Bright10 recap- Brighton running is good for me yet again

Ages ago I was emailed information about the Bright10, a new 10 mile race, in Brighton (get it?- I think maybe they thought of the name before even creating the event). I could not decide- I wanted to do it, but we have had a few busy weekends, and are away next weekend, and on and on, but last Sunday night we managed to find a not-too-expensive hotel, so went for it. We travelled down on Friday- I went straight to the station from work, as Andy had booked tickets for something at the comedy festival (Guardian football podcast live)- which was pretty good.

Saturday morning we went to Cafe Coho for breakfast (nutella and banana pancakes have been a good pre-race breakfast, well, the day before, for a few Brighton trips), before Andy had to get the train across to Southampton for the football. I had a mooch around Brighton for the day.

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After going to some shops and picking up some bits (well, birthday presents) I walked along the seafront towards Hove, where the race start was- I wanted to time how long it would take for me to walk back so I knew when to leave in the morning.

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The start was coming along nicely! I sat by the sea for a bit before walking back.

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I don’t think much of the new skytower thing at the moment- it looms over the seafront and looks more like a power station chimney.

Anyway, a nice lunch in Pret (it was such a good sandwich- avocado, red tapenade whatever that is, red pepper and baby kale) and then some more shopping, before I went to the wonderful Bluebird Tea co, and treated myself to a tea latte (nuts about you, which also had almond and coconut bits on top) and of course a bit of tea to take home. I got back to the hotel at about half 4 and was in need of a sit down!

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Andy’s train wasn’t due back until about half 7, so I watched a bit of TV on my tablet, walked to the station to get a cup of tea, and then settled down to my pre-race ritual of painting my nails (a nice bright pink for the Bright-10), and a couple of Montezuma’s pb truffles. Mmmm.

We had booked dinner at Bill’s, and after that had a walk around Brighton before heading back. Then I started sneezing! Uh-oh. Towards the end of the week my voice had been sounding bad- it wasn’t sore but it sounded like it was. I thought it was just tiredness, but then my nose started streaming too. No! This is not what I want right before a race.

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In town I had bought a slice of carrot cake, so we shared that while watching Gogglebox (hooray for repeats!). In the end I slept OK but on the walk down to the start we bought some more packs of tissues.

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I had only packed capris and a vest (I had looked at the weather when I packed) but I was glad of my top on the walk down as it was fairly chilly. We got there at about 8.45, so plenty of time to find my pen and not get too cold. Andy took my jumper for me so I didn’t have to use the bag drop or anything.

Anyway, we started very quickly. The route was a bit strange- it looped around back on itself, and after 2 miles you ran through the start/finish bit which was weird. But the good thing about a 10 mile race is that you are in single figures of miles to go, right away. The race was sponsored by some milk company, so every mile marker had a cow-related phrase (Are those moo shoes/ looking udderly fabulous/ time to milk the crowds and so on). It was well supported, as are all Brighton races it seemed. My favourite sign said “run like Phillip Schofield is at the finish line”. Because of the looping nature, I saw that sign a few times, as people could cross the lawns and see people on mile 1 and then mile 2, and then at the end with mile 9 and 10. Some people had taken the Bright paet very seriously- one guy was wearing high-viz jacket style yellow shorts, t-shirt, socks and cap.  I love looking at what people wear- some were wearing winter jackets and must have been boiling. Although the worst must have been the person in the minion suit.

I didn’t really have a race plan. I had looked at my previous 10 mile times: 1.49.31/ 1.40.58/ 1.36.12/ 1.37.41/ 1.37.47- all of those apart from the first one (the GSR) were on undulating courses, so I fancied my chances of a pb. I went for 1.35, which was easy because that meant I had to aim for 9.30 min miles- that was at least a number I could remember. After a mile I glanced at my watch and saw 9.32, and later 9.27, so I was doing OK. After going along the flat seafront, and into the town a tiny bit, it then went uphill (the same as the half and full marathon)- I never find them too bad, but this time it was later into the race- from mile 4 to 6 was pretty much uphill, on not such fresh legs. I distracted myself by trying to spot someone else I knew who was running it- he is faster so I knew he would be ahead and on the other side of the road coming back down, but I didn’t spot him. My pace had dropped to something like 9.45 at this point, so on the downhill I tried to speed up to make up time. I had put some tissues in my wrist sweatband, which turned out not to be such a good idea as the tissues got damp from my sweat- duh! Luckily my nose wasn’t too bad, but I did feel more tired, and my chest hurt a bit more than usual in the final few miles. At around mile 8 I think Tess from Fitbits overtook me, but she was too far ahead by the time I noticed to say anything. A guy playing a guitar was singing “You’re all running fast, but you’re not running fast enough. You’re all behind the other guys” which amused me a lot.

Just before mile 9 I saw Andy (he’d been to have some breakfast), but then I felt quit tired. We ran past the finish on the other side of the lawn, before looping around and coming back along the seafront to the finish. I could see the finish, and my watch said 1.30, but I had no idea how long was left. I thought I could get a pb though. Andy took the most awful photo of me, which I did tell him to delete, but actually it shows my pain! This was my final spurt right at the end. Perhaps Runners World should have more of these photos on their front cover…. no?

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I felt so tired when I stopped, but hooray, I also realised I had managed a pb! Woo! 1.33.51 is my official time! Not bad 🙂

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We got a huge medal, two little bottles of water, and a Clif builders bar, but I didn’t have that as I had already had a normal Clif bar for breakfast. Andy had bought me a cinnamon roll, so I had that on the walk back to the hotel.

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Love the medal! After a shower and a hair-dry,it was time to check out, so we walked back into the town for some lunch.

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This was a huge salad (Wai Kika Moo Kau)- falafels, hummus, sundried tomatoes, and then a vegan peanut butter and banana smoothie. Mmm so good.

After a few more shops, we went to Bluebird for a drink, and then headed to the train station. There are no direct trains on Sunday, so we had to get the underground for a bit, but the first section was an hour, and so I had a little snooze while listening to the radio 5 film podcast.

I think that every time I have run in Brighton I have run a new pb – the pressure is on for the 10K in November, and the half in February!

Where do you love to run the most? 

My 50th parkrun!

This was brilliant!

Although I do not like fancy dress at all, because it was Panshanger’s first birthday, I felt like I should.

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I ordered a tutu and headband from ebay, and luckily they arrived on Thursday. At least they would be easy to wear over normal running gear. Lots of people from the club were going, so we all met at the start and admired the costumes- we had Where’s Wally, a pirate, plenty of wonder women, a witch and some pink tutus.

The official start was 8.55am, but they had so many presentations (points league tables, most volunteering, most first finishers etc), as well as introducing the running elite (Andy Baddeley, who holds the parkrun record of 13.48- that drew a sigh of admiration from the crowd!)- the report is here if anyone is interested. They had an amazing three-tiered cake too. Then they did the normal start- as it was my 50th I got a mention which I wasn’t expecting what with all the birthday celebrations going on!

From their facebook page.

Then we were off!

Facebook page again. Look, it’s me! The flare was very exciting too!

I had no time aims, I just wanted to enjoy the atmosphere. It was brilliant seeing all the costumes on the way around, and it was pretty much perfect running weather, although I have had a sore throat this week and the cold air was not so good.

Because they pointed me out at the start, a few people said to me “well done” for my 50th on the way around, which was lovely. I kept running alongside a lady dressed as a bee, admiring her outfit. We kept passing each other, and in the end I think I finished just ahead of her. My time was 28.28, I like the repetition!

Afterwards we cheered more people over the line, and then queued up to what I thought was the WI stall, but turned out to be for a piece of the cake, and they also had a guest book to sign which I thought was lovely.

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Love the little trainers! It was tasty too!

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A couple of us took a photo by the banner (some had rushed off by this point), and then went to get a warm drink (and were photographed surreptitiously while we were waiting). Of course I then went to the WI stall and got a piece of delicious ginger cake (which I ate on Sunday).

It was such a great start to the weekend. I didn’t get home until so much later because lot of people were hanging about a bit, and it just felt like a lovely community event. What I also love is that they celebrate the taking part- I know that if you are faster then you get more points, but actually it is more about being there consistently. They celebrate junior runners, and encourage activity in young people. Also, one lady had volunteered so many times- she was manning the cake stall but was called over at the start- the volunteers are what make it such a special event and I love that they are celebrated just as much as the speedy runners.

When I finally got home, as well as my results email I also had an email saying I was now in the 50 club! How exciting! I didn’t even know they did that!

Here’s to many more parkruns!

(Don’t) give me gin and tonic- Supersonic 10K recap!

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.

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

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We even found some outdoor gym bits.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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

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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?

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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?

Track stars!

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.

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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?

Virtual 10K race

So, back in the summer someone in my running club mentioned that she was the ambassador for a virtual 10K race, as it was raising money for a charity close to her heart (SANDS- Stillbirth and Neonatal death charity). So I popped over to the website (here if you are interested, it might be my new addiction), and as well as signing up for a September 10K, I signed up for a Summer 5K- look at the gorgeous medal! How could I resist that?

IMG_20150828_153939570So, I had to do the 10K in September, and I had pencilled in last weekend (would rather not do one after work, and had the wedding the next weekend, and a family do the weekend after). On the Bank Holiday Monday I had a lovely 6 mile run on a new route, so I decided I would race myself on that route. I had to add a bit to it, as I needed to make it up to the 6.2 miles for an official 10K, but that was easy as near the start I just turned right, left, left, instead of going straight on.

So anyway, Sunday morning I set my alarm for 7.30, and was out the door at 8. I even did a few minutes of dynamic warm ups. Sort of like a race warm up.

The weather was pretty good- sunny at times, overcast at others, but cool, not too windy, no rain. Just good running weather. I had looked on Strava briefly before I left, to see the time I needed to beat, but because they take out the not-moving time, I wasn’t quite sure of my total time. In the end I aimed for better average pace, as last time it was 10.19 per mile.

I was enjoying listening to marathon talk (slowly catching up still), and amazingly I didn’t have to stop once for traffic when crossing roads.

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I passed a few OH ladies and called “morning” to them, but other than that I saw hardly anyone. When I got home it turned out I had run 6.3 miles (but then normally in a race I would loop about the route a bit when passing people)- 1:01:06 (Strava says 04, which must be the stop before I pressed stop).

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As soon as I stopped my glasses started misting up- not sure why but it always happens in the winter (and here I was outside, not even going inside in the warm).

I sent the picture of my Garmin off (via email) and then they sent the medal out. I was in the results table online the next day- it’s all very speedy.

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My medal arrived about a week later. And yes, I wore it for a bit, because, well, why not? It came with a note saying they had raised £600 for charity which I think is fantastic too.

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A bonus- a medal photo without the sweaty hair of after a race!

After a shower and a little muesli (I am learning that I must eat soon after I finish a run to combat headaches), it was time to head out as we were going out for lunch/brunch with Andy’s parents. We had a lovely wander around the town before settling on Bill’s, and as it was the weekend they were still serving brunch- pancakes for me, hooray!

Then we went to the new independent cinema, to see The Man from UNCLE, which, despite never seeing the TV show, I really enjoyed. It was sort of like a Bond film, but with less cliches. I’ve only been there once before, to see a Studio Ghibli film, and that time we sat upstairs which is just nice comfy normal seats. This time we sat downstairs- we had 4 big comfy wheelie chairs, and a little table- the chairs could spin around so in the adverts we could chat (whisper), and in the film we could spin around and face the right way. It was so much nicer than our local multiplex.

After a walk back to the car, we went back for tea and cake. I had baked a batterburg the day before, adding some ground pistachios to one part of the mixture to make it green.

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Would you be tempted by a virtual race? I don’t think I could run as fast as I do in a race, and you don’t get the medal right after, but honestly some of the medals are so pretty. They have a Christmas series of 5k’s and one of the medals is a reindeer! So, yes, I might have signed up…