Kyle and I are still
working from home, sorting out our new house, and staying “alert”…
whatever that means. We ventured to Ikea a few days after it opened and
thankfully didn’t have to wait in any crazy queues. In fact, we literally just
walked in. Of course we had to keep away from other people and you couldn’t go
inside one of the “fake rooms” if someone else was. But it wasn’t
busy at all so felt all very normal. We got some bits and pieces but as I only
have a Fiat 500, couldn’t get the armchair we wanted. But we’re hopefully going
to ask a favour from Kyle’s brother who has a larger car to see if he can help
us.
Ikea selfie
It’s been a lot easier buying furniture online. We bought a chest of drawers and a matching wardrobe. Unfortunately it required assembling and really wasn’t that simple. Pages of diagrams, parts and screws…
We built the drawers one weekend and the wardrobe the next. It literally took us four hours a piece and we still managed to mess it up somehow. We got the top of the drawers on backwards and managed to nail into the wrong areas in the wardrobe. Ah well, they’re both standing and doing the job intended so that’s all that matters!
Every week we’ve been getting involved with the “street bingo” that happens on our road at 2pm on Sundays. It’s run by an amazing guy who runs an Instagram page called @dontsufferinsilence1 which is all about improving mental health and looking out for each other. He got everyone together (he’s been doing it for like 10 weeks!) and loads of people sit on their doorstep and do the bingo and get involved (social distanced of course).
I’ve never seen anything like it in real life. To be honest it was somewhat overwhelming to begin with because suddenly you’re being introduced to loads of people but everyone is super chatty and lovely.
So we’ve sat outside with Alfie and did the bingo and got to know our neighbours each week. It’s really nice to see how much everyone looks out for each other – like proper old school Britain, you know?
Kyle thinks he’s cool…
What’s also been lovely is more house warming presents from lovely people! And OMG trying the BEST brownies I’ve ever had. Our lovely friend Shell sent us some Gower Brownies and Jesus Christ they were incredible. Perfect texture, dense gooey delicious squares of pure heaven. They don’t look like they’ll rock your world but honestly they were amazing. So moreish as well 😉
Running is still going well, happily! Without having any marathons coming up and not being injured or coming back from an injury has left me in a novel position whereby I can literally run whatever I want and my long runs have naturally just fell in the 15-18 mile region, which I love.
I don’t really set a concrete distance in my brain before I head out but I have a rough range. It’s very relaxed and it’s actually one of my favourite runs of the week.
Last weekend Kyle joined me for 6 miles before heading home and I carried on to get 16 in total. It was windy and hot – not a great combo, but it was nice to zone out to the MarathonTalk podcast and enjoy the sunshine.
And less getting lost as the weeks go on, winning! I reallly love my long run route because it’s so varied, road, trail, promenade along the beach, coastal paths, and super flat! Perhaps not the greatest training for hills but ehhh I fully enjoy it.
What’s your ideal long run distance?
Do you enjoy putting furniture together? I’ve been surprised at how many people said they love it!
Have you ever been involved in something like street bingo?
Kyle and I had a
week off of work to sort ALL THE THINGS and while we definitely could have done
with another week (or month) off, we got so much done. As I sold my flat
furnished (and Kyle was moving from his mum’s house), we didn’t have a huge
amount of furniture to move in with so it was a real timing act for certain
items we bought before we actually moved in, like the bed and the sofa.
The bed arrived a
couple of days after we moved in (which meant sleeping on several duvets for
the first couple of nights – not particularly comfy!) and that was a HUGE feat
to get it upstairs. Normally the delivery people would help you get things in
and to the room you want it, but during this pandemic era they now just leave
it at the doorstep.
Of course we
understand this but it makes for tough work for just the two of us to get a
super king size mattress up the rather narrow stairs. And we can’t ask for help
from our family because we’re now isolating from them… so things are a lot
harder.
It took us over 40
minutes to get the mattress up the stairs and honestly we weren’t sure it was
going to happen. It took all our strength to pivot, pivot, PIVOT that bad boy.
Whhhy did we order super king size?? But our bedroom is quite a big size and as
Kyle is quite tall it seemed like a nice indulgence. We had not considered
actually getting it into the bedroom though.
Likewise the sofa was another drama. This time the delivery men went above and beyond what they were technically allowed to do and helped us actually get it in.
We stood awkwardly back while they heaved to and fro to get the sofa in to our living room. It wouldn’t go through the door so in the end (after trying all the angles) they took our living room window off and got it through there.
THANK GOD. We were so grateful and sent them away with lots of biscuits.
So between cleaning, unpacking, buying and constructing furniture and organising our life, I have also been doing a bit of exploring on my runs. It is SO cool to have a whole new area to run round. Though it does mean my running has become less about switching off and more about being super alert with my surroundings and working out distances and where to go. It’s been great though.
We’re kind of living in the centre of Portsmouth as an area (not central city, just the central geography of the island if you get what I mean) so I have the luxury of heading out in any direction. Previously at my parent’s house this wasn’t really possible to do because of their location, so I’d always just head out in one of two directions most of the time.
And what’s lovely is
the sea is just 1.5 miles away to the east of us, and Southsea is just over 2
miles to the south of us. So I’m still so close to the sea. While I’m
definitely a land creature, I’ve always lived by the sea and just love being
near to it. The possibilities of running and walking are just endless and I’m
so excited. Kyle and I adore Southsea – it has very special memories for us
throughout our relationship, and so to be so close to it (and all the
incredible restaurants) is just so exciting to us. Unfortunately of course the
coronavirus has meant that we can’t actually enjoy those restaurants at the
moment, but hopefully in time…
This week was my
highest mileage week in a while (almost 40 miles) and my running has been going
so well (TOUCH WOOD). On Saturday I ran 18 miles and it went so well! I felt
strong, had no niggles or issues and enjoyed it immensely. I had a vague route
in mind and was able to run along Southsea seafront, along to Eastney and then
followed the Portsmouth Coastal Marathon route up to the Farlington
Marshes and run round there. So it was a
really interesting and, at times, very scenic route.
But it was hot. Of
course I hadn’t gone out super early and
probably went out in the peak of the day’s heat but that’s just how I roll. I
didn’t take any water with me (of course I didn’t, because I’m an idiot)… Though
to be fair, I knew I could run back to the house to get some water and Kyle
said he’d walk out to me to give me some if I rang him. Where we live is
literally central to the route, so it would have been only 2 miles or less for
me to get back. But being stubborn, I just pushed through. It was the final two
miles when I was like “OK now I am THIRSTY”.
And Kyle, being the
incredible human he is, had tracked me on his phone (not the entire run I must
stress, he’s not a weirdo ha) and was standing outside our house with Alfie and
a glass of ice cold water. Oh my god, that water was SO needed. I was so grateful!
The next day my legs felt tired but good! And Kyle and I enjoyed a gentle 3 mile run after a lovely lie in. Kyle does not enjoy running in the heat at all (whereas I can endure it) so he didn’t quite have my enthusiasm, but it was nice to FINALLY be able to run together. I mean, running aside, it’s nice to finally be together at all. This week has been so so lovely.
Even during this crazy lockdown Covid-19 era, we managed to sell my flat and move into our newly bought home. There’s still a lot to do and a lot to buy (allllllll the furniture) but we are super happy.
It was a busy day on
Saturday packing everything into the van my parents got. I didn’t bring any of
the furniture from my flat home as I sold furnished (which was what I wanted to
do because I want to start fresh with Kyle) so it was just things like clothes,
crockery and homeware like that… which is still a lot of stuff! But few items
that were “big” other than a dining table, outdoor table and chairs
and my bike (ha!). We dropped everything off at the house, then headed home
again.
It was my mum’s birthday on the Sunday so it seemed like a nice last day with my family. Then Monday I’ll move out properly. It also helped keep Kyle and my family separate during the moving in process as he moved his things Sunday. (Alfie will of course be coming but once we’re a bit more settled so it’s not so disruptive for him).
On the Saturday I was able to do one last long run before we moved which was just so lovely. My long run route is a route I’ve been doing for so long. I can easily add bits on, take bits off and get anywhere from 6 miles to 20 miles. It goes all along the coast from Hill Head, Lee-On-Solent to Stokes Bay. I just love it. It’s super flat which helps 😉
I ran 15 miles and
while it was super windy it was a lovely run. I tried to soak it all in and
appreciate it. I’m sure I’ll find runs just as good in my new home – the
coastline will just be slightly different.
Running, amazingly,
has been going so well recently. I’m really chuffed about this because while
there are no races to train for and no pressures, I’d hate to not have the
ability to run right now. The freedom and the mental breather it provides is
just so helpful right now in this time of uncertainty and restraint.
I haven’t been doing any sort of formal training or sessions, but this is hardly any different to my usual way of running! I’ve kept to around 15-16 miles as my long run and this has been a nice length for me. I don’t know how long it will be until races are back of course, as no one does, so it does feel weird not having anything in the horizon but for now I’m happy.
And now onto a review of a new protein range from MyProtein that sounded very intriguing: their Keto Blend. It’s been created to have a keto-friendly ratio of macronutrients for anyone on the keto diet, which is quite a strict low carb high fat diet. Now I will stress, I’m neither keto nor on any sort of diet but I do love MyProtein’s Whey Protein (I have it every day in my porridge). So I was happy to give this a go!
I tried their
Strawberry & Vanilla flavour and their Chocolate & Caramel flavour.
I tried the Strawberry & Vanilla in my porridge and as a drink. As a drink (I mixed with semi-skimmed milk) and it was just like a strawberry milkshake. It mixed well and was lovely and smooth. Both flavours were great in porridge too.
No issues in how it mixed and made my porridge taste lovely and subtly sweet (not overwhelmingly so).
So the blend contains 60% fat, 35% protein and 5% carbs. One scoop (25g) contains around 115 calories and about 10g of protein. They also do a Coffee Walnut flavour. So not too shabby! A nice way to get some extra fat and protein into the diet.
Now back to sorting and unpacking!
Do you have a favourite long run route?
Do you enjoy sorting out things for your home? I’m a big fan of organising!
How’s lockdown been treating you? For me, it’s a funny one.
While my daily life is quite easy and, dare I say, somewhat relaxed, there are other parts which are uncomfortably hard and frustrating.
So the easy stuff is that I have my job with my full salary and I’m working from home. Working from home is admittedly quite nice. I don’t get up stupidly early for the gym anymore, so I get more sleep. I can go for a nice leisurely walk in the sunshine before work or during my lunchbreak and listen to a podcast. I can be in the comfort of my own home with zero commute stress.
I can wear leggings
all day every day. I can wash my hair less and NO ONE CARES. Granted, it’s
likely no one cared previously but Zoom calls are very forgiving so I feel more
comfortable letting my hair get just that bit more greasy than I ordinarily would.
On this side note, by washing my hair less it appears to now needs to be washed less – if that makes sense? I’ve done a bit of reading on this front and apparently after an initial period, your hair adjusts to the change of hair washing and becomes greasy less quickly than before. Something about washing stripping your hair of its natural oils I believe. Where I would wash my hair every other day pre-lockdown, I can now get away with washing it every four days. It’s incredibly freeing. Washing and blow-drying my hair is such a chore.
Anyway, WFH isn’t bad at all. I have a solid routine, I can get my work done easily and it feels incredible to switch the laptop off and be like “OK now I can chill” IMMEDIATELY. My dad is at home as well so it’s not like I have no company. And Alfie of course.
(By the way, how much are dogs just LOVING this period? It’s like happiness 24/7 for them now).
The hard part is not seeing Kyle. I won’t harp on with all the reasons why as it’s fairly obvious, but it’s tough. And it’s tougher when you see people who aren’t following the rules and the temptation to be the same and have the same “who cares” mentality. But we know this won’t last forever and when people are literally dying and key workers are doing so much in such tough conditions it feels like a finger up to them by taking the situation so flippantly. We can look back at this time and know we did our part to help “flatten the curve”.
But we did decide to
just slightly push the boundaries and meet-up…
We planned to run to a half-way location between us both so we could stand 2 metres away from each other and chat face-to-face IN PERSON. FaceTime, Zoom and phone calls are all well and good, but seeing someone in the flesh is irreplaceable.
So we both left our respective houses as the same time on Saturday morning and ran to each other, about eight miles for us both. It’s funny because our half-way spot is actually work, but we chose a nearby layby – classy eh!
My run was good. I listened to a podcast and just gently made my way there.
We arrived pretty much around the same time and then sat on some grass (slightly hidden it must be said) two metres from each other and just chatted about fluff and nonsense, but both enjoying it immensely.
Then Kyle’s mum picked him up. This was also nice as I got to speak to her as well – I miss Kyle’s whole family, they’re just such lovely people.
Then I turned and headed back the way I came. I felt lighter but heavier all at once.
I decided to stop about just less than a mile from my house to walk back as I was quite happy with 15 miles for the day rather than 16. My legs were tired and there’s no real need for me to be pushing the distances right now. I don’t want to get injured during this time! Running is a vital part of my sanity and happiness right now. A stable in all the change.
I was meant to be in Rotterdam last weekend but of
course due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it didn’t happen.
The Rotterdam Marathon that Kyle and I had trained for was not to be. It’s since been rescheduled for October. Who knows where will all be then, eh!
I’ve been feeling very out of sorts, down and just a bit meh – as I’m sure everyone else is too. To be honest, I have nothing really to complain about as my job is secure (for now); I’m WFH, Wiggle is still trading (and customers still buying! Everyone wants a turbo trainer it seems…), my family and friends are healthy. I’m just sadly separated from Kyle, which is tough.
Anyway, I had in my mind that I needed an endpoint to all the training I had done. I was running well, I wasn’t injured and I was finally feeling out of the woods. The end of last year was tough with my two major injuries which dragged on. I now felt like I had nothing to look forward to, nothing to celebrate and an endless span of days ahead with the same old nothing.
So I decided to run my marathon anyway.
I must stress several things about this first. I didn’t take this decision lightly and there was a lot of stress involved in my brain whether to run it or not. Not because I was worried it would be hard (undeniably it would be), not because there was really no point, no medal, no glory, and not because it wouldn’t count to anything anyway. My angst was down to “should I be doing this?”.
Realistically no I shouldn’t. Realistically there was no good reason to run it. But something was eating away in my brain, niggling me: not being able to close the door on last year’s injuries. I also needed something to focus on because, other than work, I currently have nothing. Days blend into days.
I decided the
weekend before that I would run on the Saturday, and that gave me a solid week
to psychologically prepare for it. I planned my route, planned my other runs
around it and mentally got it into my head that I would run on Saturday all
being well.
The route was a quiet 13(ish) mile loop. I was going to set my alarm just before 6am and start running no later than 6.30am. I would do my best but ultimately have the freedom to stop at any point for whatever reason. Only my family, Kyle and Kyle’s family knew my plans. I didn’t want to advertise what I was doing, sing and shout about it, as I knew people would have opinions about it. And I also wanted zero pressure.
Friday I did a
gentle 5k shake out run, as I always would the day before. I also (jokingly)
did a flat lay of my kit.
I had an Indian
takeaway for dinner… crazy I know, but it’s a meal I’ve often had the night
before long runs and it’s worked well. It’s not that spicy and it’s something I
really enjoy and my body has no issues with.
Tandoori chicken, chicken tikka and a lot lof poppadoms (I adore this meal)
I woke up at 5.50am, I had a small black coffee, I went to the loo, I got my kit on and did a few dynamic warm-up exercises before leaving the house just after 6.20am. I didn’t have breakfast. Now normally I would of course have a bowl of porridge before a marathon but as I didn’t want to get up any earlier I decided to forgo it. I’ve run many long runs fasted before (up to 20 miles) and thought I’d be OK. I wasn’t pushing the pace and because my loop past my house halfway I could pick up some fuel to keep me going from there.
My dad (bless him) wanted to come out and support me and cycled to meet me at around 6 miles, then he was there at halfway with my fuel and water ready, and then at 20 miles.
It was cold and super misty that early but it wasn’t windy, and it wasn’t raining. Perfect marathon conditions really. I listened to the MarathonTalk podcast which actually really helped my nerves. I wasn’t nervous per se about running but more about what people would think about my run. But Martin and Tom actually debated about length of runs and the government guidelines during the show and it really put me at ease. I wasn’t breaking any of the guidance by running my marathon. I would give two metres spae to everyone I saw (very few during my first loop – more cyclists than anything) and I was technically on my “one exercise” for the day.
I got to six miles and my dad appeared on his bike and cycled alongside me for about a mile and a half. It actually really broke it up for me and one of the roads was a bit of a windy road (rather than go onto the promenade of the beach where it would likely be more busy) so having my dad there to see ahead for cars and keep me shielded was helpful.
I had hoped to use
the public toilet at around 7.5 miles but of course they weren’t open. I hadn’t
even thought about them not being available (of course they wouldn’t!) so this
was somewhat of a blow as I really needed a wee. My dad took a quick photo and
then I headed off on my own again, and he headed home (only about four miles
from our house for him).
Mentally it was a good way to do the run as I knew it so well having run round these areas many times in the past. So things sort of flew by. I knew I’d be doing it all again so just focused on getting my first loop done.
I got to my house
for just over 13 miles and my dad was standing outside with the fuel I’d asked
for and some water. I quickly headed inside for a wee (what a total luxury – a
wee in MY OWN HOUSE) – and as I would during a “real” marathon I left
my watch running. I wanted this to be relatively realistic.
Then my dad handed me my fuel. I say “fuel” but again this was a bit out of my ordinary. I wanted something I could enjoy, something sugar-rich and easy to eat (and something I had easily available). So that meant some Hotel Chocolat Salted Caramel chocolates!
I’d put them in a little sandwich bag and my dad handed them to me and I ate one there and then with the water he handed me (my watch still running). I decided to leave the water with him (to give me later at 20 miles) and take two more of the chocolates for the road (I had six ready for consumption in total).
I headed off for my
second loop. Now lighter, less misty but still quiet. As I got to mile 15ish
Kyle rang me. He’d planned to do this after he woke up and sometime after my
first loop. Unfortunately this meant just before the one large hill of my
route. Thankfully the rest of my route is almost pancake flat, but this hill
goes on for almost 0.5 of a mile and is a bit of a grinder.
It was so nice to
hear from Kyle regardless and I huffed and puffed my way through a
conversation. He was lovely and it really boosted me. Unfortunately I then
heard my Airpods beep at me to say the battery was running low. Oh no! I
quickly messaged my dad to ask him to bring new headphones when he saw me at
mile 20 (another luxury!).
Kyle kept me company for a number of miles and then we said goodbye and I listened to some music. At mile 18(ish) I saw my dad. I hadn’t eaten the other chocolates as I was worried about needing water so I ate two more as I ran alongside him as he also had the water. It was tough to chew and breathe – which reminded me of why I prefer gels. But the chocolates were delicious and I was happy to accept their disadvantages in order to enjoy them!
I saw other runners and walkers out and about now but was able to keep my distance quite easily (the joys of quiet roads now, eh!). I chatted away to my dad and felt quite happy with how it was going. I knew the route so well and knew exactly what was to come, it wasn’t daunting. It was just time before I’d get back.
My dad left me again at the same point and now I had around 10k to go. As I turned a corner and was intending to go up the path to get onto the road rather than stick near the beach I saw an elderly man coming down it. Instead of navigating the hurdle of trying not to get too close I decided to run up the steep grass to the side (oooof that was not fun!). He smiled so nicely at me and clapped me on – he actually clapped! And it made me smile wryly to think this is probably the first marathon I’ve run where I’ve only had one person clapping. Another nice lady later on shouted at me to “keep going, keep going” – it was weirdly like they knew. It really did help.
And then I was on the home stretch. As I ran down my lane I saw my watch creep to 26.2 miles. I saw my parents at the bottom of the lane cheering me on. It was surreal. As the miles ticked over to 26.28 I decided “that’ll do”. And just stopped, metres from my house. No finish line. No big time on the wall. No medal. No cheering. Just me coming to a stop. Clicking my watch. Done.
3:37:05 – but I guess it’s arbitrary really. It counts for nothing and had I run a metre or so further or less the time would be different.
While I know some people might disagree with me running all those miles for so long and potentially increasing the risk of catching/spreading the coronavirus, I don’t regret it and I’m proud of myself for doing it. I managed and reduced the risks as best as I could. I didn’t break any rules. I was sensible. I saw less people on my entire run than I had the other day when I walked to the local shop and stood queuing outside.
You could argue if we all ran a marathon it would create a problem. But I very much doubt there are many people that would want to go out and run a marathon so that risk is low. What if I fell over and needed medical assistance? Well, this has never happened during any of my running career before, marathon or not, so why would this suddenly be an increased risk?
And yes, my immune system will be somewhat lowered post run, despite how easy I took it. So for the days afterwards I avoided shops and busy places. I also stayed inside for the rest of the day, of course.
The run itself went really well. Surreal really. It felt odd, but good. I think I had one wobble during the entire run at mile four (so early on in the game!) where I realised I had 22 more miles to go. But other than that it was, dare I say, not bad at all.
Of course I would have loved it to be different. To have been running with Kyle in Rotterdam. To have had crowds cheering us on. To have a medal to show for it. To say I’ve run 21 marathons not 20. But it isn’t to be and that’s OK. I learnt a lot about myself during that run – that sometimes I can overcomplicate things. I stripped everything back and just ran. No pressures. That hugely helped. I could stop if I wanted – who would care? Who would know?
Anyway, it’s done. And I feel so much better. Like a weight off my mind. I can remember the experience fondly. And I’ve closed the door on that chapter.
