Category: Running

So this weekend we were off to Bournemouth. For a few years I have wanted to do one of the BMF races, and finally the run fell on a free weekend. We both signed up for the 10K (the Supersonic 10K!) which ended up being at 4pm on Saturday afternoon. This was not totally ideal, because it meant we had to travel down on Friday night (check in might not be early enough to change etc) but that was OK in the end as we left after dinner so the traffic was a bit quieter.

On Saturday morning we walked around the town, had some breakfast in Caffe Nero, and then had a bit more of a walk. The weather was good- it clouded over a bit later on, but generally was nice and warm. We could not decide what to get for lunch- the race was sort of hanging over our heads a bit. In the end I got a salad from M&S- I have had it before- and sat by the seafront watching the junior races being set up.

I love the coloured beach huts along the front- like a dulux colour chart.

We even found some outdoor gym bits.

We then walked up the steps in the cliff to find a lovely memorial for Jon Egging, the Red Arrows pilot who died in a crash.

They were each covered in little disks- one had white, one red and one blue for the colours of the Red Arrows.

After that, we headed back to the hotel for a bit of a rest and a change of clothes, before heading to the start line.

At this point I was a bit worried because I had the same colour bib as Andy (both yellow)- normally I am one pen behind him. I think I had estimated a sub 55 finish, being wildly optimistic, and that made me a bit panicked. But that turned out to be the third of 5 pens, so then I didn’t feel so bad.

Sunshine! The race started very promptly, with the wheelchair racers being sent off a minute before the first pen, then the second pen walked forwards and were sent off, and then we were. I started my watch a teeny bit before the start line, although in the end I only looked at it a couple of times. I had looked up my previous 10K pb (55.23) and knew I needed to do 8.51 min miles to beat it, but because it had km markers and not mile markers and I didn’t always notice the mile beep of my watch, I pretty much just ran on feel.

The race was really enjoyable- it went out along the promenade for a couple of kms (past the outdoor gym and the coloured beach huts) before turning back. We were all told to keep left, because obviously we would be coming back on ourselves, but honestly the number of runners who thought it didn’t apply to them was astounding! The wheelchair racers passed on the other side fairly quickly, and as we came to the turnaround point I saw Andy on the other side- both still smiling!

I thought it could get congested, but as I was running back the other way I saw the final tail runner, which meant that the run could then open out a bit as runners were only on one side.  As we got close to the place that we started, I realised that the route actually went on the pier! We had not gone on it earlier as it cost £1 each (not a big pier fan anyway) so I did think “I’m saving myself a pound here”- then I nearly got knocked over by a girl with headphones- she was ahead to my right but suddenly veered to her left to overtake some other runners, so I decided to overtake her in case she did it again and knocked me over properly!

The pier was great, and as it was in the centre it was thickly lined with people out cheering – it was a great atmosphere. I had on my “OH” vest and someone shouted “go Hatfield!” so I waved a thanks.  I saw one of the wheelchair racers on the other side heading up the small slope to the finish, as I ran down it. At this point I saw the 5K mark, and noticed that my watch said 27 something- I would be pleased with that parkrun time, although of course my local parkrun is not flat like this!

The route then went along the promenade in the other direction. At a few points it narrowed, but there were plenty of marshals and signs warning runners, and I didn’t find it a problem at all. It had lovely views of the sea and beach- I loved it- just like Brighton. There was a water station (with bottles- grr- I nearly tripped over a few on the floor, although to be fair there were marshals picking them up right away), but I didn’t want to stop. At around mile 4 I started hoping for the turn around, but it wasn’t until I was past this that even the front runners went past the other way. I started to feel a bit sick- I could sort of taste my lunch again and was regretting that salad. Then of course, my maths got confused between the km and miles, and I flipped my watch around so I couldn’t look at it even if I wanted to. I saw the 8K marker and started telling myself that I had just over 10 minutes to go, and luckily my stomach settled- at times I did have visions of actually being sick which is not good!

I missed the 9K marker but thought I heard a marshal shouting “800m to go”- at this point I got overtaken by a show-boating superman! Then we rounded the corner, had a tiny slope ahead and the finish line was in sight!  The announcer was cheering everyone over the line (“Superman is playing up to the crowds”- he was!)- but I think my vest confused him as I got “go ladies running club…… oh?”- nice to have a mention anyway!

I met up with Andy who had finished about 4 minutes ahead of me, and collected my massive medal and goody bag. It was so organised- you had the size t-shirt printed on your number, so you went through the corral for that number and picked up your bag, plus a small bottle of water right away, and a larger one just before you exited the finish area.

I love the medal- it has the pier engraved on it, plus the distance. We also got a lovely purple technical t-shirt.

The goody bag was pretty packed, although Andy had more than me! Mine had an Eat Natural bar, zero tabs, crinkles crisps (although I got cheese and onion boo- Andy won with salt and vinegar), mentos mints, and as well as that Andy got some spatone samples, dried cranberries, and teapigs tea! How come I didn’t get any tea???

We walked back to our hotel and had a quick shower- luckily I didn’t wash my hair as we had booked Pizza Express, we thought for 6.30, but when we checked it turned out to be 6pm! So it ended up being a bit of a rush to get there in time!

I had the results text that said a chip time of 56.07, which is my second fastest 10k time ever! I am so pleased with that- I think I could have gone faster but because of the lunch issue I wasn’t pushing it. I felt tired when I finished, but not shattered, so it gives me confidence to really have a good go at Brighton in November.

Also, finally, I was not impressed that they didn’t play the Oasis song at the start- what was the point of the name huh?

The charity village.

It was a really well organised event, and although it seemed busy, it wasn’t on such a huge scale that it would put me off. They had junior races in the afternoon, a 5K later on Saturday evening, and a full and half marathon on the Sunday morning. The 4pm time was my only issue, because the race did hang over us a bit and I didn’t really get the food situation right, but all in all it was fab, and I would definitely look at doing it (or maybe the half) another year.

What do you think of afternoon races? How did you enjoy the lovely weather this weekend?

On Monday night my running club had put on an event at our local track. It was run by Jemma Simpson, who runs the 800 and 1500m, and had been to the Beijing Olympics, and was in association with Lornah Sports clothing.

Photo taken from the OH facebook page.

We started off with a talk and the some warm ups. We jogged around the track a few times, then did lots of dynamic warm ups, strange ways of walking. Jemma told us some moves that meant we would not need to lift weights in the gym, doing various lunges, calf raises and other things. At one point we were even laying on the floor, trying to touch our toes to our opposite arms.

I was not the best at the “leaping” warm up…

Then came the session- it was a 3-2-1 session, and I shall try to remember it correctly!

3 minutes at 10K pace.

2 minute recovery.

2 minutes at 5K pace.

1 minute recovery.

1 minute as fast  as you can.

3 minutes recovery.

We did that 3 times, and it was so tough! Especially because I set off way too fast for the 10K pace- it’s hard to judge. For each recovery we all regrouped, so that we started the next rep off all together. Jemma was running around with us encouraging us, and shouting “this is where the magic happens” in the final 1 minute sprints.

After we finished, we were shown a few pieces from the sportswear range (which is really gorgeous)- it’s a line by Lornah Kiplagat (she holds a few world records), who wanted sportswear that looked good, not all the pinks and fluorescent stuff you get generally. As her nickname was Simba, which is Swahili for lion, the logo is a lion, and lots of the clothes have things like lion emblems, animal print sections, or even the Kenyan National anthem words!

Then we did some stretches, were given some SOS rehydration packets and a bottle, and headed home. I didn’t get home until 9pm, so it was a late shower and a very late dinner, but it was just brilliant. Normally when I run with the club there are only a few of us there, but I think by the end there was probably about 30 of us. Some people did 2 reps, then sat at the side and cheered us each time we ran past. It was really different to our usual casual runs, but really enjoyable.

I was so stiff the next day though- my legs ached more than they do after Body Pump! I had to miss the normal Tuesday run as it was Andy’s mum’s birthday, but that was a very good thing as my legs were so sore. I had a wonderful sunset run on Wednesday to try to get the aches out, which did help, but then I had hours of work to do, so I was almost back to square one. Hopefully it will all be gone by Saturday as I have a 10K race to run!

The only time I had been on a track before was for the Sports Relief 6 mile event that I did a couple of years ago. Our club leader said she was looking into possibly getting a regular slot, which would be great.

Do you run on the track?

This week has been busy (the start of term always is). On Tuesday I had a lovely run with the OH ladies (we did 5.85 miles, and so in the car park ended up doing loops to round it up to 6 to make our run leader happy), but on Wednesday I was tired, got home late, so just had tea and TV instead (and a little walk). On Thursday I had a late meeting, and got home after Pump usually starts, so on Friday I went for a run after work. I didn’t plan a route- initially I thought I would do an out and back, but once I got onto the fields I decided to try the loop (I have not done that since the time with the creepy man).

It was only when I got to the cow field gate that I realised I was wearing a red top! (Although that apparently is a myth). I could not see any cows, so I decided to run through as fast as I could, and was very relieved when I got to the other side!

It turned out they were in another field, and I did think about running through it to avoid a big boggy patch, but look how big the horns are! And it was right by the path! Instead I amused myself by taking some cow selfies (they are on the other side of a fence).

That’s how I feel when I see them! I do not want to run in the same field!

In the end the route I took ran along the side of the field (on the other side of the fence) and in the corner there were some calves- they took a big interest in me and slowly walked towards me as I took some pictures.

It was a really fun run in the end- I did around 4.5 miles, and although the overall time took longer (because of the stopping and taking silly photos) I managed some speedy miles according to Strava. And do you know what? I love seeing animals on my runs, and I love stopping to take photos, and it was just fab to have a run where the time, distance etc didn’t matter. I was glad no-one came past as I was taking my silly pictures though! Also, I saw so many blackberry bushes and was so annoyed that I had forgotten to take a sandwich bag with me. Next time maybe.

So, I was debating on my haircut last week. But in the end, the lure of parkrun was too great. So I headed off on Saturday morning.

One of the OH ladies was tail running, so I chatted her for a bit but after last week (where I did a lot of stop-starting at the beginning) I decided to start in the middle, but the RD wanted everyone to move up a bit, so I ended up being really close to the front. It was a bit of a sprint start for me, and the muscles around my hips/ glutes were burning after a minute or so. It took a good mile for me to get my breathing back, but then the sun came out and it was just so pretty so that helped take my mind off it. Often the middle mile is my slowest, even though it is mainly downhill, so I decided to follow one of the run leaders advice and use my arms- I normally only use them on hills (well, I forget to drive them properly) but as I was tired after the sprint start I decided to see if they would help me power through.

The final mile felt tough, but I told myself that I was close to the finish. I think I was really grimmacing as I ran up the final hill (well, attempted to run- it really feels like going backwards!)- one guy who had finished shouted some encouragement which helped.

As I got my finish token I was surprised to see number 110- I think normally I am around 140-170, but I did wonder if it was a smaller turnout.

A bit muddy! May have to get the trail shoes out soon!

I felt pretty rubbish when I stopped, so I quickly got my chip scanned, bought a drink from the coffee van, and headed back to my car. The chai latte perked me up, and I noticed that an OH lady had parked behind me (we have the same car) so I waited for her to walk along and had a quick chat.

I was very pleased when I got my text though- my time was 27.55, which I think is my second fastest time. My pb for that course is 27.44 which I got on my birthday. Also, when I did the San Fran one, I did it in 27.45, and that was a totally flat course, so to be close to those times was pretty pleasing.  There were 232 runners, so not really a smaller turnout. I don’t really do parkruns for the time, but a new pb (or getting close to one) is always good. Plus according to Strava (Strava is my friend right now as it takes out all the stopping time for me) I did my fastest ever mile effort, at 8.35! And a segment PB on “steep slog”, which according to the map is around the lake. Gosh lots of stats- basically, I was happy!

I had some buckwheat pancakes + cherries for a celebration!

Then it was time to get ready for the wedding- of course it would have been nice to have two people dry my hair for me, but it was fine for me to do it myself.

The wedding was lovely- it was a uni friend, and so we picked up another friend and her husband on the way, got to the venue early so popped into town for a drink (and I ended up getting some boots from White Stuff- I saw them online but they were out of stock in my size- 20% off too!), then headed to the wedding. It was in such a lovely setting, and the weather was just perfect- sunlight streaming in through the windows, lovely photos outside.

There was a meal after in a gorgeous country pub a few miles away, so we spent the evening enjoying dinner and catching up, before driving back home.

Loved the cute little wedding favours.

This morning I took it easy, had breakfast, and then went out on a run at about 12, although it was rather warm and I realised after 2 miles that I had only had a cup of tea to drink- not the most sensible. I made up my route as I went along, doing a combinations of routes that we have run with the club (including that hill)- at one point I ran through a little path and got stung by stinging nettles.

I was loving the sunshine! (Well here I was loving the shade as it was getting pretty warm and I was wishing I had worn a vest and not a t-shirt).

7.77 miles! All the lucky 7’s! I was pleased with that too!

Sadly I had already had breakfast, so could not have pancakes- I made do with a quick lunch of ryvita, tomato pesto, avocado, coconut water and half a flapjack (saved the other half for later) as I had to rush out to the shops before they closed.

Do you stop on runs or do you prefer to keep going? Do you plan out routes in advance? Did you have a good weekend?