Fast!

Another Sunday, another 10k. This time, the Rothwell 10k. This is quite a big local race that is part of some Yorkshire championship or other for clubs. It's reputed to be a real PB course (30 metre net descent from start to finish), and filled up a couple of weeks ago so is pretty popular.

Last night I was seriously considering not turning up. I didn't fancy an evening of staying off the wine, having an early night, and I didn't fancy getting up early, making my lunch to eat between the race and the rugby, potentially going to the rugby all sweaty etc etc. All pathetic excuses, but between those and the vague arrival of TOM, I was feeling lazy.

But I forced myself to turn up, and was then shocked by the proportion of club runners there. Most of the races I've run so far have been charity events which club runners run. Maybe organised with the help of a running club, but with a good field of unattached runners. This time it seemed different, with big groups milling around the start from pretty much every local club. There seemed to be fewer people running without a club vest than in the other races I've done. I actually felt like it would be nice to be part of a club, which I've never felt before. Maybe I might get round to turning up to one of the club training sessions to see whether I like it.

My target was under 50 minutes. I managed just over 50 minutes for the "challening" Fountains Abbey 10k, and I knew that this course was meant to be fast. But on the other hand, I haven't done that much speed training since Fountains. I did my 5k race, then mum came over and I've just kept myself ticking over. Plus I'd already done 24 miles or so this week which, despite not running for the past 2 days, made me wonder whether I'd have enough energy in my legs to get round the course in a good time. So the target was sub 50, but with no particular target for how much under I wanted to be.

I positioned myself not too badly at the start. Some people overtook me, I overtook other people, but I wasn't right at tha back or right at the front, and finished fairly close to some of the other people I started near. For the first time I ran without my iPod, and it was interesting how hearing other people talking changed my experience of the race. Whether it was feeling pathetic to be worrying about my 12.5 mile on Monday when I hear other people talking about running the London Marathon on Sunday and then doing this one too, or hearing people talking about aiming for 52 minutes and speeding up to overtake them, it really did make it a different experience.

I didn't see any km markers before 4k. I'm sure they were there, but they didn't register. At about 15 minutes I was starting to feel like I was maybe going a lot faster than normal, confirmed when someone near me said that the bridge we'd gone under a minute or so before was 2 miles. I was only aiming for 8 minute miles! I passed the 4k marker at about 18 minutes, and 5k at about 23. My fastest ever 5k previously had been very marginally under 24 minutes on the treadmill (and slightly over in my last 5k race). I started to worry at this stage that I'd gone off too fast. It turns out from reading other people's experiences that the first half of the course is faster than the second half, but I knew that I had to take it a bit easier to avoid blowing up in the later stages of the race. I knew that if I ran the last 5k at my pre-race target pace (5 minutes per km) I'd still manage to come in at a well below target 48 minutes, so I spent the next few km trying to go at a more comfortable pace and holding on without resorting to a walk.

I really wanted to walk at about 6k, but I guess I've now got that experience. I know that I can comfortably do the distance, and I know that walking will just drag it out for longer because I'll have to start running again at some point. So I just kept on. I always set myself little challenges in races, picking out people I want to beat, or I want to keep in sight if I can't catch them. For a couple of km from about 7 to 9 I was running stride for stride with a bloke. If I went faster, so did he. I doubt he wanted to be beaten by a girl... There were also a couple of women behind me I wanted to stay ahead of. At about 9km one of the women behind overtook me, having separated from her friend for a final sprint to the line. I couldn't keep up with her. But as I and the bloke by me overtook someone else, the person we were overtaking asked the bloke how long we'd been running. As he slowed to answer, this was my chance. I pushed on and got some daylight in between us. I also heard the other woman I'd been trying to keep behind me coming up and closing the gap, so I decided to go for one final push to the finish and ran as fast as I could.

Having been running at pretty much 5 minutes per km from 5 - 9, I found a bit of speed from somewhere and finished in...

47:44

That's quite some way under my sub 50 target! I couldn't believe that I'd run so fast, it's by far faster than I've ever managed before, even in my 5k race just a few weeks ago.

Some stats. Overall I was 384/705, in women I was 67/235 and in women under 35 I was 20/61 (from these results). And even better, the Runners World race time calculator now estimates my marathon time as 3:39! Good for Age, here I come (possibly)!

Early Bird

Did I ever think I'd see the day where, faced with a heavy day at work, I set my alarm half an hour earlier to make sure I could get a 5.7 mile run in before preparing for my 9am conference call?

Well, that day arrived today. And tomorrow I'm doing the same so that I can do a 3 - 4 mile run before catching the 7.40am train to London.

That's one of the biggest indications yet of how much I've changed!

Long Monday

Having taken the weekend off running to spend some time with mum and watch the marathon, today was long run day. I knew that I'd have a long time between dropping mum off at work and needing to be at work, so I set that time aside to aim for a 1.5 - 2 hour run up the canal further than I normally go. In the run up to my last half marathon my longest run was 12.2 miles, and since then I've only run the half marathon, a couple of 7 - 8 mile runs and one 10 mile run. I really wanted to get a decent long run under my belt before the Chester half when I get back from Spain, but with no weekends to do it in, I had to get creative in terms of fitting it in before work!

So, this morning it was. The first shock was how cold it was. It was lovely and warm over the weekend, and I had the french doors into the garden open. I stepped outside this morning and saw frost on the ground. Typically, I hadn't picked up my gloves, although I had at least put my long sleeve running top on. I just hoped that it would warm up before too long!

After dropping mum off, I parked at the gym. A whole 45 minutes before it opened. I started running at 5.45am. Yup, you read that right. Me, out running before 6am on a Monday morning. What has happened to me?

At first, down the familiar stretch, I seemed to warm up a bit. It was relatively sunny, and the cold didn't seem too bad. But then after the place where I normally turn round, between 2.5 and 3 miles, the fog seemed to come own and my hands were getting very cold. At one point I could hardly move my fingers. But I carried on running in the hope it would warm them up!

There were a couple of steep slopes up triple locks, but the route is generally nice and flat, and relatively scenic considering it goes along the back of industrial estates. As I got further out of the city there were more parks along the side of the canal, and I started really getting into my stride.

There are mile markers along the route, although they're not in place for the first couple of miles, and I'm not sure where in the city centre they measure to. The gym is slightly on that side of town, so my run might have been a bit shorter, but then I have to run back on myself to get down onto the towpath so maybe not. I decided to just use the mile markers as if they're off it's not by much.

I ran past the 4 mile marker, the 5 mile marker and the 6 mile marker. Then, after about 56 minutes I hit the 6.25 mile mark and decided to turn round and head back. I was still feeling OK by that point.

After about 8 miles though, the energy started ebbing away. Due to a slight lack of planning I'd forgotten to pick up any energy drinks so I was running on a ryvita bar and a couple of swigs of water before I set out. But I kept on going. Watching the London marathon yesterday actually helped here. I was using it for motivation, imagining I was 4 miles from the finish of the marathon, and telling myself that I wouldn't stop running then and neither should I stop today.

It worked, I got through the tough patch and out the other side, and I kept on running. I was counting off the markers back into town, relishing the short but steep downhills by the locks and cursing the two small bridges over a marina. It seemed a lot warmer running back to the gym, and my fingers loosened up a lot.

I made it back to the gym in about 1:51, which I was very pleased with. My longest run before my last half marathon was 12.2 miles in over 2 hours and today I ran a little further (probably between 12.3 and 12.5 miles) 10 minutes quicker. That will do me. Hopefully it's a sign that I might be able to run Chester a bit faster than I ran Blackpool and take some time off that PB!

I mentioned it before, but watching the marathon yesterday was fab and really inspired me for Berlin. Seeing all those people who are no fitter than me (and the Run for Glory lot who started off in a far worse position than I was at 6 months out) made me realise that I really can do it, and I can do it well. I can already run over 12 miles relatively comfortably, and on the basis that I don't apparently need to run over 18 or 20 in training, I'm feeling more confident about the whole thing.

I'm also currently trying to work out the pace I should be running my training runs. To aim for a 4 hour marathon I need to run the whole thing at pretty much the pace I ran my long run today. But then you're meant to run your long runs slower than race pace, so if I can keep on doing my long runs at that pace (which was fairly comfortable) then maybe I could go a bit quicker on my "race pace" runs. Decisions, decisions. I keep on thinking about those magic numbers, 3:59 and 3:44 and wondering if it's possible. Certainly I'm running at about the right pace, but whether I can run at that pace for 26.2 miles is a completely different question!

Marathon fever

I'm getting strangely excited by the build up to London. Not that I'm running it, but in 5 months I'll be doing my own marathon preparation, and the buzz and excitement is really hitting home. Even though it's not my day tomorrow, it's still really hit me that I used to watch this stuff on the tv, wishing that one day I'd be able to do it, and now I can. Now I'm really able to set off on that training journey, and I'm that person, finally.

I'm planning on skipping my run tomorrow to watch it on tv, I have a long run planned for monday morning instead to make up for it, and I want to savour the atmosphere (or as much of the atmosphere as comes across) and remind myself of what I'm undertaking and why I want to do it.

And then I'll be keeping my eyes open for the ballot entries for next year...

I've got over 20 miles for the past two weeks which is a slight increase on my "easy" post half pre full training plan. I think I worked out that I really want to be starting the full training at the beginning of May, so with another slight increase in mileage next week I should be pretty much set.

I did learn the dangers of pushing myself too hard this week though. On Thursday I tried a hill run on the treadmill but due to a brain explosion I couldn't remember what speed I normally do hills at and set it far too fast. After 15 minutes I felt like dying, and just about made it to 5k in 26 minutes. I was worrying how I ever thought that I could run 26 if I struggled so much with 3 miles. But then on Friday I did an easier, but longer, run and realised that I can do it. I must keep stop trying to push myself faster - at the moment I can run 5 or 6 miles at my target marathon pace relatively comfortably, and if I can increase that distance, that's all I need. I don't need to be huge amounts faster at this stage, I just need to work at things steadily, and not try to do too much and discourage myself.

So I really need to try to stick to the plan. Including the rest days ;)

Running Club

I'm still pondering joining a running club. This would be for almost purely financial reasons, the £2 off race fees and 10% off at running shops would probably pay for my membership time and time again. I'm unlikely to get to training sessions particularly regularly, but it would be kind of nice to be part of a club.

I emailed a local club to ask about joining, but the answer I got back seemed a bit patronising to me. Maybe I was just taking it the wrong way, I don't know. I explained where I'd got to with my running - that I'd run a half marathon, that I was at about 50 minute 10ks. I didn't expect that to be fast by running club standards (he said that about 70% would be faster than me, 15% about the same and 10% slower (I don't know what happened to the other 5%!)), but I thought that it showed a certain degree of commitment to my running.

So he replies and says that "you're probably running twice a week at the moment...". Erm no, I'm not. I'm running a lot more than that. And then he gives me advice on what training I should be doing. Which is fair enough, but I already have a training plan, but he's assuming that I don't and that I need his help. Maybe I'm just taking this the wrong way and I'm sure it was well-intentioned, but it just came across like "you're pretty slow so you can't be doing much at the moment and need my help". Whereas I'm actually amazingly happy with how I'm running and training at the moment.

Plus his email was very much emphasising the training session side of it, when I'd already said that I wouldn't be able to make them often. I don't care how good the sessions are if I'm not there, do I?

So then I started looking at online running clubs like Running4Women. Except on here there's the opposite problem. They have half marathon training plans. Including a sub-2 hour plan for "experienced" runners. The intermediate plan is for 2:10. I ran 1:55 for my first half marathon and am certainly not an experienced runner. The idea of a club with online support and training plans does appeal because I can use it in my own time, but I'm wondering whether there's anything in the subscription area that's more ambitious.

Ah well, I'll ponder it a bit more I think. I may yet plump for the real life people, but at the moment he's just rubbed me up the wrong way a bit.

Run, number 69!!!

Another weekend, another race. Today it was a local 5k that I didn't really put much (any) effort into training specifically for, I just ran it because it was on really. Is that a sign of being addicted to racing, that I run because there's a race?

Anyway, the organisation seemed pretty shitty, it was very badly publicised, they didn't send out race numbers - just a letter saying we'd have to pick them up on the day (and even that only arrived on about Thursday), at the end there was a slip in the goodie bag saying that the medals weren't ready and they'd send them on, and there wasn't a clock at the finish or any mile markers. Apart from that, it was a good race...

(God, I'm getting picky about race organisation! I really am a runner now!)

With it being local I was amazingly relaxed. Compared to Race for Life (my first and only other 5k, round the same park) I was almost horizonal I was so relaxed. I was still wandering round the house in my pyjamas at 10am, for an 11am race that I needed to register for. A slowish jog down to the park to warm up (about 10 minutes), a brief moment of panic when my name wasn't on the computer (despite me having a confirmation of my registration in my hand), and still plenty of time to stand around waiting took way less than an hour. I wasn't impressed with my number though. 69. What sort of girl do they think I am???

Luckily, the weather was horrible so for most of the race my number was safely zipped under my jacket. I just opened it up a bit at the beginning and the end so the marshalls could see my number. Not that I was ashamed of it or anything...

On the start I found myself right at the front. That didn't last for long, but once I got going there was relatively little movement in the field. We started off uphill, by the time we hit the flat (400m or so?) everyone was pretty much in position. From there on I overtook a couple of people on a downhill, someone overtook me on an uphill and I overtook one or two people in the second half of the race. OK, it was only a small field (I don't know exactly how many, but there wasn't even a toilet queue, which is a good indication it was small!), but the field seemed very spread out compared to the other races I've done. I was nowhere near the "lead vehicle" (bloke on a bike), but I knew there were plenty of people behind me.

Going round I knew that there were 5 women in front of me. At one point I cut that to four by overtaking one of them, but then another overtook me so I was back where I started. I wasn't seriously expecting to finish in the first 3 to win a prize, but at least I knew that I wasn't a million miles off.

The wind was strong and biting. At one point running down Princes Avenue through the park it almost managed to blow me off the pavement onto the grass. It was horrible. The hills, on the other hand seemed far more bearable than they'd been during Race for Life. I ran up them without any major trauma, although I must admit to prefering the flat and downhill sections!

The marshalls were, as ever, fantastic. It always amazes me when people give up their weekends to stand on a street corner, clapping everyone who runs past them. It's one of the things I love about racing, the fact that people cheer you on and encourage you. They don't stand there sniggering about the size of your thighs, they cheer you on, whether you're first or last. I just hope that people in Germany are so encouraging!

Going into the race I was hoping for under 25 minutes and possibly under 24. I ran under 24 on the treadmill, but that was flat and didn't involve headwinds or sidewinds. So under 25 was the main goal. Having only just gone over 50 for a hard 10k I was hopeful of managing it, but you never do, do you?

There were no mile markers so I couldn't judge my splits. I do know the park relatively well, and thought coming back down towards the lake that I would probably be OK for sub 25, but 24 would be pushing it - and then proved how well I know the park by coming home in 24:13! I'm impressed with that, the conditions were a lot more challenging than the treadmill, and I've finally broken that 8 minute mile barrier in a race. Using the Runner's World website race time calculator it seems as though it's a slight improvement from last week - the predicted 10k time it gives from that time is faster than I ran 10k last week, but only by a few seconds, and the terrain last week could account for that.

But all in all, not a bad run.

I do have to admit to being disappointed with the t-shirt. Other races I've done you've ether chosen your size before the race or there has been a choice at the end, today it was just a t-shirt in a goodie bag they handed you at the end. One size. Large. I never thought I'd be disappointed to get a large on the basis I wanted a smaller size!

I don't know whether/how far I'm running tomorrow. Mum's coming over and I have to pick her up at the airport at 8am. I'll see what time I get back here and whether she wants to sleep or talk before we go out for lunch and shopping. Then I'll try to get some good miles in during the week before heading off to Amsterdam for easter.

So close...

The genuine 8 minute mile/50 minute 10k/40 minute 5 mile goal still eludes me, but only just.

First, back to basics. The information I got sent says, in bold no less, "please be aware that this is a hilly and demanding multi-terrain course which includes estate roads, tracks, paths and rough grass". Going into it I was hoping for an improvement on my PB (previously 59:19), but more doing it because it would be a nice course and a good experience rather than because I expected it to be an ultra-fast course.

I got there nice and early as usual, which was good for the toilet queue. Come on people, 8 toilets? That's nowhere near enough! I decided to brave the elements despite the showers and just run in my 3/4 length tights and event t-shirt, leaving my jacket in the car.

The warm up seemed very easy compared to the warm ups at events I've done before. Maybe it's a sign of my increasing fitness that a warm up is just that, rather than a challenging workout! The lovely Nell McAndrew was there doing her motivational stuff again. I wouldn't say that I'm interested in her for her modelling career or anything like that, but she's clearly a keen runner and always turns up to Yorkshire runs and runs with everyone else - and managed an elite time in the London marathon a year or so ago, which isn't bad going for a "celeb"!

When I did my first 10k, which was also a Cancer Research run, I blogged about realising that it was serious runners now, not like Race for Life.

I also noticed that whereas Race for Life was a run/walk for all the family, with lots of walkers, young, old, fat, slow, this was very definitely a run. Everyone looked at least vaguely fit (or clinically insane), and I realised how much my fitness has improved that I could even consider running in the same company as this lot.

Well, today in a strange sort of role reversal, I realised that there were a lot of people tackling their first 10k, fun runners, and not the sort of serious runners that I was running with at, say, the half marathon. Now, that really is improvement.

And, what's more, when they asked for people expecting fast times to go towards the start, holding back the slower runners, I headed straight for the start. I don't feel apologetic or fraudulent any more. I realise that I have as much right to a fast start as the next person, and that I am actually quite fast.

So, I made the best start I ever have done at one of these things - over the start line before Nell finished blowing her hooter (I think she put it down and then started the race just behind me, but she didn't overtake me. I'd like to think it's because I'm faster than her, but I suspect she was taking it easy because I think she's pregnant).

And off I went. The start was paved, and for the first 2k or so I was running solid at a solid 5 minute/km. That was pretty much what I was aiming for, so I was happy with that. Then between 2 and 3k there was the "challenging bit". Just before the warm up they'd warned us about this hill. It was uphill on grass, and it was muddy by the time I got there. I dread to think what it was like for the later runners. If you tried to run it, your feet slipped around and it was hard work. I walked up it. I didn't want to risk injury for the sake of a shortish hill. Over that km I slipped down to a 5:30/km pace.

The next few km were mainly over grass. It was still fairly slippy, but by running down the edges of the track it was possible to avoid the worst of it. Again, I don't think that would have been the case further back in the field. I got back to 5 minute/km pace, and pretty much stuck there. It went up and down, but nothing that I couldn't handle without changing my pace too much. Some bits on roads (and it felt so strange coming off the mud/grass onto the paved surface!), then more grass, and so on. The course was actually really nice to run for a change, so I'm glad I went up there.

The whole thing was surprisingly uneventful. I seemed to be pretty much in the right place, I didn't get overtaken too much, and I wasn't doing too much overtaking. The field spread out and left me in pretty much the right place, so I just ran.

I hadn't been intending to get under 50 minutes on this run based on the course description, but I did start to wonder whether it might be possible with a strong last couple of km. I don't know whether it's because the course was less demanding than the description suggested, or whether it's because I'm a good enough runner that I could handle it, but I was surprised at how well I was going.

In the end, I just missed out. I finished in 50:32, or I think 8:08 min/miles. But still, that's an improvement on my pace in my 5 miler 2 weeks ago, and an improvement on the time that the race calculators would predict from my (much flatter) half marathon (which is about 52 minutes). My last 10k was in November and I finished in 59:19 on a much flatter course. The other Cancer Research 10k I did, which was more comparable to this course, took me over 68 minutes. That's a 9 minute improvement between each of the 10ks I've done.

I may not have got under 50 this time, but based on that I know that I can do it. I don't think I'll be expecting another 9 minute improvement before my next one though - it's in four weeks!

Another Sunday, another race

It's the Cancer Research 10k at Fountains Abbey today. I've just realised that I'm now the sort of person who gets up at 6am on a Sunday morning to have breakfast in time to race. I've been possessed!

Anyway, I was just checking how long it will take me to get up there, and according to the AA route planner it's preciely 26.3 miles. I suspect that I didn't want to know that immediately before I drive it, as it may make me a little scared!

Thankfully 2 hours of pilates yesterday hasn't killed any muscles, so I'm good to go. No official results or placings for this one, but I'll be back with a report later.