Maria Runs

So after running Brighton, we went out for dinner with my mum and dad, who then mentioned that they would like to buy me some new trainers for my birthday- I think they could see the hole appearing above my big toe!

This weekend, they picked me up and we headed to Sweatshop (did you know, by the way, that if you are a member of a UK Athletics club, you get a 10% discount there? I didn’t until this weekend, which left me frantically trying to find my card for a few minutes).

A few years ago I did the whole treadmill thing, and got a pair of Mizunos which I loved. When I replaced them, the people in the shop just told me to get the next version of the same shoe, but I never really liked them- they felt very stiff and strange. Around that time I bought some Asics trail shoes, taking a gamble (they were cheap and I wouldn’t wear them that much I thought)  and really liked them, so instead of getting fitted, I ordered some new road shoes (Asics) from Wiggle, and they turned out to be fab too. But I tried to work out which were the newer version of that shoe, and could not. I could not even work out if they were supportive/ cushioning/ something else type of shoes.

In the shop, even though I showed them my old shoes, he decided I should go on the treadmill (rolling up my jeans so he could see my ankles- not the easiest to do), first in neutral trainers (I think they were Adidas Boosts)- for three minutes, at a gentle speed, and then faster. He then showed me the video, which was really interesting (last time I don’t remember them even filming it, but that was a few years ago)- slow motion really showed my leg kicking to the side, which I have seen in race photos but can’t see myself. Anyway, I needed a shoe with some support on the inside. I tried some Brooks (back on the treadmill for another 3 minutes) which were comfy but felt like the arch in the sole was slightly too high, then another pair (I forget what), then the Asics. They felt really soft and comfy, and when he showed me the video he even drew lines on the screen to show how the alignment of my feet and knees. It was really interesting to see. Finally I tried a pair of Mizunos. To me they felt stiff (although I didn’t say anything) and after about 30 seconds he slowed down the treadmill and told me they weren’t for me. It is so clever that he could tell that right away.

In the end it was a toss up between the Brooks and Asics, and as I have loved my last two pairs of Asics it seemed sensible to go with those ones.

It helps that they are very pretty too, although the Brooks were a lovely hot pink, so really I would have been happy with either!

I was so tired though- I must have run in total for about 15 minutes on the treadmill- I really should have worn sports clothes as the jeans and big hoodie made it very tough indeed.

On Sunday morning I was very excited to be up and out on a run, to try them out.

Well, they were fab!

 

(Just back from my run trying to work out how to take photo with sweaty fingers on the touch screen!)

And for once I was very co-ordinated- I bought this vest in H&M last weekend, and it matched my headband and shoes so well. What are the chances?

10 miles in the bag, first double figure run since Brighton, and I felt fine (apart from being very thirsty). Next weekend I am going to aim for 12 miles, then I have two weekends off (a week away), and then a 10k the following week, where I may or may not run long on the Saturday, before the half the following week. I think I will be OK for the half, especially if I do a few medium runs mid-week at some point.

But, what to do with my old trainers? I still have the old Mizunos that I loved, just in case- of what I don’t know! Do you keep old trainers and sports equipment?

Also, I am going to buy a new pair of sports headphones- I like the neckband style ones (not sure if you can see in the picture but they have a sold band around the back of your head) but they don’t do the same ones any more, and all the reviews on amazon are making my mind boggle! Any recommendations would be gratefully received.

A few weeks ago I was asked to contribute to this infographic about preparing for a marathon. It was perfect timing as I had just run Brighton, so could think about what I would say to others about to do the same thing.

I can’t seem to make it any bigger (technical IT things are not my forte) but the original is here, if you fancy a look.

I have also been sent a few running bits recently (in exchange for a mention on my blog) so here they are:

I was kindly sent this insect shield Buff, which contains insect repellent. I love the green colour of it.

I have tried it (we have had a few windy days recently!) but I think I am more likely to use it in the winter. Even though it is “coolmax” fabric, I still found it was a bit warm to wear at this time of year. I do like that it can be worn in different ways, although I can only really wear it around my neck, or take it off and wrap it around my arm (but at least that means no carrying if I change my mind about wearing it).

I was also sent some Flexitol “Heel Magic”– as everyone knows, runners feet get a bit neglected at times. I do use footcream when I remember, but often I am in a hurry or just forget. This is great, because it is a roll on cream, so I never get it on my hands. (I have some lovely peppermint cream but it makes my hands smell strong, even after I have washed my hands). I am using it more regularly than I would a normal foot cream, which of course helps, but it does leave my feet feeling nice and soft too, but not too greasy.

Finally, I was sent some coconut oil from Monkey Nutrition.

Of course, after going to parkrun this morning I decided to put it to use with some pancakes. I feel like I have not had pancakes in ages!

One egg, buckwheat flour, coconut milk, plus blueberries cooked with a little coconut sugar. The coconut oil goes in the pan first, before I cook the pancake.

I had this with a little almond yoghurt, mango, and vegan salted caramel sauce (the first time I tried this- from the same place as the vegan butterscotch sauce and it is just as delicious). Such a good breakfast.

What advice would you give to someone doing their first race? Which race do you think is really beginner friendly? 

So on Saturday we travelled down to Southampton- I mooched around the shops while Andy went to the football, and then we met up for dinner (Nando’s now do a really nice salad with sweet potato, quinoa, avocado, tomatoes, nuts and seeds).

I got my number ready the night before. I have used the event clips for the last few races, and even thought they have not come undone I did use one emergency safety pin during the marathon, but they don’t budge so just used those this time. I hate leaving safety pin holes in running tops, especially now I have a club vest- I think they are well worth the few pounds that they cost.

The weather had initially said rain, but then changed to showers at 9, but dry before, so I decided to just go for vest and capris- I didn’t want to be too hot.

The 10K started at 8.30am, but our hotel was less than half a mile from the start, so we got up at around 7.30, had a clif bar and some water, and left the hotel at 8am (it was very cold and I wished I had brought another old top to throw away, but at least I only had to be cold for half an hour). This was the first year of the race (there was also a half marathon, not starting until 10am which was mainly why we chose the 10k- enough time to shower after the race before having to check out, although my post-marathon legs were very glad we had made that decision!)- the race village was really well organised, nice and small, but not congested. Your entry included a free t-shirt, which you could collect before the event if you wanted to run wearing it. The village had a bit of a flow, going t-shirt collection- bag drop- other tents- warm up area- start area. There was a token on the bottom of your number (next to the bag drop label) to exchange for your t-shirt which I liked too.

We headed to the start at around 8.20 (after watching the mass warm up), but the race started a little later- not too bad but it was a cold morning and I was very chilly in my vest. One thing I would say is that they had finishing signs for the half marathon in the start area, but no 10k times, so I wasn’t quite sure where I should stand- I ended up overtaking a lot of people (some walked within the first mile) so I think I could have possibly gone further forwards. Only a small thing anyway.

I didn’t have a pacer band or anything- I have not run this distance for months, and comparing my Brighton 10k times was not that useful seeing as that is the flattest possible course, so I decided to aim for between 55 and 60 minutes- I feel fitter than when I was aiming for a sub hour 10k so thought it should be possible, although 5 miles has been the longest run since Brighton and that gave me heavy legs, so mainly I wanted to enjoy it.

Half marathon runners close to the finish- when we were walking back to the car.

I don’t know Southampton that well- we do go down there quite a bit but generally I walk from where we park (somewhere along The Avenue, which was part of the half course) to the town centre, but I quite like it when I don’t know where I am. Andy had warned me we go over a bridge and it would be tough, but I just decided not to think about it. We went up the rod past the hotel, around the park a bit, into the town centre, under the big gate house thing, and then towards the sea.

I looked at my watch a few times, knowing I needed to be as close to 9 min miles as I could for the 55 minutes, but my pace seemed pretty erratic- I think I was weaving in and out for the first couple of miles. I saw a sign saying “Smile if you’re going to show that bridge who’s boss” and I shouted to the lady that I would try. Well, then we came around the corner and saw the bridge. It was a steep one. Steep and long. I was hoping to be off the bridge before the rain started, and luckily it held off, although the wind there made it pretty cold. You had good views from the top (the Saints stadium, a big cruise ship), but also could see the faster runners heading down the other side- yup, you got to do it twice in one race! As I was going down the other side, I saw Andy heading up it on the other side- he was still smiling too. I had hoped we would get a little flat running to recover, but at the very bottom you doubled back and headed back over the bridge again. Luckily that side was not as steep so it didn’t seem so tough. Heading up the bridge I had overtaken a lot of people (some walking, but some just running slower)- heading back down I was being overtaken and my legs were getting heavy. I felt like I was going slowly, but when I looked at my watch my pace was 8.36 or something- no wonder my legs felt tired!

Then the route took you around the stadium (with a second water station- incidentally, loads of people were drinking at the first water station which was 2 miles in- who needs to??????? The water stations had big bags- the kind concrete or something is in- for the water bottles to be thrown in after which helps with the clear up), and then along a busier  road before heading back into the town, around the park (again with runners going the other way- I looked out for Andy but I think he must have already passed it at that point), before heading towards the finish. All around the route were timing mats, and just before the finish there were two (we passed that way after about a mile)- I nearly stopped there, thinking it was the finish, before I saw the actual finish line marked along the way on the right!

My watch said 58 something, so I was really happy with that- my official time was 58.26 which I am really pleased with. The only sub 60 min 10k’s I have done before have been in Brighton, and this was not a flat course so not really comparable. I feel like that is more the time I am capable of generally, instead of if everything goes my way if that makes sense.

The finish area was also really organised- a medal was placed around my neck, I was handed  a bag (a nice fabric draw string one) with a banana in it, a running guide magazine thing, and some crisps (salt and vinegar, hooray, the only good flavour!), and a space blanket (which was very needed in that cold wind). Andy was there, eating his banana (he finished in 52.12), he had seen me running to the finish but I didn’t spot him. We walked back to the start area (a couple of minutes away) and collected our t-shirts. This again was organised- the sizes were indicated on the side of the tent, and they had one out of a pack so you could judge the size.

By this time it was about a quarter of an hour before the half marathon was due to start, and we knew that Matt LeTissier was running it, and there was a VIP tent right by the start, so we stood by the fence and peered in- yup he was there. This apparently was Andy’s equivalent for my high-fiving Jo Pavey a fortnight ago! He came out of the tent and did an interview over the tannoy, along with Francis Benali (another ex-player who ran 1000 miles between all the Premier League football grounds in 21 days- averaging 46 miles a day- to raise money for Cancer Research UK) and his son. We then decided to walk back before it started, as we wanted to be able to get to our hotel!

Of course I had to have a medal photo, but back at the hotel as neither of us ran with our phones.

I love the t-shirt and medal.

Although it was weird seeing people running with the word “FINISHER” across their back. Love that the bridge made it on the top though, that was tough.

Looking on my phone I realised that I must have signed up for timing alerts, because it had posted on my page that I started, and when I beat the bridge. I heard that the Sheffield half did something similar (a bit like the King of the Hill in the Tour De France)- there were timing mats at either end of the bridge, and when you load up your results you get your chip time, and your “beat the bridge” time too- pretty cool. Mine was 10.59- that is one long bridge!

After a shower we packed up and headed out for some food- seeing the first half marathon finisher follow the lead car on the final stretch. (Incidentally, I loved the humour that on the race information sheet, it had the timings of when the village opened, when each race started, and then at 11.01 it said “First half marathon finisher?”- I love that they were so optimistic of a 61 minute half!

A Pret orange spiced hot chocolate, almond croissant and fruit pot put plenty of energy back in, before we walked back to the car, and headed home.

Cheering on more half marathon runners on our way.

The rain held off the entire time luckily.

All in all, this was a really good event, especially for the inaugural one. So well organised, pretty good route, a few things to look at on the way around (including some impressive cheerleading children), ending with a lovely medal and fab t-shirt.

Then I had the excitement of checking all the updates of the London marathon runners (I taped it too).

Although I love half marathons, I do think a 10K is a better distance for a weekend away, as it didn’t take up too much time and didn’t leave us hobbling about too much.

Would you wear a finisher’s t-shirt for a race?