Intervals in the sunshine for me today – 7 lots of 400m with 90 seconds recovery. Add on a mile warmup, and a mile or so to get back home makes it into a respectable 4.87M in 52:51
Seeing how sunny it was, I took my little handheld water bottle with me. I haven’t used this for many months as it feels very strange to carry it whilst running. I’ve been trying to think about my ‘form’ whilst running recently, and today I could feel how off balance out made me feel. My solution? Find a hedge to hide it in until I’d finished the intervals.
Spot the Bottle
On my way back home, sipping my tree-cooled water, I couldn’t resist stopping by the village pond to take some photos of the oh-so-cute ducklings. So fluffy, and so used to people feeding them that they run towards you as you approach, cheeping piteously. Don’t be fooled – these ducks are some of the best fed in Wiltshire!
Ducklings
As well as the intervals, another couple of hours were spent up at the allotment, and I managed a 1 minute plank whilst waiting for the shower water to heat up. Go me!
After 2 days of ‘allotmenteering’ I though I’d better make it out for a run. I’ve not run for about 10 days, so thought I’d just do a short 3 miles and enjoy the sun. Sunny it was for sure! Beautiful out there, and I was out early enough that it wasn’t hot. I ran my usual 3 mile loop, which is a very handy loop from my driveway, out of the village, down a little lane, down through a field, then back up along a by-way, back up along a tiny lane, and along a different lane back to my house. A completely circular route that measures exactly 3 miles.
Funnily enough, its the route I used to aim to be able to run when I started running, 4 years ago. I used to dress in jeans, baggy t-shirt and cheap trainers and walk until I was far enough away from the village that no one would see me. Then I would run for as far as I could (not very!), then walk until I got my breath back. I’d repeat this until I was back into the village again when I would walk (in case anyone saw me). Not sure why I was so worried about anyone seeing me – this morning I was out in my tight lycra shorts and top. I have obviously passed the age of caring!
Other things that have changed – at the top of the field was an old stile that I had to climb over. I used to puff and pant (walking) my way up the field, looking out for this stile which was the sign the hill had ended and it was flat all the way back. Now I run this route the other way round, the stile is often where I pause for a view down over the valley (and occasionally some hares in the fields). This stile is where I first saw some badger tracks in the snow in January. It is also where I demonstrated how clumsy I can be trying to copy someone who niftily climbed through the stile rather than over it. I managed to fall through instead – I never tried that one again!
Here is the stile I used to climb over, back in January:-
Winter Stile
And here is the stile today. No snow, and a boring gate has been put in its place:-
Summer Stile
At least I’ll struggle to fall through this one ….?!
So in my blog meanderings over the weekend I noticed a few running bloggers (or is it blogging runners?) talking about Juneathon. They all had a natty badge on their blogs, and being a sucker for a natty badge I had to investigate further.
It turns out that Juneathon is a challenge for a month, to “run every day, blog every day, log every day”. However, the rules are flexible so it doesn’t have to be running every day (can you hear my shins breathing a huge sigh of relief?) but you should do some sort of exercise every day.
I only signed up today, so I’m taking the liberty of posting about the first 2 days in one post.
Juneathon Day 1
After a week away doing busy family stuff, I didn’t manage to run but I did spend a very busy hour at my allotment, weeding the onions. My back was aching when I finished, so it was obviously exercising weak muscles!
Juneathon Day 2
A beautiful sunny Sunday, perfect for a run you might think. However as my husband was out all day cycling in a local Sportive, and as the allotment was still surrounded by knee high weeds I decided to spend an hour and a half back up there tackling the jungle.
My back was sore again when I finished, so obviously still some work needed on those muscles.
Definitely will run tomorrow, as all my responsibilities will be back at school and work, and my time is my own to organise.
This morning dawned bright and sunny, and I felt inspired for my “up to 1 hour’s MP Run”. So inspired, I decided it would be a good idea to test out my hydration backback and running cap, both from Decathalon, Duly ‘geared up’ off I set.
My run felt good. Whether it was because Wessex Water have finished digging up the village which means I no longer have to run the gauntlet of hard-hat-wearing-men-with-shovels every time I venture out, or because it was sunny, I don’t know., but it was good. My overall pace was more like a Tempo run than a MP run, and that includes the hills!
At around 5 miles I came upon a couple of other lady runners. They were running slightly slower than I was, so I decided it was better to overtake them than to run just behind them all the way back to the village. We had a quick chat as I passed, and then I ‘sped’ off in front of them. When I looked at my stats that’s my quickest mile, as I made sure they didn’t catch back up with me.
I made it back home, after a quick ‘duckling’ count at the village pond (21 and rising!) and delightedly stripped off the hydration backpack, the sparkly white cap and my Garmin. I uploaded my stats, had a drink and a stretch, and got ready for my shower.
At this point, I made the discovery that I’d been wearing my running top inside out the whole time. Doh! As they say, all the gear, no idea!
Read on the most excellent blog, Lazy Girl Running, is a tale of a runner who has set himself a series of challenges in order to raise £12,000 for ‘Street Child’, a charity which looks after street kids in kids in Sierra Leone. His blog is Beer Belly Running, and is well worth a read.
The second of his challenges was to be leading the London Marathon at the 400m mark. Bearing in mind that elite athletes like Mo Farah will cover 400 in 71 seconds, and that Beer Belly Running wouldn’t be starting on the front row with the Elites, this was no mean feat!
Please jump to his blog and see if he managed to do it, and if you’re as impressed as I was, feel free to donate to his excellent charity as well, here uk.virginmoneygiving.com//davidhellard/
Finally I seem to have run a ‘proper’ week, with a short tempo run, an easy run, an MP run and finally a LSR. All felt good, even if I did have to force myself out of the door when it was pouring with rain.
On one of my favourite long run routes (the one with the bridge with the sad story that I told you here), I also realised I passed another secret door – but a secret door on a somewhat grander scale than I usually see! Regular readers will know how I love ‘secret’ doors – I seem to find them all over the place, in the most remote corners of the countryside. I think this one beats them all hands down though!
I was feeling very lazy, despite getting out for a couple of runs already this week. I wanted to go for a longer run, but was having trouble motivating myself. After the Postman brought the new pair of ‘Runderwear’ running pants I bought this week I knew I had to go. (More about the pants another time).
Once in my new pants and out the door I talked myself into taking a longer, more ‘interesting’ (i.e. off road and uphill) route by telling myself it would be full of bluebells and very photogenic.
A few bluebells
As you can see, not too many bluebells were actually out. I had cheated myself!
However I had set off intending to do a 5 mile road run and ended up having run 7.5 miles including some off road, so I didn’t mind really.
Does anyone else ‘trick’ themselves to run further, or is it just me?!
What next? Well – listening to my body I’ve decided to have at least a week off from running. It feels very strange not to be running, not to be checking my schedule, not to be dreading my Friday Long Run. On the plus side, this break has coincided with Spring finally appearing, so I knew instantly what I should be doing to still get my fresh air fix.
The allotment
The allotment. It has been swathed in black weed suppressing fabric all winter, and now like a teenager, its alarm call is well overdue. Already this week it has had its covering rudely removed, its been partially dug over, had compost added and some potatoes have been planted. Not bad for someone recovering from a marathon!
What else is on the ‘To Do’ list for this week then? Oh – quite a lot. Apparently I haven’t crossed anything off since January…
I’ve had a few days to reflect on my race, and also some time to reflect on the fact that a young man collapsed on the course and later died. I also, very sadly, have been thinking of the people of Boston. Although I’ve felt guilty for enjoying my race, and for thinking about a race report, and even for still being here to run and race again, I’ve come to the conclusion that if we stop running, if we panic, if we stop racing and enjoying our running then we’ve let the evil s*ds who did this win. We owe it to the people of Boston to hold our heads high, and run.
So with that in mind I wrote a very long race report (do I do any other kind?!) and had a good think about Sunday and the race and how it went.
Looking at my Garmin times, I did indeed slow down in the middle section of the course, but apart from mile 2 which I went too fast on mile 26 was 11:37 pace and the very last bit was my fastest at 11:22 I *really* wanted to finish! I’m really pleased with this, because it did feel like I was pushing at the end so I’m glad the numbers show that. My final time was 5:25:41 which was 47 minutes quicker than London last year. Before the race I’d thought about my ‘Gold, Silver and Bronze’ finishes. Bronze was to finish under 6 hours, Silver was to finish under 5:30 and Gold was to finish by 5:15. I’m delighted I achieved my Silver medal.
New PB!
Something else I noticed was the amazing signs and banners people were holding. Maybe its a Brighton thing, maybe the people of Sussex are particularly entertaining, but I did laugh at some of them:-
“Worse parade ever”
“Chuck Norris never ran a marathon”
“Any fool can run. It takes a special kind of fool to run 26.2”
Hurry Up Runners, my arms are killing me holding this up”
“If you feet hurt its because you’ve kicked so much butt”
I loved the couple of people holding bowls of slices of fresh oranges. So lovely and refreshing, especially after gels!
About mile 20 I was thinking that running a marathon was just too hard, and I couldn’t see how I could ever get any faster because it takes such a lot of energy just to complete the distance. I guess I’m not planning on running another marathon anytime soon. After London, I straightaway knew I needed to try again, to see if I could manage the training; to see just what it felt like to race that far; and to really feel I’d given it my all. I did all of those things this year, and I’m happy with the time I ran.
Other great achievements from the race were – my new shoes felt great all the way through. Despite only running in them for 10.8 miles before the marathon, which I know is a huge no no, they just felt fantastic, comfortable and supportive all the way around. No blisters, no rubbing, no pain! I also managed to avoid any chafing – obviously I got that out of the way in training. Actually, the only lasting pain I have is from the sunburn I caught on my arms. Good job I had applied it to my face or I would have been a total beetroot!
Excuse me a moment, must just go and polish my medal again, and put some aftersun on my poor arms…
After a hectic journey on Friday night, we arrived in Arundel ready for the big weekend. Saturday was spent being blown around Brighton to meet up with an old school friend of Mr B&Ts and to have lunch with him and his wife. They showed us the Lanes, but it was too wet and windy for mooching about so they then took us to the Brighton Centre so I could register and collect my number. The Expo was good – lots of lovely bargains – it was a pity I’d promised not to spend any money as I’d already treated myself pre-marathon! Back to Arundel for a really delicious dinner at a great Italian restaurant. I just wished I could have had a lovely glass of wine to go with it! I tried to have an early night, but nerves, excitement, and a full stomach put paid to that!
After reading worrying weather reports all week about how hot and windy it was going to be on Sunday, Sunday morning dawned cold and grey. I felt silly putting suncream on my face, but after getting a sunburnt neck last year put it on anyway ‘just in case’. I’d been awake since 4.30 so was glad to finally get up at 5.50am and try to get dressed without waking the family up (the joys of a Premier Inn family room!). I couldn’t stomach my porridge, got about half the pot down and a cup of tea and gave up trying.
Mr B&T drove me to a tiny train station in the middle of nowhere and left me there with a slightly strange character who was the only other person waiting for the train. I was quite relieved when the train arrived, already nearly full of marathoners and families. I grabbed a seat, managed to eat a piece of flapjack on the 40 minutes journey, and listened to my ipod to try and chill out a bit.
After a quick loo stop at Brighton station I simply followed the crowds as I didn’t really know where the start was. It actually took a while to get there, must have been over a mile away, and I was trying not to walk too fast and to save some energy. Arrived at Preston Park at 8am, with just an hour to the start, and immediately joined the loo queue. 45 minutes later I just had time to strip off my outer layers, drop my bag at the baggage truck and go to my start pen.
Loo Queue
As ever starting at the back it takes a long while for anything to happen, but after 10 minutes or so we heard clapping and saw the Elites come past us (they had a separate start). They just fly by, its beautiful to watch them run – so smooth! Another 10 minutes or so and we were off too. Walking, finally saw the start, and finally started jogging. Realised at this point that my gel belt was too heavy and loose, and was banging against my back, so as I crossed the start line I was trying to tighten it up. As we made our way around the park I spotted another couple of Runner’s World forumites (love it when people put their forum names on their shirts!) so had a little chat with them and then carried on.
First few miles were busy and crowded, and a little chilly and drizzly. I laughed at one lady peeling off and running into MacDonalds at mile 2 – I was hoping she was going to use the loo and not stop off for a quick burger! Saw runners going the other way on this section, as it was the first of many ‘switchbacks’ that the Brighton route has, in order to make up the miles. I actually find these sections hard as it feels like you’re not getting anywhere, but it helped once I realised I could work out how close we were to the turnaround point by the colours of the runners numbers. Once I was seeing Green (like me) I knew we couldn’t be far.
After 5 miles we were on the sea front and heading out to the East towards Ovingdean. Again there were already runners heading back to the West, 7 miles ahead of me. These were the super speedy runners though, and in a sadistic way it was good to see some of them looking like they were suffering (sorry – but it cheered me up. At least they looked like they were working hard!) This section seems to suddenly leave the city behind and heads up a hill. Actually, it looks like a hill and I remember I’d been assured it was a flat course, but looking at my Garmin its hardly a hill at all. Again I was watching the colours of the numbers of the runners coming back down the hill to gauge how close I was to the turnaround point. As I got closer to the large roundabout which I’d though was it, I saw we were directed off up a road to the left, which was disheartening to say the least.
I finally made it to the turn just after the 9 mile point. All was comfortable still at this point, I’d been sipping water at each water station and I’d had my first get at mile 6. I was keeping my pace at around 12 minute miles but as my Garmin was telling me I was at a mile well before the mile signs it was hard to know just how accurate my pace was. Running back down towards Brighton and the half way mark I was surprised how many people were already walking. Not surprised that they were walking, but that they’d obviously started too far ahead and set off too fast. This wasn’t planned run / walk, this was people looking shattered and broken.
The sun was out by now as we came back into Brighton and the crowds had gathered. I had LOTS of people shouting my name (the letters on my shirt were 4″ tall – the advantages of having a short name!) Maybe I just looked needy and desperate, I don’t know, but it was actually quite overwhelming as I felt I had to wave, or smile, or give a thumbs up to everyone who called my name. It wasn’t just my imagination either, at one point a runner in front of me turned around and said “So many people are calling your name??!!!!!”
Half way and I was feeling tired. Not sure if it was the lack of sleep over the previous few nights, or not enough breakfast, or the sun (or too much waving!) but despite sticking to my 12 minutes miles (and slower) I couldn’t help but think half marathons seemed a much better idea than a full marathon. I thought my family might have made it out by now, so I was scanning the crowds for them, but there was no sign of them.
By mile 15 I had a huge wobble. I had gone a long way, been out running for 3 hours, but there was still SUCH a long way to go. I’d been disappointed not to see my family, the sun was full out now, and I just felt it was all too much. They were handing out Shot Bloks here, so I grabbed some caffeinated ones and had a little walk as I chewed them. I had to give myself a serious talking to at this point, and then managed to get myself running again. Its hard having a wobble when people are shouting your name every few minutes. I did love the music that a few people were playing along this section (out of windows mainly) – although one song’s invitation to ‘Jump around’ I managed to decline.
Then I decided maybe I needed a loo stop, but of course there were big queues at all the portaloos and I couldn’t bear the thought of losing 15 minutes queuing like I did last year. I asked for Divine help and suggested to the big runner in the sky that if I would be better for a loo stop, could he make a loo without a queue appear, or even a large, secluded bush would do. Within 5 minutes, just as the road turns to loop back again at mile 16 I saw a church with its doors open and a sign saying “Open for Tea and Coffee. Toilets“. A sign!! I ran straight in, gasped ‘toilets!!??’ and was directed to a lovely, clean, real flushing loo, with loo paper and NO QUEUE! I could even wash my hands and wipe my face afterwards. See the power of prayer!!
I felt much better now, and set off feeling ready to push on. Brighton is such a great place – at mile 17 I high-fived the Queen as she sat having a picnic in the road with Prince Philip at her side. (Don’t think I was hallucinating at this point….!)
After mile 18 we were back on the coast, heading out to Shoreham Power Station which marks the West-most part of the course.It was just a case of plodding on at this point, putting one foot in front of the other. It was getting hotter, and there was a bit of a breeze now as well which was cooling but had me worried about finishing into a head wind. Again the returning runners were just on the other side of the road here, and again there were many people walking. Maybe this is why at mile 20 I had another little walk. I didn’t mean to, I just found myself walking. There were no crowds here which actually meant I could focus and pull myself together again. They were handing out more Shot Bloks at mile 21 so I had some more, sucked more water and set off for the final 5 miles. I tried telling myself it was just an hour from there, but that didn’t help so I stuck to thinking which of my runs at home were just 5 miles long.
At 23 miles we were running right along the front, past people outside their beach huts having picnics, around small children on scooters wheeling themselves right into the way of the runners.Still blazing sunshine, but the wind seemed to have dropped so it was warmer but at least it wasn’t hindering me. I was still scanning the crowds for my family, but there was no sign of them, and the crowds were still shouting my name like mad. I passed a block of apartments with a group of people on an upper floor balcony. They were on the other side of a very wide road, and STILL shouted my name out!
At 24 miles I thought “Just 2 to go!!!” but I swear they were the longest 2 miles I’ve ever run. I was so tired, and my right knee had started hurting. I had to stop acknowledging the crowd when they called my name because I simply had to focus on making it to the finish line. At this point I was telling myself I’d never run another marathon, it was just too far and too difficult to train for. Mile 25 – just one more to go – I don’t even think I was thinking anymore at this point, just keeping on going.
On the last mile – still waving
Past a sign saying ‘800 metres to go’, then 400 metres – but it was still taking far too long to get to the finish. I suddenly heard someone shouting my full name – I’d been blocking out the crowd, but this made me turn around – and it was my family!!!!! I gave them a big smile and a wave, but no way was I going to stop now! Suddenly I could see the finish line up ahead. My knee was hurting but I was nearly there. Then I was over it, I stopped my Garmin and I could feel my throat block with sobs. I held it together whilst I got my medal, my t-shirt, my goody bag, my banana etc, then found I was staggering past a large white tent. I just turned my face to it, turned my back to the world and had a huge bawl. I couldn’t breathe I needed to cry so much. It was just pure relief that it was over, that I’d done my very best, and I’d made it. I genuinely felt at that moment I couldn’t have run any better on the day.
It took a while to meet up with my family, and then of course I cried again.
Medal!
Done! Final chip time was 5 hours 25 minutes and 41 seconds, and I’m extremely pleased with that.
