Category: Running

So, as I mentioned before, I have signed up to run 100 miles during the month of September (not all in one go!). More of a challenge than July, as I am at work so no chance of a longer run midweek to make up the miles.

I had worked it out roughly as four runs per week, 3 of five miles, and 1x 10 miles. But I got behind as coming back after my holiday I eased in a bit gently, doing less than 5 on the shorter runs, and only a 6 for the first long run.

This week I did some adding up and realised I am leaving things a bit late- I keep thinking as I am doing a half next weekend it’s fine, as that’s more than 10 miles, but forgetting that I won’t be parkrunning on the Saturday…

Anyway, last week went like this:

Monday– Rest/ walk after work (2 miles ish)

Tuesday– It was so hot! This was at 6.30 (after being in a boiling hot classroom all day- it’s 30C in the coolest bit)- the temperature outside was still 30! We did 4 miles around the lake as it was a bit cooler, and that was far enough for us all.

Wednesday- I woke up in the night with an awful headache – I knew I had not had enough to drink after the Tuesday run (a glass of nuun, a cup of tea and a little bit of water), and I ended up being awake for a couple of hours. As we had a meeting and then our club social on Thursday, I had to do my run that day, so I went out for 5 miles. I took it slowly as I was tired from the night before, and I bumped into someone from the club so I chatted to her for a bit.

I was dripping when I got home! I think it felt hotter than Tuesday, probably being an hour earlier didn’t help. I made sure I had a lot to drink though, including some coconut water.

Thursday– Rest

Friday– Walk after work (and how crazy were all those floods? My journey to work felt like I was driving through rivers!)

Saturday– I was going to meet my dad at Panshanger parkrun, as I had not been there since before holiday, and they were having a charity cake sale. I got there early and did a couple of miles along one of the tracks, and the hung around at the start, Luckily I had my phone with me, as at around 8.45 my phone rang, with my dad telling me that him and my brother left late (my brother’s alarm didn’t go off) and so they were going to Ellenbrook as they would not get here on time!

So I did the parkrun, and then as I was in the barcode scanning queue I realised it was around 0.4 miles back to the car, and I had already run 5.4, so if I did a little bit around a field I could make it up to 6. Every mile counts!

I bought a couple of these amazing flapjack caramel pecan squares and had a bit of one when I got home- it was delicious. My trail shoes got their first outing of the autumn too.

In the afternoon we headed into London as some of my relatives from Austria were visiting, so we had a lovely wander by the Thames, had a Starbucks (it was so cold!), walked some more, went to some pubs (the rest of my family very much like a beer or three!) and had dinner before wandering back along the Thames in the dark. There was an interesting art instillation- a large cube of drawings made by North Korean refugees, lit up from the inside. At night it really stood out and looked very dramatic.

Sunday– Long run. I had to be up early as I was meeting friends at Luton Hoo for “morning coffee” (basically pastries and tea), and Andy was also up early as he was driving down to Southampton. So by 7.30 I was out the door. I had planned on running 10 miles, but as I neared home I felt OK, and still had 10 minutes left of my allotted run time, so I headed around the little mile loop to make it up to 11. After a drink and some pottering (emptying the dishwasher, putting away washing- these things are more useful to life than stretching) I had a shower and even managed to dry my hair for 10 minutes, so it wasn’t completely dripping. Then I could enjoy a lovely catch up.

So, I think this week I actually managed the 25 miles, (26 in fact) and now my total for the month is 69. I need to make sure I stick to my plan though otherwise on the final day I am going to be doing a very long run after work indeed!

Are you a fan of art? I like it when it is explained, as just looking at something does not often mean much to me- I’m not good at interpreting things.

So this week our running club held an evening event, to celebrate 4 years of the club!

The event was being hosted in a local cycle shop (that also has a cafe- what a great idea), and they were hosting a guest speaker, Shu Pillinger. I had a bit of a rush to get there as we had a presentation to parents at work, due to finish at 6, but of course there is the tidying away and driving home. I ended up getting home at 6.55, and had the quickest ever shower and some toast before rushing out of the door at 7.20- I just made the 7.30 start in time!

My phone was not keen on the screen it seems!

The evening was lovely- when I arrived there were nibbles on tables as well as prosecco and sparkling water. I bought a cup of tea from the cafe (my one caffeinated drink per day allowance needed using up!), and I chatted to a few of the club members. It’s funny seeing people out of their running gear, with normal hair!

At around 7.45, we sat down and Shu began her talk, and it was just fascinating. She began by running a race for life, and from then has transformed into an ultra athlete. The main challenge she talked about was completing the RAAM (Race Across America)- she cycled the whole width of the USA in 12 days and 9 hours, and was the first British woman to ever achieve it. I didn’t even think you could drive across the USA in that time. She talked about the hallucinations, falling asleep on her bike while cycling (it was pretty non-stop), a bit about her vegan diet, and then her training. She commutes into London each day on her bike, 20 miles each way. One thing she mentioned was that at the weekends she likes challenges such as cycling around the outside of the M25 (not on it)- apparently to cross one of the bridges, as bikes are not allowed on it, there is a phone box and you call someone, and they turn up with a van, put your bike in the back of the van and then drive you across the bridge. It sounded like the equivalent of a secret handshake or something. She might swim a mile in the morning before that, and after the talk that evening she was running back (to St Albans, so maybe 7 miles or something, depending on whereabouts).  She did a bit of a question and answer session too, and there were lots of questions about her running, different events and her weekends. Her website (linked to above) is well worth a look if you are interested in that sort of thing. It felt like a live episode of the tough girl podcast! When it finished she changed into her (marathon talk) running t-shirt and kit, and then headed off.

I chatted a bit more before heading home at around 10pm. It was so inspiring and interesting, and something that I would have no idea about if the club had not put the event on. Although I am not about to cycle around Ireland or run around Cypress (other events she had taken part in) it was good to hear someone so passionate about keeping active and chasing new challenges. It was also to see some fantastic photos (Monument Valley at sunrise) and it made me want another holiday!

What sort of people inspire you? What types of challenges do you like?

So since getting back from holiday I have been very aware that I have a half marathon to run at the end of September (in Disneyland Paris- I’m so excited!!!). I knew I would not have much of a chance to run on holiday, but I did run 13 miles the week before we went away, with the aim of getting up to around 10 miles in September. I was also very conscious of not getting my bad back from upping miles too quickly, so I decided to start off gently and then up them more at the end of the month.

I also signed up to run 100 miles during September, because I liked the medal.

(From their facebook page). Seriously, how pretty is it???

We arrived home late Monday, and on Tuesday I went out for a 3 mile run- I had to stop and walk and put that down to being tired (I was awake from around 3-5am), being dehydrated, and not having eaten much the day before (I didn’t want breakfast when we landed, and ended up having some cereal at around 5pm after we had got home).

I stopped in town to buy an almond croissant and had that as my breakfast when I got home

On Wednesday I made the most of my last day of the summer holidays and went out for 4 miles, and then on Thursday after work I went for 5 miles, because I realised it was September and I needed to start ticking the miles off. Perhaps running 3 days in a row wasn’t a good idea, but Friday was a rest day anyway.

On Saturday I headed to Wimpole Estate parkrun for some tourism,and then on Sunday morning I did 6 miles before going out for brunch. I would have been tempted to go a bit further, but I didn’t have time and that was just as well as I know once I get back into more of a routine I can run further.

Then last week has looked like this:

Monday- rest day. Walk after work.

Tuesday- 8.3 miles with club- I had warned them I would be slower than usual as I had not run that far for a while, but it was great. As we ran down the final hill, the sun was setting and we had beautiful views across the countryside. Everyone stops at the top of each hill for the group to catch up so I had a few chances to catch my breath which was good. One of our runners managed that route for the first time- she had done up to 6 miles before, so that was a great achievement. Somehow, running long in the evenings seems more of an acomplishment than running on a Sunday morning.

Wednesday- Yoga class!

Thursday- 5 miles after work to try and ease my yoga aches!

Friday-  I met some friends at the Waffle House after work, and although I did consider a walk when I got home, I was too tired so just watched some of the Paralympics instead.

Saturday morning, sitting in my car wondering if the rain would ease off!

Saturday- I had volunteered to do the new runners briefing at Ellenbrook parkrun, and with the 100 mile challenge I have broken it down to mainly three runs of 5 miles each, and a long run of 10 miles. To make the parkrun up, I did a couple of laps of the university, which totalled 2 miles. I then had time to chat to the other volunteers and give the talk before running it myself. One lady turned up with a crutch, saying she had not been able to walk for 18 months, and was gradually working back up to it- she wanted to walk it and then eventually run it.

I ran a bit with someone else from my club, and we were having a lovely chat for a bit, but then she felt like she was slowing and so I kept on going. I ended up overtaking a couple of ladies, and one of them came up to me at the finish and told me “I didn’t think anyone would go past me and the you did”- I apologised but she was only being nice about it, and it was probably half a km from the end, so we ended up having a nice chat about all things running. There were loads of our club members volunteering and running, and it was great to see so many people. One person said “if you get a good time after nattering the whole way around I will be so annoyed!” – in my defence we only really chatted for the first half! I was saving my legs for Sunday anyway!

I was talking to one of my friends about doing the 100 mile challenge, and she said she didn’t think she could run for over 6 miles. I said I liked to listen to podcasts, and at that point John Norman (Danny Norman’s dad, who used to present the parkrun podcast) came over and started talking to me about podcasts. Now, some of you may remember (!) that he stopped me out for a run- I have checked my blog and it was back in 2014 (here if you are interested). Him and his wife help out most weeks at Ellenbrook, and sadly in August he had suffered a stroke (the Ellenbrook team put out a message on facebook to wish him well, so he wasn’t keeping it private), so he ended up telling me about that. He’d been signed off from physio this week so was really pleased to be on the mend.

Sunday was 10 miles- (a bit of a Martin Yelling inverse taper going on- I figured that I ran 8 miles on Tuesday to the jump up to 10 would be fine)- someone from my club was going out for around 12, and usually I would have joined her but I didn’t want to set an alarm as the next time I won’t set one is the 2nd October. I woke up around 8, and pottered about before heading out just before 9.

It was perfect running weather- sunny but cool from a gentle breeze. Fab.

How do you get back to running/exercise after a break? What is your ideal weather? After this muggy and hot week I am quite looking forward to some cooler and crisper days.

But first up, my last week of running:

Last Tuesday (after decorating all morning and having friends over in the afternoon) I headed off for our club run. We were due to do the 8 mile hilly loop- it’s a really pretty loop after the first couple of miles, but it’s hilly. There were only 5 of us on the run, and two of them wanted to run with us for the first two miles, and the run back, so for the most part it was three of us. It was very enjoyable, but it was so muggy, and drizzling, which just made it feel more sticky instead of being refreshing.

On Wednesday I was seeing friends in the morning for brunch- I walked into town to meet them, we had brunch (good old pancakes at Bill’s).

Then we walked back home, and then when they left I walked back into town with them before they caught the train. I did consider a run, but we went shed shopping instead and after walking close to 5 miles I decided that it was a good idea to have a rest day.

On Thursday I had been decorating all morning, until around 1.30. Some friends were due to pop by, but could not make it in the end, so I had some cereal, pottered about for a bit while it went down, and then headed out on a run. I got into a good routine a while back of having some hill repeats in my training each week, but since moving I need to find a good hill.

I did around a mile of warm up, then found a small-ish hill, and went up and down it about 12 times I think. I like the Strava screenshot as it looks like someone just scribbled on the road! After that I had a gentle run home, to total 3.1 miles.

On Friday I ran to the lakes, around the lakes and back home. It was lovely.

6.6 miles covered before breakfast- perfect.

Then on Saturday it was time for parkrun! For the last month I have either been a tail runner or a marshal, but as this was my last one before going on holiday I fancied running all out. I looked at my pb for that particular course, which was on the inaugural event- I ran 27.52, and when I used a pace calculator to see what a 27.40 time would be (for a bit of breathing room) it was 8-something per mile, so I thought I would just see how close I could get to it.

My dad and brother were both running, and my dad didn’t want to go too fast (his pb is around 22 minutes I think) so he ran with me. We started off more cautiously, and were enjoying saying thanks to all of the marshals- I knew nearly all of them! The Ellenbrook Fields course has a small loop of around a mile, and then a large loop, all around fields and through woods,  and we were really enjoying the scenery.  Dad does not run with a watch, but he guessed after 2 miles that we were running around 26 minute pace- I was not sure but I knew I was close to the pace I had looked at. As you get closer to the finish you run along a flat, straight concrete path (and old taxi-way from when it was an airfield) and we saw my brother up ahead. Dad suggested that we try to catch him up, and finish in a row, as we have not managed a 1,2,3 before. We gained on him for a bit, but then he started speeding up and overtook a couple of runners. Dad mentioned that we could still go for it, so I told him to overtake and that I would try to keep up with him.  At this time all I could really do was gasp an answer to Dad, but we managed to pick up and overtake the two runners, and then got closer to my brother. Dad ended up running behind me and cheering me along, which was lovely. As I went through the finish funnel, I did actually gag- I was very close to actually being sick and have never felt quite like that before- I have felt nauseous before, but never actually felt my throat go. It was not nice and I felt very sorry for the person handing out the tokens! I got my breath back quickly though, and we were very pleased to finish as numbers 51, 52 and 53! My watch said 27.17, so I was pretty sure that I had achieved a pb!

We had a few stretches in the shade, before walking back to the car and taking a photo to commemorate- we tried to do podium order (my brother in the centre as he finished first out of all of us) but could not remember which was bronze and silver are meant to be.

When the results came through I was really pleased to have achieved an official course pb of 27.16! My brother was 5 seconds ahead, and my dad one second behind. I was chatting to Dad on the way back and he mentioned he thought I was using my arms more, which I was really pleased with, as we practised this at the track session last week, and as we were coming down the runway I tried to really think about my movements.

As the result came in, I was looking on the Did You Run Today facebook group (a really welcoming and supportive running group) and someone had posted about being really disappointed because they did their first parkrun last week, and this week were a minute slower- not the right time to jump on there and post my pb! I think if you follow other runners, and read blogs, then there will always be someone getting a pb, but if you look at individuals they aren’t all getting them all of the time.

I looked at my full parkrun results to see how that time compared. It is faster than my tourism to flatter courses (including Hove Prom and Crissy Field), but I have beaten that time at the very flat St Albans back in 2013 five times, and matched it once.  Since mainly running Panshanger (off road and not at all flat) I have only run 27 minutes a handful of times. Anyway, I wondered how many pb’s I had achieved. That was my 75th parkrun, and I have a total of 8 pb’s- this does not include the first event at new courses, as that is always an automatic personal best. I didn’t think that was too bad a ratio, and I think it shows that you can’t be getting faster times every single week. My dad has run 66, and achieved 13 pb’s, so he is a bit ahead there. My brother has run 53 and achieved seven pb’s, again a bit ahead of me. Hopefully when the cooler weather comes around I can do a few more flat out parkruns and maybe chip a few seconds off- it would be good to get another one beginning with a 26, but we shall see! Of course the beauty of parkrun is that you can run it for any reason you want, and now I am half way to the next milestone (as my dad pointed out to me) I shall be working steadily towards 100.

How often do you think you achieve a pb? If you do run parkruns, how many in total have you run, and how many of those have been pb’s?