Sport is coming back ... hurrah!!

I am at the point that I honestly celebrate every tiny bit of normal creeping back into our lives - but the truth is that even this long after lockdown started we are still extremely far from normal and in many respects life has still to resume. Over the last few weeks we have been able to do more - exercise outside more than once a day, slowly but surely non-essential shops have been able to open with strict covid secure conditions. Some children have been able to return to school and hairdressers, pubs and even theme parks are set to open in the next few days. Don’t get me started on how some of this stuff can possibly be prioritised over children returning to full time education - it is estimated that over a third of children have done NO work since schools closed before lockdown and it will be a long time before we begin to understand the effects of this extended period of home learning on those children for whom school is their safe place. (Sorry rant over - that is a whole different blog post!)

This week though I have had several small but significant causes for celebration - the first of which was Liverpool finally becoming English Premier League Champions - if you know me you will know this is such a huge deal in our house - and after a 100 day Premier League hiatus a bloody huge relief!   For my darling 12 yo football is life and Liverpool is everything and I couldn’t be happier for him - even though he has no comprehension that some of us have waited 30 years for this moment - for now we will just let him revel in the moment!  Now that they have lifted the trophy who knows he may actually be able to watch the remaining games of the season - match day nerves usually get the better of him and he prefers to follow the action on the BBC Sport website rather than watch the matches!

Honestly not only was Liverpool winning a huge cause for celebration but another signal of a bit more of a normal life creeping in - yes sport is coming back!!! We live and breath sport in our house, both watching and taking part and no sport for the last three months has left a big hole in our life. I think the boy felt it more than the girls as he has really missed the social side as well as the physical side of playing football every week. We have run, cycled, walked the dog, trampolined, played basketball and played frisbee to keep fit but we have missed racing, football matches and team practice.

But this week the boy and the big girl re-started tennis lessons - the boy declared he was worried he was rusty and a bit unfit but super excited - I honestly don’t know who was more excited me or him! Even the 14 year old who has mastered the art of looking completely unimpressed with everything looked mildly pleased and declared it was good fun! I admit I shed a small tear of joy to see them back playing with their friends. Better still the boy returns to football practice tomorrow, I know it will be different, they will play a lot of drills instead of a match to make it easier for them to observe social distancing and I am sure they will all be a bit rusty and unfit but the sheer joy of seeing them be able to train together for the first time in so long will far outweigh any awkwardness. For my part I can’t wait to catch up with all the parents!

For me I am pretty sure there will be no races this year, I have already deferred my entry for the Chicago marathon rather than wait for a decision to be made as to whether the marathon can go ahead. But for now I am just grateful to be able to get out and run some miles with my running buddy. Before we went into lockdown I was really struggling with my running mojo especially over long runs but lockdown has given me the space to refocus on why I run and realise I get to run so even if there are no races I will keep showing up and keep putting in the work because running makes me a better person. And when racing returns I will be ready.

Much love as always xx

Lockdown Week #2

“You can’t fail at this - there is no roadmap, no precedent”*

Two months ago coronavirus was something that was happening far far away in Wuhan, China and like most people I don’t think I thought it was going to affect us.  Four weeks ago social distancing and lockdown were things that were happening in other places, here, we were still going about our everyday business as normal – I remember my last run with my running buddy before social distancing measures were put in place – an unremarkable run on a beautiful sunny day – so pleased that spring seemed to be finally on it’s way after such a wet few weeks.

By the end of the following week I was working from home and my running buddy and I were running two metres apart and all we talked about was coronavirus, no sweaty hug at the end of the run.  The same weekend the boy played what turned out to be his last match of the football season – the boys elbow fived at the end of the match and I think there was a feeling amongst the parents that we wouldn’t be seeing each for a while.  The Premier League had already been suspended and grass roots football was to follow soon after.

By the end of the next week the three schools my children attend were all closed except to children of key workers and homeschooling had begun, followed closely by lockdown.

I know that lockdown is different in each country, here in the UK lockdown means you can only leave home for the four following reasons:

• Shopping for basic necessities such as food and medicine – shopping trips should be as infrequent as possible

• One form of exercise a day – this should be done alone or only with people you live with

• Any medical need or to provide care or help a vulnerable person (this includes moving children under 18 between their parents’ homes

• Travelling to and from work, but only where work absolutely cannot be done from home

We have now been in lockdown for two weeks and there have been so many ups and downs and bumps in the road along the way.  There have been more tears than I can shake a stick at (I admit I have hidden in the loo more than once and just cried)– the craziness of the situation can creep up on you and take your breath away – the life we took for granted has just disappeared almost overnight.  And I think it is that the boy has struggled with so much – there was no warning, no getting used to it, it all happened so quickly and so suddenly that the change has been totally overwhelming for him.

We have found huge positives though:

• Facetime and Zoom are the new going out – the kids have had playdates, we have done quizzes and I have even been to the theatre via Zoom! (No need for a designated driver or a dash to make the last train home!)

• We have been out to the park and played frisbee as a family every day – and the dog has wallowed in the same smelly muddy puddle every day.  We are not getting any better at frisbee but our excuses for being so poor are definitely improving

• I kind of like the queuing surreally around the Sainsburys car park with everyone at 2 metres distance – it feels like I am in a scene from Shaun of the Dead – somehow the calm sunny plane free skies make it feel even more bizarre (I am naturally an introvert so if there is some way to make everyone respect the 2 metre rule once this is all done count me in!)

• The clapping on our street on a Thursday night for the NHS and key workers is so overwhelming and bloody emotional!

We have tried hard to find something positive everyday and we try really hard to concentrate on what we can do rather than what we can’t do.  And we have found things to laugh at in amongst the craziness too.

And on that lighter note I watched “Contagion” last night – anyone else think it was a good idea to watch Hollywood’s idea of what life would be like during a global pandemic?  Nice try Hollywood but I found myself watching and saying out loud “no it is not like that!”  Please make more Tiger King – that is just so car-crash but so hilarious!

It is now Easter holidays here and I know it will feel very different to normal school holidays but we have lots of staycation activities planned.  I would love to hear how you are staying sane during the lockdown and your suggestions for keeping the kids occupied, oh and Netflix suggestions gratefully received!

Let’s all take this one day at a time and please please please #stayhome

Stay safe and much love

Jane x

*From an article by Margie Donlon

Sometimes Life just gets a bit in the way and last week was one of those weeks ....

Marathon training requires a huge amount of commitment - and I don't just mean in terms of the time involved in actually running - more like the little things that you don't consider when you commit to running a marathon - things like the fact that you will be constantly hungry and probably constantly tired.

One thing I never factor in is the fact that after a long run in the cold I hardly have the energy to hold my own head up but if our 19 month old cockerpoo hasn't been out running with me she requires a lengthy walk on my return!!  Try reasoning with a bouncy fluffball that Mummy can't walk very fast today!!  On one such occasion I bumped into a very dreamy looking chap also walking a bouncy fluffball, he attempted to strike up a conversation with me - I could hardly speak I was so tired - in my head I was actually wondering how I was going to be able to make it home.  I managed to mumble something in response, needless to say he gave me a weird look and excused himself with a "well have a great day then..." as I shuffled off (literally) in the other direction - another one bites the dust.  (It is a constant source of amazement to me that I am still single btw!)

It would be nice to be completely selfish and focus solely on marathon training - eat, sleep and recover right all the time right?  But I am a single mum of three little pickles and I work full time and my life simply isn't like that - I don't think life is like that for most people and if I am honest I don't think I would want it to be.

Last week I took my Mum to my uncle's funeral - he died right after Christmas, he was very old and suffering with dementia and had a stroke before Christmas.  Mum and I managed to visit him in hospital, he was so frail and I think it was hard for Mum to see her brother like that.  I think there are times in life when you realise you are the adult now instead of your parents and this was one of those times I guess - another was when I realised I was the designated driver whenever we went somewhere instead of my Mum!!! It was lovely to be able to reconnect with some family we hadn’t seen for ages but did serve as an all too stark reminder of how short life is.

What I am trying to say is that with the best will in the world and no matter how selfish you are about sticking to your plan and never deviating, life will get in the way and throw you some curveballs. And I think the point is that life should get in the way, marathon training requires dedication and hard work but it also requires you to be flexible and to juggle and be creative with your use of time to get it all done.  But along the way it is important to remember that you have a life outside of running and that life itself is all too short.  So no beating myself up over one missed session, just get out there and live it.

Much love xx

Back to work with a bump ...

After a fantastic couple of weeks off for Christmas and New Year it was always going to be a bit tough getting back into the school and work routine and so it was a bit of a shocker when the alarm went off at 5:45am on Monday morning and it was back to the morning routine of making packed lunches, walking the dog and attempting to get three children out of bed and ready for school.

My three are a funny lot!  Still not sure the big girl is a bona fide teenager – I mean what other teenager gets out of bed at 6:30 every morning to walk the dog with her old mum? Don’t get me wrong I am eternally grateful for these moments we spend together when no one else is up yet – and these are the moments I hold onto when we are having one more “stop answering back” conversation!!  The boy on the other hand has to be coaxed out of bed every morning to the smell of fresh pain au chocolat – you know the ones that come in a can right?!  Dreading him hitting his teenage years, I mean how am I going to coax him out of bed then?  The little girl gets up without a problem, scrapes her hair into the messiest ponytail possible, slathers Nutella over something to eat and calls herself ready!!  All this whilst the dog sits on the windowsill watching the world go by.  Every morning is the same, we have our routine and we stick to it!

And so it was on Monday as we all set off on our first day back.  I was lulled into a false sense of security on the way back to work as the traffic was surprisingly light – this has not lasted.  I heard on the radio that it takes 4 days to get back into the groove at work after the holidays so I have stuck with that mantra all week.

One of the things I have been stressing about a bit is fitting all my training into the already a little too busy family schedule.  Up till now I have just downloaded a marathon training plan from the internet and gone with that – and it has worked pretty well but training for ultras and multi-stage races is something I know nothing about so my running buddy and I decided to enlist a coach to help prepare us.  We started working with our coach at the beginning of December and I think when you are paying for coaching and accountable to someone else there is additional pressure to make the plan work and do what you are told to do.  I have
to say it has taken me some time to adjust to someone else having control over my workouts and to really trust the process.

Over Christmas I have had more time to be able to make the plan work without the time restrictions of work and school and after school activities so this week was going to test whether I could actually fit everything in.  The answer is a qualified yes to be honest – it has been a bit of a juggle and here are some things I have
learnt this week:

• After a hard tempo session on Monday night there is no point attempting to get up at 5am and run 5 comfortable miles.  I am struggling with early morning running whilst it is still so dark so waiting to run till the evening made more sense and stopped me beating myself up all day about snoozing the alarm and missing a session!

• A hard hill session on Friday made for a suffer fest of 14 miles in the wind on Saturday – ever grateful to share those miles with my running buddy, without her I may have given up a lot sooner.

• My life literally revolves around food and sleep and rolling – no joke I think I am obsessed!

• It is ok to shift the plan around a bit – when I first spoke with my coach I said there are no days I can’t run – and that is true but there are days when life gets in the way and so it should and it is ok to move workouts around to accommodate that.

So I am heading into week 2 with a bit more confidence that I am back in the work and school groove, that I can make it all fit and that I can move workouts round a little bit to make it all work.

Keep showing up, keep putting the work in and it is all about the juggle!!

Much love xx

Oh hello 2020 – so nice to meet you!!

Happy New Year and Happy New Decade!!!

As we all know it is customary at this time of year to set ourselves loads of goals that we want to achieve for the new year.  I am not sure where the tradition of setting new year’s resolutions originates but I do know there is a lot of research and evidence around what day we all give up on those resolutions/goals and I believe it is actually still in January right!

So I thought it was worth talking about goal setting and making those goals stick as well as share some of my specific goals for this year.  But first I would think it is important to say that I just found the scrap of paper I wrote last year’s goals on and guess what? FAIL!  Maybe I am just not that good at being kind to myself!

If you Google goal setting you will get a whole heap of hits about setting SMART goals – I think this is a really useful acronym both when setting goals and also explaining why we don’t achieve our goals.

In short SMART stands for; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-based.  Effectively if the goals we set aren’t specific enough, we have no way of measuring whether we have achieved them or not or if they are so pie in the sky they are totally unachievable we are setting ourselves up to fail.  I am going to go out on a limb here and say my goal of being kinder to myself needed to be a bit more specific!!!

This year’s goals were also scribbled on a bit of paper – I think when I was suffering from the world’s worst cold in October/November and throwing myself a bit of a pity party – eventually my chiropractor worked a miracle and rid me of the stinking cold!!  The goals I wrote are really my running goals for 2020 and at least they are pretty specific and measurable!! They are (in case you can’t read my writing in the photo):

I commit to:

• Eating right – getting my nutrition right to support my goals

• Resting right – getting my sleep/recovery right to support my goals

• Putting in the work

March - spring marathon

July - 50k

September - Half Marathon des Sables

October - fall marathon (Chicago or Marine Corps)*

So no big mileage or PB goals as in previous years.  I have no idea how many miles I am going to run in pursuit of my first ultra and the HDMS so am resisting setting a goal – well I did mention a goal with the 9yo when we were walking the dog the other day but she pinky-promised she wouldn’t tell anyone!!!  As for PB’s – ultra-running is going to be a whole new ballgame and whilst I would love a marathon PB it is not the focus this year.

I am committed to doing the work to make my goals a reality and commit to sharing more of my training on the blog so you can see what I have been up to.  I would love to hear what goals you have set yourself for 2020.

Much love xx

P.s. And yes I will again attempt to be kinder to myself!

Everything changes but you ...

So I feel I should apologise for being a bit missing in action for the last couple of months - super busy as usual!

I started a new contract back at the beginning of July, then the schools broke up and the kids were home for the summer and since then I have been in a bit of a tailspin. I may have mentioned before that I am not a big fan of change (which really is ironic considering that for a day job I work in IT transformation and change programmes!) and honestly there has been a lot of change recently which has left me feeling a bit out of sorts.

Firstly my beautiful boy finished primary school and next week will start at high school. I should point out that I cried when the big girl started nursery and I cried buckets when she finished nursery. I was convinced I had gotten that out of my system so imagine my surprise that I have cried at the end of every school year since. Don’t get me wrong, the boy is more than ready for high school, he is going to a great school and aside from a tiny wobble about leaving the comfort blanket of primary school he is super excited to get stuck in. Maybe it is the thought of him leaving the safety net of our lovely little primary school and being ready to start this next phase in life that I find so overwhelming - how I will cope when the little girl leaves I do not know!!!

In the same week that the school term finished our lovely neighbours moved house - not far - but no longer just across the street. When we first moved onto our little street it was because we knew so many people on the street and it felt like a safe place for us to be after such a period of change. And indeed it was and continues to be a safe place. My neighbour is much more than a neighbour, she is a friend, a confidante, we look after each other’s children and dogs and she is one of my biggest cheerleaders. No longer being able to open the front door and see her every day felt like a big change.

And then another dear friend absconded to Australia for two years with her lovely family last week. I am so excited for them all as they embark on this adventure of a lifetime and I can’t wait for us to go and visit next summer. But when everything was falling apart this lovely lady really was there for me - many a g&t was imbibed in my kitchen whilst attempting to put the world to rights. And when I say I miss her I think maybe what I really mean is I didn’t tell her how much she means to me and how much she helped me through it all!

As for work - before this job I was at one company for 3 years which is like a lifetime for a contractor. I worked in an amazing team and whilst we worked really hard and spent a lot of time travelling we had a great laugh and I guess I am really just missing that. And as with all new jobs you are kind of finding your way around and working out how to do everything - just made me feel like I didn’t know what I was doing.

But you know all of these things are ok - I am always ok once a “new normal” has been established:

• The boy has been at summer camp at his new school all week, made new friends and mastered his cycling route to school

• My lovely neighbour and I have become much better at actually making plans to see each other rather than just knowing we are always across the street

• And Australia is just a WhatsApp or FaceTime away right?

• Work - well I am getting there!!

But what has this got to do with running? Well in the words of the oh so talented Gary Barlow “Everything changes but you..” and by that I mean that whilst so much else has changed around me and left me feeling tired and overwhelmed and like I am a bit done with adulting, running has remained an absolute constant, given me my timeout and my headspace and served as a reminder that I do bloody know what I am doing!!!

Much love xx

Let's talk about shoes ...

For years – I mean literally since I started running I have run in Mizuno Wave Riders – I ran my first marathon in Wave Riders and over the years I must have had about 20 pairs all of which have served me very well – well apart from the one dodgy pair that I just couldn’t get on with!!  Usually I would have one lovely clean pair for road running and a slightly older pair for off-road and each time the old pair became too old I would buy a new pair and road pair would be relegated to offroad and so it went on.

Then last year I bought myself a pair of Nike Wildhorses to wear offroad – and immediately loved them – I loved the wide toe-box and I loved that they felt a lot lighter than the Mizunos and gave me a lot of stability offroad.  I stuck with Mizunos on the road through last year but by the height of my training cycle for the Prague Marathon this year I was injured and had to admit that both pairs of shoes had more than enough miles on them and needed replacing.

Whilst I was away on yet another business trip my running buddy bought us each a pair of Hoka One One Challenger ATR4’s to replace my Wildhorses and on my return we went out for an easy 7 miles and I was instantly hooked on my new Hokas.  With every pair of Mizunos I have felt like I have had to run them in a bit and at least put a few miles on them before they felt really good – not so with the Hokas, they felt amazing straight away and I love the weight, the fit and the support that they give me.  So much so that I bought a pair of Clifton 5’s to replace my aging Mizunos.  To be honest I have taken a little longer to fall in love with the Cliftons!!

But here is the important thing, just because they fit me and I love them, doesn’t mean you will love them.  There is no one size fits all and so whilst I will happily tell you what I am wearing and why I love them you really need to find the shoe that is right for you.  Badly fitting shoes or shoes that don’t offer you the right kind of support can cause a whole host of problems as can wearing shoes that have too many miles on them.

We are really lucky to have two really good specialist running stores locally – the staff in both stores are extremely knowledgeable about the shoes they stock, offer great advice and both stores carry a really good range of shoes to try on and choose from.  Both stores have treadmills so you can try before you buy.  So in short my advice when looking for new running shoes is whilst it is great to find out what your friends are wearing and why they like them it really is a good idea to visit a specialist running store to make sure that you are getting the right shoe for you.

In the meantime I am totally in love with my Hokas!!

Much love xx

P.S. for local people the two stores are Runners Need in Hampton Wick and Up and Running in Surbiton!

Running - it's a mental game

So you all know that I love to run, running is my headspace, my time to think and my escape.  Everything changes and there has been a lot of change in my life but running has remained a constant and seen me through a lot of bad times.  But whilst running is my headspace and I am great at showing up and doing the work, on race day I can feel like an absolute imposter and can talk myself into a really dark place with a lot of negative self-talk instead of sitting back enjoying the moment knowing that I have put all the hard work in.  Once you listen to the negative voices it is a long way back – but how do you deal with those voices and what to do when your own worst enemy is in your head?

After a relatively disappointing (in my eyes) showing at the Liverpool Marathon last May I have spent a lot of time and effort working on my mental game – I have read books, listened to audio books and podcasts – mainly whilst on the treadmill (where else would I be!!), all with the aim of quieting that negative little voice in my head and finding some strategies to deal with my own self-doubt.

I went off to the Prague marathon at the beginning of May having missed loads of training due to injury and until the week before wasn’t sure that I would make the start, however, something was very different – I went with a completely different mental attitude – I guess having missed so much training meant that I wasn’t aiming for a PB and in fact my only aim was to finish pain free.  And with the pressure off I found myself enjoying the entire race (well maybe not the cobbles!).  26.2 miles is a long way to run and you always go through tough patches during the race but this time I was much more able to acknowledge it was tough and that everything was hurting and know that it would pass.

So some of that effort working on my mental game seems to have paid off – and it got me to thinking perhaps we could all do with a bit of therapy.  If you get injured you go see someone for treatment right away but no one talks about what to do to fix your mental game.  So I wanted to share with you some of the stuff I have been listening to and reading:

• I really enjoyed Ant Middleton’s book “First Man In - Leading from the Front” – I listened to most of this whilst training on the treadmill in the hotel gym in Dubai – what a fantastic view from the gym that was.  I think listening to the book was the first time that it really sunk in that my mind really is my own worst enemy and made me understand that my legs will keep going long after my mind wants me to stop.  I also really got the idea of how to use pain to drive you forward – running marathons hurts but the ability to use the pain is a game-changer.

• I have started listening to Jonathan Levitt’s “For the Long Run” podcast  I have followed Jonathan on Instagram for some time now and his podcasts are really great listens.  The episode with Emily Saul, in particular, was like a series of little lightbulb moments for me and some of those things I will talk about in a later post but one of the things she talked about was being able to recognize yourself for the badass that you are.  Most of us are just really bad at this, I am an awesome cheerleader for my kids, for my family and friends, for the kids I coach at school and for my colleagues – but for me not so much.  And then as I turned the corner onto the last 100m in Prague it hit me that I am pretty badass at what I do, and Emily was right once you recognize what a badass you are and become your own cheerleader your whole perspective will change!

Next stop, Ryan Hill’s “Run the Mile You are In.”  Any tips and suggestions on great reads gratefully received! And FYI just by getting your trainers on and getting out the door you are crushing it!!

Much love xx