Febathon

Just joking, there is no such thing as Febathon. I'd have failed it by now anyway since I did no exercise on Feb 1st. I had planned to do a 14 mile long run, but I was hungover in the morning after a 40th birthday party on the Saturday evening, and I was scuppered in the afternoon because some friends came round with wine and taunted me until I gave in.

On Monday I decided to complete the 14 miler out of sheer stubbornness. I dropped my daughter at school and then planned a route in my head. Initially I thought I would run two laps of the Standalone 10K route, with a loop of Mill Lane/Malthouse Lane added on to make the distance 14 miles. However, after stopping to make a phone call (I suddenly wondered if I'd booked myself onto my regular circuit training class and had to check) I decided I would do a loop around Astwick, then perhaps run to Arlesey, cut through Fairfield Park, and then perhaps run around Letchworth.

As I ran around Astwick I wondered whether I really wanted to run all the way to Letchworth, thinking about possible injury or school emergencies. I had almost decided to do three figure-of-eight loops around Astwick and Stotfold Mill when I bumped into my friend Becca, who is training for Brighton Marathon. I tagged onto her heels and we ran around Astwick again for 4 miles. After that, I just decided to run laps of Astwick with the odd Mill loop added on, until I'd done 14 miles. It was tough after Becca went home (I'd run 7 miles at that point), my legs felt really stiff, and the temptation to call it a day after 12 and 13 miles was strong. But I did it! A great mental and physical workout.

I resolved to book a leg massage when I got home, and I'm off to see my friend Jane tomorrow evening, should be relaxing/painful.

Tonight I ran with my son around Stotfold, just 2 miles, like we did last week. He did a lot better, and would've been much quicker than last week if it weren't so icy on the last stretch. Still, it's a nice habit we've fallen into, and I love running and chatting with him.

Icy slippery walky jog thing: Janathon day 29

I woke up this morning with a very sore "back of the knee", which I have diagnosed as "running too slowly with children". Fortunately I had Pilates this morning so I could stretch it out.

Similar to last week, I walked there and back, via the shops (1.5 miles roughly). I was a lot better at the exercises this week, possibly because I haven't done any circuit training or Sworkit workouts (so far). We did a great exercise called Chalk Circles, where you lie on your side and then move your arm around your head as if you were drawing a circle on the floor. It really opens up the shoulder joint and I love it! The class flew by this week, usually when I glance at the clock we've only been working out for 30 minutes, but today it was 50 minutes before I started to feel ready to go home :)

This afternoon we had a brief snow shower, which was perfectly timed for the school run. My daughter loved walking home in it, and we made a tiny snowman outside our house :) Unfortunately the cold weather made the paths rather slippery by the evening, and when I headed to run club just before 7pm, slipping and sliding my way out of the estate, I began to doubt whether running was a good idea.

Arriving at the shops and discussing with Pete, we decided to officially call off the club session for safety reasons. But a few people had driven a long way to run with us, so we had an unofficial run out to Arlesey. I only ran to the underpass just past Etonbury Academy, so just short of 3 miles in total. It was enough for me on icy paths. I might have to start to love my treadmill in the next few days.

Run with my son: Janathon day 27

My son is a lovely boy, he doesn't mind accompanying his sad old mum on a 2 mile jog around town, even if it means delaying his tea by half an hour. What a gem!

We jogged over to the Scout Hut so we could drop his sister at Beavers, then we set off at a nice easy pace (10:15 min/mile to start with!). While I warned him about kerb edges and approaching pedestrians/cars, he told me about his plans for developing his Scratch games, how much he's looking forward to his school trip, and what he's been writing in his diary. He didn't pause for breath for the whole run.

We had one short walk to cross a main road, but otherwise he ran all the way. He even managed to get over a stitch. He has vowed to "run the whole way" the next time we do the FSOTM 5K (which is next weekend). The only downside was me getting very painful shins, which I have put down to running slowly and concentrating on someone else.

Shambolic "interval" run: Janathon day 6

Urgh. If ever a run could make you feel depressed, today's run surely did that for me.

This morning, while looking at my training plan for the rest of the week (3 miles today, 5 miles tomorrow, and 4 x 800 m on Thursday) I wondered whether I could amalgamate the runs somehow because I wasn't sure I could (or should) run on Wednesday. I had hoped my husband wouldn't want to go to running club tonight so I could do a run then in company, but he says he does so I knew I'd have to run on my own, but I couldn't face the treadmill.

I decided I would run 5 miles (ish) on Thursday with running club, so today I would do 3 or 4 miles, with 4 min fast sections (the 4 minutes being a guess at how fast I could run 800 m) and 2 min recoveries. Bearing in mind I've not done intervals for a loooong time, this was possibly a rather ambitious aim. Anyway, I set off and, almost immediately, the rain began. No point going home now.

I felt I couldn't discern much difference between my fast and slow sections (probably because I was all over the place pace-wise), I just felt knackered. By 1.5 miles I was feeling defeated and decided intervals was a stupid idea. I had to walk up one steep hill just to get some energy back. I made myself run most of the way back, only stopping near home to walk up another hill and give myself a right telling off for being weak.

Talking about marathons...

So, last night I spotted a tweet by @marathontalk (http://www.marathontalk.com/) linking to this NY Times article about people who "plod" around marathons. I posted a link to the article on Facebook and invited my friends to comment. Safe to say, it's a touchy subject.

Just read this article thanks to Marathon Talk on twitter. According to "seasoned marathoners", anyone who runs a marathon slower than 4 hours is ruining the skill of running a marathon. I disagree (obviously, with my 4:58 PB). What do you think?

A Finishing a marathon without collapsing is a minor miracle by itself. Comments like that completely undermine the massive personal achievement of anyone who completes a Marathon.

B That's outrageous! What a ridiculous point of view. Anyone who completes a marathon has my total and utter respect. End of.

C Why not make it sub 3 hours? Idiots...

D Hear hear that! My cousin has power walked 10 marathons and raised heaps for cancer research. That’s awesome in my mind.

E I think anyone who has completed a marathon even once has my utmost respect. Regardless of time. It's a personal best and a free country and it's usually those who do it even once raise a ton of money for good causes.

ME Good. I'm glad you all agree with me. Thought I was going mad for a moment.

F It's all relative is it not?

By that I mean, if you are fast then a fast marathon is an achievement, if you are slow a slow marathon is an achievement no? My target for MK is finishing, then finishing under 4hrs is my next target.... My training was done so I could complete a marathon not race a pro!!

G It's a foot race not a running race....it doesn't matter whether you run, skip, walk or shuffle. Walking a marathon is hard work, you are on your feet for a long time. The Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA) organise some fantastic marathons......and quite often the opposite applies here....the runners are 'gatecrashing' on the walkers event! 

H Taking 6hrs to complete a marathon is harder than taking 4......

G but only if you are capable of completing a marathon in 4hrs

J Does annoy me slightly people walking marathons that are hard to get into, a big part is the time you have spent training in the build up to the event, if you want to enter a mara you gotta be prepared to put in the training hours not just turn up on the day

K As you all know, I think anyone who isn't an Olympian should just quit. I mean anything over 4 hours is just a nice stroll... 

J I think time is irrelevant as long as its the best you can give on the day, but walking isn’t an achievement for most and they are taking up places of people who are prepared to push themselves

K Should every runner be pushing themselves to the limit then? I would say the way the race is marketed dictates who enters it. If the race says 8hr cut off, you'll get those doing it in 8hrs.
If it was 4hrs then you'll get only faster runners. Its a commercial thing though.
More runners, more money. Personally I think both sides are right, its down to the organisers to decide who they want.
If London decided on a 3.30. Cut off I wouldn't mind. I'd just not enter. Probably train to get in though....

D Does that mean power walking too! As i know my cousin trains v hard!

ME I think power walking counts D, because as I've found out, R can walk faster than I can jog! It definitely counts!
I think K  is correct when he says it's up to the organisers who they're marketing. A 4.5 hour cut off would put me off from entering, whereas a 7 hour marathon opens it to most.

L There is always someone faster and always someone slower than you, so its always dangerous to comment on what a good pace is.....
If people get round giving it their best then that is the achievement not the time it takes.

D After going to watch the London one, my first, I was impressed with all of them specially watching an 81 yr old coming to the finish after 6 hrs...god bless him xx

M I think that is why tiered starting waves are really important... The annoying people are those who submit a much faster estimated time just so they can start upfront - and then get in the way!

N I haven't got a problem with how long anyone takes. If you've won a place in the ballot and want to walk it in 7 hours, go you ahead... just don't start near the front so everyone has to weave around you!

P I completely disagree with this article. When I completed the VLM in slightly over 4 hours, I was physically broken afterwards. The people I had real respect for though, were those who finished around 5 hours something. In my mind, they would probably have still run the whole thing or most of it, at a pace that challenges them but they had spent longer on their feet running than me. That must be more knackering. A bloke I know from our club has completing many marathons sub 4 hour but when he walked the xxx walkathon he said that felt harder!

Q I haven't got a problem with how long anyone takes either, but just to play devils advocate - you have 2 people, ones run it in sub 3 and the others walked it in 8. Both get the same medal and can call themselves marathoners - surely it must devalue it for the runner!? Maybe they should have separate entry categories I.e marathon runners and marathon walkers - some races do this.

ME I don't think the time someone else finishes a marathon in devalues the race for someone who ran it faster (you could say the same for a 10K race, who worked harder for their medal, the person who ran 45 mins or who ran 75 mins?). It's about the personal challenge in my opinion.
You challenge yourself to run sub 3, you do it, you're thrilled. You challenge yourself to complete the distance, you do it in 8 hours, you're still thrilled.
And then you rechallenge yourself at a later date to run it again but faster!
Exactly why when I completed my first marathon (sub 5) I was thrilled at first and then became less thrilled as the year passed because I realised I wanted to do it again, but faster.

R Surely its all about the personal achievement. We all have different goals in life and are all at different fitness levels. Finding running difficult I would love to be able to complete a marathon in 4 hours but will be delighted whatever time I complete xxxx in.

S I think the fact that you're timed and that there is a 'winner' - the person who is the fastest racer, is a hint towards what you're meant to be achieving - your fastest possible time, whether that be running or walking for you.
I think in answer to your question though, if you could do it under 4 hours, you should. In my opinion the same applies to 3 and 5 hours.
I saw a picture of a guy who walked it after having a heart bypass a few years previous and he looked shattered, so I think there is a place for walking it if that's the best you can achieve at that time in your life, or if it's a marathon organised by a walking association.
For me personally my biggest battles have been staying injury free and pacing (not going off too fast) so they're the skills I aim to learn at this point in my journey.
I'd best get a good time when I do my first marathon in June now!!!
I would however make a sprint finish compulsory....even if you are walking

J I honestly don’t think the length of time taken makes a difference, but most of the population could walk a marathon (normal walk) if you want a stroll then do a LDWA event, if you want to be a marathoner then put in the training hours.
Big achievements are hard earned and individual some peoples 5ks are the equivalent to a marathon for some but they have trained from walking to run/walks etc

Q Yeah I think if you've covered the distance great, but unless you've run the whole distance (regardless of time taken) you shouldn't call yourself a marathon runner

ME LOL Q  you really are taking "devils advocate" seriously, I feel I should run all the way round MK now to earn my medal  Z  finished xxx in 3:52 by run-walking from mile 18, I like his style.

K I look forward to the day I can call myself a marathon runner

C Harsh Q! Couldn't care less if people did it in 2 hours or 12, don't need other peoples efforts to justify your own achievements. If I ran 20 miles and broke down and had to run/walk/hobble the last 6 I would still consider that I'd 'ran' it. For me, unless you have ambitions to win a race you shouldn't really worry about the strategy of everyone else. For example you can have no idea about others' stories. You might have a 600lb man have lost half their body weight with a goal of walking a marathon, that would be more of an effort than a fitness freak jogging round in five hours, no? In football parlance, concentrate on your own game

J That 600lb man would have put in the training and done fantastically well to lose half his bodyweight, deserves his medal, its the people who enter do little or no training turn up on the day and just plod, as runners we know that a marathon finish started months/years previously with a lot of time and effort in training, if you have put the graft in and do your best on the day and achieve 8hrs then you deserve your medal, if you just turn up and saunter round then im not sure you do

C All I'm saying is that the only medal I'm worried about is mine. If someone wants to rock up and walk round then so be it. Wouldn't devalue my achievement. You worry too much J 

Q I think I just heard Pheidippides turn in his grave 

C Haha. Look at us having reasoned debate. It will never last...

J Certainly wouldn’t devalue your achievement C, just they are taking the place of other people who would have put in a lot more effort

T Who the @*!! do they think they are? If I want to run backwards on my hands I will. It's no one else's business. If some self-pontificating pillock needs his achievement validated by my or anyone else's time, then that says more about his sad life and attitude than others or the sport.

ME J you have reminded me of this story I read recently, asking if you can run a marathon without training. Please ignore the fact Jedward are in it http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17456672

J "If you walk briskly at 15 minutes per mile, that's six-and-a-half hours to do 26.2 miles - most people could sustain it."

J "Training needs real commitment. Personally I think training for a marathon is more of an accomplishment than running it."

ME J I completely agree, training for a marathon is harder than the race itself. Although when it's pissing down with freezing rain for 4 hours it's pretty hard, eh H?

H you forgot the wind <we’re referring to Preston Guild Marathon>

J Do think the 4hrs thing is complete b#ll###s anyone going sub 4 is officially quick

Q I've only done it once in 3 attempts.

C So J are you just talking about the big over-subscribed races J? If someone strolls round in 8 hours in a local marathon which didn't reach its limit is that more acceptable? I suppose if I actually trained for one my opinion might differ...

J If there making cut offs in a local race that hadn’t filled up then fair enough, that’s prob a good thing supporting local events

G I take my hat off to someone who doesn't train and manages to complete a marathon 

H you would be quicker if you didn’t run in a hat!!

H just for information in the 2012 London marathon 36,705 runners finished..........if they had a cut off at 4 hours only 11,051 would have got a medal..........a 3hr cut off would reduce this to 1,245 medals.....they could make a massive saving.....

N If we are going to ban plodders from marathons as they are not real runners, then surely anyone not wearing proper running attire should be banned as well??? I mean how can you validate your existence if you happen to be beaten (not run as quickly) by the above <I had posted a pic of G in fancy dress at London this year> 

G That's what I was telling everyone I ran past in the last few miles! 

G serious runners - fancy dressers - charity fun runners - plodders - walkers can all exist in perfect harmony. Only an elitist-spoil-sport would say otherwise

H unless Mo Farah is on your shoulder waiting to pounce in the last mile and you are going to win some money out of where you finish.....the only race you are running is against yourself.........if you are seriously worried about your time and worry that people will over estimate and get in your way...........over estimate your own time......you are in control of where you start the damn race!!!

V I entered the ballot but some of you guys are scaring me lol

ME Sorry V I'll remove that photo of G

K Remember Brendan Foster suggested Mo Farah should quit marathons as he could only run 2.08

J He is still reeling from being beaten by me and G last year lol

Hello knee pain, hello leg massages

The past few weeks I've noticed my right knee is starting to hurt in the same way it did last time I trained for a marathon, but only when I run at a slow pace (usually on a run-walk with beginners run club). On long runs I'm aware my knee is uncomfortable and aching, but it seems manageable and just typical of running a long way (like the aching hips and calves I'm also getting). Initial mild panic I was about to fail at this marathon training lark has now dissipated slightly, and I have identified four "action points".

1) Restart the daily leg physio exercises (side-lying leg raises, clams, prone leg raises, bum clenches, squats, single knee folds)

2) Add some calf, hamstring, hip, and (more) core strength exercises to my daily home workout

3) Ice/heat my knee daily and use my foam roller regularly (but not straight after running)

4) Stop running slowly!

The No Slow Running will obviously affect me helping at beginners run club, I might have to only take the group that runs without a walk break, but remaining uninjured is most important. Maybe I'll have to start cycling alongside the runners.

Tonight I booked to see my friend who is a qualified sports massage therapist; she gave my legs a good massage, slightly painful on the IT bands and thighs, but she reassured me that I'm not too broken, just some tightness in my calves and thighs that I can work on with the foam roller and by sports massage (every 4 weeks). We also talked about my training plan, hydration during the day and on long runs, eating while running, and Vaseline. (It's good stuff.)

Folksworth 15: MK marathon training run

I've just got back from this race, and while I wait for the water to heat up for my bath I'm writing down my thoughts about the race and how it went.

First, I went into this race with it in mind as a training run for MK marathon. My aim was to run at 9 min/mile pace and not to get dragged into a race with myself.

I'd planned to wear my water carrier backpack and treat it as a proper training run, but on the day the weather was really lovely, plus as we drove to the car park I spotted they had bottles of water at the water stations, so I decided to leave the back pack in the car and run with just my gel belt. I was a bit unsure whether to wear long tights and my long-sleeve top, because the course looked very open and I suspected a cold wind could whip across and make the whole thing quite unpleasant. After much discussion with Kate and Ralph, I went with my short sleeve top and 3/4 tights, with gloves (because I'm a miserable sod when my hands are cold).

Began to regret the lack of long sleeves and long tights as we walked to the start, because it was a bit windy, but I had my gloves and decided as long as my hands were warm I'd be OK. Set off down quite a narrow lane, and I knew I was doing OK/it was a bit crowded because I was still running with my friend Ralph after a third of a mile ;) Had to stop to re-tie my shoelace, so then I was at the back and playing catch up. Managed to maintain about an 8:50 pace and it felt very comfortable, so I carried on like that thinking that I could slow down if I needed to.

Before the race, the course had been described as very hilly, "comprising three hills", which we would run up twice. After the first "hill" I began to wonder just how difficult the other two were going to be, since I'd hardly noticed it. The second hill was a touch harder, and reminiscent of that hill during Flitwick 10K when you run through the wooded bit. If you've run Flitwick you'll know what I mean. Anyway, it wasn't as bad as that one, although it was definitely hard. Possibly as hard as the Baldock 10k/Ashwell half hill, but steeper, but not as long. If you get what I mean. It was definitely a hill. But not a Northern hill.

I'm going to shut up about the hills now.

At mile 6, and again at mile 8, just as I re-entered Folksworth to start the second loop, I managed an 8 minute mile, and I was quite surprised at how comfortable it felt. I decided I'd try to run sub 9 min/mile if I could for the second loop, a good marathon test. And I did manage it, although I needed a slower mile up that big hill again. Anyway, all good.

The marshals were excellent, very cheerful and providing excellent vocal support, and one lady had jelly babies, which I thought was a very nice gesture (I took one!). I think this is one of the best races I've ever run, from an organisation perspective. The race HQ was in an infant school, and we used the classrooms as changing rooms. We got a bright orange T-shirt at the finish, and a bottle of water and a choice of chocolate bar or cereal bar. Superb! (I took a snickers because it's "healthy", it's got nuts in it!).

I can't remember what else I was going to write. Oh yes, I met my twitter friend David (@tuffers3) before the start, which was really great, we've been virtual friends for ages now so it was fab to finally meet. Also, big thanks to Ralph for driving us to the race, and for the homemade brownie :) Ralph finished in 1:51 something, and Kate was bang on 2 hours. And I finished in 2:08:23, average 8:36 pace :)

I might finally admit openly to my sub-4 hour marathon ambition.

2013 review

Coming to the end of 2013, I've looked back at every month to remind myself what I did and give myself some ideas about challenges for 2014.

January 2013

I took part in Janathon for the first time, a running challenge to exercise every day in January and blog about it. It was quite snowy in January, but I managed to exercise daily and I ran more than 100 miles in total.

February 2013

I ran Baldock Beast Half Marathon at the end of February. I trained hard and was hoping for a PB, but in the end my hips and knees weren't up to the pace and I had to slow down after 10 miles because I was in a lot of pain. I took some consolation from the fact I'd been quite badly injured at the end of 2012 and the race was the first proper test of my physio rehab. Plus I ran 1:51, which was a course record for me :)

March 2013

The week after Baldock Beast, I was up in Blackpool to race in the Stanley Park 10K (with my parents-in-law). I was hoping for a PB, but didn't count on how fatigued I'd be after the half the week before. I nearly passed out after 3K. Needless to say, I didn't PB, but I did run sub 50 minutes, which I was fairly happy with (although I discovered afterwards that the course was short-measured...).

April 2013

A poor month from a running point of view; I was unwell for a large part of it with a chest and sinus infection. A lesson learnt: don't train when you're unwell, it just makes everything worse.

May 2013

At the beginning of the month I raced in the Greenway Challenge, an off-road self-navigated half marathon around Letchworth. I'd been hoping for a PB after my disappointment at Baldock Beast, but my illness in April meant I was only just recovered in time. The weather was really hot, and in the end I decided to run to enjoy myself, and finished in a PW of 2 hours. More lessons learnt.
The day before, I'd run in a local 5K with my children, my son (age 7) finished in 38 minutes and my daughter (age 5) in just over 40 minutes. I'd had to carry her for about a mile, but still, that's pretty good for a 5-year-old!

June 2013

I took part in Juneathon, the warmer version of Janathon. I didn't have such high expectations this time round, no aims to run daily anyway, but I failed with 2 days to go when I injured my shin during an interval session at running club. What a noob.

July 2013

I ran 12 miles during the whole of July. My random leg injury (and lack of funds to pay for physio) meant I had to increase the cross-training and take up cycling and swimming. I quite enjoyed the cycling if I'm honest, although not enough to take it up seriously. Swimming was OK; it's never going to be something I look forward to, but I can do it to an adequate level. I signed up to an aquathlon (Freedom Tri's Duck N Dash, 400 m swim and 6 k run) and began to train for it at Letchworth Outdoor Pool with some friends.

August 2013

I finally got back to running, but I only managed about two runs a week because of the summer holidays. I took part in a training day with Freedom Tri for the Duck N Dash, which made me realise how rubbish I am at swimming! But it was valuable training experience.

September 2013

I took part in my first aquathlon, the Duck N Dash, and enjoyed it so much I might do it again in 2014, mainly so I can improve on my woeful transition time (about 2 minutes). Later in the month I ran the inaugural Baldock 10K, which was a training run for Standalone 10K. It was such a tough hilly route that I was completely put off ever running that route again! Which is a shame because the 10K was one lap of the Ashwell Half Marathon that I quite fancied doing. But a lesson learnt is a lesson learnt.

October 2013

This month began with Standalone 10K. Yet another PB attempt foiled by circumstances conspiring against me (a family event the day before meant I was tired and not fuelled properly). Nevertheless, I ran just over 50 minutes and learnt not to give up even when I think all is lost. A good lesson. (I discovered later that Standalone was my fastest 10K race in 2013.)
I decided to push on and put in some serious training for Stevenage Half Marathon the next month. Lots of focus on heart rate training and proper interval sessions. I ran over 100 miles in the month.
I also passed the 1-year anniversary of running my first marathon, which coincided with me signing up to run my second marathon (MK) in May 2014!

November 2013

I finally achieved a PB for the year, running an amazing 1:45 at Stevenage Half Marathon. My training plan paid off, which proved to me that having a plan and sticking to it is really important. I began to plan my training for MK Marathon, with my aim to reach 14 miles in training by the end of the year and continue with quality interval training. I also ran another 100 mile month.

December 2013

I ran in the festive First Saturday 5k wearing my Santa hat, and put in a lot of miles to round off the year with another 100 mile month, and 900 for the year.

Plans and challenges for next year:

January 2014

I'm aiming to complete Janathon again, and I've signed up to Jantastic, which is a longer term challenge (January to March). For January, my Jantastic challenge is to run 4 times a week. I'm also racing in the Folksworth 15, which is a new race event for me, and NHRR's First Saturday 5k.

February 2014

I'm taking part in Baldock Beast again, but as part of a long run for marathon training (17 miles). Perhaps a course record won't be on the cards this year, but it will be good to run the race for enjoyment. Another First Saturday 5K is planned too, with my aim to beat January's time. My February Jantastic challenge is to set a weekly long run target, which with marathon training will be fairly straightforward!

March 2014

Lots of long runs on the cards this month, but I hope to race NHRR First Saturday 5K and beat February's time. March's Jantastic challenge is to set a flat-out time target over a specific distance. Since the 4-week period for this challenge is after the First Saturday 5k, I'll have to either run the route on my own or do my first ParkRun. 

April 2014

This is marathon taper month (for my last marathon I "tapered" for 2 months due to injury!). I'll be focusing on shortish runs (<10 miles) that incorporate speedwork, and staying healthy. 

May 2014

I'm running MK marathon on May 5th, my main challenge for the year! I'm hoping to run near 4 hours. Afterwards, I plan to recover with short runs, easy bike rides, and swimming (when Letchworth Outdoor Pool opens).

June 2014

I hope to have recovered from MK Marathon so I can take part in the Herts Hobble, and I might do Juneathon again, with half an idea to train for a late summer half marathon (there is a rumour of another half marathon around Baldock in the summer).

July and August 2014

Summer holidays! I have no plans other than to run (maintain half marathon fitness), cycle, and swim when I can, and not be injured! If I decide to do the Duck N Dash again then I'll be training for that event, and in August I'll start to think about Stevenage Half Marathon and Standalone 10K training.

September 2014

Duck N Dash possibly, maybe Baldock 10K if the weather is good beforehand. And training for Standalone 10K.

October 2014

Running club's focus event, Standalone 10K, is at the beginning of October. And I'll be training for Stevenage Half Marathon.

November 2014

Never let it be said that I'm a creature of habit, but I'll be racing Stevenage Half Marathon.

December 2014

No plans to do anything except the First Saturday 5k and maintain my fitness.

Marathon planning, it's Week One!

Now I've got Stevenage Half out of the way, and I'm still buzzing from my new personal best time (*skips about the room*), I'm starting to think about training for Milton Keynes marathon. I really want to do my best at this distance, because I don't know if it'll be the last one I do (the last one, again!).

Based on my 1:45 half time, the pace calculators I've looked at seem to think I can manage a sub 4 hour marathon. Well, I know it's not that simple! My aim is to beat 4:58, remain uninjured, and finish knowing I've run the best race I can.

There are 26 weeks between now and May 5th. I've made a rough plan of my long runs, and I've decided to cut the long run distance in half and run that as a tempo midweek. So that means I'll be running 10 miles with some fast sections on the Thursday before I run 20 miles on the Saturday or Sunday. There will be at least one other run midweek, on the Tuesday (of about 2 miles with running club), and then perhaps a 5-6 mile alternate recovery/tempo on Mondays or Wednesdays depending on my work schedule. As far as I see it, the long run is important, as is fitting a longish tempo in if I want to maintain my speed and fitness.

This week is Week One, and I'll be running 5 miles on Thursday and 10 miles on Sunday, and possibly a fast run today, if I manage to get my arse in gear.

Other stuff this week, I'm recovering nicely from Stevenage half, my legs aren't destroyed, although my calves feel a bit sore. I had a good recovery run last night with the beginners group at the club, and a lovely stretch out later at Pilates.

I've also weighed myself to check I've not ballooned after gorging myself on smarties and pasta on Monday and Tuesday. I've lost 2lb, which brings me to 47lb total weight loss (since I began counting in Jan 2011). I'm nearly back at the magic 50lb lost mark, which I've been aiming at all year! It was good motivation for me to eat a healthy lunch, rather than open a tin of curry and eat it all (I do have a habit of eating to excess when it's cold outside, when I'm working, and when I'm a bit distracted).

Random thoughts purged, time to work before I run later.

EDIT: I ran 4 miles in the rain, not fast though, I couldn't manage fast...

Stevenage half training: 12 mile long run

This week's long run was a bit tricky to fit in, I had to run on Saturday morning, in between helping set up the Scout's Jumble Sale and cooking for a dinner party in the evening. I had 2 hours in which to run, never a good idea to give yourself a time limit!

The weather was much warmer than last Saturday, when I ran 11 miles. Fortunately I had an over-sized drinks bottle full of cold water to keep me company (although it really annoyed me after a few miles). Unfortunately I dressed for last week's weather, so I was too hot for the whole run, despite the water. I also needed a wee almost immediately after I set off (I did contemplate weeing in a bush).

I spent the first two miles weighing up the options of running two 6 mile runs (Standalone 10K route), so I could go home to drop my drinks bottle off and have a wee, but I decided I would never go out for the second lap. After that decision was made, I then couldn't decide whether to run last week's route with a bit added on at the end, or the full Greenway route (which would be a 14 mile run in total). The time limit I'd given myself was bothering me though, so I decided the 12 mile route was the best idea.

As I did last week, I kept my heart rate below 140 for the whole run, walking when it got too high. It got high a lot this week, possibly because of the heat rather than anything else, although I kept a closer eye on it and it never rose above 146, so perhaps I was a bit too keen. (When I checked my stats on FetchEveryone later, it said my 70% recovery was 146, so I think I've been walking unnecessarily...)

I felt a lot more tired around 9 miles, I ran past an elderly couple on Radwell Meadows, and said hello and "I don't feel like I'm moving at all!" Plod plod plod. But as soon as I got back to Stotfold for my extra mile I felt much better. I think next week I might add the extra distance on at the beginning rather than the end, because running near my home, only to turn back for another 2 miles, is quite hard.

So this run was quite tough, I had a lot to think about! But I did it, and finished in 2 hours and 9 minutes. Not massively over my self-imposed limit. And the rest of the day ran to military precision.

Next training run will be an interval session. Time to get my heart rate high and my legs moving fast :-)

Training to heart rate: week one progress

Low and slow

Last Saturday I ran 11 miles as part of training for the Stevenage half marathon. The aim was to keep my heart rate low, under 140 bpm, throughout. This strategy helps to increase endurance because at this HR level your body burns fat (that we have plenty of) rather than glycogen (that runs out after a time). It's all about building new muscle fibres of the "correct" type. See my previous blog on this subject!

I had to take several walk breaks to keep HR low, mainly when I was halfway up a hill, but not as many as I thought I might. And my average pace wasn't as "slow" as I feared either, a respectable 10:30 min/mile. I hit a lovely flat section through Letchworth, and HR fell so much I was able to speed up.

I noticed some knee, ankle, and shin niggles while running, but these went as soon as I corrected my posture, cadence, and foot strike. Reading Born To Run has reinforced what I've been told previously about running style! I also read this week something Hal Higdon said about having to concentrate on running to do it properly, like you would at work (for example). One of the reasons I don't listen to music when I run, because I like to "hear" my feet and my breathing.

I finished the run in 1 hour and 55 minutes. I was very pleased with how I felt, apart from an aching right knee I didn't feel tired and could have carried on. I didn't take food with me, I'd prefer to avoid gels at the moment, now I'm training to burn fat. It would defeat the purpose to run slow but then take glycogen... I know I can tolerate gels so I'll save them for race day. 

This weekend I'm running between 12 and 14 (full Greenway route), nice and slow as before.

Fast peaks

Tonight I wanted to incorporate some speedwork into half marathon training. I ran 6 miles, but kept the first mile and a half and last mile and a half slow, with HR aimed at <140. These were my warm up and cool down periods, defined properly by HR. 

The mile after my warm up coincided with a Strava segment from Fairfield Park exit to Wilbury Hills roundabout. I wanted to see how fast I could run it, and where I would place in the leader board! Hit my max HR (175) during this mile, which was around 7:35 mile/min pace. And I was 3rd female overall on Strava :)

The mile return was kept slow and low again, then a final fast mile segment before my cool down. Hit 7:22 min/mile and placed 6th overall on Strava for that segment. OK, I'm a bit obsessed with those segments, but I don't like being down the bottom of the board!

Just over an hour run for the 10K, but I'm happy because I achieved everything I wanted to, high and low HR, in the correct training zones, and good pace. 

Bring on tomorrow's club run and my next long run! I'm (finally) enjoying running again :)

From the archives: Stevenage half marathon 2011

I've finally signed up to run Stevenage half marathon in November, after procrastinating about it for a few weeks. I have 3 weeks to prepare myself mentally, to lose a bit of weight, and to get myself used to running further than 10K.

I ran this race back in 2011, it was only my second half marathon, and I was really happy because I ran sub 1:50. The course is quite nice, considering it's in Stevenage: mainly along paths and through underpasses, but part of the course is through Fairlands Valley Park, around the lake.

My aim this time round is to obtain a SB (need to beat 1:51:26 to do that), hopefully beat my 2011 time (1:49:55) for a course record, and with a bit of luck beat the PB I set in 2012 when I ran the Greenway Challenge with a friend (1:46:31).

Here's my 2011 blog about the race!


So, November 6th, 2011. The 25th Stevenage Half Marathon. I signed up to run this event at the last minute (last minute for me!). I usually like to have several months to prepare for races but I only signed up for this a few weeks ago. I was "race-ready" though, because after finishing Fleetwood I wanted to maintain the distance I'd trained up to, so I'd been running 8 and 10 miles as recreation. I know, I'm mad.

A few other members of Stotfold Runners were running the event, Ed and Scott, and it was lovely to have them and their families around for support during the race and at the end. (My family are a bit "race-fatigued", this is my 5th race this year, so they stayed at home.) So huge thanks to them, and to Scott's family for driving me there and back and looking after me :)

So, my previous PB for a half marathon was 1:52:40 and my "secret aim-for time" for this race was 1:50:00. I really wanted to beat my PB but I wasn't sure I could because the Stevenage course was more undulating than Fleetwood. This course was run on underpasses and cycleways around Stevenage, and through Fairlands Valley Park, so lots of hills and slopes! But, with up bits come down bits as I always tell myself.

We ran two laps of the course, the second lap being slightly longer through the Park. I started slowly because I'm always being advised (nagged) by Pete L from running club to start slowly and build up speed. First two miles were comfortable, then I remembered I wanted to get a good time! So I started to up my pace.

I took my energy gel at 5 miles (just after I ran past Burger King) and just before the second water station. I had a few slower miles after this, possibly because I was on lap 2 and it was a bit more uphill and a bit of a psychological downer. But I sped up through the Park (although I was overtaken twice), and got a lovely boost when I saw Ed's wife cheering me on!

When I passed Burger King again I had a "moment" when I remembered being fat in January and I decided to really try and crack sub 1:50. So my last few miles were corkers. I'm not sure where my energy came from, or why I didn't fall over. And I should say that I really hate finishing on a running track, those last few metres are killers. But when I heard "Come on Sarah!" shouted by Scott's wife Julie I found enough energy to sprint. I even heard another runner mutter "great finish" as I passed him :)

We got no cake at the end :( I hate bananas. I ate the banana I was given, but I hate bananas. Got a lovely silver shoe trophy though :)

Standalone 10K, 2013

Last Sunday I ran in a local 10K road race, the Standalone 10K, which is organised by North Herts Road Runners. This race is a big one for my running club, Stotfold Runners, because it is our most local race; it passes through our town, we run the route a lot during the year in preparation, and we encourage all our members to take part. I last ran this race in 2011, taking a break in 2012 to recover from a knee injury, so I was really excited to be running it again this year.

The race starts and ends at Standalone Farm in Letchworth, goes through Norton to Stotfold, along the A507, and then past Fairfield Park back to the farm. There are a few hills, the worse one (I think!) is right at the start, so it's not too daunting a course.

The farm was packed when we arrived. Amazingly, I still managed to find my friends before the start! Had some photos with the club (see image), and exchanged some friendly race banter with Ed, whose aim at the beginning of the year was to beat me (mine to stay close to him!)

The race was full, with 1400 runners in total. Apart from the Preston Marathon last year, it's the biggest race I've taken part in. The atmosphere is amazing, so many people together doing the same thing. It's all very emotional *sniff* :-)

I walked to the race start with other members of Stotfold Runners, and I lined up with Ed and another friend just before the 50 minute marker. We didn't want to put too much pressure on ourselves and start at 45 minutes :-) The first section of the race is downhill (about 50 metres!) but we took this slowly because of the number of runners. The first (and biggest) hill is immediately after the start, and again I couldn't run up it quickly because of the number of runners in front of me. (Should've started at 45 minutes.) Followed Ed's example and took to the pavement, dodging spectators and small children. 

Once at the top of the hill I felt OK and tried to maintain some speed, keeping an eye on Ed all the time! At about 3K I sailed past another club friend who I thought was a lot faster than me, he seemed to be taking things easy and was doing a great job of thanking every marshall we passed :-) Had to run over the grimmest roadkill at this point too (splatted squirrel). At the water station at 5K I spotted a friend supporting (it's so nice to see people you know!). I didn't take on water because I was running fine and don't usually take a drink during a 10K.

As we hit the A507 the route narrowed and suddenly everyone in front of me stopped to funnel into the smaller area. I'm not one for being politely English during a race so I took to the grass verge so I could maintain my speed. Unfortunately caught a few nettles on the way, so spent the next 5 minutes cursing myself.

By the end of the bypass, as we turned towards Fairfield Park, the sun came out, the heat rose, and my legs suddenly slowed to nothing. I'd completely run out of energy. I really wanted to walk, but there were so many people spectating that I didn't dare stop in case someone I knew saw me! I kept looking at my Garmin to check my pace, and I was getting upset with myself because I was running at 8:30 min/mile (and I needed at least 8:00). In a big strop I switched the display to heart rate and just decided to grit my teeth and plod home.

The last few K were hard because they are uphill; during training I always tell myself they're not hills, it's just a deceiving view! They were certainly hills today. Spotted the Stotfold Runners banner and The Luxfords supporting at 9K, and I got a bit of a boost here. I knew I was almost finished, and I could hear the announcements at the farm.

At this point the marshalls made us run on the pavement. I wasn't happy with this change because we've never had to run here before, but I think they'd not been able to close the road at the top and it was quite busy. Anyway, that put me off a bit because the pavement is narrow and turns quite sharply. I took the final downhill stretch easy so as not to destroy my knees, then turned into the farm to finish. Tried hard to sprint to the line but it really wasn't happening for me. Finish time: 50:03 (should've kept an eye on the clock rather than my heart rate!)

Plus points: Fastest 10K all year.
Moral: Never Give Up.
Lessons for the future: Focus on longer midweek runs and pre-race nutrition.

And yes, Ed beat me! He got a great PB (48:10) too, so well done him. We grabbed our bananas and T-shirts and headed back to the course to pick up some of the club runners who might need support. I ran-walked with a friend for another 1.5K to get her back in just over 70 minutes (she was very happy).

Duck N Dash 2013

Today I competed in Freedom Tri's Duck N Dash aquathlon. It was my first ever multi-event race, and I learnt a lot!

Post registration! A good look for Saturday evening

I walked the 2.5 miles from Stotfold to Letchworth as a warm-up, arriving at the outdoor pool at 8am to set up my transition area. Here, I set out my towel, run shorts and race top with number pinned on, my trainers and socks (full of baby powder!), and my drink. I'd registered the day before, so also had my race number written on my arm and leg. My timing chip was attached to my ankle with a strap, to be worn for the whole event.

Here I encountered my first problem. I'd walked to Letchworth in my running gear, which I'd just removed for transition. I should've brought warm clothes to wear while waiting! Fortunately I had my fleece and spare clothes for afterwards, so I wore those. Next time (!) I'll need a tracksuit and some spare socks and shoes. 

My transition area

While waiting for transition to close and the race briefing to start, I wandered around the pool area, trying to find someone I knew. At running events I usually see a lot of people I recognise, here I didn't spot many at all! Finally found my friend Jane, whose son was competing in the Ducklings section, and Ed and Elinor from run club, whose daughter was also taking part. Latched onto them for a while until I spotted my friend Sarah who was doing the event as a relay with her husband. It was good to chat about what we were about to do, made me feel less anxious!

After the race briefing, I got changed out of my warm clothes (kept the fleece on), and then met my family, who'd just arrived to support. We found a spot to watch the Duckling swimming event and enjoyed that, then it was my turn. 

We had another mini briefing, including how to swim the course and about overtaking, then we lined up in number order. I was 145, about in the middle of the group. Swimmers set off every 10 seconds. I dumped my fleece in the "Duck" bucket, then the next thing I knew, I was in the water and swimming. Felt very comfortable (surprisingly!). I think it was the reassuring sight of someone's feet just ahead of me. Felt someone touch my toes, so at the end of the lane I let him pass me. Same again on the next 50m, but after that it was me doing the overtaking. Had a "can't breath" moment about 200m in, slight panic as I inhaled water for three consecutive breaths, but soon recovered. There was a bit of a melee on one 50m stretch, lots of overtaking and slow swimmers, but just stood my ground (water?) and I was fine. 

Before I knew it I was out of the pool and running to my transition area. As usual, I stopped for a chat with my neighbour ("can't believe we just did that!") and struggled putting my shoes on (should've bought those bungee laces). Not a disaster, but not as fast as it could've been. 

Thanks to Freedom Tri for the photo

Initially, the run started OK, was good to see Ed supporting too! I had put a gel in my pocket earlier, so I had that as I started. Legs went to jelly a bit on the first 0.5K but I know the run course really well, so knew it was just a tough path rather than me. Overtook and was overtaken, but mainly didn't lose places. Spotted my family at the end of the first lap, son shouted "boo mummy you're rubbish", he's obviously learnt that from his dad ;-) On the second lap I could sense a lady behind me breathing heavily but getting a lot of support from the marshals. Obviously a club runner. I kept her behind me, every time I heard her get closer I sped up. She helped keep me focused on that second lap. As we approached the finish she began to pass me, and I let her for a few metres, then my sprint finish kicked in. I'm so proud of that finish! I wish more people had seen it (modest?). 

I did thank her at the end for pushing me, and she said I'd kept her going too. Excellent! Overall time was 41:37. Swim and transition took me 11:39 and the run was 29:59. Pleased with the run time (average 8 min/mile pace), swim was probably about 9:30 leaving a good 2 mins in transition. Told you it felt slow!

Big thanks to the Freedom Tri members today, they were really helpful when I had seemingly stupid questions to ask ("do I really wear my timing chip in the pool?!"), were great during the pre-swim briefing, and were obviously enjoying the event. It's a big race to organise, with the two events to marshal and lots of different groups: Ducklings (children's groups), Ducks (400m swim), Drakes (600m swim), and the relay. I think they did a great job. I was impressed at the number of children competing, and how carefully those events were monitored. 

Thanks also to Becca and Jane who gave me lots of advice, and Kieran (my physio) who is the reason I entered. 

I "might" consider possibly doing this again next year. Might. 

Saturday speedwork

Had a spare 30 minutes this morning while I waited for the family to sort themselves out, so I decided to go for a run. Set my Garmin 110 to 0.25 mile auto-lap and alternated slow/fast laps. It's a good way to do speedwork without having to map out distances or run up a hill.

Slow sections were run between 9:10 and 9:30 min/mile, fast sections were between 7:20 and 7:35 min/mile. Really pleased to achieve 6 reps of 400 m intervals and cover 5K in 26:40.

Felt really comfortable during the run, I was pleased I could maintain 7:30s and the recoveries helped keep tiredness at bay. Could probably have run a bit faster but I'd just had breakfast so didn't want to push too hard...

The fast 5K time has made me wonder whether to approach my next 10K race with a similar strategy, perhaps I'll try 0.5 mile intervals next week.

Summer holiday training

My last training post was written in the middle of July, at the beginning of the school summer holidays, and this one is written at the end of August, when they are almost over. I find training in the summer holidays quite tricky. My children are home with me, so I can't run in the morning anymore (unless I get up at silly o'clock!), and my evening routine goes out of the window when we are away on our camping trips.

I've managed to continue to attend my weekly Pilates class, which has been a great help with healing my leg injury. I also continued to attend circuits, cycle, and swim whenever I could.

I restarted running in August with a training day for the Duck N Dash organised by Freedom Tri. We had an hour of swim training at 7:30 am, then we ran the First Saturday of the Month 5K around Norton Common. It was a good opportunity to see how it feels to do a dual event. I found the swimming really difficult, but the running went well, possibly because I didn't strictly race the event, I took the first mile "easy" and then began to speed up towards the end (26:27).

Because I've been away a lot over the summer, when I do get chance to run I've been trying to make it count. I've maintained my long run distance by running at least 10K once a week. On the other run day (I usually only managed two runs a week) I was focusing on speedwork, either hill sprints or intervals. It's been good to attempt speedwork on my own because I usually leave run club to organise my fast runs! On my last run (5.5 miles) I concentrated on maintaining a faster pace than usual (I aimed at 9 min/mile vs settling into a 10.5 min/mile plod). I also aimed to run fast up all the hills. It was a good run, despite the faster pace I felt comfortable (and wondered to myself why I'd never pushed myself before this day!). It's definitely given me some confidence that I've not lost too much fitness and I can get back something from this year (aim is still to achieve 10K and half PBs).

This week I'm taking charge of run club. My plans aren't too complicated because I'm not very confident on my own! Tuesday will be about negative splits, taking the beginners to Arlesey and back to see if they can make the return journey faster, and intermediates will be attempting to run a progressive 5 miles. Thursday will be speedwork for the beginners at the Norton Rd underpass, and intermediates will be running 4-6 miles depending on who comes (we might race the distances).

I don't really want to risk injury on Thursday, because Sunday is the Duck N Dash. I can't believe it's less than a week away. I need to concentrate on my diet this week, I need to lose some weight but I also need to keep my energy levels up. I'll be blogging about my diet on soggous.blogspot.co.uk.

Thanks for reading!

Juneathon day 25: running with my kids

Last Sunday my kids nagged me for hours to take them out for a run. I very reluctantly obliged, and we ran-walked for 1.5 miles. Today, I decided to test their enthusiasm and take them out again, after school. 

We ran-walked as we did before, and covered the same distance in the same time. But we also had time to say hello to the ducks and have a few goes on the zip wire. Yay for the park :)

In the evening I took the run-walking beginners group at club, we covered 2.5 miles and ran for about 7-8 minute stretches, with a minute walk in between. 

Then the quick dash to Pilates. Tonight was "back to basics" and it was so relaxing I almost fell asleep. My favourite exercise tonight was the shoulder bridge with squishy ball between my knees. If you do Pilates (and are female) you will possibly understand why that's enjoyable. Or maybe it's just me. *ahem*

It's the last Pilates class for 2 weeks, so next week I'll be back at both running club sessions :)

Juneathon day 23: Scarecrows

I was up early this morning to accompany some Stotfold Runners on a 10K. Six runners turned up, and we grouped ourselves nicely into run-walkers (who ran 5 minutes and walked 1 minute) and runners. My group were two of our faster runners, so for me it was a bit quick (for a Sunday morning anyway!).




Several hours later and I'm getting the bikes out of the shed ready to cycle around Stotfold to look at the Scarecrow Festival. We saw some really good displays this year, hubs and I liked the hospital operation one best, and the kids preferred the Despicable Me minion one (will be winning the "topical' vote there).


Now it's time to cook roast lamb and drink wine. The bonus of exercising in the morning!

Juneathon day 16: Stanley Park

I was in Blackpool today for a family christening. We stayed at my in-laws' house, and they live quite close to Stanley Park. It's a great place to run, loads of paths, so you can make your run a bit longer by taking a detour. Or just run all the way around the outside, which is about 2 miles. 

I've run two 10K races in Stanley Park before, "bags of PB potential" as the racing websites declare, because it's quite flat. 

I intended to run for an hour today, but I'd been co-opted into helping prepare food for the post-christening buffet and in the end only had 30 minutes to spare. So I decided to run around the park once, with a detour thrown in around the skate park. 

Saw a spectacular pigeon road kill too. Feathers and blood everywhere. Must have missed seeing it by seconds. Also saw preparations in place for a cycle race around the park, which fortunately started after I was running, else I'd have been flattened by cyclists!

So that's my Juneathon for today, a 30 minute run (exactly 5K). I'm glad to be home now and back to proper running or exercise, instead of making it up on the hop.