Juneathon

So, after 2 weeks no running, I'm about to start a 1 month running streak - Juneathon - see my shiny new badge.  Run every day in June and blog about it.

I'm hoping, given the infeciton is pretty much gone that a nice bit of outdoors exercise tomorrow will help make me feel myself again.  I still feel really drained and tired at the moment.

In my diary, I have a 9 mile run scheduled tomorrow, and a 50-60 mile bike ride on Sunday.  Hopefully these will see me right.

Because of the bike ride, I doubt I'll be running everyday, but I will try to blog everyday about the exercise I do do....

Non- runners just don't get it sometimes

So, it's day 10 of my lurgie and I'm just about over it. Went to the doctor to check my lungs- as an asthmatic, this is always a worry, and probably made the main symptom of coughing seem a whole lot worse than the infection actually was. After months of not needing my reliever inhaler, I had to use it every night for the last 7 days. My doctor tells me that's why my resting heart rate is still knocking 90 rather than the usual 55.

So why the provocative title?? The number of people who have made snide comments that my ill health is to do with my pastime. So why am I sick 2 weeks after running a marathon,rather than when I'm running 4x 40 miles a week on the trot in preparation? In reality, probably because I've started living like the 'non-runners'. Not worrying too much about what or when I eat, and drinking more than I should. That together with spending 2 hours each day on the cattle shuttle to London and a day of recirculated air, it's a real mystery that I'd get sick.

So, as that meme I love says.... It's not that diabetes and high blood pressure run in your family, it's that no one runs in your family... :-D

O and I managed to fight this off with my own immune system, despite the asthma, and didn't go drug hunting to the gp but instead told her, if I don't need them, ie, if its not that serious, I don't want them!

Not the Westminster mile, not the Bupa 10k, but lots of phlegm on the bank holiday!

So this weekend was full of promise. I was going to ride off the back of my marathon fitness and smash my 10k pb set at the inaugural Bupa 10k back in 2008, at 52:50. I haven't run for a week and have had 3 days off work this week, and rather than feel better, I feel worse, much worse.

Went to Oxford yesterday to fulfil my duties supporting my college's efforts in summer VIIIs. It was a lovely sunny day and I felt great and was drinking pimms alongside everybody else. I thought I'd be fine but I probably should have still had an early night. Somewhere between the end of dinner and going to bed my sore throat got really really sore. I found a strepsil before bed time and was down for a disturbed night's sleep.

When I woke up, I hacked up some lovely dark green phlegm, a quick search on the nhs direct website and I convinced myself it was pneumonia... It probably isn't but certainly racing a mile,or a 10k this weekend wasn't going to happen. Alerted my friends in London whom I had plans with that I wouldn't be coming to London. Got some benylin mucus cough relief and got in the car for the drive home.

I spent the rest of the day wrapped up warm and coughing from time to time- bed at 10 after watching xmen, but not before another 15 minutes coughing up what was on my chest. I was down for the night and slept for 11 hours, though David said I was making rather scary noises in the night.

I didn't wake up until 9, and of course that was with a cough, coughing up phlegm that is now yellow. I could have been racing today, but there's now way running today wouldn't set me back. Bit upset that I've missed 2 races which would have been great for the atmosphere give all other races I've done this year have been smallish and local.

I hope I feel better soon and can get back into training. I can't help thinking that I lose more fitness whilst I'll than when just taking a break from training...

My body is trying to remind me I'm human

So after a Parkrun pb and my longest bike ride ever I was feeling pretty invincible. Got up on Sunday raring to go, and after picking up some bits and bobs in town and walking home I started mentally preparing for my run. I thought about cycling just to work out the kinks from the ride, but then I started seeing results of 10ks from all my twitter friends and that inspired me to get out and run - it was a lovely day after all. I set out at an easy pace. The plan was to do 5 miles and I figured given the success of my marathon and the last few weeks of training beforehand that my easy pace was at least 20s per mile quicker. I had no zip in my legs at all, but decided to plod on. My turnaround point was at 2.25 miles, so I figured the run would come up short anyway. I decided to stop and do some stretches to help with the speed. I started on the way back and it actually began to feel harder, I really had to use a lot of focus to keep running, then on the way back I decided to take the grass route to save my legs. So glad I did this as I discovered a swan's nest- amazing. Stopped to take a few pics. My legs were so sore I decided to just walk home. I was getting no benefit from this run, and my heart rate was pretty high for such a slow pace. Last night I felt fevery as I was going to bed, and today I have a sore throat and am achy all over, so I guess the bad run was because I was getting sick.

This doesn't bode well for my 10k at the weekend, but at least this is probably the best timing to get sick for all the other races I'm doing this year. Decided to take it real easy this week as I'm only human...

Parkrun pb and treachery

So having not run since the marathon, I felt surprisingly good pretty quickly, especially after going for a bike ride on Thursday evening. I decided to do the parkrun to turn my legs over, but wasn't going to push it too hard if my legs protested. I put myself far too far bak in the field, which meant when the race started I just got stuck. This easily lost me 10-15 seconds, and I was overtaking people all the way around. People have complained that the course was hilly, but in fact the first hill didn't come until halfway, and it wasn't too bad at all; I overtook a few people here, and quickly you get the relief of going downhill again and still I managed to continue overtaking around 2 miles in it was feeling a bit hard, and I wondered whether it was worth slowing, but really there was no need to. I kept pushing. On the final lap around the castle I saw one of the girls from one of the local clubs and I knew I could catch her, I over took and started winding up for the finish, I was going faster and faster, I had it, then in the last 50m she came whizzing past me! Clearly had a considerably stronger kick finish than I have! My finish position was 40 out of 133. I got a new Parkrun pb of 24:19. I was 7th woman overalls and first in my age category SW25-29. Very happy with that- hope I could get a top 3 finish one day. Pretty sure all the women ahead of me were club runners.

After a few hours rest, I was traitorous to running and went on my first long bike ride in training for the ride London-Surrey 100. 38 miles, mainly in Suffolk. Was absolutely beautiful, but compared to running, I get absolutely freezing whilst cycling. Still I do think its good recovery and training for my next marathon campaign...

On reflection

After a couple of days in the glory of my shiny new pb, with the aches receding, I can start looking at what needs to happen next time to get faster.

I'm happy that for the most part I only didn't run when I was risking injury or overtraining/illness, however, in the last month I missed a few recovery runs just because I couldn't be bothered to get up. I really think having a treadmill at home would still help with commitment to training but in general I'm so happy with how much I did given the nature of the winter we've just had.

I also think that for the most part, I did the nutrition part really well. The fact that I was only sick once during this campaign is testament to that. Other than the super Nasty flu, that put me out of action for a week, I haven't had a day off work that wasn't scheduled since.

Although it wasn't conscious, I did a decent amount of hill training, which I think helped me cope with the Halstead route.

Whilst I don't think I could have done more this time around, for next time I want to do more 20+ milers, and will go over 20 this times.

I the race itself, I had a few couldn't be arsed moments, and I really think if I had been a little less nihilistic the 4:15 would have been thoroughly achievable, even on the tough course. I got really sick of the sweetness of electrolyte drinks plus energy gels. Next time I'll carry 500ml of drink with me and have water at each water station, and perhaps try to force in a couple more energy gels instead. These were certainly more palatable, and perhaps an extra caffeine one would have gotten me over the tough parts.

All in all, I'm really proud of this performance, but also glad there's plenty to work on. It gives me confidence I can slash off another big chunk off my time in the autumn.

Halstead and Essex Marathon

I woke up on Sunday morning feeling fairly nervous for this; my last few days preparations hadn't quite been to plan, so I didn't feel like I'd had enough rest to get me through. I did however drink an awful lot of beeple (beetroot and apple) juice the day before and in the morning- the nitrates in beetroot are supposed to prevent fatigue.

Got ready with usual breakfast and shower and got into my team gb kit, then took the drive to Halstead. For some reason I decided my cuddly elephant hot lavender pillow wanted to come, so I put him in the back seat of the car and buckled him in. Then I remembered I'd need safety pins- ran back up to my flat and went riffling through my old race numbers and came across for the one for the first marathon I did, London- the pins were still attached, so I decided to use these.

We arrived at race hq, and easily found running number, timing chip etc- there were refreshments that could be bought cheaply- David was shuttling back and forth with water for me, whilst I stayed off my feet as much as possible. I also put my pre-labelled drinks bottles in the boxes for them to be taken onto the course - drinks of SiS go electrolyte with some chia seeds mixed in, each with an sis energy gel Sellotaped to them and labelled with my race number.

Decided to go outside with about 20 minutes to the start to limber up, which involved some dynamic stretching and basking in the very intermittent sun. There was a minutes silence for Boston, which was painfully destroyed by the spectator near me that sounded a cross between a pig and an Essex girl snorting away, and then there were a couple of minutes until the start.

Very soon we were off- the whole field was around 550 runners, so although I'd positioned my way about 2/3 of the way back, I was over the starting mats within a minute or so of the gun. At the start, the runners around me in a way forced me to take it easy, but I could already hear by their breathing that they weren't the runners for me. I wanted to find somebody to run with just to take away the potential loneliness on the course. Within the first mile I found a girl, who was wearing a black jacket (weird) who seemed to be going at my pace, so I latched onto her. We were running well together. But by the time we hit the third mile, we were running faster than a 9 minute mile. I let her drop me, and continued at my own pace.

Shortly after I found another girl who seemed to be taking it sensibly and going at my pace so I stayed with her. It didn't take long before I mistook a forward arrow for a 1 so I commented on that and thus the ice was broken. I found out that this was her first marathon, that she was doing it because a friend of hers had a list of things to do before 30, and they decided to do this one together, although the friend never entered the race so she was here all alone poor girl! I really enjoyed the company for the next few miles...

The first drinks station was brilliant, having pre-prepared, on approach the marshal said to call out your number if you wanted a drink. So I called '1 2 5', and the chain of marshalls yelled '1 2 5' '1 2 5' down to each other so by the time I reached the drinks station, I had my drink and gel in hand- pure class!

At mile 4 I saw my fiancé and elephant- I hi-5ed the elephant :-)


The girl I was running with, Katy, was aiming for 4 and a half hours, so I was probably a bit fast for her and I could hear it in her breathing. I feel kind of bad now, as trying to run together probably helped my race lots, but probably hindered hers. When we got to a point somewhere between 8 and 10 miles (I think 10) I crossed the mile marker and we were going slower than 10 minute mile. Since I was feeling fine I decided to push on.

At mile 11, my finances parents, aunt and uncle were all there clapping and cheering which was a nice boost. Onwards

I was still running well and passed halfway in 2 hours 6 minutes- pretty much the same time I've crossed halfway in both of my previous marathons, but I felt much better here. I think the confidence knowing I would only be running a bit over 2hours more. Rather than a lot helped, and I thought back to the article I had read in runners world about miles 13-20 being the no mans land of the marathon. I was supposed to have my next gel at 2 hours 15, but I kind of forgot about it, plus there were some more technical parts of the course, so I didn't have it until 2 hours 30. I was still going fairly well, and I put in a bit of a push around 15-16 miles- hindsight tells me this was too early, and I still need to learn whether to go with it at this stage of a marathon or still reign it in. I took comfort that whereas by this point in Berlin I had horrible cramps, in Halstead other than the odd twinge/ threat here and there, I was going really well. I thought to all the lovely people on the runners world forums who had given me so much advice, and even though I'd never done more than about 8 miles at this pace at once. I was coping pretty well.

When my watch said 2 hours and 45 minutes I had a comforting thought of yay, only an hour and a half to go. This was very soon followed by, argh an hour and a half is quite a long time, and I'm feeling a little underhydrated, and I'm sick sick sick of the sweet gels and sweet drinks and would people stop offering me jelly babies and start offering me oranges! At the next drinks station, I threw down my bottle and called out my number but I didn't have a drink there! Oh no! This meant a few miles running without water or energy drink. I ran on to the next station and picked up my drink there thankfully, but also stopped there for a bit to take on water in plastic cups and use the refreshing sponge. I took my next gel as well. This bottle was a 750 ml bottle so it was quite heavy and hard to carry. I was drinking from it, but I was really sick of the sweetness of the sports drinks by now. I also think those few miles without drink when the sun had been shining for a while did affect me a little. Certainly when wiping my face with a sponge I could taste how salty my skin was- very very salty!

Between miles 18-22 I stopped to walk several times, especially on the uphills, as did many people around me. However, I felt that I was still passing people despite this. This wasn't the wall; this was lack of mental fortitude. I was certainly having those thoughts of why am I doing this, it's Sunday afternoon, I could be at home watching a movie. I was realising I was on the line for getting my sub 4:15 and I would have to work harder and harder to get it. It's been so long since I've done a marathon, that I had forgotten how difficult this part is. Somewhere in the mix, with 45ish minutes to go, I took my caffeine gel. At about 22 miles I saw David and he was holding a caffeine gel out for me but I didn't take it. There was a very nice marshal who caught me walking and got me running again- with 3.5 miles to go I thought I could still get in under 4:15,if I just treated it asa 5k. I took some big gulps of my drink, threw the bottle down and went for it. Maybe it was the caffeine gel, but I felt like I could run again- here i was regularly running below 9 mm pace, but then getting tired and slowing to a walk. Hmm this strategy wasn't working, so instead I decided I would just run steady. Eventually I got my rhythm back and was no longer doing slower than 10mm. With 1 mile to go, I picked it up and was still passing people.

The last mile was my least favourite of the course, after all those peaceful country roads, you cut into a field to run uphill on grass, this then turns onto a badly rutted footpath. I suppose this is to avoid the busier road, but its tough doing such technical running at the end of the race. The last section is on residential streets leading back to the leisure centre. With about 150m to go I saw my mum :-) I was going pretty fast for me at this point, I'd just missed a 4:17 finish- d'oh, decided to wind up more so I was at least in the middle of my gold and silver targets. Crossed the line in a chip time of 4:18:41

As soon as I crossed, DS2 and Minks called out for me. I found out that DS2 had got his GFA time but unfortunately Minks hadn't. I'd missed out on my 4:15, but I didn't care, it was an arbitrary number, and what I had done was train properly and reap the benefits during the race. David quickly came over to feed me chocolate milk, and not long after the 2 men running with an aga crossed the line. An aga!!! As if running 26.2 miles isn't enough of a challenge.

I really enjoyed this race, it was quite different to a big city marathon, but I liked it. I wasn't hindered by others and was very much able to run my own race. I think it could have been really a difficult one if I hadn't been running well though. In London especially, no one lets u get away with walking without encouraging you to run again!

Splits:
Mile1- 9:31
Mile2- 9:19
Mile3-9:24
Mile4- 9:30
Mile5- 9:30
Mile6- 9:46
Mile7- 9:44
Mile8- 9:26
Mile9- 9:40
Mile10- 9:54
Mile 11- 9:35
Mile 12- 9:39
Mile 13- 9:42
Mile 14- 9:30
Mile 15- 9:18
Mile 16- 9:31
Mile 17- 9:40
Mile 18- 10:45
Mile 19- 10:24
Mile 20- 10:22
Mile 21- 11:32
Mile 22- 10:19
Mile 23- 11:34
Mile 24- 9:29
Mile 25- 9:55
Mile 26- 9:22
26.26 pace: 8:49

Average pace 9:51mm

Chip time: 4:18:41

It's tomorrow

Well, Halstead Marathon is tomorrow, and I'm the most prepared I've ever been with some decent racing under my belt, and 483 miles in training, so the marathon will take me tantalisingly close to halfway in my goal of running 1000 miles this year- makes a warm up seem worth it!

So what's ready:
Training- done- missed some sessions and on balance upto 100 miles short of what the plan said, most of which was necessary, I think no more than 25 miles missed due to laziness.

Kit- all laid out and tested, I even painted my nails to match the rest of the kit. Must remember Vaseline and inhaler- really need to remember inhaler!

Drinks/ nutrition: all ready- bottles labelled, chia seeds added- if the drinks being posted on the course facility is full, I have no backup unfortunately, so I really hope it's not full.

Cheer squad: mum and fiancé are planning to come, but not told me where they're planning to be, so to keep my race mind from driving me crazy will probably have to work on the assumption I won't see them. Other people's cheerers will be where the race organisers suggest, so at least they will be looking out for me. Someone else I met on a forum will be manning the last drinks station and is also looking out for me, so yup, cheering sorted

Mental prep: not done enough positive visualisation and prep for that no mans land part miles 13-20- about to re-read an article on it so should be sorted by the morning.

This race means a lot to me, whilst I don't want to become too emotionally attached to the time, I am emotionally attached to the outcome of this race. It's my first marathon since I set the goal of qualifying for Boston, and the result will somehow tell me if my body is capable of responding to sensible training by giving faster times. This is almost like gcses on the way to getting into my chosen university in importance, and has a similar lead time in fact.

As one of my friends on the forums says'trust in the training'. And another says 'don't be shit!'

5 days to go

Well, as I've been bragging to anyone who'll listen, I've never been so prepared for a marathon as I feel I am now.  So of course, I had to go and get a strain in my back that definitely affected my running yesterday, but it seems to be easing off nicely.

Yesterday I did my first Hash run.  You may have read about them in the book Running with the Kenyans- least, that's where I first heard about them.  Their tag line is 'The drinking group with a running problem'  although thankfully, this particular group are more into their running than their drinking.
It was an interesting group.  The couple who invited me set the hash.  Essentially they use blobs of sawdust to mark out a route, but it isn't as easy as following the route around.  Instead there are various symbols.  For example 3 blobs means, that there are more than one trail, but only one of them is the true trail.  The true trail is found when you pass 5 blobs; a false trail is denoted by 2 lines.  2 blobs together means run to the back of the field to pick up the other runners.  A nice touch which makes this type of running incredibly sociable and very inclusive.  4 blobs means stop and wait.  Typically these were where there was some inherent danger, or where there could be confusion on the route.  For example, when coming to a road.

Well, race week is upon us, and a hurricane hasn't just hit Halstead, so already its infinitely better than the race week of my last marathon (NYC 2012 which was cancelled).  As a result, I am feeling remarkably relaxed.  The fact that I don't have to fly anywhere, nor stay in a hotel already makes this one of my top races.

Given the strain in my back, I wont run again until Saturday, when I'll go for my usual 20 min jog the night before.  Other than that, I will spend the evenings this week watching the VLM coverage - I missed it since I was on holiday.  Foam rolling, and stretching....

No personal music players allowed, so I shall have to remember a soundtrack to play in my head...

A week to go

Been a bit quiet lately. Thankfully not all that much to report. Running has been going well and just a week to go. Yesterday I did a marathon paced Parkrun, so hopefully, in the weeks following I can post a few pbs there.

Started my final week nutrition plan with sis rego night just now.

Now for sleep