Saturday morning

I woke up this morning to bright sunshine - what a change!

Met up with Laura who was still recovering from running a half marathon last weekend at Milton Keynes. This was her first run since then so she didn't fancy going too far or too fast. That suited me fine as I am always ready to take the easy option - especially on a very warm day!

We decided on an hour and chose a route that we thought would take us that long. We had a lot of catching up to do which made the run very pleasant. We went at a pace that was comfortable but could tell before the end that it wasn't going to be an hour long but we decided to just carry on with what we had planned. In all, it measured just over 5 miles and took us 51:53.

Time: 51.53
Distance: 5.14
Pace: 10.06

Thursday evening

After a day of heavy rain it managed to remain dry for Thursday evening's club run. The plan this evening was HILLS! Now, I really do need to train on hills as they are really my downfall - although we don't encounter many hills in this area of England, but when I do, they knock me back.

Unfortunately I wouldn't have time this evening to include the hill work as well in my training session as I was going out afterwards, so I compensated and decided to do a hard run pushing myself to the hill. There were a couple of others that weren't doing the hill as well, and I ran back a mile or so with them and then pushed on for the final mile.

My mile splits were:

8:50
8:55
9:45
9:21
7:49

In the 9.45 mile it was a bit slower because we had stopped to speak to a couple of other club members and the last mile split was not quite a mile as the total distance and time of the run was:

Distance: 4.93
Time: 44:33
Miling: 9.01

A good run, working out at 9 minute miling, even if a bit unevenly paced!

Werrington Guesstimate

Tuesday evening saw a huge number of Bushy Club joggers over at Werrington to compete in the Guesstimate that they hold every year, although this would be my first year of entering. The idea is that you guess how long it will take you to run 5 miles and the person nearest to their estimated time is the winner.

As it was a fairly warm evening and I didn't fancy a hard challenging run I decided to give myself a realistic time of 50 minutes which would be comfortable 10 min miling. It felt quite strange running without a watch and also being unaware of the course so not even knowing how far we had run. I ran the course staying at a comfortable pace but it was clear that either I or the others around me were not in their guesstimated time as one girl I asked said she was down for 45 mins!

It was a lovely fun atmosphere and made a real change from the usual training run.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I ran it in 47:51 - so, ok, not very close to the 50 minutes but pleased that I had found it so comfortable to run around the 9.30 min miling.

Distance: 5 miles
Time: 47:51

Saturday morning

Just before I went away for the weekend last Saturday, I woke early and decided I might as well get up and go for a little jog. I hadn't planned on running over the weekend but as I was awake I might as well. Interestingly, it was a run that I had done many, many times last year when I started training for the half marathon. I was keen to see how far it actually measured on my Garmin - and was quite disappointed in the result! At the start of my training I had thought it was about 5 miles because of the length of time it took me and how hard I found it! Gradually as I improved I realised it wasn't 5 miles and thought it was nearer 4. Ha, imagine my disappointment then when it measured 3.36....

Time: 33:36
Distance: 3.36
Pace: 10.05

5K series and Eye Handicap

I've had two races this week. The first was on Wednesday and it was the third 5K race in a series of 5 over at Ferry Meadows. It was the same course as Race 1 and after a day of rain the sun decided to come out and shine down on all of us. It was going to be far too warm for me to do a PB so I decided to just run the race and try and enjoy it. My friend Rhona had chosen to run this as well, so I kept with her. To be honest, I don't think I could have gone much faster as my legs still felt a bit heavy from Sunday's race.

Distance: 5K
Time: 27:58
Ave pace: 9.00 min miling

The second race was a Handicap race over at Eye. This time, after a day of complete sunshine, the heavens opened about an hour before the race and we had a big thunderstorm! The distance was just under 4 miles and we had each been given a start time based on a previous 5 mile race. My start time was 10:13, with Yvonne just starting off about 20 seconds in front of me and Mandy about 40 seconds.

The weather conditions suited me much better so I put in a bit of an effort for this one. I could see Yvonne had caught Mandy about one third of the way round. I started off quite strong and at one point I thought I was going to catch them up but it was never to be. One guy overtook me and I managed to get back in front of him. Mandy finally pulled away from Yvonne over the last quarter of a mile. I was gaining ground but I just couldn't make up enough. If it had been a longer distance I may have done a bit better but, all in all, I was pleased with my performance.
I don't have the results of my time yet but will update when they come through.

Bushy 25th Anniversary 10K

Our jogging club has been going for 25 years. That's some achievement! And its going from strength to strength with many new faces joining us all the time.

Today, we held a 10K to celebrate the 25th Anniversary and invited several other jogging clubs in the local area to take part.

My target today was to beat the club record for the 10K in my age category! Time to beat: 55:40 set in 2001. I knew it was possible as I had run a faster time for the 6 mile run at Whissendine on Thursday but unfortunately that run didn't count as it was a 6 mile run and not a 10K.

I set off from the starting line a bit faster than I would normally but felt ok so pushed on. By halfway round I knew I was on schedule and could allow myself to just pull back a bit to keep my breathing under control and not blow out!

I missed the 8K marker and by the time 9K appeared, a fellow Bushfield lady was hot on my tail. Her name is Yvonne and she had just joined the club and looked to be in the same age group as me! Oh no, I wasn't about to put in this effort and then not achieve the club record right on the line. I could tell she was struggling a bit whereas I felt I had just kept enough in reserve to push myself forward. I stretched out and prayed that she wouldn't keep with me. I could see the finishing line ahead and went for it managing to stay in front - this time.

Distance: 10K

Time: 53:13

Whissendine 6

All day long the weather had been alternating between showers and sunshine but the rain stayed away for the run.
Whissendine is a lovely village just outside Oundle, very picturesque and also very HILLY! It was a charity run and the village had set up raffle stalls, BBQ, and there was a general feeling of goodwill and cheer with lots of spectators at the start and finish.

My plan was to start off steady and just see how my legs were feeling on the night. The course started off with a downhill section immediately followed by, you've guessed it! an UPHILL section that definitely took out a few people! Once I had recovered from the first hill I got into my stride and tried to enjoy the run, taking in the countryside. I particularly remember Mile 4 being one big hill, going on and on and on......

Thankfully, the half mile leading into the finish was on a downhill section. I was very pleased with my run, especially taking into account the hills - I know I'm not good on hills. In fact, there was another lady runner who kept overtaking me on the hills and then I would catch her up on the flat and this went on throughout the run. Unfortunately, she just beat me to the line!

Mile 1: 9.15
Mile 2: 8.43
Mile 3: 8.51
Mile 4: 9.35
Mile 5: 9.03
Mile 6: 8.43
Avg: 9.01

Distance: 6 miles
Time: 54:10

Went to the club on Tuesday for a run, Rhona came along too. It was a warm evening and we ran the Frostbite route, taking it easy. I thought my legs had recovered from Saturday's long run but once we set off I found my legs quite heavy. All in all, a pleasant run.

5 miles

Saturday morning long run

Super run on Saturday morning. I woke up to a nice sunny morning and filled the biggest water bottle I owned as we intended to do a long run, around about the 2 hour mark.

We all met up at the car park, there were 8 of us in total, all of differing abilities, but we all started off together. Around the hour mark, 3 started to make their way back home which left 5. Not long after that, another one veered off home.

That left the 4 of us, Sheila, Mandy, Laura and Me. We were going well keeping the pace nice and steady. It was a bit warm but not too scorching and I was managing well with my water, taking sips every now and again.

We were on our way back and Laura went the quick way home, just cutting it short by a couple of minutes and the three of us carried on to the car park. I felt good, in fact I felt I could have probably carried on for a bit longer - that's a great way to finish a long run.

You can see, if you click on the map and then click on Analyser you that our mile splits weren't very fast, but that wasn't the plan for today, we wanted a long run that was enjoyable - and it certainly was!

Avg Pace: 10.45

Distance: 11.3 miles

Time: 2:01.40

5K Series - Race 2 - Eye

As you can see from the smiles, the race went well and without incident!

We were lucky with the weather again, rain before the race and just after but not during it. Not that I would have minded, but good news for the marshalls and spectators!

It was a good course, 2 1/2 K out and then turning back on itself, which could have been dispiriting seeing all the front runners on their way back when you are still running out, but in fact it was great to see and cheer on our fellow club runners - lots of encouragement could be heard!

My time was only a few seconds slower than Race 1 and considering the route which had a few more hills in it and there it was quite windy, I'm pleased with that and the very best thing, I was ok at the end, no legs seizing up etc. I had prepared a lot better for this run, pasta at lunch and a banana sandwich an hour or so before the run but I think the biggest factor was that it wasn't too hot.

Time: 26:26

Distance: 5K

Monday evening

I ran a long run on Saturday morning and I have the 5K race on Wednesday, so with that in mind I decided not to go to the club on Tuesday night. Instead, Sheila and I arranged to go out on Monday whilst my son was having his guitar lesson with her husband, Mike.

We set off at a good pace and managed to keep it going most of the way. It was a very humid evening and rain was never far off - in fact, just after we had finished it poured down!

I'm rather wary of Wednesday's 5K after what happened to me at the last one! I'm going to just see how it goes on the night but I'm definitely going to be better prepared for it. I have pasta for lunch and will have a banana sandwich about an hour before the start, which is 7.30. The weather is so unpredictable at the moment, one minute torrential downpours followed by sun, which is amazingly warm. We even had hailstones yesterday! Whilst I'm not wishing for a repeat of the hailstones, I certainly hope the sun isn't out in it's full glory.

Pace: 9:34

Time: 53 minutes
Distance: 5.5 miles

Been a bit slack this week, not only in my running but in writing up my blog.

I went to the club on Tuesday night but there weren't many people there - I think several of them had volunteered to marshal the Race of Life run that was on that evening. However, Laura turned up so I had a running buddy and we stuck together. It was a cool evening, slightly drizzly and we had a good run, about 5 miles.

My legs had still been feeling a bit grumpy around the groin from last Wednesday's 5K so I thought I would give myself a complete rest from exercise and skip Thursdays run.

I met up on Saturday morning with Sheila, Laura and Rhona and the intention was to run for about 1 1/2 hours. The weather forecast for this weekend was terrible, very bad thunderstorms and torrential rain but it managed to hold off for our run. We ran for an hour and Rhona decided that was enough for her. We carried on, intending to run another 3 miles or so, but actually ended up running for another 45 minutes - so I guess we probably ran about 10-11 miles in total.

I certainly felt tired towards the end of the run but definitely a sense of achievement as well.

Time: 1:45
Distance: 10+