I admit it. I've been quiet for a while. I've got one of those full-time job things that's really messing with my time to play. With the long nights and murky weather, I've been struggling to do much. Looking back at my observations from this time last year, there is deja vu which consoles me. What I really miss is Buggy Babes which reliably got me out for an hour each week into daylight, so actually, although I have managed more runs than in the same period of last year, overall there's been less exercise done.
I'm aiming to do the 10k again in April so my immediate goal is to keep going at anything while the days are so gloomy and short. Then my motivation should pick up to concentrate on speed again.
A few positives are arising... My watch can now sync to Strava so I can share my runs again after my GPS on my old phone became distressingly inaccurate. Also in preparation for some DIY work, the exercise bike has moved to the conservatory which is proving to be more appealing, so I'm putting it to use on short tabata sessions. The days have now reached their shortest, so soon I won't feel like I'm completely nocturnal.
I have found the recent weather completely off-putting. I can do rain, but it's been that really dispiriting type, and the heavy overhanging gloom, winds and claggy clay mud of my favourite routes has done little to chivvy me out. I did have a cheery 5k escape last weekend when there was a brief interlude of sunshine and blue sky which spurred me on to face the mud. It was well worth putting my old trainers on for an invigorating mud bath!
I know this lull will pass. It's comforting that I can now see these cycles coming and going and knowing that they will pass. So hopefully there'll be a bit more time for running over the holidays, to set me off to a positive start for 2015.
Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year!
Thursday, 24 December 2015
Saturday, 17 October 2015
HM2 Race Day!
Sunday 11th October 2015. My second half marathon...
I prepared my kit the night before, deliberating on the forecast temperatures of 9-12oC, and whether long sleeved or short sleeved tops would be more appropriate. Long sleeved won. In the morning, my family dropped me off to the university for the start. Long sleeves and reusing my foil blanket were helpful for the chilly wait to start.
I've always run alone, mainly for the practical reason that my runs have to slot around family life. I'm not routine about my plans so have never co-ordinated around anyone else. The first half of the race saw in a new experience for me as I met with a Brownie mum in the starting wave. We knew we were doing the same race, and we were aiming for a similar time zone, so it suited us to set off together.
I was aiming for 2:20:00 and worked out that an average pace of 6:38 mins/km would get me my target time. Starting off gently downhill with a pace around 6 min/km was faster than planned, but felt comfortable. People were passing faster than us, but having a companion was helping to resist the temptation to rush and risk burning out. At some points, I was checking my watch and easing back slightly constantly remaining faster than my target pace and practice efforts.
The early miles passed easily, a loop around a park, down a main residential road and into the city. The water station at mile 3 was a pleasant surprise. A few sips and on we went. We were now onto the reverse of the 10k route. I don't normally notice that the city centre is on a slope, and this was the uphill direction! Out of the city centre to the Pride Park commercial area. A bit dull, but we had a second park awaiting us. Around mile 5, I had a twinge in my left ankle. Not one of my regular niggles. I realised that with the route being a partial road closure of one way traffic, constantly running on the camber of the road with my left foot aiming up was the trigger. In the park, the flatter footpath helped the niggle to fade. As we approached the 6 mile station I had the first of my 3 gels that I'd tried successfully in training. My plan was to have one at around an hour, another at about 1.5 hours, and have a 3rd in reserve if I needed a boost towards 2 hours.
Through the scenic park past the lake and out the back to the River Derwent. Along here I decided that it wasn't going to get much better than this for a little diversion to a bush. I parted company from my partner for a moment, then managed a burst of speed to catch her up. No time lost from my average pace. By the end of the path she was needing to reduce the pace and we parted company. Back to the outskirts of Pride Park, then along the bus lane parallel to the A52 with traffic banking up from the restricted traffic into the city.
I kept the pace consistent. I began passing other people rather than being passed. One couple that had been in sight for some time had the well weathered male runner toying with the event, running ahead, looping around keeping his pace down to his partner. When I passed, I joked that he was making a marathon out of it, it turns out that he'd done the Berlin Marathon 2 weeks earlier. This was an easy recovery run for him!
We skirted the edge of the city. The twilight zone as geographers like to call it. The runners were well spread now. At points where there were bends ahead, no runners were in sight. At roughly 700 runners, this has been the smallest event I've participated in. As we were in an uninspiring industrial road, there were few supporters and no residents to cheer us along. I always knew that Stores Road had great potential to be a tedious mile. I was grateful for the good natured marshals, and the promise of my family waiting for me at the end of the road.
My family cheered me on, and buoyed by their presence, my pace had a little surge. I passed a lady who commented about where had I got my speed from at that stage. I said I could collapse when I was out of sight from them! I didn't though. I returned to my typical pace, still faster than anticipated. A brief stop to wriggle my toes and re-do my laces, then on past the rugby club towards the third park. I took my second gel before I began to lag. The park was busy with normal Sunday activity on the football pitches and people walking on the paths. At the end of the park, I got a special Brownie hug. I told her that her mum was coming up behind.
Another skirt back to the edge of the city before linking back to the original main road. I was still passing people out. Still keeping a consistent pace. Still feeling decent. The most notable uphill lay ahead in these final couple of miles. I began to sing. Mainly The Beautiful South and The Beatles. I used to sing when I walked to school, and found that remarkably few pop songs are suitable for singing with no musical backing! I returned to my ancient repertoire from the 20th Century. I didn't care if I sounded a bit crazy. I was getting more breathless, so singing was a way of not burning out.
The mile 13 marker. The final 0.1 of a mile, and what a beast! The hills had been rather subtle, apart from the final spurt up the drive to the university. Normally I can put on a final sprint when I can see that there's nothing else to save myself for, but the gradient took all my effort to maintain my pace, and the finish was cruelly lurking out of sight, tucked behind a bend.
At last it was done! I had been successful in completely running a half marathon. My watch revealed a time of 2:12:59, with the final chip time being 2:12:35, smashing my target of 2:20 and last years (hillier) HM time of 2:34:44. I proudly put on my finisher's t-shirt and medal, and set off to the playground to meet my family. As I walked down, my companion approached the finish line, several minutes faster than her target time.
I genuinely enjoyed this event. The route was varied, with the duller sections being counterbalanced by plenty of greenery. The marshals were encouraging. I had several pleasant encounters with other runners. I enjoyed running with company for the first time and it helped us both to pass the first half and prevent monotony sinking in. My training had prepared me to run in good time without injury. Being the first race of this event meant that the numbers were low and the runners were "serious" regular runners, many of which belonging to clubs. I'd performed favourably.
Recovery has been going well. I kept moving gently for the rest of the day. The next day, my knees were feeling a bit fragile and bruised, but that was all, and I went to Buggy Babes as usual, although took it gently and kept it low impact. I've gone 5k this week on a gentle run/ walk, just going by feel. A vast improvement on hobbling for two weeks and digging out the pelvic support from last years race!
I'm permitting myself to feel somewhat smug!
I prepared my kit the night before, deliberating on the forecast temperatures of 9-12oC, and whether long sleeved or short sleeved tops would be more appropriate. Long sleeved won. In the morning, my family dropped me off to the university for the start. Long sleeves and reusing my foil blanket were helpful for the chilly wait to start.
I've always run alone, mainly for the practical reason that my runs have to slot around family life. I'm not routine about my plans so have never co-ordinated around anyone else. The first half of the race saw in a new experience for me as I met with a Brownie mum in the starting wave. We knew we were doing the same race, and we were aiming for a similar time zone, so it suited us to set off together.
I was aiming for 2:20:00 and worked out that an average pace of 6:38 mins/km would get me my target time. Starting off gently downhill with a pace around 6 min/km was faster than planned, but felt comfortable. People were passing faster than us, but having a companion was helping to resist the temptation to rush and risk burning out. At some points, I was checking my watch and easing back slightly constantly remaining faster than my target pace and practice efforts.
The early miles passed easily, a loop around a park, down a main residential road and into the city. The water station at mile 3 was a pleasant surprise. A few sips and on we went. We were now onto the reverse of the 10k route. I don't normally notice that the city centre is on a slope, and this was the uphill direction! Out of the city centre to the Pride Park commercial area. A bit dull, but we had a second park awaiting us. Around mile 5, I had a twinge in my left ankle. Not one of my regular niggles. I realised that with the route being a partial road closure of one way traffic, constantly running on the camber of the road with my left foot aiming up was the trigger. In the park, the flatter footpath helped the niggle to fade. As we approached the 6 mile station I had the first of my 3 gels that I'd tried successfully in training. My plan was to have one at around an hour, another at about 1.5 hours, and have a 3rd in reserve if I needed a boost towards 2 hours.
Through the scenic park past the lake and out the back to the River Derwent. Along here I decided that it wasn't going to get much better than this for a little diversion to a bush. I parted company from my partner for a moment, then managed a burst of speed to catch her up. No time lost from my average pace. By the end of the path she was needing to reduce the pace and we parted company. Back to the outskirts of Pride Park, then along the bus lane parallel to the A52 with traffic banking up from the restricted traffic into the city.
I kept the pace consistent. I began passing other people rather than being passed. One couple that had been in sight for some time had the well weathered male runner toying with the event, running ahead, looping around keeping his pace down to his partner. When I passed, I joked that he was making a marathon out of it, it turns out that he'd done the Berlin Marathon 2 weeks earlier. This was an easy recovery run for him!
We skirted the edge of the city. The twilight zone as geographers like to call it. The runners were well spread now. At points where there were bends ahead, no runners were in sight. At roughly 700 runners, this has been the smallest event I've participated in. As we were in an uninspiring industrial road, there were few supporters and no residents to cheer us along. I always knew that Stores Road had great potential to be a tedious mile. I was grateful for the good natured marshals, and the promise of my family waiting for me at the end of the road.
My family cheered me on, and buoyed by their presence, my pace had a little surge. I passed a lady who commented about where had I got my speed from at that stage. I said I could collapse when I was out of sight from them! I didn't though. I returned to my typical pace, still faster than anticipated. A brief stop to wriggle my toes and re-do my laces, then on past the rugby club towards the third park. I took my second gel before I began to lag. The park was busy with normal Sunday activity on the football pitches and people walking on the paths. At the end of the park, I got a special Brownie hug. I told her that her mum was coming up behind.
Another skirt back to the edge of the city before linking back to the original main road. I was still passing people out. Still keeping a consistent pace. Still feeling decent. The most notable uphill lay ahead in these final couple of miles. I began to sing. Mainly The Beautiful South and The Beatles. I used to sing when I walked to school, and found that remarkably few pop songs are suitable for singing with no musical backing! I returned to my ancient repertoire from the 20th Century. I didn't care if I sounded a bit crazy. I was getting more breathless, so singing was a way of not burning out.
The mile 13 marker. The final 0.1 of a mile, and what a beast! The hills had been rather subtle, apart from the final spurt up the drive to the university. Normally I can put on a final sprint when I can see that there's nothing else to save myself for, but the gradient took all my effort to maintain my pace, and the finish was cruelly lurking out of sight, tucked behind a bend.
At last it was done! I had been successful in completely running a half marathon. My watch revealed a time of 2:12:59, with the final chip time being 2:12:35, smashing my target of 2:20 and last years (hillier) HM time of 2:34:44. I proudly put on my finisher's t-shirt and medal, and set off to the playground to meet my family. As I walked down, my companion approached the finish line, several minutes faster than her target time.
I genuinely enjoyed this event. The route was varied, with the duller sections being counterbalanced by plenty of greenery. The marshals were encouraging. I had several pleasant encounters with other runners. I enjoyed running with company for the first time and it helped us both to pass the first half and prevent monotony sinking in. My training had prepared me to run in good time without injury. Being the first race of this event meant that the numbers were low and the runners were "serious" regular runners, many of which belonging to clubs. I'd performed favourably.
Recovery has been going well. I kept moving gently for the rest of the day. The next day, my knees were feeling a bit fragile and bruised, but that was all, and I went to Buggy Babes as usual, although took it gently and kept it low impact. I've gone 5k this week on a gentle run/ walk, just going by feel. A vast improvement on hobbling for two weeks and digging out the pelvic support from last years race!
I'm permitting myself to feel somewhat smug!
Monday, 5 October 2015
HM2 wk 12 Tapering!
Race day is within the week! Just a few easy runs left to go before I get to the start line.
I've really enjoyed training this year. There's been a few duff runs, either through tiredness, feeling grotty or unfortunate planetary alignments, but on balance I've been enjoying the runs and feeling that this is an attainable project. I've previously commented about being able to control my pace on the long slow runs. The 2 hour runs have gone well, running by far the majority of them. One was more of a run/walk due to a cold which was understandable, and I'm pleased that I got out there for the required time. My pace has been controlled and although I've covered less distance than might be hoped, the terrain I've been training on has been much more hilly than the mostly flat race route. The profile goes down from the start, stays mostly flat for the majority, then goes uphill for the last 3 miles. Living near the crest of a hill means I'm well used to huffing my way up at the end of my runs. Compared to last year I've also found that recovery has been easier with less tiredness, aches and niggles. I'm hoping that I won't be hobbling for 2 weeks after this HM!
Since my first run, I've kept a spreadsheet of all my runs. I've done about the same amount of training runs as last year, again the ones that have been missed off most have been the intervals. Given that the first month of training was somewhat interrupted, I feel that I've caught up well. In recent weeks, I've managed a few complete weeks from my plan.
So what next? My current guess is that much of this month will be a rest phase based on all my previous races! Then we'll be low on daylight. The local 10k should be on in the spring, so I think it's most likely and practical that like last year, I'll concentrate on speed for shorter distances. I'd better be looking out for 5k Santa runs as well. I've got a few variables lined up in the ether, so repeating this strategy keeps running practical around life, and keeps my options open. When I said "not yet" last time round, but kept my body used to running for an hour, it meant that it was "easy" to increase the distance this summer, even when the early weeks of training couldn't fit around the plan. I can safely say that I'm not doing the 2016 London Marathon, or any other marathon in the near future, and rather unlikely to do an HM in the next 6 months!
Roll on Sunday 11 October, I'm as ready as I'll ever be...
I've really enjoyed training this year. There's been a few duff runs, either through tiredness, feeling grotty or unfortunate planetary alignments, but on balance I've been enjoying the runs and feeling that this is an attainable project. I've previously commented about being able to control my pace on the long slow runs. The 2 hour runs have gone well, running by far the majority of them. One was more of a run/walk due to a cold which was understandable, and I'm pleased that I got out there for the required time. My pace has been controlled and although I've covered less distance than might be hoped, the terrain I've been training on has been much more hilly than the mostly flat race route. The profile goes down from the start, stays mostly flat for the majority, then goes uphill for the last 3 miles. Living near the crest of a hill means I'm well used to huffing my way up at the end of my runs. Compared to last year I've also found that recovery has been easier with less tiredness, aches and niggles. I'm hoping that I won't be hobbling for 2 weeks after this HM!
Since my first run, I've kept a spreadsheet of all my runs. I've done about the same amount of training runs as last year, again the ones that have been missed off most have been the intervals. Given that the first month of training was somewhat interrupted, I feel that I've caught up well. In recent weeks, I've managed a few complete weeks from my plan.
So what next? My current guess is that much of this month will be a rest phase based on all my previous races! Then we'll be low on daylight. The local 10k should be on in the spring, so I think it's most likely and practical that like last year, I'll concentrate on speed for shorter distances. I'd better be looking out for 5k Santa runs as well. I've got a few variables lined up in the ether, so repeating this strategy keeps running practical around life, and keeps my options open. When I said "not yet" last time round, but kept my body used to running for an hour, it meant that it was "easy" to increase the distance this summer, even when the early weeks of training couldn't fit around the plan. I can safely say that I'm not doing the 2016 London Marathon, or any other marathon in the near future, and rather unlikely to do an HM in the next 6 months!
Roll on Sunday 11 October, I'm as ready as I'll ever be...
Monday, 14 September 2015
HM2 wk8 Long slow run
It's been a while since I updated. August was a mixed up month. A holiday affected a couple of weeks, however I did sneak some basic gear into my bag along side the camping gear crammed into the car. I did a couple of short runs along the beach which were lovely. Barefoot shoes are great against the sand. My watch has tracking functions and although I was under schedule for the HM training plan, I was generally active. I also slept better than usual!
I'm currently settling into new routines. A new run in my life is the school run. If I was genuinely running it, it would be two or three minutes away, however this is at 4 year old pace... An old routine that I'm returning to is my circuits class. Ouch, how I hurt after the first session. It was 4 days before I stopped hurting! However when being timed during the "300" (100 press ups, squats and mountain climbers broken into your choice of reps), I actually did it in good time, astonishing myself by beating some of the hard core regulars!
So the actual running... there's been a lack of some of the additional shorter paced runs, but between cross training and long runs I'm doing well. I've been building up to 1:45 hr runs for the first time in a year and they're going really well. When I was at this stage last year I could either run or walk and burned out easily, so a lot of my long runs featured a significant portion of walking. This time I'm finding that I can slow and relax the pace and keep it more sustainable. There's a few factors at play here, having a mellow long slow run play list, a watch that shows my current pace (compared to last year just getting the pace at the end of a mile from my phone) and probably more influential, having worked on my speed and different paces since my HM last year. I'm actually really enjoying these runs and I'm not feeling burned out like I did before. Even last week when I was recovering from the circuits class, I managed to run much more than I expected.
So next stage... build up to a couple of 2hr runs, and actually do some of those shorter faster runs!
I'm currently settling into new routines. A new run in my life is the school run. If I was genuinely running it, it would be two or three minutes away, however this is at 4 year old pace... An old routine that I'm returning to is my circuits class. Ouch, how I hurt after the first session. It was 4 days before I stopped hurting! However when being timed during the "300" (100 press ups, squats and mountain climbers broken into your choice of reps), I actually did it in good time, astonishing myself by beating some of the hard core regulars!
So the actual running... there's been a lack of some of the additional shorter paced runs, but between cross training and long runs I'm doing well. I've been building up to 1:45 hr runs for the first time in a year and they're going really well. When I was at this stage last year I could either run or walk and burned out easily, so a lot of my long runs featured a significant portion of walking. This time I'm finding that I can slow and relax the pace and keep it more sustainable. There's a few factors at play here, having a mellow long slow run play list, a watch that shows my current pace (compared to last year just getting the pace at the end of a mile from my phone) and probably more influential, having worked on my speed and different paces since my HM last year. I'm actually really enjoying these runs and I'm not feeling burned out like I did before. Even last week when I was recovering from the circuits class, I managed to run much more than I expected.
So next stage... build up to a couple of 2hr runs, and actually do some of those shorter faster runs!
Friday, 7 August 2015
HM2 wk3: Bandwagon found and chased!
So I left off a month ago having decided to sign up to the Local HM in early October hoping it would shift me out of the doldrums.
Suddenly I find that I'm in week 3 of training with life having continued to be in the way until this week. I swear that this year had the longest summer term ever! I managed to fit in frequent short runs which is something. Many weekends have been dominated by preparations for Peak Camp, an international gathering of 6000 Guides and Scouts, and I've been one of the 1000 staff helping to make the event work. The camp itself wrote off week 2 of training which I reasonably expected, but in silver linings, it was a very active week even if it was constantly walking to water taps and toilet blocks rather than actually running.
So week 3 has really started in earnest. I did my long run mid-week on a child-free day. I opted to do it cross country so it was slow with extra hills and walking intervals, but longer in time than my plan. I thought that would be a lower impact way of getting used to a jump back to a longer time when I've done little above 35 minutes recently. Buggy Babes was also back on after several weeks of various interruptions. I followed up that day with a shorter run. I've used my other child-free day to go swimming. I'm a regular at the pool, but rarely for my own interests! I set an alarm to make sure that I made it to a lanes session, and enjoyed 55 minutes of pounding up and down a lane doing 60x 25m using mainly front crawl and some back stroke and breast stroke.
I've got similar opportunities again next week. Then there'll be the interruption of a 10 day family holiday...
Oh well, I keep reminding myself that I'm stronger and faster than my first try this time last year. Actually, that reminds me, this morning Timehop threw up that I'd posted 2 years ago about being really chuffed with myself for a walk. This was a few weeks after I couldn't face the pain of walking up the hill from the local shops because my joints were still suffering from pregnancy related issues, despite having had the baby a few months after. If you'd said to me 2 years ago that I'd be training for my second HM, I'd have assumed it was a complete joke! A bit of perspective can be a useful thing.
Suddenly I find that I'm in week 3 of training with life having continued to be in the way until this week. I swear that this year had the longest summer term ever! I managed to fit in frequent short runs which is something. Many weekends have been dominated by preparations for Peak Camp, an international gathering of 6000 Guides and Scouts, and I've been one of the 1000 staff helping to make the event work. The camp itself wrote off week 2 of training which I reasonably expected, but in silver linings, it was a very active week even if it was constantly walking to water taps and toilet blocks rather than actually running.
So week 3 has really started in earnest. I did my long run mid-week on a child-free day. I opted to do it cross country so it was slow with extra hills and walking intervals, but longer in time than my plan. I thought that would be a lower impact way of getting used to a jump back to a longer time when I've done little above 35 minutes recently. Buggy Babes was also back on after several weeks of various interruptions. I followed up that day with a shorter run. I've used my other child-free day to go swimming. I'm a regular at the pool, but rarely for my own interests! I set an alarm to make sure that I made it to a lanes session, and enjoyed 55 minutes of pounding up and down a lane doing 60x 25m using mainly front crawl and some back stroke and breast stroke.
I've got similar opportunities again next week. Then there'll be the interruption of a 10 day family holiday...
Oh well, I keep reminding myself that I'm stronger and faster than my first try this time last year. Actually, that reminds me, this morning Timehop threw up that I'd posted 2 years ago about being really chuffed with myself for a walk. This was a few weeks after I couldn't face the pain of walking up the hill from the local shops because my joints were still suffering from pregnancy related issues, despite having had the baby a few months after. If you'd said to me 2 years ago that I'd be training for my second HM, I'd have assumed it was a complete joke! A bit of perspective can be a useful thing.
Tuesday, 7 July 2015
Never say never again!
OK, I've cracked and signed up for another half marathon. I didn't say "never again" after the last one, just "not yet".
A little bit has changed since then. My youngest child is a little bit more independent in the mornings which makes heading off for a run a bit easier on family life. I've not done many longer runs in a while, but I have improved my speed in that time which will have a benefit.
I've had another June lull as I've been busy with work taking over. The pressure is now easing with a little more time to run coming up. The summer holidays will bring some disruption to the training program, although they will be active times. I'm pulling out the one I used last year which worked well enough. It helped me build up the longer runs, but I struggled on some of the interval/ tempo runs which I now have more experience with. I liked the way that this one included cross-training which fits with my usual routines.
I'm trying to dig out my mojo. At the weekend I did a short interval run which felt plenty in the heat, and a longer run/ walk of just over an hour which is the longest non-race I've done for a while. I returned to the Greenway route now the rapeseed and its pollen have gone. I then encountered a different environmental hazard- nettles! The recent warm, wet weather has made them grow like crazy, and a path which was perfectly clear some weeks back was overgrown higher than my head! I was still throbbing the next day.
Here's to plenty more runs...
A little bit has changed since then. My youngest child is a little bit more independent in the mornings which makes heading off for a run a bit easier on family life. I've not done many longer runs in a while, but I have improved my speed in that time which will have a benefit.
I've had another June lull as I've been busy with work taking over. The pressure is now easing with a little more time to run coming up. The summer holidays will bring some disruption to the training program, although they will be active times. I'm pulling out the one I used last year which worked well enough. It helped me build up the longer runs, but I struggled on some of the interval/ tempo runs which I now have more experience with. I liked the way that this one included cross-training which fits with my usual routines.
I'm trying to dig out my mojo. At the weekend I did a short interval run which felt plenty in the heat, and a longer run/ walk of just over an hour which is the longest non-race I've done for a while. I returned to the Greenway route now the rapeseed and its pollen have gone. I then encountered a different environmental hazard- nettles! The recent warm, wet weather has made them grow like crazy, and a path which was perfectly clear some weeks back was overgrown higher than my head! I was still throbbing the next day.
Here's to plenty more runs...
Monday, 15 June 2015
Deja Vu
In imitation of last year, I have done my fun run then had a lull.
As promised, I did the fun run in my ancient tutu completing my childhood daydream. Despite my body's attempt at sabotage, the run went well. It was rather a cool soggy day, so I headed down the town sporting a fetching bin bag and wearing a cap instead of putting my hair into a bun. The uphill start got my body warm fairly quickly, and as I reached the top of the hill, my little people were there to cheer me on looking more enthused than last year.
One of the great things about this run is that its's a true community event with the town coming out to support despite inclement weather, and participants of all abilities. The logistical glitch is that in the early stages, it's hard to pick your way around people of a variety of paces. After a couple of miles as you enter the park, it spreads out and gets easier to pace. Much of the run is through the park; very scenic on the eyes. This time I had more sense of where I was going. Last year at 5 miles there was the thrill that this was already the furthest I'd run without resting or walking. This year was the confidence that I knew I could do it, with a tad of pressure of wanting to beat my time.
Mile 6... Cardiac Hill looms. It's late in the race, and people are flagging. The challenge is to keep running and get past the walkers without losing momentum. The hill was not creatively named, it has claimed its victims in the past, The water station at the top is well placed. From this point you know the main challenge has been passed. It's pretty much downhill from here, but it is still two miles. I reminded myself that this was just the walk home from school, and as I bonus, I'm not laden with A-level textbooks (David Waugh's Integrated Approach fed my mind and gave a good strength workout). I'm still smiling and enjoying it. At this point I register the difference a year makes. Last year, this point hurt, and mental steel got me to the end and the stunned realisation that I could actually run the whole thing. I now expect to run the whole thing, but how fast? The gentle downhill meant that some of my fastest kms were along this stretch. I began to hum "run for home" out loud. I approached my mums house... I spotted my children... I waved manically. My husband shouted something daft and insulting and I responded with a brief sprint before returning to my intended pace.
The last half mile. I'm beginning to feel it. It's a mental battle to keep it going that little bit longer. The town centre comes into sight, the final sprint- no need to reserve the energy to keep going. Past the finish line. Before deducting the two minutes on the clock from passing the start line, I have definitely been faster than last year. But how much faster? I have an estimate on my GPS, but there's a wait until the local paper is published before it's issued online. It's sweet to maintain the tradition of the paper declaring it first, but boy is is frustrating!
The recovery was astonishingly smooth. No additional aches or creaks the following day and a mild stiffness the day after, but that may have been more to do with Buggy Babes and an astute 4 year old claiming the shelter of the pram and ousting his brother to the carrier on my back!
Friday came... the target was to beat last year's 1:30:44. Hopefully down to 1:20:00, but I didn't know how realistic that could be. The official result was... 1:21:52, so I wasn't way off in my ambitions.Given the rain and my body not feeling it's greatest before starting, I'm happy with that. My training in recent months has been more about pace and speed rather than distance. I've done very little of an hour +, so to sustain that effort for that long is a pleasing result.
Typically, I've had a lull of life taking over again. My husband has been away a few times in the last couple of weeks, so I've been kept in from that. Guiding commitments and general work have also been getting in the way, I have ended my drought now. Yesterday with a soggy monsoon walk/ run effort with an obstructive stitch, but at least I made it out. This morning with a short interval session before my husband popped off to the airport. I got the best weather of the day, fresh sunshine before the cloud and drizzle returned. Yesterdays soaking was the refreshing type when it's quite enjoyable when you're prepared for it. Today was more of a mizzle.
So... What next? The calendar is empty of running events. I have something I'm considering, but it's the classic issue of time and building up the training runs over a busy summer. I need something on the agenda though...
As promised, I did the fun run in my ancient tutu completing my childhood daydream. Despite my body's attempt at sabotage, the run went well. It was rather a cool soggy day, so I headed down the town sporting a fetching bin bag and wearing a cap instead of putting my hair into a bun. The uphill start got my body warm fairly quickly, and as I reached the top of the hill, my little people were there to cheer me on looking more enthused than last year.
One of the great things about this run is that its's a true community event with the town coming out to support despite inclement weather, and participants of all abilities. The logistical glitch is that in the early stages, it's hard to pick your way around people of a variety of paces. After a couple of miles as you enter the park, it spreads out and gets easier to pace. Much of the run is through the park; very scenic on the eyes. This time I had more sense of where I was going. Last year at 5 miles there was the thrill that this was already the furthest I'd run without resting or walking. This year was the confidence that I knew I could do it, with a tad of pressure of wanting to beat my time.
Mile 6... Cardiac Hill looms. It's late in the race, and people are flagging. The challenge is to keep running and get past the walkers without losing momentum. The hill was not creatively named, it has claimed its victims in the past, The water station at the top is well placed. From this point you know the main challenge has been passed. It's pretty much downhill from here, but it is still two miles. I reminded myself that this was just the walk home from school, and as I bonus, I'm not laden with A-level textbooks (David Waugh's Integrated Approach fed my mind and gave a good strength workout). I'm still smiling and enjoying it. At this point I register the difference a year makes. Last year, this point hurt, and mental steel got me to the end and the stunned realisation that I could actually run the whole thing. I now expect to run the whole thing, but how fast? The gentle downhill meant that some of my fastest kms were along this stretch. I began to hum "run for home" out loud. I approached my mums house... I spotted my children... I waved manically. My husband shouted something daft and insulting and I responded with a brief sprint before returning to my intended pace.
The last half mile. I'm beginning to feel it. It's a mental battle to keep it going that little bit longer. The town centre comes into sight, the final sprint- no need to reserve the energy to keep going. Past the finish line. Before deducting the two minutes on the clock from passing the start line, I have definitely been faster than last year. But how much faster? I have an estimate on my GPS, but there's a wait until the local paper is published before it's issued online. It's sweet to maintain the tradition of the paper declaring it first, but boy is is frustrating!
The recovery was astonishingly smooth. No additional aches or creaks the following day and a mild stiffness the day after, but that may have been more to do with Buggy Babes and an astute 4 year old claiming the shelter of the pram and ousting his brother to the carrier on my back!
Friday came... the target was to beat last year's 1:30:44. Hopefully down to 1:20:00, but I didn't know how realistic that could be. The official result was... 1:21:52, so I wasn't way off in my ambitions.Given the rain and my body not feeling it's greatest before starting, I'm happy with that. My training in recent months has been more about pace and speed rather than distance. I've done very little of an hour +, so to sustain that effort for that long is a pleasing result.
Typically, I've had a lull of life taking over again. My husband has been away a few times in the last couple of weeks, so I've been kept in from that. Guiding commitments and general work have also been getting in the way, I have ended my drought now. Yesterday with a soggy monsoon walk/ run effort with an obstructive stitch, but at least I made it out. This morning with a short interval session before my husband popped off to the airport. I got the best weather of the day, fresh sunshine before the cloud and drizzle returned. Yesterdays soaking was the refreshing type when it's quite enjoyable when you're prepared for it. Today was more of a mizzle.
So... What next? The calendar is empty of running events. I have something I'm considering, but it's the classic issue of time and building up the training runs over a busy summer. I need something on the agenda though...
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