September 14, 2020September 14, 2020 Mary2 Comments

Less than four weeks to go and a possible parkrun return

It’s just 26 days now until the Autumn 100. Another 10 days or so before I start to taper.

I’ve decided on my strategy for race day – a run/walk strategy, something I’ve not purposefully used before, but something I’ve heard and seen nothing but good words about. I’m planning on starting the race with a 13 minute run, 2 minute walk technique. Holding onto this as long as possible, then dropping down to a 12/3, 11/4, 10/5 as necessary. I’ve spoken to lots of people over the past few weeks about how they chose their run/walk distance/times and I think that sticking to a 15 minute block will work well for me – I don’t want to be working out mileage or random minutes when I’m 23 hours into a race, whereas four blocks across the hour should be relatively easy to keep track of.

I’ve practised 13/2 a few times now and have found that it really helps me to keep my focus when running long runs alone. Hopefully this will remain the case come race day. I’ve been out for a couple of two hour blocks and my overall pace (including both the running and walking sections) has remained below 11 minute miles, so I will need to be aware of slowing the running sections down slightly come race day!

Dan is going to drive me down the morning of the race and then come back and collect me the following day, keeping an eye on the tracker to work out my rough finishing time.

No crew are allowed at Autumn 100. This isn’t a Covid-thing, but an event thing. Apparently no crew were allowed at last year’s event either. Pacers are also only allowed for the last 25 miles, so from miles 75-100. I will not be having a pacer this year. I think I would benefit most from having a pacer during the night – so at mile 50, the point pacers are usually allowed to join on a 100 miler. But that’s not allowed. After getting attacked last year I’m not the most keen on running alone in the dark, but I’m just going to have to man up, get my head down and run like crazy until morning! It’s one night. I’m sure I’ll be fine.

I managed 51.7 training miles last week, including two complete rest days:
* MON – 3.4 mile buggy run for the nursery pickup (half with a three stone toddler, half without!)
* TUES – 4 mile easy run (AM) and 6.1 mile club run (PM)
* WED – 5.4 mile chatty run with Dan
* THURS – 11.1 miles testing out the run/walk (AM) and 5.5 mile club run (PM) which ended up being a speed session in places as I had to take a much faster group than usual out
* SUN – 5.2 mile chatty run with Dan and Oscar (in the buggy) down to the park for a picnic breakfast, immediately followed by an 11 mile run/walk (13/2)

I’m hoping for similar mileage again this week, although spread out a little more evenly this time!

Oscar is definitely too big for the buggy now – and it’s also incredibly tough going on us having to push him – especially when we reach a hill!

We’ve run down to Stanwick Lakes for a pancake breakfast a few times now though and I’ll be sad when we really cannot squeeze him in for the ride anymore! Parks were just too busy for comfort over the Summer holiday, but completely empty first thing in the morning. As long as the pancakes were cooked and we managed to get out first thing, then there is plenty of time for a run down to the playpark, to demolish the pancakes and a good couple of hours of playing before things get too busy!

One of the biggest stressors for me this week has been the possible return of parkrun. On Monday afternoon our team at Irchester Country parkrun received an email stating that parkrun intended to return before the end of October. I really miss my weekly parkrun – we’ve now actually had more weeks away from parkrun than at our event, since starting up last November – and totally agree that there are a whole host of mental health and physical benefits to those who take part or volunteer. Personally though, I felt that the timeframe to return was too short, and with restrictions still in place regarding gatherings of people I didn’t understand how parkrun could return;
a) When not everybody brings along a barcode, so not all runners are known (for tracking and tracing purposes).
b) Taking the temperatures of 500+ runners at every event each week would be impossible.
c) By announcing that Wales and Scotland would not be returning in October, adding immense pressure to events bordering the country line.
d) By relying on landowners giving permission for the events to take place. Again, if a landowner refused, parkrunners from that event would descend on other local events, increasing numbers further.
e) Without a chip timed start, it would be bedlam on the start line with no social distancing – 2 metres apart? Some events would see the first runners finishing before all had crossed the start line if that was the case, and runners would be adding 10/15 minutes to their overall time!
f) Asking for enough volunteers each week to put themselves forward in roles such as barcode scanning and finish tokens – where they would come into contact with every single runner at the event.

Personally, I still feel uncomfortable walking around a supermarket, never mind being crammed into a starting pen, coughed on and jostling for a place out on the course.

The following day it was announced that Government restrictions were changing – groups of no more than 6 people were to be together, either inside or outside. I relaxed slightly, assuming that parkrun’s statement would be retracted. Only it wasn’t. It was then clarified that this new limit didn’t apply to parkrun – that parkrun would be allowed to go ahead.

And that’s when I began to get abuse. How was I allowed to start up parkrun again when groups of friends were no longer allowed to meet up together for a run? Obviously not my decision, but people were clearly feeling frustrated and angry about their time being directed for them by the Government once again. I went to bed on Thursday evening feeling very sad and unhappy over the amount of angry messages I had received, simply because I volunteer my time as Co-Event Director at a parkrun event.

Luckily(?!) on Friday, the situation was eased for us when Public Health Northamptonshire issued a statement to all parkrun EDs in the county saying that they would not be sanctioning the return of parkrun at the end of October. I felt like an enormous weight had been lifted from my shoulders! I would absolutely love to see parkrun return, but when it is safe to do so. I feel that setting a date 5 weeks away with the current rise in cases, and with children returning to school was reckless. As much as I would have loved to have run a parkrun on my birthday at the end of October and for Oscar to start joining in once he turns four in a few weeks time, I believe that we shouldn’t be looking at a return until at least 2021 now, however sad that may be.

Do you intend to run/volunteer at parkrun next month? How do you feel about parkrun returning at this point?
Have you tried a run/walk technique during a race before? How did it go?

September 14, 2020September 14, 2020 Mary2 Comments

September 7, 2020September 7, 2020 Mary6 Comments

No more nights!

I am no longer a night-shift worker! Yay!

The last few months have been tough – working full time night-shifts, trying to parent Oscar successfully during the days whilst Dan has been working (albeit from home), trying to be there for family who were struggling during difficult times and also attempting to train for the Autumn 100.

My last night shift was Saturday and this week is all change. Dan is back in the office today (although just two days a week now going forward) and Oscar has picked up an extra morning at nursery from this term onwards to prepare him for school next year.
I’ve woken this morning feeling motivated and energised – ready to tackle the world again knowing that I haven’t got to try and fit everything into just two days before juggling fitting sleep around work and life.

I slept for maybe twenty minutes on my return from work Sunday morning and then woke up feeling dreadful – sore throat, headache, feeling sick. Just generally run down from a lack of sleep over the previous months I think. It’s always the way – reach a holiday or some time out and my body decides to fall apart! But the difference is, this time I won’t be returning to night shifts so my body will hopefully be able to completely recover.

Due to the pandemic I lost a big freelance contract and there was no coursework moderation role for me over the Summer this year, as exam boards did not ask for any to be submitted for the season. But, by working full time hours in a well paid job and being savvy with our spending Dan and I have still managed to put away the money we would have saved across the year in just six months, so I have a bit of leeway now for a little while with the time to investigate further a few projects which I currently have in the pipeline.

I’m not sure what my options would be to return to full time work anyway – basically impossible with a child I imagine? How do full time working parents work around school? When Oscar starts next year I will need to be able to take him to school for 9 am and pick him up at 3:15 – 37 weeks of the year. We don’t have family in the area to help with school runs so the responsibility of school drop-off and pick-up will fall solely on me. I don’t want to put him into before and after-school clubs for hours on end if I don’t have to (although I know this works for many) and so working for myself is the only real option I have unless I want to return to working nights again (I don’t!)

The things I’m looking forward to being able to do now that my shifts have finished include; catching up on life admin, not having to struggle to fit all of my runs in across just four consecutive days, being able to raise my sleep average above 5 hours each night, feeling alive enough to enjoy Oscar during the day, my knees no longer getting a battering from kneeling for hours on end each night, not having to break my sleep up into three naps of 1-2 hours each day, removing the duvet that has lived in my car since March, there no longer being deep cuts in my fingertips from opening boxes 8 hours every night…

I will however miss; the extra money making its way into our bank account every four weeks, the discount on my food shop, the guaranteed 15,000 steps every night and the strength work I get from lugging cages of heavy cheese off the lorries and onto the shop floor, watching the beautiful sunrises from the car park roof at leaving off time and the feeling of being able to provide for my family.

I did make epic use of my last day of discounted shopping yesterday – two full trolleys filled with enough store cupboard items to last another three month lockdown! Good job we have a big kitchen! I was super organised, – armed with a long list Dan, Oscar and I managed to get the whole shop done and to the car within seventy minutes! (I still need to pack most of it away in the cupboards though – a task I saved for today!)

It’s just under five weeks now until the Autumn 100 and my training is well underway. I’m happy with how my running has been going over the past few months – I even managed a new 5k PB time of 25:46 back in July! My running club has begun meeting for training sessions again and I am lead coach for one of the groups from this term – something I’m really looking forward to. I have lots of ideas for the runners of Group 4.

The year is looking up!

Has your life begun to return to some kind of normality again yet following the pandemic?
Ever worked through the night before?
If you’re a working parent, how do you juggle the school run around work?

September 7, 2020September 7, 2020 Mary6 Comments

April 9, 2020April 9, 2020 Mary2 Comments

A running update

Running at the moment is hard. I’m sure I’m not the only person who is struggling to fit runs into their new weekly schedule. I’ve got friends who have lost their running mojo completely – without races to train for and with no idea of when the lockdown will be lifted they’re struggling to know what runs to add to their plan.

Some friends however are actually running more often and more consistently because they’ve either lost their jobs or have gained a lot of extra free time.

Somehow I’ve wound up with a lot less time. I’m back working four nights a week at the moment. Thursday-Sunday. But I still have Oscar to look after on Fridays and Mondays following my shift, and odd bits of freelance work to complete at the weekends too. So the amount of sleep I’m currently able to get is incredibly limited. Dan remains working full time hours. Although he is now working from home he often has to work past 5:30pm. He didn’t finish until 8pm last night! As soon as he finishes work I head up to bed for a quick nap to catch up on some sleep before I head off to work myself just after 9, returning back home a little after 6:30am. On the nights I’m not working, Oscar insists I put him to bed (and I want to). He also wakes at least once a night now to call out for me, I think because he’s worried I’m not at home so much at night time.

Not only am I exhausted but I also share my one outdoor exercise a day (Government guidelines) with Oscar as obviously at age three he can’t head out alone! He likes to head out for bike rides and nature walks and so I’m trying to fit in a couple still a week, as well as a couple of days of runs for me to help me stay sane. Before the lockdown, I would have taken Oscar out pretty much every day.

The races I had lined up for this year were the Shires and Spires 35m in May, Nene Valley 20 in June, Sandlings 55m in July, SVP50 in August, Norfolk Marathon in September and then my goal race, the Autumn 100 in October.

Shires is not going ahead, with no current plan to postpone, etc. Nene Valley and Sandlings – my entries have been transferred across to 2021, SVP is currently still going ahead, as are the Norfolk Marathon and Autumn 100. Although I’m doubtful that all three will continue to stay in the 2020 calendar, even if they do, I’m not sure I’ll be able to maintain enough fitness to rock up to the start line for my 100 in the Autumn if the lockdown continues.

I know in the grand scheme of things when so many people are dying or risking their lives my problems are so small and insignificant, but I’ve allowed myself to feel a little sad this week. 2019 was such a rubbish year for me and I had such high hopes for 2020. I don’t want to run those races next year. I had different life plans for 2021. Training for a 55 miler that’s still 14 months away is not how I roll. I’ve laid out a lot of money for these events this year, and worked hard to consistently train since the start of the year, building up my strength and adding distance to my long runs each week. I’m left feeling like I’ve not achieved anything.

I don’t know what’s going to happen. Nobody does at the moment I guess. The world is in such a funny way right now. I find it so scary. Despite being so tired for working nights I’m incredibly grateful for my boss letting me have my old job back and for the feeling of normality heading out to work several times a week gives me. It makes me feel like I still have a bit of purpose for the year.

Obviously Oscar remains my main focus. Ensuring he is happy and healthy and learning and continuing to develop. I come up with a new idea for us to try each day and he knows that when we head outside there are a lot of very poorly people so we need to stay on the other side of the path if we see anybody. But I know he misses his friends and our usual adventures.

Here’s hoping we start to see a decline in Coronavirus cases soon and the world can catch a bit of a break.

April 9, 2020April 9, 2020 Mary2 Comments

March 20, 2020March 20, 2020 Mary3 Comments

The world is a scary place

A month ago I was half-listening in on updated radio news reports listing Coronavirus deaths in China.
It seems much longer than a month ago though.

Right now the whole world seems to be part of some kind of apocalyptic horror movie where nothing is certain, plans can’t be made and there are no guarantees for anybody. People have lost jobs, children can no longer see their friends and nobody knows how many more changes are to come or for how much longer life must be lived in this way.

Our local ASDA was raided a couple of nights ago and supplies stolen. That I find is one of the scariest things – panicking people. There seems to be two extreme camps right now – people who think the Coronavirus is just a load of tosh – who are still going out with friends for drinks and socialising daily, and those who are in the midst of panic – buying months worth of supplies that really are not necessary, being quick with hateful words to others – only really looking out for themselves and their own.

My gut instincts are telling me to run away. To find some hills in the Peak District somewhere, to spend weeks camping out under the stars and escaping the mad reality of the world. But I have a three year old, I have responsibilities, I have a mortgage, I have elderly family. I can’t just run away and reappear in a year and hope everything has sorted itself out – life doesn’t work like that. And I doubt very much that everything will have ‘sorted itself out’ within a year anyway. There are so many repercussions yet to come. I don’t currently have a steady job either. My regular hours at the events company disappeared pretty much straight away. Understandably so, due to the lack of events for the forseeable future. Then it was announced on Wednesday that students wouldn’t be sitting exams or returning to school for some time, potentially for another six months. There will be no coursework moderation position for me this Summer either.

I’ve spent much of the last couple of days feeling incredibly helpless and not getting very much sleep. My job first and foremost is obviously being the best Mum I can be to Oscar, but that leaves me feeling so helpless in all that is going on. I volunteered to help out arranging food deliveries for customers at our local farm shop who have been overrun with business, but seems they have now hired someone on a temporary basis instead. I emailed parkrun to see if I could help roll out their strategy to ‘help support the health and happiness of parkrunners around the world’ as mentioned in their recent email. I joined my local Facebook group who match up volunteers with isolated or elderly people unable to get any shopping. At the moment I feel like I can’t help with anything and with Oscar’s final day at nursery today until possibly September my options become even more limited.

It makes me incredibly sad that Oscar will potentially not be returning to nursery until September when all of his friends will be starting at school and he will likely not see them again. As a September baby and early talker he has always made friends with children older than himself and I know that he will feel completely lost on his return to nursery, whenever that may be.

It’s hard explaining to a three year old what is going on. One of his friends was housebound with croup and down to just one toilet roll in the house. We had plenty of toilet rolls (not from mad stockpiling – I’ve just always kept large stock of long life items in our cupboards. In fact, other than milk, cereal and some fruit we’ve not been shopping since things started to get crazy.) I had to prep Oscar before heading over to his friend’s house. We weren’t to go inside and play. We had to stand back from the door. We had to remember to cover our mouths when we coughed. Oscar has had lots of questions the last few days.
“Why aren’t we going to visit Grandad?”
“Why can’t I see my friends?”
“Do poorly people need lots of toilet roll?”
“Why is Daddy going to be working in the office at home?”

I’ve tried to answer them all honestly and in a way a three year old can understand. He knows there are lots of poorly people in the world and that everybody needs to help make sure more people don’t get poorly by staying away. He knows people will die and lots of people will be very sad and not have anywhere to work. He knows we may not be able to buy his favourite foods whenever he wants… But it’s hard when he’s so young and used to things being in a certain routine.

It’s not just children who don’t understand the impact on the world though. Yesterday I had a conversation with someone who didn’t understand why she needed to give up her comfortable life because ‘a few people were going to die’. The thing is, it’s not just a few people who are going to die. It’s quite likely going to be a few people she knows who are going to die.

We received an email from Oscar’s nursery yesterday confirming that nursery would be shutting from the end of the week, apart from for those who were considered ‘key workers’. The nursery have been absolutely fantastic to be fair – sending out announcements at least once a day since the initial conference last Thursday, despite being kept in the dark about so many things themselves. One of the replies to the email sent out though was asking if the nursery had been given a date for when they would reopen yet so that the Mum ‘could make plans’! People do not seem to understand the impact this is going to have, is already having.

I decided to contact my old boss at Tesco who said they would be more than happy to reinstate me in my night-job once more. I think I managed to get in at just the right time as the online application system crashed repeatedly as I tried to fill out my details for processing. I guess everyone was having the same idea. I stressed it would be a temporary thing, and I hope that it is and that the panic buying comes to an end soon and that we’ll be able to head to the pubs and restaurants and the world will come to life once more. Perhaps in the future Oscar’s children will read about the impact of 2020 the same way my age group studied WWII.

2019 was a pretty rubbish year but I am already so done with 2020.

March 20, 2020March 20, 2020 Mary3 Comments