Monday 22 July 2013

The Good Hair Guide to Avoiding 'Monica' Hair in this Heat

Oh I Wish
There is no way around it. I have big hair. And in this mini heatwave running with big hair is akin to running with a king size electric blanket wrapped around my head turned  up to scorchio.

So after planning my half marathon training to coincide with the first mini heatwave in since 2006 (when I used to wonder why runners didn't just use their cars) I started with a small seven miles to kick it all off.

Sat 13th July
I hadn't actually mapped the route but was guessing the distance based on similar previous routes I'd run. My running partner Gem hadn't completed a long run since the Great South in Oct last year, so combining that with the heatwave it could prove to be a tough one. But that's OK, we'll just leave early in the morning, how about 8am. I must admit to being quite excited by the prospect of starting my half marathon training as it was a weekend of sorting, life laundering, getting my proverbial 'stuff' together.

It felt difficult, I felt like The Wicked Witch of the East completely drying out, my eyes were stinging as the sweat from my electric blanket heated head poured from me. But as I've found, once you've mentally passed the barrier of 'not stopping', it's almost impossible to do so, you also start to automatically replace the negative self talk, which is basically 'I can't do this' with 'I can do this', 'I've done it before', and start to think about how chuffed and smug you'll be when you've finished the route.

And we did, we completed the route, yes were melting, and exhausted but we finished it.

Question is, will a baseball cap to run in serve to help keep the heat off my head or just act as a couple of pings of the microwave to super heat my head. I don't have the answer to that just yet but must Google it.

Mapping the run showed an impressive 7.43 mile route. Excuse me while I high five myself.

Bearing in mind the heat, I was very aware that I must stay hydrated and drank copious amounts. What I didn't do was eat, well not until the early afternoon as I was still completing my 'missions' and it wasn't until I was feeling a bit wan, early afternoon, that I ate, well scoffed a sandwich would be a better description. And mid afternoon the tell tale signs of migraine started to creep in. I'm well stocked with pain killers for such events and still wouldn't slow down and it continued into Sunday with the 'swimming through glue' and nausea that sometimes accompanies these blasted headaches. So lesson learned, eat and drink!

Thursday 18th July
We still have a heatwave. There is still plenty of rush hour traffic. I still have a half marathon to train for. Cold beers and BBQ appear much more inviting but in the absence of any invite to such an event the trainers were first choice. Following a hectic week, lack of sleep, yet again I hadn't mapped a route but out we trotted in the insane heat. Although it wasn't the six miles planned it was 4.3 miles and in this heat I'm still pleased with that.

Saturday 20th July
The heatwave continues, apparently we are at  level 3 - 'heatwave action' which almost sounds like a great name for an adult movie! The sun beating down on me pulling water out of me like the taxman pulling cash out of my salary.

In a bid to perhaps run a little cooler our escapade started at about 7.45 with our 8 mile route mapped out. Down to the seafront, up through the old town, around the park up, yadda, yadda, yadda. Some parts harder to run than others. Some parts in full sun, between the buildings, no shade, no wind. Some parts, long slow inclines, with no shade.

And then, eventually, we were at that point on the route, sanctuary.  The terrain was flat, followed by a slow decline to the end of the route. The surroundings were wooded, providing some longed for shade and we were homeward bound. And arrived, still standing, just. We just ran 8.3 miles in a heatwave.

And after this run, I drank loads of water, and I ate. Not a migraine in site just plenty of endorphins.

I can only hope that as I push myself to run in the heat, that come the Bournemouth half marathon it will be a piece of cake, as surely running in autumn will be like heaven compared to running in a heatwave.

And to avoid the electric blanket heating effect of my hair I think I've found the solution.


Here's to the predicted thunderstorms and noisey hair!




Monday 8 July 2013

For Goodness Sake, Shut the Fluff up and Get On With It

Yey..... running 13.2 miles....what was I thinking. Like c'mon? You're a busty girl, keeping running like this you're going to be using those as a scarf for the winter of 2013, no need to worry about the rising cost of heating bills!

Torn (Que song in your head by Natalie Imbroglio)
Some of my future goals include running a half marathon (jeez!), setting up my hypnotherapy practice, writing a book on self esteem, getting back to my artistic roots and becoming a super heroine and saving the world, of course (doesn't everyone?).

Sometimes though, I am dogged by the rebel in me, who is hellbent of undoing all the good work I have done this last year. I am ashamed to admit that I have been partaking of the odd cigarette, especially when there is a glass of Prosecco to accompany it, the lascivious part of my nature taking full control, which is in complete opposition to the goals I really want. After all my study, there is a certain feeling of freedom and a willingness to go wild but I have to remind myself that I am no whippersnapper any more.

So enough now of the self indulgence and my wild side, a bit of self hypnosis to get myself right back on the righteous track I have less than three months to get half marathon fit. Expletive. Ooookaaaay. So goodbye to the bad old ways and hello new invigorated healthy me.

It is common to lapse on whatever course we take in life but it is just as important to admit to yourself that you are infallible, that you can fall down but what's most important is being able to pick yourself back up, and get right back on that proverbial horse.

So now I have a training plan, I have had many, but this was devised with my running partner, this very evening, helping each other along. Giving up boozy nights before a big run and getting ourselves into a good running form. So the half marathon running plan looks like this:

13/07 - 7 miles
16/07 - 6 miles
20/07 - 8 miles
25/07 - 6 miles
28/07 - 8 miles
31/07 - 6 miles
02/08 - 9 miles
07/08 - 6 miles
10/08 - 9 miles
14/08 - 6 miles
17/08 - 10 miles
21/08 - 6 miles
25/08 - 10 miles
28/08 - 6 miles
31/08 - 11 miles
04/09 - 6 miles
07/09 - 11 miles
11/09 - 5 miles
14/09 - 12 miles
15/09 - 5 miles
21/09 - 12 miles
28/09 - 6 miles

Two reasonable runs a week. I'm considering hiring a personal trainer for more exercise to work on building core strength, glutes and anything else that could do with some work (most of it I'm sure). And I may even learn how to use that blasted Garmin watch. Time to quit talking about it and bloody well get on with it.

And for those of you that don't know Torn, here it is, but a more entertaining version.
Torn - Mimed