Yaxley 7

I had been out for a couple of slow jogs since Wednesday to "test" my legs and they felt a bit tired and aching but nothing much more than that so I decided to go ahead with the run on Sunday. I was determined to take it easy though and not get too carried away.

The weather wasn't looking good, very bad thunderstorms and heavy driving rain! By the time our race started however, the heavy rain had moved on and we were only left with a very slight drizzle. Our jogging club had a good turnout, about 10 of us had turned up. I set off from the starting line and lost sight of Laura, managed to see her and then stuck together for the rest of the run as we had a good comfortable pace going. There was a lovely spirit about the run, lots of support on the streets and terrific marshalling.

The route started off with a hill! That sorted a few of us out and spread the field, there was a lap and then the hill again towards the end. I think between miles 4 to 5, was a bit hard going, it seemed to take forever to see the Mile 5 marker.

I wore my Garmin and have managed to work out how to download the run. If interested, you can click on the map and see more information about the run.




Distance: 7 miles
Time: 65:33

Post race review

I can now officially say I have had the most embarrassing moment of my life. When I told my husband this, he asked if I had come last. No, oh no, coming last is not embarrassing - someone has to. It was worse than that!

But before I go on to the most embarrassing moment of my life, I'll say a little bit about the race. There was a good turnout, especially from our jogging club - about 10 of us I think. The mood was good and although I can't say we were exactly looking forward to the race, we weren't actually dreading it - after all, it's only 5K.

There had been a little bit of rain half an hour before the start but that had cleared up and the sun was out. At the start line I saw a very old friend, Alan and his daughter Katie. Wished them luck and got back in line behind them.

The start was a bit stumbling but we soon got spread out. I set off at a good pace, pushing it but holding a bit back. Sheila, Mandy and Alan set off much faster and I didn't try to keep with them. I was looking out for the first K marker and started counting down. The course was 2 laps round the lake so coming round to the 2K marker I could see the 4K marker as well. I kept up the pace, overtaking on the way, and I had Mandy in my sights. I eventually caught Mandy at just gone 4K. The effort to catch her was enough for me and she eventually pulled away again just before the finish.

I came through the finish line and felt dreadfully thirsty. I went in search of water but couldn't find the table. I remember asking someone and they pointed me in the right direction. It was at this time my most embarrassing moment started!

I could feel my legs starting to seize up - it felt a bit like cramp. I couldn't walk, my calf muscles and the tops of my legs in the groin area were tightening up. I saw one of my team mates and called them over and said I was desperate for a drink and that I couldn't walk, my legs were cramping up.

They called over the physios and I had to lay down right in the middle of the field in the midst of all the runners. Oh my, it was a good job I was already red in the face from the run!

They massaged my legs and although the calf muscles were beginning to ease, my groin felt really painful and I couldn't bend, to either sit up or stand. After 5-10 minutes of massage I was helped to stand. I began to move around and someone got me a power drink - that tasted absolutely wonderful.

I got offers of lifts home but as I only lived about a mile away, I thought it would be good to walk. I started out slow and could feel my legs slowly easing back into life by the time I got home.

The next day, my legs felt extremely stiff, especially my right calf and the groin. That evening I went for a very gentle jog followed by a swim. My legs ached a bit but after a few minutes I felt fine jogging and at the start of the swim, my groin was very sore. Eventually it loosened up and I felt fine.

I've looked up what could have been the cause of my problems and I think it was something to do with electrolyte imbalance. I think what I have learned from this is that I chould not under-estimate the effort it takes to run a race, even if it is only 5K. I know I suffer badly in the sun and heat and it was a very warm evening. I should have taken a water bottle round with me but I didn't because, again, it was only 5K. I hdn't had enough to eat that day, especially carbo-rich foods.

On Sunday I had planned to run the Yaxley 7 (miles). I still intend to but this time I think I will take a sports drink around with me, plan a carbo-rich lunch and most importantly, take it easy and enjoy the run!

Splits:

1K - 5.02
2K - 5.16
3K - 5.11
4K - 5.24
5K - 5.09

Time: 26:14
Distance: 5K

Sunday morning

Ran on Sunday with Laura and Rhona. Rhona is just getting back into it and Laura had a busy day ahead, so we planned to take it easy and run for about an hour. The weather was good and it was a very enjoyable run.

I’ve been having a play with my Garmin and can work out a few extra things on it. I’ve splashed out and upgraded my membership to Motionbased which means I can analyse my runs more thoroughly – in reality it means I can have a bit more fun with the stats. I am now able to see how fast (or slow) I ran each mile – particularly useful when it comes to races.

I’m getting a bit worried about Wednesday’s 5K race. It’s the first in a series of 5 and I’ve managed to convince Laura and Sheila to run them as well. We know it will be a good speed training session and that’s the reason we are doing them, but I’ve got an awful feeling I shall be left standing on the starting line. These 5K races draw in the very fast runners who take it incredibly seriously but hey, what the heck, I’ve as much right as them to be there. Let’s hope they don’t start packing up before I’ve even made it back!

Thursday Evening

In typical great British weather, it absolutely poured on Thursday night's run. What a change from Tuesday with the sun full out! I must say, I much preferred Thursday's run - I just can't take the heat.

I decided to take it much easier on Thursday. After seeing that I ran 9.10 pace on Tuesday, I realised why it seemed such a hard run! That's very close to my race pace!

I turned my Garmin on while we were huddled outside waiting to start but it took ages to track the satellites. By the time they were found, everyone had started. I had to put in a bit of an effort to catch my little group up but eventually did so about 1/2 mile down the road but I took it easy from then on.

I think maybe it took so long to track the satellites because I was stood sheltering under a building rather than being in the open? Bit silly really sheltering as I was soon out in the open getting very wet!

Time: 58:30
Distance: 5.96
Pace: 9:49

It's arrived, my Garmin Forernner 205!

Got it charged up, had a play and then took it out for its first run last night.

It felt a bit strange at first, after all, even though it is neat and sleek, it's still quite a hefty thing to have around the wrist.

It was a big turn out for our running club and yet again another couple of new members. It was a very warm, muggy evening and most of us had turned up in shorts and vest. I took my water bottle along, and it was much needed.

The pace was pretty zippy and I hung in there as usually I am a much slower starter. After a while I settled down and for the next couple of miles it was good. I then found it quite hard going, the sun was draining me of all energy and I longed for the shade of the woods.

I just hung on in there and was so pleased when we got to the finishing straight.

I was keen to get home and upload my run to the MotionBased Agent software that I had previously downloaded. Once done, I was able to see that I had run a total time of 55:07 at 9:12 pace. However, I had a moving time of 55:00 at 9.10 pace (must have been the traffic lights)and I ran a distance of 5.99 miles. Brilliant, no more guesswork.

There are lots of other things you can find out and various ways of seeing the run on satellite maps, street maps, etc. I'm not sure whether these maps can be exported to a blog and would be very interested if anyone else knows the answer to that.

Now, if only it could actually do the run for me......

Time: 55:00
Distance: 5.99 miles
Pace: 9.10

Saturday morning

It seemed to be pretty warm out there and I was going out a bit later than normal, so I planned to do a nice and easy run at a very comfortable pace. I thought about 8 miles would be a good distance and chose my favourite run which I discovered last year. I put it on You Tube and I am excited to say it has even been commented on!



All was going well, I was right about the weather and was very pleased I had taken my water bottle with me, I had to stop at the Golf Club half way round and do a refill. I was enjoying the run until about a mile from home.

As I was running up a long track a woman with her three children and dog were just ahead of me. As I drew close her dog bounded up to me barking. I stopped and she called him back, saying sorry. I started to run off when the dog came after me again. She called him back saying that he was usually so friendly she couldn't understand why he was barking at me. I was beginning to lose my cool by now. I asked her to put the dog on its lead or at least hold on to it, so I could get away. As I was saying this a cyclist came past, and grinning said to her, "Don't worry, he's alright".

Well, I exploded! I shouted after him asking whether he would like to be chased by a barking dog on his cycle. He turned back to look at me and I said "Yes, YOU! How would you like it?"

The lady by this time had hold of her dog, still saying how friendly he is!

Ggggrrrhhhh....

At least it pumped through enough adrenalin to keep me going to the end of my run, lol.

Time: 1:20:56
Distance: 8 miles

Eye Charity 5

The Eye Charity 5 Road Race was an excellently run (lol) event. The money raised goes towards Eye Running Club's chosen charity, hence the title. The organisation of this event was excellent, there were plenty of marshals, water provided half way round and loads of support. The course itself is a bit of a blurry memory. I don’t really take too much notice of what’s around me, most of my concentration is on the person in front of me and whether I can catch them up! From what I do remember it was mainly on the flat with one or two little hills interspersed along the way.

I started off at a "just a little bit faster than normal comfortable pace" and was quickly left towards the back of the field – everyone else just seemed to zoom off! I held back and gradually increased my pace once I had settled into my stride. I remember passing through Mile 1 at 8:30 and feeling very pleased with that. I could see a couple of our club members up ahead and could tell that I was very gradually gaining on them. I passed through Mile 2 at about 17.30. I felt ok, legs felt strong but I had to concentrate on my breathing, taking deep breaths every now and again.

The field had really spread out by now and I was running down a very long track with a loop out to the right and then going left up on the road. This meant that when I came to the end of the track I could see runners the other side of the track running the other way, it could have been a little bit disheartening but I didn't mind, it was good to see some familiar faces. I was now at Mile 3. I can’t remember the rest of the split times, I just knew that I was doing ok. I caught up with the two club guys in front and managed to push on ahead of them. There was a little bit of a hill between 3 ½ mile and 4 ½ miles which I struggled with, but I had enough left in me to push it hard for the last ½ mile to the finish. It was very uplifting, coming in and hearing my fellow club runners cheering me on. Thanks guys!

I'm quite pleased with my time - I'm still on the mend and hopefully my times throughout the year will steadily improve.

Here are the positions.

Time: 43:29
Distance 5 miles

PS. I have some very exciting news! My Forerunner 205 is ordered!!

The next day following the very hilly Corby 5, my legs weren't aching as much as I thought they might be. However, the aching kicked in the day after that (Friday) - all up the front part of my leg (shin?). I think it must have been from the downhill section!

I went out for a little jog that evening to try to stretch them out and it seemed to work. I didn't go far nor too fast - just round the big lake at Ferry Meadows and through the Nature Reserve - about 3.5 miles.

I was away over the weekend in London so no long run but it felt like I must have walked a marathon the amount of walking we did!

Went along to the club last night and just did a 5 mile run, we have a race coming up on Thursday so we decided to save ourselves for then!

Time: 48:56
Distance: 5 miles