2017 has been my best year running. No I haven’t PB’ed in every distance (in fact, I’ve only achieved one PB this year, at the Great South Run). But I’ve had a great year of CONSISTENTLY running and side-stepping injuries.
This year I’ve only had two injuries, both lasting a short period of time (for me this is VERY good). One of those was ankle related and probably down to throwing myself back into running too soon after a marathon and going on a ridiculous seven mile off-road trail run. The second was upping my mileage from 25 miles a week to over 50 miles a week on an Austria run camp – lots of downhill running causing my knee to say ENOUGH. So in terms of those pesky over-use injuries I used to get ALL the time, I’ve done very well.
I thought I’d do a post on some of the things I’m doing that I believe might have helped me. I will obviously preface with this with: 1) I’m not a physiotherapist, coach or anyone of any notable qualifications or intelligence, 2) this might all be fluke. That said, let’s get to it.
Gaining weight
I used to be about five-six pounds lighter. Yes, yes lighter usually means faster when it comes to running but as I don’t particularly care about speed in the great scheme of things I don’t mind (that said, I’ve managed to almost reach my 5k PB from my lighter days).
I’ve put in some solid effort at the gym and gained muscle and, yes, fat. Ladies, FAT IS NEEDED. We need fat to be healthy. Boobs, bums, hips, thighs… fat is a good thing to have. Obviously there is a limit, but being ridiculously skinny is not that healthy. Embrace those love handles, jiggle those thighs and be proud of your lumps, bumps and curves. I realise I’m still a relatively slim jim, but I am definitely not as slim as I used to be and I’m very happy. I love my body and I love food. I have an insane appetite and the thought of giving up anything to be slimmer genuinely brings sadness to my heart. Happily, I truly believe that carrying a bit more jiggle has given my body more strength and the ability to endure higher mileage.
Strength training
I bang on about this all the time I know. It took me a while to get this. I’d get injured, I’d end up at the physio, he’d assess and treat me and send me away with a list of exercises I needed to do. I’d do them for a period of time and eventually be back running, forget the exercises… and then get injured again. This was quite the cycle for me. Until I finally realised I needed to keep doing the exercises. Sadly I’m not as hardy as other people and I require that added extra work in order to keep me running healthy and strong.
So I go to the gym four times a week. Two of those sessions are focused on my legs and glutes. For legs I do squats (lots of variations from heavy low reps, to high reps with resistance bands, etc.), lunges, single leg work, leg presses, deadlifts… And for glutes I do hip thrusts, kickbacks, bridges, step ups, etc. And every day at the gym I always do at least five minutes of focused glute resistance band work, such as monster walks.
I’ve also found when I start to feel something “not right” (like my hip the other week) I focus on that area and the areas around it. I make sure I don’t cause pain or discomfort, but I aim to strengthen that area. I’ve found it also helps to get the blood flowing in that area to help keep it healthy.
Bit of stretching
I don’t really stretch after running and I don’t tend to do much warming up (unless it’s super cold or I’m waiting for someone – then I’ll do some token squats and leg swings). What I do do is stretching first thing in the morning. This is usually at the gym. I go through a sort of mini-yoga routine opening up my back and my hips. I try and make sure the movements are dynamic and not just static holds. I don’t know if this has helped me much with running but in general I feel better for it.
And nutritional things…
Now take these with a punch of salt. I thought I’d mention them because they’re something I personally like to do and in my head I think they make a difference but really I have no idea and no direct proof.
- Turmeric: I eat a lot of turmeric. It’s gotten to the point now that most of my dinners have a slight orange tinge to them because of the turmeric. I really like the spice (I wouldn’t eat it if I didn’t, believe me!) and I’ve heard some good things about it helping reduce inflammation. So I chuck it on my meals. In my most paranoid moments (the day before a long run or a marathon for example) I might even go as far as having a turmeric latte. Yep.
- Omega 3 supplements: I take these every single day without fail. I do try and eat fish regularly through the week but I like to fully ensure I’m getting my omega 3 anyway.
- More protein: And in general I eat a solid amount of protein. I much prefer protein to carbs (#allthemeat) so I don’t find this too difficult. With every meal I’ll have a solid source of protein. Easy protein sources: tinned tuna (I eat this every day for lunch in a salad), protein powder (I add this to my porridge), Greek yogurt (or Skyr yogurts are really good), chicken, turkey and meat/fish in general, eggs, cottage cheese, beans, chia seeds…
Like I said, I have no idea if the above has significantly contributed to me staying uninjured but it’s a lifestyle I’m going to continue. Hopefully this has been somewhat useful to you! Now excuse me while I sip my orange-tinged coffee… 😉
How do you stay injury-free?
Do you take any supplements?
Do you go to the gym?
Places are limited though, so you’ll need to be fast if this takes your fancy!
So they’re my running plans for the year. Personal plans? Oh it might be nice to have a bit more success with dating but ehhh who knows. My motivation has dipped to a real low right now regarding that. I’m just busy with life and unless it happens organically (a word I detest) I’m actually going to have to put effort into it…more than I have been. It depresses me when I think too long about this situation, so I shan’t.
Spending the four-ish days in Llandudno was lovely. Unfortunately my grandad wasn’t his usual energetic and fighting fit self due to an ongoing cough he couldn’t shift, but it was nice to be there anyway. Though he did go on an epic 5.4 mile walk with my dad around the Great Orme while I was out doing my long run on the Monday morning. I mean, as you do when you’re almost 84 right??My 15 mile long run was great. It was very icy and frosty but it was nice to get out in some different scenery. To make life easier I used a 5.6 mile loop that my grandparents had marked out for me (on proper maps, with elevation charts and everything!). This was handy because it meant if the roads were too dangerous I wasn’t going to be too far away from their house to stop.
It also felt a bit easier in my head mentally to think I was doing two-three loops rather than 15 miles. It was a great route because it went from one coast to the other, so you got to the see the sea twice which is always a win in my book.
I didn’t have any choice but to wear my shorts as I hadn’t packed any leggings with me (I live in Anna La La Land where I don’t consider any negative prospects ahead, just everything running smoothly and the sun perpetually shining). But actually my legs were fine. It was my the tops of my ears and my fingers that suffered. I was wearing my Nike gloves and they’re still quite thin so my hands got really cold. I ended up pulling my sleeves down over them too. I made sure to stop a couple of times to take some photos – it was so beautiful (with or without snow, really) that I had to.
The first lap was good because I was new to the route and had to double-check my carefully written out paper instructions to ensure I was going to the right way, which helped pass the time. The second lap I just zoned out as I knew where to go. When it came to finishing the second lap I was at over 11 miles I didn’t fancy doing another lap as it would make my long run too far (almost 17 miles) and I really couldn’t be bothered. Instead I started the third lap but turned around when I hit the golf club, which we’d walked to the day before and I knew was 2 miles, so there and back would get me to my 15 miles. Perfect.
The rest of the time in North Wales was good old fashioned family time. Lots of walking, quality quiz time (I love a quiz) and good food. My grandparents eat really healthily and light so the only indulgences were when we ate out for food (we had an Indian and a Christmas meal) or when I bought a chocolate drenched waffle at the Christmas market…
Some thing have to be done. We also did a fun walk around Llandudno to find all the different Alice in Wonderland statues (called the “Alice Trail”). I love stuff like this.
Then I was back at work on the Thursday, just in time for our Christmas do. It was at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, which was rather fancy and meant I could put on a sparkly dress.
The event only cost £5 and we got a drink on arrival, half a bottle of wine, two drinks tokens and a three course meal. I mean, that’s not too shabby at all! I got myself all glamorous (well, as glam as I can really) and enjoyed a fun evening of food and dancing. 
I did drink but not to excess as I had work the next day (and not to mention a marathon the following weekend). I’m actually not a huge drinker. I don’t mind getting a bit tiddly but I hate the feeling of wanting to be sick or the room spinning, which inevitably happens after drinking too much. The dinner was great (even more so because my friend and I got to split someone else’s meals between us as they hadn’t shown up). And the pudding was a pudding BAR. I will unashamedly say I returned after my first selection for more. I must have eaten about nine different selections (tiffin, rocky road, mince pie shortbread (!), blondies…). I mean, to be fair they were quite small.
Anyway it was a really fun evening. It was nice to have a Christmas party with people who were around my own age. However, it did make for getting up on the Friday morning somewhat tricky. Luckily though everyone who’d been just as foolish as me not to take a day off or a half-day was in the same boat, so I wasn’t alone in my grogginess at work!
We got out of the car and I did a bit of a warm-up in my coat by running up the path and back. I did some high knees and kicks… like I knew what I was doing 😉 My dad wanted to post on to his Instagram (which he rarely uses) so I helped him do that.
I didn’t realise we were being photographed! It was only after I asked the photographer if he could take a photo of us that he said he’d already done one but would happily do another. (Thank you 
He was very friendly and kind, even saying if we emailed him he’d print one out and post to it us!
I just got very carried away. The problem was I started right near the front (because there weren’t that many people and I wanted to get a good start)…but seriously too fast! I looked at my watch and it said 6:08! Yeah I hadn’t suddenly gained a load of speed, this would not end well if I didn’t slow down.
The first part of the course runs down a compacted dirt track before then reaching a footbridge that goes over a railway track and road. It’s a very annoying bridge in that it’s quite a windy one to go up and over. It did help slow me down though and I found my right pacing afterwards
You then head towards the Conwy Castle along the pavement before swinging back and then along another compacted dirt track following the banks of the Conwy River. It was a little breezy along here but I was still glad for my shorts despite the cold wind. My upper body was getting quite hot in my long sleeves but the gloves were certainly required.
We reached the turnaround point and it was a very sharp about-turn round a cone. It was like coming to a standstill before having to gain the speed again – not fun! Then we headed back down the path again (missing the puddles like I said). As there weren’t many people the tail end of the runners came quite soon. We followed the same route back (missing out on the run towards the castle) and back over the bridge. This time the bridge destroyed me. I had dropped down to 6.30 minute pace but the bridge pushed my pace back towards 6.40. As I came back to the straight path to the finish I had nothing left to give for the final sprint. I felt like I was crawling as I got back to the finish and was grateful to stop. (
My time was 20:48, second female. I’m really pleased with the time. Still in the 20s! My last time at Conwy parkrun (about 14 months ago) I did 21:40 so I’m over the moon I was almost a minute quicker. I just read back my last post on the Conwy parkrun and saw that I was 17th on that run, whereas this time I was 16th! I was still 2nd female though. Funny.
As I put my coat quickly back on a man came up to me who had finished before me. He said well done on my run but said I started too fast. He said he was surprised at how quickly I set off…and then how quickly I slowed down. He gave me a bit of advice (in a nice way, he was very friendly) and said my time was quite fast for the course, which was very gracious of him (considering there were two 17:xx runners and several sub 20s I’m not sure it’s that fast!!).
After parkrun and breakfast, the whole family headed for a nice walk down to Conwy for a drink in the pub. The walk actually follows a good chunk of the parkrun so I was able to take some good photos
I also spotted a frozen yogurt place! I mean, there’s not even one in Southampton. It was very cold though so I decided not to have any – maybe save myself for another day.
I had planned to do a 15 mile run the next day but it was looking less and less likely as the snow warnings were coming in. My lovely grandparents had actually planned the route for me because I am essentially an idiot. I had a choice of two routes. Either a 3.7 mile loop to do four or so times or a five mile loop to do three times. They were both equally good but in the end I decided to go with the three loop one as mentally it seemed easier to do in my mind (and also there were fewer turnings where I could go wrong…).
Unfortunately, though I woke up the next day and found the snow coming down quite heavily and the ground covered and fairly slippy. I went for a quick walk outside (and slipped on the first step…!) and decided it would be far safer to postpone the run to Monday. Though I was very tempted to go my grandad convinced me otherwise with some sound advice (though I did think he was maybe being a little dramatic when he said I could get exposure and die… these mountaineer types, eh! ;-))
Anyway we had a lovely day nonetheless with lots of walking and then a Christmas meal in their local golf club (of which both my grandparents regular play – they’ve very active!)
I had mushroom soup, turkey roast and then a treacle tart with honeycomb and ice cream. Delicious! And good fuelling for the next day’s long run.
So anyway. My training. For once in a good long while I can talk about actual training I’m doing. Previously I would run four times a week, whatever pace. Usually it would be two “whatever pace” runs in the week, then maybe a speedy parkrun if I “felt like it” and then a long run on Sunday.
As I said though, I’m no expert and am actually highly clueless when it comes to this sort of thing. I regularly message two different running friends about what the hell I should actually be doing (thanks James and Mark for your understanding) as I am essentially an idiot.
I also hugely stressed myself out wondering if I was doing too much because I’ve also been running parkrun at a hard effort… Am I doing too much? Am I stressing my body out too much? I know only I can really tell but it helps having other people to check-in with. I’ve also put stupid pressure on myself to try and hit sub-20 minutes for a parkrun. This was never how I used to run. I run for fun. I’ve always maintained I’d rather run slow but long-term rather than fast and continually have to take time off for injury. I need to not lose sight of this and ground myself back into my happy running zone.