Catch-up

Tuesday night I ran at the club with a couple of the other runners. It was quite a cold night but we soon warmed up. I went out without my watch but someone else had their Garmin on and said we had run 5.5 miles. We had taken it steady, in truth my legs were still a bit tired from Sunday.

Thursday I had the pleasure of my husband running with me. He doesn't run very often now because of poorly knees due to too much running - he misses it but gets his exercise at the gym and on his bike. He tried to encourage me but I could have belted him one when he was pushing me to go the long way round - usually I'm up for this but didn't he know I had just ran a half marathon!

Over the weekend we had my sister & brother in-law plus nephews visiting and it took all my willpower to get up early on Saturday to go for my long run. I could so easily have not gone.... but I did it! It really was very, very cold but looked beautiful with a layer of frost coating everything in sight.

My schedule said 14 miles but I knew there was no way that I was going to go that far but I did manage 11.5 at a steady pace. I thought about the Marathon and the effort it was going to take to keep going for 26 miles!

Riverside Half Marathon

The forecast had been cold, wet and windy! As it happened, it was 2 out of 3 with the rain staying away until late afternoon. I was very unsure about what to wear opting in the end to wear my "garish" running tights and the club short sleeved t-shirt. There were many runners there braving the elements in shorts and vests and I began to doubt myself. I did get hot but was happy in what I had chosen to wear.

The organisation of the half marathon was excellent. They had pacemakers for various times and an electronic clock staked out at half way and it was the best goodie bag ever with a long-sleeved t-shirt, a bag of crisps, a cereal bar and a packet of chewy sweets! 10 out of 10.

I lined up behind the 2 hour pacemakers and felt content to tuck in behind them and not have to do any thinking..... However, after about 1/2 mile I started thinking about the course. I had looked at the map earlier and noted that it was "undulating" with two big hills. If the pacemakers kept the pace at 9 min miles I knew I would struggle with the uphill sections so I pulled ahead a little bit. I was hoping to make up the time on the flat and downhill sections that I would lose going uphill.

It was very open with clear views of the surrounding countryside (and nowhere near the river despite the name of the race!) This made it very windy and it was a struggle in parts to move forward. Despite that, I enjoyed the run and it was a real pleasure that the last two miles were downhill coming into the finish!
Mile splits:

1. 8.54 Overall time: 1.56.22
2. 8.18 Avg pace: 8.50
3. 8.37
4. 9.12
5. 9.06
6. 8.56
7. 8.22
8. 8.47
9. 9.24
10. 9.13
11. 8.57
12. 8.35
13. 8.37 + 1.19

It was so cold tonight, the coldest it has been so far. The bits of me that were covered felt fine, but my hands were still cold after 3 miles. They warmed up a bit after that so I think I'll leave off the gloves for the time being. I'm sure there will be much colder evenings to look forward to!

Getting ready for the run, I went through my drawer of old running clothes and came across a pair of running bottoms I hadn't worn for ages and ages. They're a bit garish but very comfortable. I teamed them up with a lime green long-sleeved running top and a flourescent bib. Just about ready to leave the house my 16 year old son asked me if I "was really going to leave the house dressed like that?" How torturous it is being 16, worrying about what everyone else thinks!

It was supposed to be efforts, but my legs were still feeling a bit heavy and with the half marathon on Sunday, I decided to just take it steady.

Distance: 5.25
Time: 50:19
Avg: 9.34

Tuesday club run

My legs felt ok at the start of last night's club run but by the time we were on our last mile back home, they were beginning to feel a bit heavy. My running buddies didn't seem to be suffering so I guess it's all down to age, and the older you get the longer you need to recover from a race!

I was trying to guess at what pace we were running as I have a big plan for Sunday's half marathon...... I'm not racing round but using it as part of my training schedule for the London Marathon (I know, I haven't got a confirmed place yet, but I feel the need to start training anyway). This weekend on my schedule Iam down to run 12 miles and when my friend couldn't run the Half Marathon and offered me her place, I thought it would be a good incentive to run the distance.

I am a terror for starting off too fast in a race and then slowing down considerably towards the end. I lack confidence that if I start off a bit slower then I will be able to maintain that steady pace all the way round - I still think I would slow down thus losing the minutes I would have gained had I gone faster - LOL. Does any of this make sense???

Well, my plan is to run 9 minute or 9.30 minute miling for the first mile and for each successive mile..... I will see how my legs are on the day before deciding which speed to go for. I'm not after a PB because I want to be able to carry on with my training the following week rather than have the following days as recovery runs. Well, we shall see.....

Distance: 5.76
Time: 54:13
Avg: 9:24

Frostbite - Race 2 - Bushfields

I awoke in the night to the sound of wind howling outside but luckily by the time I got up it had calmed down. In fact, the sun was out although there were one or two dark clouds hovering.

I made my way up to the club and reported for car-parking duties. I could see there was going to be trouble when I spotted the sign for the Christmas Festival alongside our directions for car-parking! Luckily not everyone was fooled and we didn't have to re-direct too many shoppers!

On to the race itself. We had 415 runners turn up which was brilliant. Suzanne and I stood together and the plan was that we would run together but each of us would go on if we felt the other fall back. Our aim was sub-42 mins. We set off at a pace just a little bit faster than I would have liked. It's so hard not to get caught up with the pack and I decided to pull back ever so slightly until I got into my rhythm. After a half mile or so, I felt a bit more comfortable and pushed forward a little bit. I could feel Suzanne dropping back but thought she might catch me later.

As the route was all around where I lived, my husband was out and about on his bike, popping up all over the place ready to take photos. Unfortunately, none are fit to print - I look like a great big blob blobbing along!

By Mile 4 I was starting to fade and felt sure Suzanne would suddenly be on my back. It was enough for me to dig in and amidst the encouragement of our supporters I crossed the finishing line in 41:22 beating my previous PB by 37 seconds - thank goodness!

Mile 1 - 8:07
Mile 2 - 8:06
Mile 3 - 8:15
Mile 4 - 8:13
Mile 5 - 8:26

Distance: 5.03 miles

Time: 41:22

Ave Pace: 8.12

Went to watch my lad play rugby today. It was freezing cold standing there with dark clouds hovering above us. I had on two layers of everything but the cold still worked its way through to me ole bones! Bah hah, we didn't even have the pleasure of watching his team win.

(A photo taken on warmer days!)

My thoughts drifted to tomorrow's race....I laughed to myself, it wasn't that long ago I was moaning about the heat. I'm on car-parking duties first so I'll need to wrap up well and do a good warm-up.....

Tuesday's run

On Tuesday I felt I had recovered from the previous week’s 10 mile race and wanted to test my legs. I set out with Suzanne and we soon got into a good steady pace. Not long into the run we caught up with another couple and joined them. The pace was good, my legs felt strong and my breathing was ok. It had been quite chilly when starting out but I soon warmed up and wished I had put on a t-shirt rather than my Lifa – will I never learn!

After about 4 miles the pace slowed a bit and it was around this time that I noticed the niggling pain in my groin. I’d first got this during the Fenland 10 last week and was hoping that it had just been a consequence of that run. I’m not sure how much it would have forced me to reduce the pace if we hadn’t slowed down anyway.

When we had finished, I stretched out a bit and after arriving back home (just a 5 min car journey) I had a good stretching session. I really don’t want to be injured, especially now I seem to be back to the level of fitness I was at prior to my operation at the end of last year.

Saturday morning

I met up with Sheila and Laura for a Saturday morning run. It was one of those glorious autumn days with a slight chill in the air but with the sun shining and the wonderful colours of autumn all around us.

We caught up on all our news and the time and distance passed by quickly. We only ran an hour - haha how great it is to say only an hour. Time soon to start building up the distance. I had a dream last night that my entry for the London Marathon came in the post! Fingers crossed this dream comes true.

Too much effort!

I went along to the club last night and was very happy to see Ann there who had also ran the Fenland 10. I was even happier to hear that her quads were killing her too! So, maybe it had nothing to do with any of the other factors and it was just a bloody hard race!

I didn't feel up to efforts so Ann, Barrie and myself did the run but didn't put in the efforts. It was a lovely mild evening and I only wore a t-shirt (plus bottoms, of course!). I bet there's not many more of them ahead of us.

Distance: 5.2 miles
Time: 52.14