their stories really inspired me to keep getting out there day after day and really brought back meaning to my running. I love being able to share my passions with people and see them grow, improve and simply just enjoy the experience. It reminded me that at the end of the day, its not all about distance, split times and calories burned...its about just running and also thats its ok to do just that. It felt like an adventure (advent-ture...sorry) again. 

If something made me run just over 50 miles in a month compared to 70 miles in 7 months then its got to be doing something right!

I'm so happy to be able to say that it doesn't end there, we all enjoyed Advent Running so much that we're taking in through to January and taking on Jantastic for the next three months. As I logged on to the website today to make sure I'd set my goals I got a tingle of excitement for the upcoming months of achieving fitness goals and watching my fellow Advent Runners do the same. 

Running is for life, not just for Christmas...thank you my fellow Advent Runners and new buddies for reminding me of this. I literally can't wait to start Jantastic, January 5th is the new January 1st. 

Holly

x

Love/Hate

I said when I started this blog that it would be a completely honest account of all things marathon, and that is what this post is about to be. It may sound mad to get so emotional about putting one foot in front of the other but I have really learnt over the last couple of weeks that training for a marathon is a truly personal experience and not always a good one. I knew there would be low times but I thought that those points would be related to not feeling too great about running 8 miles on a cold and drizzly Thursday afternoon after work, I didn't expect to feel like I have felt over the past couple of weeks. 

I hope this post doesn't come across as too negative. I just want be honest with myself more than anything, so that when I look back when my brain is clouded with the memories of the London atmosphere on the 13th of April and the feeling of crossing the finish line...I can stop and remember that no, sometimes...it just sucked! 

I was genuinely really enjoying training, I've loved seeing the miles clock up on the Nike+ app, being able to run further and further and feel my muscles get stronger and stronger (and maybe being able to munch on a few more treats). But the week before last it all just suddenly became a burden, the way my shifts fell meant that it was just getting in the way of everything and I was having to squeeze my life around it to the point of exhaustion. One day the only way I had time to fit in a run was to use it as a mode of transport to take me to my boyfriend's house (which also meant that I had to run back the next day). I sat at work last Friday having a bit of a bitch about it and coming out with hyperbolic statements such as "I wish I'd never bothered signing up", "It's the worst thing ever", "I don't want to do it anymore".

I was also worrying about the fundraising side of it and the prospect of having to raise £1800. I was previously really excited about the prospect of getting some local press coverage to generate some cash to top up my fundraising but it was looking like at one point that things weren't going to shape up the way I'd hoped and it really got me down.

I tried to get in the mindset of 'new week, new start' but last week was even worse. I managed Monday and Tuesdays runs but by Wednesday I just couldn't face it. I got up in time to do 6 miles before work and there was no physical reason why I couldn't run, but I stood in front of the bathroom mirror in my onesie to have my head and my feet tell me that it wasn't going to happen today. I felt really guilty about it all day and tacked on an extra 3 miles to Thursdays run. 

I let myself down again on Saturday by doing 8.5 miles instead of 14. I'd been working all day and then had to go and get my photo taken for the article thats hopefully going to be going in the local paper. It was all getting a bit late, cold and rainy so I made the decision before hand to cut it short. The saving grace was that I actually had a really good run with my running buddy Emma. She assured me that its normal to feel like I do and that sometimes its ok to shove the schedule. I ran faster than I normally do and it was the first time in 2 weeks that I actually felt good about and enjoyed running.

I've been back on track this week but I'm still not loving it to the extent that I was a few weeks a go. Yesterday marked 2 months till the big day and the way I'm feeling right now it can't come soon enough. I'm really looking forward to just running for the love of it and not just because I have to.

I'm really going to push next week, try to enjoy it and remember why I decided to do this.

Has anyone else feeling like this about the marathon at the moment? 58 days to go...

Keep on running (whether you have to or because you want to)

Holly

x

On a lighter note...heres a picture of me just after stacking it in the mud on mile 5 of 16 a few weeks a go. Despite the Hitchin Hoop being all bogged up and me falling in it, I really enjoyed this run. 

Marathon Training Plan Week 1

Well here I am on my rest day after week 1 of using an official marathon training plan and looking ahead to week 2...and what a week its been both physically and emotionally.

As I mentioned in my last post I decided to use the Nike+ coach (you will learn that I'm a bit of a Nike+ fan girl) as I use the apps to track all my running stats and got a Nike+ running watch for Christmas (see!). I looked through the plan before I commited and decided that it was doable and would fit around my lifestyle. As its also within the app it sends you reminders of what training you have coming up which keeps you on track/puts the guilters on if you're sitting on the sofa with a cuppa and a biscuit trying to justify a second rest day. 

The downside...once again it assumes a 9 to 5 job so the rest day is always on a Sunday, which is fine every other weekend but will make things even more tough going for the inbetween weekends. I'm a glass half full person though, so I'm trying to think that maybe it might be quite good if a part of my life does have a routine. I work shifts and the patterns change every week so I'm used to not having a daily routine as such so although this plan might sometimes be a hinderance it might also bring more order to my life. We shall see...

So, how is the training actually going?

Well physically, so far its not too bad. The runs in the week are challenging enough to complete every day but not pushing me so hard that I want to cry (yet). Even with my 12 miler yesterday I still felt not too bad until the last mile when my legs started to protest. Thats what confirms for me that running is all in the mind, I know I can run further than 12 miles (and I have to next weekend) but I think because my brain knew that I was doing 12 miles it started to protest when it knew that the finish was near. I can definitely feel myself getting fitter and starting to tone up properly so I'm really enjoying that bit and looking forward to seeing the changes to my body as my training progresses.

Emotinally, its starting to show a bit. I've worked a couple of day time shifts this last week which means I had to get up early, run and then go straight off to work. I've also been doing some overtime as well to pay for some post marathon rewards so I'm not going to lie it has been tough. However, hats off to anyone who is training alongside a 9-5 job, you have to train at some very unfun times of the day and I admire you for it. I have enjoyed seeing the miles rack up on Nike+ though (there she goes again) and I just keep trying to focus on completing the challenge and the feeling I'll get on the day. 

Which leads me on to some quite exciting news...as some of you may or may not know. I am running for the charity I volunteer for Leonard Cheshire Disability. Because I volunteer for my local service Symonds House, Leonard Cheshire are kindly allowing all funds raised to be donated directly to the service. So I got a call from Leonard Cheshire's press office on Monday and they left me a message asking me if I would be interested in doing some media work with them. They want to interview me for an article to go in the local press which will raise awareness of the service and the charity and hopefully also generate some revenue on my fundrasing page (cheeky hint there). Its quite exciting and an honour to be chosen to represent the charity for such a big event so I'm really looking forward to doing it. I shall keep you posted on the progress of that little piece of news.

I'm also really happy that I'm starting to connect more with the running community on Twitter, Instagram and through blogging. I've been chatting to a few other runners that tweet and others with running blogs and its really helps to know that you aren't alone. I don't know anyone else close to me thats running the marathon so its great to have somewhere to turn and others to share the experience with who know what its like. I'm also up for chatting to other runners both bloggers and tweeters/instagrammers so please feel free to get in touch on Twitter and Instagram. It would be great to chat! 

This post is scheduled for 9am so by the time this goes live I'll hopefully be eating my porridge in preperation for a 5 miler. I'm looking forward to exploring the Hitchin Outer Orbital Path! 

Happy Running!

Holly

x

Jantastic Week 1

So January is now in full swing...

As I mentioned in my last post I'm taking part in Jantastic (#jantastic for fellow Twitter and Instagram lovers) and my target for January is 4 runs per week, which I'm happy to say I have now completed. As the week was progressing I thought I might have underestimated myself by putting 4 runs a week, however after doing a 6.5 miler last night I managed to acquire myself a bit of a twinge in my right calf muscle which I've decided to rest. I'm also doing a heck of a lot of overtime this weekend so 4 runs has been on the money for this week. 

Although this week saw the official start of my marathon training it still doesn't feel like it. I've struggled to find a training plan that fits in with my lifestyle as they all seem to assume a 9 to 5 job (Sunday ain't a day of rest for us all y'know), but I like the look of the Nike+ coach so I'm giving that a try from Monday. Plans scare me a little as I'm not a big planning person. It makes me feel like I have less control over my running and my life if I'm sticking to someone else's plan, I also know from my job that one plan definitely does not suit all. However I know it's a necessary evil so I'm going to give Nike+ a chance. 

Scary official marathon training realisations aside I've really enjoyed my running this week as well as going back to normal eating after Christmas (even if it has meant divorcing myself from cheese for a while). I really love how I feel within myself with the combination of running and healthy eating. I can already feel the Christmas bloat disappearing, the pounds starting to come off and my muscles starting to tone. I'm still really struggling to get out of bed for those early runs before my late shifts though. Any advice on food/drink/routines that help you wake up of a morning would be greatly appriciated. Until then I shall keep parking my phone at the other side of my room so I have to get up and turn the alarm off. 

I hope everyone who has set themselves a running goal for 2014, even if it's not Jantastic has got off to a great start...and to those who have just taken up running WELCOME! Push through that pain barrier and you'll never look back I promise.

Keep being Jantastic...(sorry)!

Holly

x

100 days to go

Three things that rocked my world today...

1) Its 2014

2) Its 2014...which means that its marathon year

3) Its 2014...which means its marathon year and today marks 100 days to go!

I know it might sound a little cocky but I wasn't really worried about the marathon up until this point. Phrases such as "I've already run half way", "Theres no point starting proper training until after Christmas" and "If a 101 year old man can do it then so can I" have been batted around, however it literally was only today, when the London Marathon Facebook page stated that there is 100 days to go that a new phrase has been thrown out there..."I'm scared".

However, I'm also excited. I'm excited to kick start 2014 with a challenge, raise some money for the charity that I volunteer for (Leonard Cheshire Disability, I'll chat more about that another time) and for the actual day itself. If the buzz I got from the Standalone 10k and the Great North Run is anything to go by then running the London Marathon is going to blow my mind, or at least my feet and my muscles. 

I'm starting what I will deem to be my first training run tomorrow morning and I would love it if you would like to follow me on my journey by reading my blog, you can follow me on Bloglovin or just drop in when you fancy.

I have also just signed up to Jantastic to make sure I stay on track. It doesn't matter if you've just stepped into your first pair of running shoes or you're doing your first ultra, it looks like a great way of getting motivated towards a goal and sticking at it. Theres two days left to sign up so I've got a couple of warm up runs to do before I can start logging my miles.

I love to meet new people so if you're running the marathon, signing up to Jantastic or just have a crazy love of running then please drop me an email or get in touch with me on Twitter/Instagram at @ohhollygosh

Thanks for reading, I hope you stick with me.

Happy Running!

Holly

xx