Shin splints

Photo by Justyn Warner on Unsplash

 The second day of training is meant to be the "easy" day. It has the shortest number of running intervals each week.  Yesterday I was at my local leisure centre so I decided to train indoors on the treadmill. I instantly remembered why I don't like doing this.  For a start it feels very different to the road. It's also harder to fire certain muscles because you're not pushing off from the ground in the same way, so for people like me trying activate glute muscles this isn't as effective a training method as hitting the tarmac. This article explains why.

Week 3

Photo by Matthew LeJune on Unsplash

The first run of Week 3 marks a landmark for me, as today was the first run where I did more running than walking.  Am I happy? Yes. Do I feel good? No. My calves are on fire. Never have I wanted a foam roller so much.  Sadly as my run finished at my place of work I shall have to wait until I get home to foam roll my sore legs. The moment I got here I did some quite urgent post-run stretches, but my legs know they've done something today. That's the first time the discomfort in my legs has outweighed the discomfort in my lungs. In a weird way it served as a useful distraction from my breathing, which usually gets my full attention. I'm looking forward to the moment where I can redirect my focus to the beautiful landscape around me, but I reckon I have a few weeks of training ahead of me before 'enjoying my run' will become a thing. As an added bonus today...no rain!!!

End of Week 2

I've completed week 2 and as the picture above illustrates, it's been a wet and windy one.  Deciding when to run has become a bit of an art, hovering by the window trying to predict how long until the next grey cloud of doom will arrive and unleash its misery upon those of us trying to train below.  My shell jacket and trendy cap have been invaluable, as have a pair of thin gloves which I've worn a few times to combat the wind chill.

New hat!

Like my trendy hat? Ok, maybe trendy isn't the word. About 95% of hats look ridiculous on me so I knew my new running hat wasn't going to look stylish. Embracing this notion I chose the loudest, most garish hat I could find, and voila! A hat with happy snails all over it. If nothing else, I guess it will make me more visible to drivers.

I bought the hat because last time I went running in the rain I couldn't see the road I was running on through the droplets on my glasses. The snail hat has been a 100% success as my run in the rain today has been visible from start to finish. Not a drop on my glasses.

So far it's a pretty rubbish week to return to running with renewed vigour. "Storm Ali" has made running challenging as gale force winds and ceaseless rain bombard Scotland.  I've been waiting for it to ease off, which is why it's Thursday and I just completed the first run of the week.  It's not advisable to run on consecutive days but I'm going to have to to keep on track.  Let's hope the weather brightens up over the weekend.

Looks like I'm actually going through with it...

So...this happened.
Yes, I've actually committed to running the Derby 10K. I've registered, chosen my shirt size, and speculated that I'll make it round the track in under 60 minutes. My fiance has entered too to offer moral support :)

My predicted time is a complete guess of course.  I'd like to think I could run 10K in under an hour, but progress lately has been lacking. Who would have thought that motivating oneself to run when tired, raining, or when pretty much anything else is preferable, would be so hard?

The countdown on the race website reassures me that there are 202 days until race day. That said, on the 5th April this year I embarked on a 12 week training programme that meant I should have run my first 10k distance at the end of June. It's now mid-September and I'm still lingering around week 3.  Yes, I quite agree, that is useless. It seems to reveal that I'm having difficulty getting into the habit of regular running exercise. Forming a new habit is hard. Some say it takes 21 days, but this article seems to dismiss that as a myth. Try more like 2 months, minimum.

Running in the rain

So I finally went running in the rain. It was funny how my feelings towards doing so changed throughout the run.
1) Go out the door into the wet. Thoughts: Why am I doing this? It's cold out here. I'm going to get soaked. People do this for fun?
2) Start running. Thoughts: Ok, as long as I keep this up I guess I won't be cold. No seriously, people do this for fun?

3) Mid run. Feet are soaked. Not fun. What's wrong with people?
4) Made it back. Thoughts: How virtuous of me. I prioritised exercise over comfort. I must get some brownie points for this. Oh wait, getting cold again, better stick my trainers on the dehumidifier and dry myself off.

All been a bit quiet lately...

Well, training hasn't been going all that well lately. I'm still lingering around week 2 of my training regime even though I should be well beyond that. I've been playing a waiting game with the weather. Shortly after my last run every single slot I'd allocated for training was thwarted by heavy downpours, not a reason to skip training per se, but at this stage I'm not so commited to running that I want to be soaked and miserable on a regular basis. The Derby 10k is suffieciently far away so what the heck, I thought, I'll sit it out for a bit. Now I face a different problem in that I wasn't expecting the Scottish Highlands to undergo such a prolonged period of heatwave. As I watch the local golf course slowly turn brown it's clear I'm not going to have comfortable running conditions any time soon.

Here are my main problems:

Raining - I don't like being cold. That's about it. The cold makes me cough which makes running unpleasant (cross country at school was always in the Winter, which made for a very miserable experience. I certainly never improved my stamina.)

Heatwave - The heat makes me very lethargic (by which I mean I have no energy for basic tasks, never mind running), and just by walking the dog a short distance every day lately I can tell that running in these conditions won't be productive.

So following some (more) research, I collected the following tips from the collective wisdom of the Internet. This is not an easy problem to tackle as it basically boils down to will power. I'd rather have a cup of tea on a rainy day than take to the roads, likewise on hot days I'd rather sit with a cool beer. So, what do the better disciplined runners out there advise: