the title of this post is a direct acknowledgement of your patience as i work my way through all the possible puns i can use to name my running posts. thank you.
so... where are we at? well i've finally completed my 9-week training programme (you may remember it's taken me twice as long to get through, as i've done some sections of the programme over and over until i was ready to move on) so that's great news :)
highlights and lowlights
it's been bloody freezing recently with weather warning-inducing gusts of wind. i tell you, running the last half mile of a 30-minute early morning run, straight into icy, 70mph gusts of wind is not something i recommend or enjoy. you just think to yourself "did i really get out of bed to put myself through this?" but the next time you go out you record a personal best. or it's a beautiful sunny morning in the park, you see a young deer trotting through the long grass and other runners say good morning on your way past. you can't beat that.
i won one of the challenges on nike+ too. a 30-day beginners challenge. i kind of won by default as two people were kicked out for not being true beginners just a couple of days before the end, but hey, i'm not complaining :)
i'm now running 30 minutes 3 or 4 times a week, trying to consistently achieve a 5k in under 30 minutes, ready for my first BPTT. my nike+ kit reckons i can do 3.2 miles (just over 5k) in 28 minutes. disappointingly, i've found that the nike+ is wildly inaccurate, in a bad way. we tested it out by running the route of the BPTT on saturday. my nike+ said i'd run 3.5 miles, so it's out by a third of a mile :( of course running a real 5k was much tougher, as it's further than i had got used to. and it took me 33 minutes, so i have a lot of work to do to beat booyaa's first BPTT result of 25.18. hmmm.
exercise-induced asthma is interesting me, as i found it debilitating when i first started running. i tend to still run as fast as my lungs can cope with, but have recently discovered that sometimes my thigh muscles protest when my lungs are actually managing quite well. more about that in a later post, as i intend to do some research. you never know, i might get myself off my daily 'brown' (steroid) inhaler if i discover it's only an exercise thing.
i've also found out a few things about sports bras, running clothes, what to do with your hair and carrying water. so, here's what i've learned.
the kit's the thing
being *ahem* generously proportioned, i need the biggest, baddest sports bra available. sports bras are categorised from level 1 to 4. on the x axis you get activity type, starting at yoga and going up through cycling, then basketball right up to running at the top. on the y axis you have bust size. so, if you're flat-chested and doing yoga you'd need a level 1 and i require, of course, a level 4. there are a fair few level 4 bras out there, but here's the thing. they are bloody ugly and mostly uncomfortable. what i feel i need most is a tough band across the top of my bust to completely stop bounce. but for some unfathomable reason these horizontal compression strips are only on level 3 bras. huh? so, larger ladies, if you're looking for a good sports bra then remember that a normal bra shape (ie: two triangles joined together in the middle) just won't cut it; it needs to be a crop top shape.
i love sweaty betty. i wear their yoga/loungewear all the time at home. they look great, really flattering, nice colours, soft fabrics. and their running gear is really impressive too. i bought their winter running kit which is a serious technical outfit. it consists of a half zip, funnel neck jacket and running tights (think leggings with ankle zips). both items have mesh breathable bits in the right places (underarms, back of knees) and covered zips, key pockets, reflective strips, sweat-wicking yet very warm fabric. the top has long sleeves with thumbholes which i just love. they keep your hands warm but not sweaty like gloves do. of course i feel like a complete twit in my skintight leggings and big clumpy trainers, but they keep me warm!
i see two women runners regularly on the same circuit as us who both have very long hair. lovely hair. but they both wear it in a high ponytail which, as they run, swishes from side to side exactly like a horse's tail swatting flies. that would annoy the hell out of me. unless i'm wearing my headband (great for keeping your ears warm too) i wear my hair in bunches with several hairslides to make sure not one tendril works its way loose. one of the most annoying things ever, hair in your face. second only to asthma phlegm. speaking of which...
running first thing in the morning means you don't have time to fully rehydrate after 8 hours without a drink and you must keep yourself hydrated while you are running. the other part of this, for me, is that due to my lovely exercise-exacerbated asthma, i get lots of slimy gunk coming up out of my lungs and i need to glug water to shift it. nice. but carrying a bottle of water is a pain. it really is. if you are pushing yourself to run further or faster it's just one more thing ganging up against you to make it harder. most normal water bottles will spill when you open them and if you use a refillable water bottle, try as you might, it will start to smell eventually and give your water a nasty taint. i am yet to find a solution i'm happy with.
