Race report - Ford Test track 10

Let me just start by saying that for this 10 mile race today my aim was to run in 2hours. Official time.... 2 hours 1 minute. How flipping annoying is that?!?!?

In all honesty, I could not have done any better. It was tough out there today. The wind was so strong that when ever it was in my face I was running hard just to stand still, and when I got lovely downhills the wind seemed to be blowing me back up them! There was also a very steep hill, which we lapped twice which I just had to walk up as it was strangely steep.

All in all though, the Ford test track 10 organised by St. Luke's Hospice in Basildon was a great race. I was running with a buddy from my club, Kate, who runs the same speed as me so it was great to run together and having her there at my side really kept me going when it was tough.

The first half actually passed relatively quickly, apart from a slightly soul destroying moment when we had to run past the finishing line and start the loop again! And when were being lapped at one point by the first group... Haha. Not so great, but there were some awesome runners, including my best friend's husband who finished fifth in 1 hour 1! 

It was lovely that my best friend and her little boy were there cheering on daddy (and me), as due to the looping we passed them 4 times. 

By mile 8 I was struggling but then I just started to dig in and tell myself how little I had to go. I was slowing down dramatically and dragging my feet through the final mile,  but I still managed to speed up for the last 300 metres and sprint finish.

It was nice to do a road race that was off road - being on the Ford Car test track it was great that there was no traffic. The challenges were the hairpin bends with steep camber and of course... The small matter of the high winds whipping across an enormous open ground. 

It was also nice to be twenty minutes from home. I felt very very stiff and sore all afternoon and also utterly exhausted. I think I feel more shattered this evening than when I ran my half marathon. Maybe because I didn't have the excitement and adrenaline of completing my first half. Although I finished 10 miles today I find it really hard to imagine that I could have managed another 3 miles. 

I'm very happy to be having a little long distance break now. Plenty of time to work on some short distance speed and start planning a training plan for the Royal Parks half in October.

That's for another day... For now, it's early to bed for me!

Very post post race

So it's February ... I did my first half marathon last November.  What happened?  I couldn't bring myself to write about the race afterwards and I have no idea why. Because it was brilliant!  I was on a high afterwards. I loved it (well, most of it!), I felt a huge sense of pride and achievement.  I felt so much, I didn't know what to write.  I just couldn't begin.  So I didn't...  and then time passed and it seemed to far away and I lost momentum.

But now I want to start blogging about running again, so I feel I have to update things.  I hate leaving work unfinished!

So, quick race report.
Michelle was unable to run. She was still hobbling and in pain on the race day, but she insisted on coming to Norwich with me to drive me there and support me.  She was awesome.  I felt terrible that we couldn't do it together after all the training, and she was pretty gutted too, but she was/is an amazing friend.

It was a freezing freezing day.  It snowed the night before, thankfully just a sprinkling but it was so cold and grey when we started.  I was so excited lining up to start and was just determined to run my own pace and enjoy it.

And enjoy it I did.  I made a point to say hello and chat to people and I had a couple of lovely chats with people who I ran with for the odd mile here or there.  I said hello and thank you (and even high fived!) to all the marshals and people offering water.  I smiled a lot and took some photos!  After the first mile the sun came out and it was one of those glorious cold sunny winter days.    We ran around pretty little country lanes, past houses where people came out to cheer and clap.

When I ran past the half way sign I felt elated.  I hadn't stopped and walked yet and I was feeling great.

Between miles 8 and 9 it was horribly hilly but I kept going, but those hills made my hip start to ache.  By mile 10 I was starting to really flag and slow down.  And then I hit another massive hill approaching mile 11 and had to walk up it, and then the weather turned.  I kept going, determined to try and get to the finish before it started to rain, but I was getting slower and slower, running for 5 mins then having to walk for a minute,  and at mile 12 it started to bucket down, cold, heavy sleety snowy rain.  My glasses were fogged, I was wading through freezing puddles. Started to hate it, just wanted to finish.

Shortly after that, we turned back into the Norwich showground and had a mile lap to do in front of the spectators (and earlier finishers), in the rain. It was miserable. Thankfully i saw Michelle as I started that final mile and that little cheer kept me going.

I still had to walk run that last mile, until the last quarter mile when I just went for it!  I came over the line with a massive grin on my face and burst into tears.  I couldn't believe how amazing it felt to finish.  I was so overwhelmed by what I'd what I'd achieved.  I finished in 2 hours 45.  Fine for my pace and i was just glad to finish although I really wish I hadn't walked and got closer to 2.5 hours.

I ached a lot after- it was a painfully slow (and wet) walk back to the car.  And I kept getting cramp in the car on the way home.  But I felt epic. EPIC.  I wanted to do it again...

Negativity (and run report 12 Oct '15)

My morning started with my second trip to the physio. I'm in a proper grumpy mood at the moment. Have been for the last week.  I was stressing about having too much work on and had a few nights of bad sleep last night and now the stress and exhaustion has just turned into a black mood.  I can't shake it. Even though the sun is shining and I had a great, if busy weekend. I just feel grumpy.

So I went to see my physio man for the second time today, feeling grumpy.  Since I saw him last week I have only managed to run twice (planned three) and they were both shitty runs.  I've done all the exercises he set me but when I run I still felt the hip pain and it started to come on earlier (at 2 miles instead of after 3!). I felt like I was going backwards and felt crazy and that there is no way I'm going to be able to run a half marathon in 6 weeks.  Shit.

He was pleased. My range of motion has improved he thinks, and it will just take time for the strength to build up so I just have to keep running.  And he gave me more exercises to do too.  I told him that I really wanted to do a longer 7-8 mile run this week as part of my build up to the half marathon and he said that's fine, just see how it goes.  He didn't say whether I should stop if it hurts though. I forgot to ask him.  I think I just have to run through the niggles and pain a bit and man up and wait for the strength exercises to start having an impact.  Hey ho.  

And then since the sun was shining and it was a beautiful Autumn day I decided to stop off and run in the park through the city centre.  I was going to come home, do some work and then run before school run but I realised that that would never happen - work always squishes my time and once I'm in the house it's harder to go out again.  So I did it.

And I was in my mood so despite the gorgeous surroundings and the perfect crisp and sunny conditions I hated it.  I realised that it's an incline that sets my hip strain off.  (which makes sense since it started to really bother me after we did our super hilly 10km race in Finsbury Park).   I ran up a little hill and partly because I was out of breath from the hill and partly because I felt my hip start to niggle, I decided to reward myself with a little walk until I got my breath back.  I managed to get going again and was trying to force myself to enjoy it and just keep going but my head was not in the game... until, I was heading back to the start and decided to look at the app on my phone.  Until that point I had been trying to ignore it and just enjoy the run.  I realised that I was at 4.25kms and in good time and that if I pushed myself a bit I might get close to my 5km personal best.  Unbelievable.  That just really pissed me off - imagine if I hadn't walked!!! Why didn't I push myself a bit more?!?! Stupid negative woman :(

So I went for it. I put my heart and sole into that last 750metres and although I didn't beat my personal best I got very very close and felt great for pushing myself! And for about 30 seconds I felt proud of a good run...

I then walked a bit to get over my "sprint finish" hehehehe, and carried on jogging again slowly back to the car.  I hadn't worried about my achey hip while I was pushing myself for a good 5k time. Silly mare. I probably need to run with headphones in to distract me and stop me being so negative.

So in the end, the run report should say that I had a great work out in glorious surroundings and perfect conditions, AND that in the end I ran a total of 6kms including a fast (for me) 5k of 32mins 14 seconds! And my hip is ok. I'll live ha ha ha.

I so need to kill this negative attitude.