Anxiety and Self-Sabotage -A Runner’s Curse

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I am a good runner.

I am a good runner.

I am a good runner.

Seriously, if I say it enough do you think I might actually start to believe it? Because something has GOT to change. I am driving myself (and everyone around me) crazy each and every time I race because the nerves and self doubt flood my system and fill me to the absolute brim with IRRITATING SMALL PERSON JUICE. Honestly I cannot believe I haven’t been punched in the face yet. BY MYSELF.

Hit 1

Let me set the scene. On Thursday evening I arrived at the site of the Saffron Striders’ hosted Kevin Henry League race. Pete, Rach and I probably arrived at about 6:40 with a race start time of 7:30, so there was a decent amount of time to kill. Cue 45 minutes of peeing (three times), pacing, nail biting and being the most annoying person in a 20 mile radius (you can keep your “no change there then” jokes to yourself, smart arse). Phrases uttered to me over the course of the evening included:

“Get a grip Lauren!”

“You need to sort your f*cking head out.” (Thanks coach)

“What is wrong with you?”

Being like this is exhausting, and I dread to think how much energy I’m wasting that I could be putting to good use during the actual run. I’m actually embarrassed by my behaviour and after each run I go home and do an actual facepalm, vowing to change something, anything to stop myself from being such a fool, but inevitably this bad behaviour cycles round and presents itself again next time I find myself on a start line.

But something has to change. Despite everything I managed a 20:51 5k last week,just 3 seconds off my best time this season and this was after a self-enforced 2 week rest because of my confusingly grumpy leg. So I know that the sub 20 5k is in my grasp if only I could make my mind be quiet.

Crazy 3 Gif

I’ve tried the Headspace app but I’ve struggled to really get on with it. I tried to apply their breathing technique at the race last week but it kept slipping from my grasp, like that dream you try and remember as you start to wake up but which fades away as you gain full consciousness. Just as I thought my mind was starting to empty those thoughts began jostling their way in again, all elbows and negativity.

So I did what any rational person would do – I asked the brilliant ukrunchat community on Twitter for advice. A lot of them recommended yoga and meditation (yoga is a big part of my life already), and I’ve been given the opportunity to try a new app that applies different relaxation techniques to meditation. I was also given a new mantra to try, and gin was suggested. I think I’m going to start with that.

Something needs to change. I don’t like this version of myself when I run, and since running helps me deal with the stresses of my life, getting this wound up before a run is so counter productive and self-sabotaging. I never thought when I started running that so much of my ability would be affected by what was in my head rather that what was in my legs. Wish me luck.

Gin Please

All gifs from Giphy

 

 

Accepting the PB Plateau

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Last year was a bit of a PB year for me. I got my 5k PB at the final Kevin Henry League race in September when I ran a 20:19. I then achieved my current 10k PB of 42:41 at the Cambridge Town and Gown event in October. I also got my default Sprint Tri PB of 1:17:44 (but since this was my first ever sprint tri it only kind of counts. Essentially it’s both my best and worst time….).

In both the 5k and 10k races,  I found myself experiencing what I would call ideal runs. Perfect conditions in regards to weather and terrain, and physically I felt GOOD. I also found fantastic people to pace me (whether they realised it or not) – Mary in the 5k and Pete in the 10k (up to about the 6k mark anyway). Seriously though, if you’d told me when I first started running 6 years ago that I would achieve a 20:19 5k I would have died laughing like those hyenas from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”.

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But there comes a time when PBs become harder and harder to come by. When you reach a certain level in your running abilities, things start to plateau a bit, and you have to start looking at more than just your running if you want to get better.

Training with Alan and working on my strength and conditioning has seen me go from a 24 minute 5k to an average of around 21 (my last two races were 20:48 and 21:17). This is more than I could have hoped for, and it’s shown me how there’s so much more to being a good runner than just pounding the pavements.But when you’ve found yourself a measly 20 seconds away from a sub 20 minute 5k, you do find yourself wondering “what if……….?”.

I’ve come to accept that not every race is going to be a PB race. I understand that. So instead I’ve been looking at what I can learn from every race that I do. I try and take away the positives, such as the fact that I didn’t panic when my mouth turned to dust and I wanted nothing more than  a drink of water, or the fact that I managed a sprint finish in my last race which saw me take out the girl who had overtaken me in the last 800 metres.

Phoebe

And in addition to the positives, I’m also trying to take what I’ve learned and use it to see what I can do better. And for me this is always – always – about controlling that stupid voice in my head that says “you, a runner? Seriously? That girl over there – she’s a runner. You’re nothing but a fake. Go home before you make a fool of yourself.” And while that bee-yatch is wanging on, I’m also constantly thinking about how I want to make myself proud. Alan, my club mates, everyone who reads this blog even – I want to do my best.

There’s nothing wrong with having passion. On the whole it’s a really, really good thing. But when you’re at risk of becoming known as your club crier, you really need to get things in check and make an effort to start working on your mental strength. So I’m finally going to read The Chimp Paradox by Steve Peters (I bought it a year ago FFS) and try not to put so much pressure on myself. Without being all mega cheesy FITSPO about it, one of my favourite quotes is “Don’t look at how far you’ve got to go, look at how far you’ve come.” I’ve come such a long way in my 6 years of running, but I’d like to go a little further please. Let’s see if 2016 has any PBs up its sleeve. But if it doesn’t that’s ok.

Fitspo Nonsense

Word.

 

 

 

The Waterbeach Running Festival – My Review

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A couple of weeks ago, a mere 6 days after the behemoth (well, for me anyway) run that was the Wings for Life World Run, I found myself heading to the old army barracks at Waterbeach to take part in the 10km race that was being held as part of the inaugural Waterbeach Running Festival. The festival was being held in aid of the Waterbeach Toddler Playgroup, and when my friends Pete and Rach told me that they had signed up, I thought I may as well give it a bash myself.

After the scorching heat of the previous weekend, it was a bit of a shock to the system when we arrived at the barracks to a leaden sky and temperatures that were seriously struggling to reach double figures, as well as a less than helpful wind. The barracks themselves are also a little spooky – a great setting for a horror film for any keen amateur film-makers out there. Despite this, the atmosphere was buzzy and everyone seemed genuinely excited to be the first to take part in a new addition to the Cambridgeshire running calendar.

The festival itself was made up of four events – a 100m toddle for under 5s, a 2km fun run for ages 4+, a 5km run for ages 11+ and then the 10km for ages 15+. I have to say that when I found myself having a major internal battle regarding whether I should run in capris or shorts I did ask the others why we hadn’t signed up for the 5km. Sadly none of us had a sensible answer for that.

After we had grabbed our race numbers (a flawless process), we then ventured outside to do a highly necessary warm up. I did feel a bit sorry for the vendors who had pitched up for the fair, including the awesome Sweet Ally Scoops, because the freezing cold weather meant that ice cream wasn’t high up on people’s snack agenda. I imagine that if the weather had been nicer the whole festival would have had an awesome party vibe.

Once we’d warmed up we headed to the race start, which was about a 2 minute jog from the sports hall where we’d registered (not “miles away” as some worried looking folk were telling us as the start time edged ever nearer)! The race itself was a 2-lap course, set to start 15 minutes after the 5km runners had started. This meant that some of the faster 10km runners would find themselves catching up the 5km tail runners, but the path was so wide that this wouldn’t be an issue. There were around 100 runners taking part in the 10km, and after we had the usual housekeeping chat from the organisers, we were off.

To be honest, if you’re looking for a picturesque race, then this isn’t the one for you. It’s pretty barren, and the layout of the course means you can often see the runners who are way ahead of you, which has the potential to mess with your mojo. Plus I know runners have mixed feeling about 2-lap courses. Personally I don’t mind them (10km is 10km however you look at it), but I get that it can be mentally tough to finish 5km only to think “bloody hell I have to do that again?!” But the positive thing about this race is that it is flat. There is the occasional pothole and the surface is ever so slightly gravelly, but the upshot is that this is a course with serious PB potential.

When I started the race, I got ahead of the other handful of women at the start within about 100m. However, I regretted this pretty quickly as I started panicking that I had gone off too  quickly and I had no idea just how close to me these women were. Were they just drafting behind me, waiting for the perfect moment to strike and zoom past me? At about 7km in, my left leg started to grumble a bit. After the 11 miles in high temperatures from the previous weekend, my legs didn’t really know what had hit them. As someone who averages 10-15 miles a week, after this run I would be at 24 miles in 7 days. That’s a pretty serious increase, and I started to wonder if my leg would hold up. At 8km I had no choice but to walk for about 10 seconds, which annoyed me immensely as I hate it when I don’t manage to run an entire race. On the plus side however, I managed to look over my shoulder and see that there was no other woman in sight. This gave me the mental boost I needed, and I dug deep and completed the race as the first woman, something I’m still in shock about.

Waterbeach 10k Podium

I completed the race in 43:55, which is not a time I’m particularly proud of (my PB being 42:41) but which I suppose wasn’t bad on tired legs. In even more exciting news, both Pete and Rach managed PBs, which considering the windy conditions was blooming awesome. Hopefully these results will put as all in good stead for the season, and put Pete on his way to finally achieving his sub 1:30 half marathon.

Waterbeach 10k Medals

Unfortunately my leg has been grumpy ever since the race. Every time I run, I feel good during the session but the next day it completely seizes up. It’s my own silly fault for upping my mileage so much, but I don’t think it’s muscular as a physio appointment and some epic foam rolling and stretching hasn’t eased it much. I’m seeing my fab osteopath Melissa at Spritely Osteopathy at an ungodly hour on Tuesday morning, so fingers crossed she’ll be able to pinpoint the root cause of the problem. Wish me luck.

As far as the races goes, I can’t recommend the Waterbeach Running Festival enough. It was smoothly run, the organisers and marshals were friendly, encouraging and professional, and the course is ideal for anyone hoping to smash their 5km or 10km PB. Every runner gets a medal, and my trophy is so gorgeous. Fingers crossed this becomes an annual event, and that next year we get ice cream weather.

Waterbeach 10k Trophy

 

 

 

A Weekend of Firsts – Yoga at Ethos and the Wings for Life World Run

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Blimey – last weekend was a bit of a scorcher wasn’t it? Just the ticket for a yoga class on the third floor of a building in the centre of Cambridge with no air con on Saturday and an endurance run at midday on the Sunday. Wait, what?

Yes, that’s how I spent the hottest weekend of the year so far. So let’s start with Ethos shall we? Based in St Andrew’s House right near Drummer Street, Ethos is tucked away in what at first glance looks like little more than an unremarkable building made up of small offices. As you walk up the stairs though (my sister doesn’t do lifts!) you start to feel a hum of activity and our first introduction to Ethos was a couple of people who had clearly worked up a sweat stretching against a wall in the corridor in a way that meant we had to squeeze past them.

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The interior reception area of Ethos

The reason why Stacy and I had rocked up at Ethos was for a free Myofascial Release class courtesy of – you guessed it – Sweaty Betty. They were hosting a takeover of the studios, securing free spaces for their customers in around 20 classes across the weekend. As a “fan” of the foam roller (we have a love/hate relationship), I was intrigued at the idea of a class dedicated to serious muscle massage. After paying £1 to rent a mat each, we both got changed in the curtained off changing area (if you like your privacy this set up may not be for you), left our less valuable belongings on the shelves (ditto if you’re hot on security and like a proper locker) and headed into the class with Ellie and Hannah from SB.

When I saw some class members in very little clothing lying down in awkward positions with bean bags on their eyes, I did wonder what I had gotten myself into. But as soon as our instructor Mark got going I quickly relaxed into the class. And boy did I learn a lot. I got tips on how to better foam roll my calves (sit on your knees and tuck the foam roller under your thighs with it resting on your calves and then lean back as much as you can bear. Inch the roller down and repeat), how to ease my hips (once I had finally jammed my thumb in the right place) and how to use tennis balls to seriously massage my spine. I admit that resting my forehead on a tennis ball at the end felt more than a little weird and left me with a hard to explain mark on my face, but on the whole this was a brilliant class.

If I’m completely honest, I’m not sure if I really gelled with the vibe of Ethos as a whole. I think my personality is generally a bit too highly strung (I like my sports places to have proper changing rooms and showers and can be a bit OCD on hygiene stuff) but it’s clear to me what the main draw of Ethos is – and that’s the instructors. Mark was absolutely brilliant, cracking jokes all through the class and putting everyone at ease, but also showing that he really knew his stuff. He took the time to make sure everyone was getting the most from each move, correcting and advising where necessary. Stacy and I both left the class armed with tips, raving about Mark, and feeling lighter in the legs. Which would bode well for the Wings for Life World Run which I was due to do at midday the following day…….

Official runs make me nervous. Everyone knows this. Running in the heat makes me even MORE nervous. So you can imagine what a mess I was in when I arrived at Parker’s Piece on Sunday morning at around 10:30am, ready to register before the race started at midday. The car had told us it was already 27 degrees, so with 90 minutes to go there was plenty of time for it to get even hotter. I’m really fair, so I had slathered myself in factor 50 ALL OVER (you can never be too sure!) before getting dressed, but as I queued twice (once to sign a disclaimer, again to get my race number) I could feel myself already starting to get a bit too much sun.

After bumping into my friend Jen (another fan of the legend that is Alan Baldock), I quickly lost her again when I went to The Regal pub to pee (much more sensible than joining an enormous queue for the portaloos which are less than pleasant in that heat).  As I started to panic that I would have to face this behemoth of a run on my own, I found Miranda and Ros from Ely Runners sensibly sitting in the shade, and from then on in I stuck to the poor sods like glue. I would like to say now that I owe the pair of them a debt of gratitude, from Ros making me feel ok to be a nervous run pee-er, to the pair of them deciding that I was in fact 12 years old and deploying a running theme of jokes around the subject for the duration of the run. They didn’t even rip into me too much when I walked into a pole. Yup.

Wings For Life 1

All smiles at the start. Thanks to Nigel for the photo! 

As we settled halfway into the crowd waiting at the start line, the nerves began to give way to excitement. The feeling for this race is SO different to say a half marathon, where I always think about my PB and whether or not I’m going to beat it. With this run, you don’t really know how far you’re going to get, and any plans I had (a half marathon would have been lovely) went out the window once the mercury started edging 30 degrees. So it was a case of just start running, and see what happens.

Wings For Life 2

And that’s just what we did. Setting off and weaving through the city, going past the colleges and being cheered on by the frankly awesome folk of Cambridge, we headed up and out towards Girton, hitting Oakington and finally Cottenham. I cannot begin to thank the brilliant people of these villages who handed out sweets, drinks and who hosed us down with water. Oh the blessed relief of those hosepipes. It really was the best thing ever. And the WFL organisers did an absolutely bang up job of making sure the refreshment stations were regular. I grabbed water at every one, and finished the bottle nearly every time, pouring it on my legs (a brilliant tip from Miranda) and gulping huge mouthfuls. Normally if someone was to chuck a load of water at my back I would be somewhat annoyed at them but when Ros did it I could have kissed her. I swear my skin sizzled.

When we got to around the 13k mark, we adopted something of a run/walk strategy, taking maybe 20 – 30 seconds to catch our breath before setting off again (a strategy even the male winner, Steve Way, had to adopt towards the end of his incredible 63.75km run – read his race report, it’s brilliant). The heat really had started to push our resilience by this point, but when we hit Cottenham and saw Miranda and Ros’ other halves it gave us such a boost to keep going, and we made it out of the village and into the next stretch of quiet farmland. Wilburton was never realistically on the cards for us, but when we heard that the catcher car was in the distance, we did our utmost to hit the 11 mile mark, finally making 11.12 (17.89km) before a grinning David Coulthard passed us by, waving as he went.

Wings For Life 3

Helloooooo Cottenham!

Suddenly it was over, and we had something like a 10 minute walk to reach the buses that were waiting every 5k to take runners back to Parker’s Piece. It was such a lovely walk, mooching through the quiet countryside as we reflected on what we’d achieved and chatting to our fellow runners. But then sitting on that bus, waiting for it to leave, was probably the hottest we’d been all day – it was like a sauna with lots of people who had been sweating for a copious amount of time. Imagine that if you’re so inclined. But when it set off and the breeze started coming through the window it was utter bliss.

Back on Parker’s Piece we picked up our frankly awesome goodie bags (containing our medal, a high vis technical tee, microfibre towel, sweatband, pack of nuts and a beer token),  grabbed our beers and headed over to Trumpington Road to meet our ride home (my OH). We couldn’t stop raving about what a brilliant race it had been and mild sunburn aside (only patches on my arm where the factor 50 had been hosed off – worth it!), I think this was the funnest race I’ve ever done. So much so that I’ve already signed up for next year, which is so unlike me.

So if you’re looking for a race with a twist, this is the one for you. 100% of the entry fee goes to spinal cord research and the current early bird price is only £25, which I think is a brilliant price now that I’ve seen just how much effort goes into this run. So what are you waiting for? Go sign up. I’m sure it’ll be cooler next year……

It’s Time For a Blog Birthday Giveaway!

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Somehow, it’s been a year since I started this blog. Actually, if I’m being precise about it, it’s been a year and 11 days, but my best friend’s wedding this Saturday just gone had to take priority over a blogiversary post (love you Mrs McEvoy)!

But in the backwards blog way of doing things, even though it’s my blog’s birthday, one of you lucky lot is going to get the presents! I’ve put together a little bundle of some of my favourite fitness related bits and pieces and one of you will win the whole lot. Let’s take a look:

First up we have a pair of Sweaty Betty trainer socks. I have a few of these myself and love them so adding them in was a no-brainer.

Secondly, we’ve got Alexandra Heminsley’s BRILLIANT book, “Running Like a Girl”. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve recommended this to people. I promise her running tales will make you laugh as well as shout “It’s not just me then!”.

The third addition to the bundle is a Yummi Yogi cookie cutter. What can I say, I love baking and running.

I’ve also added a Doisy & Dam organic superfood chocolate bar to the mix. My sweet tooth is quite honestly out of control so at least these chocolate bars make me feel a little less guilty when I eat them.

And lastly we have some hair accessories. A gorgeous By Eloise hair tie that looks as lovely worn on the wrist as it does in your hair, and one of Sweaty Betty’s brilliant grippy hair bands that I rave about to anyone unfortunate enough to be within ear shot. I have about 8 of them myself.

So there you have it! You can enter via a Rafflecopter giveaway. Just click and go!

I’m afraid this competition is only open to UK residents, and someone will be randomly selected through Rafflecopter when the competition closes on May 10th (which fittingly is my ACTUAL birthday)! No purchase necessary.

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Yoga for Runners with Sweaty Betty

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This Monday I was lucky enough to bag a place at Sweaty Betty’s latest one-off free class, Yoga for Runners, after someone else cancelled (sucker)! Having made a commitment to myself to try and make time for more Yoga and Pilates to deal with my stress levels, this couldn’t have come at a better time.

Now I’ve probably spent something like 0.5% of my life in the Sweaty Betty Cambridge shop. Without doubt I have more SB stuff than any other label in my wardrobe, and I love how the staff greet me like an old friend whenever I walk in, and they always have time for a chat about how I’m getting on with my training and which events I have lined up. If you’re new to fitness but are slightly daunted about setting yourself up with some new workout kit, I can’t recommend Hannah and her team enough (and just LOOK at the new season)!

When I turned up for the class, I didn’t know who would be teaching it. I’ve been to a couple of yoga classes with SB and both instructors have been really brilliant – you can tell that they choose who they work with really carefully. The class was led by Emma, who I hadn’t met before, but who was utterly brilliant. She managed to cram so much into an hour long class and some of the sequences were challenging without being overwhelming for any runners in the group who might not have known their savasana from their elbow.

One particular flow towards the end of the class seriously put us through our paces where we had to go into Warrior 3. This involves standing on one leg with the other leg straight out behind you and your arms in front so that you’re basically making a T shape. It’s a fairly advanced pose, but Emma made it seem really accessible as we had slowly worked our way up to it. It felt awesome to manage a pose like that (with only the smallest of wobbles)!

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Emma in the new SB Palm Print Urdhva Reversible Yoga Leggings

All in all it was a great class and I felt so relaxed afterwards. I just wish I didn’t undo all of the good work within 5 minutes by having to jump on my bike and pedal off for a train! The point of this class though, was not only to provide some of the runners of Cambridge with some hip opening and ankle strengthening moves to try at home, but also to raise funds for SB staff member Libby, who is running the Virgin London Marathon this weekend for VICTA, a charity that supports children and young people who are blind or partially sighted and their families across the UK. This is Libby’s first marathon, and even though her training was interrupted by a couple of weeks out through sickness, she has to be one of the most laid back first time marathoners I’ve ever seen! All Libby wants is to finish the race, and I have no doubt that she’ll manage it. If you’d like to sponsor Libby and this brilliant charity, you can do so here.

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I really hope some more one off classes appear on the SB schedule soon. I always enjoy mixing up my training and adding variety to my workout schedule. In the meantime, you can find their regular class timetable here. Now if only they’ll hurry up and get those floral shorts in store…..!

 

Pennies for parkrun or The Story of how Stoke Gifford Parish Council got it so Horribly Wrong

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Ah parkrun. You all know how much I love it. Starting in Bushy Park in 2004 with just 13 runners, it has since grown to  850 parkruns worldwide in 12 different countries. So far there have been 14,858,757 runs, covering 73,255,862km worldwide. I don’t know about you but I think this is pretty incredible.

On their website they say “parkrun is all about inclusiveness and wellbeing. We want as many people as possible to feel part of a real local community brought together by our events”. The founder, Paul Sinton-Hewitt says “no-one should ever have to pay to go running in their community regularly, safely and for fun.”

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And this is the key to what makes parkrun so utterly brilliant. There is no barrier to getting involved. You just need to throw on a pair of trainers, get to the home of your nearest parkrun and then walk, jog or run the 5k. It’s timed, so each week you can run against yourself, feeling utterly motivated when you shave off another couple of seconds and feel like maybe – just maybe – it felt a little easier this week compared to last week. It’s all run by volunteers (of which there have been 179,475 so far) and you do not have to pay to run. At a time when I’ve seen a lot of runners balking at the cost of their local 10k race on Twitter, the parkrun movement is a glorious antidote to that. The lack of cost is fundamental to its global success.

There are so many wonderful success stories of people who have become involved in parkrun who say that they probably wouldn’t be exercising without it. I saw Alyssa Willis on Twitter talking about how her local parkrun changed her life. The convenience of it made her feel like she had no excuse but to go and try it, and she lost 4 stone as a result. She is now training for her 2nd 10k.

So imagine her dismay when her local parkrun – Little Stoke parkrun – became the first to be told they need to charge runners £1 each by the local Parish Council so that they can contribute towards the upkeep of the paths. As this goes against the entire ethos of parkrun, they have no option but to close the run.

ConfusedUsainGif from Giphy

Ok, but am I walking on glue here or do people already pay council tax for things like this? And why penalise a specific group of runners? If a random group of runners use it, or a group of mothers with pushchairs go walking there, or a wheelchair racing group use it, would they be charged as well? Or do the council feel more able to charge parkrunners simply because it’s a known organisation that regularly attracts up to 300 runners?

At a time when adult obesity is rising and the government is taxing sugary drinks and telling us that we need to move more because our NHS is struggling under the strain of obesity-related illnesses, why on earth would any council put up a barrier to fitness? It seems so unbelievably short sighted when you look into the longer term economic impact. If people stop exercising they open themselves up to physical and mental health problems, which then puts more strain on services within the community. For a brilliant breakdown on the value of parkrun, take a look at this excellent post by Professor Mike Weed.

At the Cambridge parkrun, if you drive you are charged a fee for the car park. No one quibbles this at all. When I go I car share or I get a train to Waterbeach and cycle the rest of the way. The Milton Country Park cafe also gets a HUGE amount of custom because of the parkrun. The queue is always enormous and personally I’ve been known to spend a decent amount getting coffee and the obligatory flapjack for Pete and a kale kick smoothie for myself (don’t be fooled – it’s usually followed by a pain au chocolat chaser when I get home). parkrun enhances a community on so many levels, but when you start charging people to run it, it can no longer fulfill its promise.

Parkrun Forever Free

The dismay in the parkrun community when the decision was passed by the Parish Council was clear to see. There were tears from people who were losing what has become a big part of their life, enhancing their health as well as their social circle. I desperately hope that parkrun successfully appeal this wretched decision and that the Council thinks about the good of their community rather than trying to make a short term profit with a long term negative impact. In the meantime, if you believe the folk of Stoke Gifford should be able to continue running for free, you can sign the petition here.

 

 

New Month, New Inspiration – My April Heroes

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So far, I think 2016 has been more than a bit crummy. But rather than wallow and consume my body weight in Easter chocolate (it was one time ok?) I thought I’d highlight some amazing people that have grabbed my attention in the last couple of weeks for all of the right reasons. Here they are in no particular order. Bugger off negativity – you’re not welcome here.

Serena Williams

When Indian Wells CEO Raymond Moore decided to open his trap and tell the world that “if I were a lady player, I would go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were born. They have carried the sport”, he rightfully incurred the wrath of Serena Williams, one of my favourite ever sportswomen. When asked her thoughts on the dinosaur’s comments she replied “those remarks are very much mistaken and very, very, very inaccurate… Obviously I don’t think any woman should be down on their knees thanking anybody like that.”

Whenever Serena has the audacity to speak up on things like this, there will always be some “clever” type who calls her a man (threatened by a strong woman much?) or who makes vile comments around what she could be doing on her knees (ditto) but somehow I doubt they’d have the guts to say any of this to her face. Although I’d like to see them try. I called out Eurosport on these comments on one of their articles and some have since been removed, although whether this was down to my tweet or not I can’t say:

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Moore has since quit.

Milla Bizzotto

Milla Bizzotto is an incredible girl who recently completed a 24 hour obstacle race designed by Navy Seals. She raced 36 miles, swam eight kilometers and completed 25 obstacles.

And did I mention that she’s only 9 years old?

Milla has said that she got into fitness because she was being bullied at school. In an interview she said “People would call me names and say I wasn’t a good player. I didn’t want anyone else to go through what I did. I want to set an example and show other kids that they can do or be anything they want.”

milla bizzotto

Source: Instagram

She says that she wants to inspire a generation – I don’t know about you, but I think she’s going to be inspiring every generation. I know she makes me want to push that little bit harder. Now go climb that rope.

Eddie Izzard

I feel almost silly saying this because everyone knows Eddie and the incredible challenge he’s just completed, and I think everyone sees him as a bit of a hero right now. But in case you’ve been living under a social-media deflecting rock for the last month, Eddie ran 27 marathons in 27 days in South Africa in temperatures in excess of 40 degrees. Why 27? Because that was how many years Nelson Mandela spent in prison.

Eddie Izzard

Eddie did all of this in the name of Sport Relief, and so far he’s raised a staggering £2,219,412. And if you think he’s incredibly awesome, you can still sponsor him.

Lindsay Hilton

You probably know that I’m a big fan of strong girls. I love watching videos of Ninja Warrior women like Katie McDonnell and Jessie Graff. So when I saw the video of adaptive CrossFitter Lindsay Hilton doing the rounds, I was instantly hooked on seeing more. Chucking out weighted lunges, burpees and pull ups, Lindsay gives serious workout goals (and glute goals for that matter).

Lindsay Hilton

ZANE WOODFORD/METRO

She also plays and coaches rugby and won a burpee competition where she managed 34 in 60 seconds(!).  The thing I like most about Lindsay is that it’s clear from her instagram that she’s a woman after my own heart – up for giving everything a go, and a fan of a pain au chocolat.

Elise Downing

Right now, there is a woman running 5000 miles around the coast of the UK. Yep, you read that right. Over 10 months, Elise plans to run around our “little” island with her belongings on her back, all in the name of charidee. In this case it’s for  Young Minds and Beyond Food. Ultimately, Elise is running in the name of happiness. Is that not a beautiful concept? Running is her happy. She’s just doing it to the extreme.

Elise Downing

Credit – Elise Downing, Twitter

Elise is currently in Wales. You can follow her on Twitter for terrifying sock updates and sponsor her here.

Also, she loves cake. This doesn’t guarantee that I’ll think you’re awesome, but I’ll be honest – it helps.

The Body Battleground

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Another day, another stupid effing “challenge” on social media where people show how skinny they are by holding up a piece of A4 paper in front of their waists. If your waist disappears behind the piece of paper when you hold it portrait in front of your torso, congratulations, you’ve passed the challenge.

Sigh.

Sometimes I really, truly despair.

A4 Waist

CREDIT: IMAGINECHINA/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

This is yet another fad (after the “Belly Button Challenge” and “Clavicle Challenge”) to emerge out of China, and it’s come at a time where yet again there seems to be a lot of unreasonable focus on women and their bodies and reputations (because the focus is more on women as the above photo shows – good luck finding the guy whose self worth is valued by how he looks in a crop top).

Take for example the recent furore around Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley, when the following image was posted to Instagram:

Daisy Ridley

When I first heard about this I was genuinely confused by the whole thing. I have never viewed Daisy as having an unrealistic body type. Since when did being strong and fit become something people viewed as a bad example? Understandably Daisy felt somewhat attacked about the whole thing and felt she had to defend herself online. A little further digging on the matter showed that the image had been lifted from a satirical cartoon strip and been taken completely out of context. But satire exists to mock and ridicule wider issues in society – and how often has the “real women have curves” argument been thrown across the body battleground? All women are real, regardless of shape and size. It really is very, VERY simple.

Lastly, on a slightly different topic, we’ve had Maria Sharapova come out and admit that she tested positive for Meldonium, a drug that was added to the banned list on the 1st January this year. Whether she cheated by knowingly taking a banned substance or whether she showed negligence by taking it without knowing it had been banned, her reputation and career are currently in a bad way. The thing that has struck me about her case though, is Nike’s attitude to it. Don’t get me wrong – if one of your athletes has taken a banned, performance enhancing substance, by all means you should walk away from them.

So how does that explain their relationship with Justin Gatlin? What gives Nike? Gatlin has been completely unrepentant about his past transgressions, so why one rule for the male athlete and another for the female?

This has been a bit of a brain dump of a post so far. I think I’ve just felt so frustrated by the media in the last few weeks (which is nothing new really) and the way there is ALWAYS so much focus on how women look. When Chris Hemsworth beefs up for the Thor films, do you ever hear even a sniff of “what a terrible example! I can’t live up to that!”? Or does everyone gape in awe at his commitment to lifting weights and chugging protein shakes?

Thor

I don’t know. Maybe I’m part of the problem by even talking about these things in the first place. Or maybe I’m just too idealistic by wanting women to be valued by their achievements rather than their looks. But is it really too much to ask for the Women’s Varsity Rugby Match to be shown on BBC2 like the men’s was rather than online only (especially as Cambridge’s thrashing of Oxford led to a incredibly exciting match)? Or to focus more on women like Gee Purdy, Bella Collins, Lauren Morton and Olivia Bolesworth who became the youngest and fastest all female crew of four to row across the Atlantic Ocean? Or Paralympian Jordanne Whiley, who has 7 grand slam tennis victories under her belt? These are the things we should be sharing on social media, not the utter, UTTER bollocks that makes young girls think that the size of their waist is all that matters, or that men will always be treated differently in the same scenario. That has to change.

Although when a search for “smart female sportswomen” comes up with this as the top three hits – I have to wonder if it’s too big a battle:

Smart Female Sportswomen

Eff you internet. I may only be a tiny blogger who can only really rely on my mum reading every single post I write (love you!) but I’m still going to play my part by always celebrating inspirational sportswomen whose minds and bodies are leading them to achieve greatness.

 

The Wimpole Night Run aka A Comedy of Errors – My Review

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Oh the Wimpole Night Run. Where oh where do I begin? If you’re looking for a race that’s fun and messy in more ways than one, you’ve come to the right place.

I first heard about the National Trust Night Run series last year, and I got so excited when I heard that there was going to be one locally at Wimpole Hall (already home to a parkrun) which is only around a 45 minute drive from me. When I found out that they’d organised the run for the night before the 2015 Cambridge Half Marathon I did wonder who had done their research and was frustrated that I’d have to miss out. Having now been to their 2016 Night Run, I’m beginning to think that organisation is perhaps not their strong point…..

When Rachel and I first turned up at Wimpole (along with Pete, designated driver and cheerleader), we knew that it was likely to be a pretty muddy run, due to a ton of rain midweek and the fact that a parkrun had happened earlier that day. But that’s ok – cross country involves mud a lot of the time, so I rocked up in trail trainers and felt prepared for that at least. The registration was also pain free (except for the deafening volume of the music) so after picking up our race numbers we pinned them on and were ready to go.

We were pretty bemused to see that they hadn’t made an effort to get in some extra toilets as we joined the usual mammoth queue for the ladies’. Wimpole only has three toilets in the main ones by the entrance which has always surprised me from a visitor point of view, let alone when there are a few hundred runners milling around (190 of them female according to the results). But still, we had 40 minutes to kill before the race started so what’s a queue eh?

After we’d loaded ourselves up with glow sticks and found the courage we needed to discard our woolly hats and layers, Rachel and I then headed off to the start while Pete went in search of a hot drink. And you’d think that the big inflatable gantry with the words “START” on it would be where we should go. But alas that was not the case, and so began the comedy of errors that was the Wimpole Night Run.

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When we’d finally been herded to the actual start (two sorry looking pink flags), we didn’t have even the smallest of scoobies as to what was going on because we simply couldn’t hear the announcer. Luckily someone near the back of the crowd obviously got wind of what was happening because like a Mexican Wave a countdown rolled down to the front and we managed to join in from about 7 down to 1. And then we were off.

And boy was it dark. The visibility from our head torches (mine being slightly more useful than Rachel’s one from Sports Direct but my sweaty forehead meant it refused to stay pointing in the right direction) was sketchy at best, and the only sign that a massive section of bog was coming was the squelch from the runners in front of us. At about 1k in we ran through a pair of gates with a particularly marshy section, and after the two of us had waded through it we heard a cry of “my trainer!” come from the gloom behind us as one unfortunate runner had a shoe sucked off their foot, leaving us to wonder if we’d tied our laces tightly enough!

When it came to the marshals, we made sure to thank every one we ran past (it was freezing!), but it seemed that there was no consistency in their dress (some in high vis, some in dark clothing) or whether or not they had torches to help direct us. And since the signage around the course often consisted of a single glow stick attached to a random tree, it was sometimes nearly impossible to see where you were going, especially as the number of runners thinned out in the second half of the run. When a marshal said “go that way!” we quickly responded with “WHICH WAY?!!” because funnily enough, a hand gesture can be hard to see in the almost pitch black. And as for the marshal who was sat on the ground on her phone…….

There were numerous moments when Rachel and I thought we were going to faceplant in the mud, and how Rach stayed upright on one particular corner I’ll never know. Her recovery skills were immense. And somewhere around the 6k mark (I’m guessing here, since if there were any distance markers we didn’t blooming see them), there was a massive pit on our left that we saw at the last minute. I’m not sure what it was (it had concrete sides) but I am gobsmacked that they didn’t think to mark it up as a hazard to avoid. It was a health and safety nightmare.

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When we finally saw the lights that indicated that the finish was in sight, the two of powered to the line, finishing no more than a second behind the couple in front of us. Sadly there was no funnel or funnel manager in sight, so when they stopped to hug we pretty much barrelled into them as there was no one to move them on. There was then a plethora of people handing out bags, medals and water bottles, with no one keeping supporters back from the finish. Why they didn’t think to put the medals and water IN the bags (which contained little more than material on the National Trust, a Cotswold water bottle, and a leaflet on how to run – a little late there guys) I’ll never know. And even though neither of us were running for a particular time, it was a little frustrating to see that I was recorded as being 4 seconds behind the couple in front of us with Rach another 4 seconds behind me – we crossed together! I know it’s not chip timed but the human eye should do better than that.

Now I know it sounds like I’ve been a bit negative about this run, but it’s more of an opportunity for me to provide feedback on what is still a very new race. And I would run it again. It’s mental, and ridiculous and totally haphazard, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget the sight of looking over my shoulder and seeing all those lights bobbing along behind me. Plus the medal is pretty nice. I just hope that maybe they neaten up their processes a bit more next year, get all of their marshals on the same page (high vis or no high vis, torches or no torches?) and make sure the finish is a bit more coherent. Plus a snack in the goody bag wouldn’t have gone amiss!