Just had a lovely week away training in Lanzarote! It's amazing how easy it is to get out of bed early in the morning and go running when the sun is shining. Spent some good quality time with mum and lil sis too as I would train in the morning and late afternoon then spend the day relaxing and gossiping with them!
I finally feel that I'm back to myself after being ill with the cold and double ear infection. My efforts times are now back to where they should be and I feel great on my long runs. The tiredness I had has now gone and my legs are feeling fresh and bouncy! Let's just hope it stays that way.
Thursday, 2 February 2012
Sunday, 15 January 2012
Sheep on a lead!
Running on the Wirral Way today and ran past a lady walking a couple of dogs and a sheep on a lead! Thought maybe I was seeing things but looked back as I ran past and I wasn't!!
Friday, 13 January 2012
Deaf!!
Feeling really fed up. Recovered from my Christmas cold and back into proper training then I get an ear infection in both ears and have gone practically deaf! On antibiotics which wiped me out for a few days and now only doing short easy runs.
Last day of taking the 7 day antibiotics course today and I still can't hear very well. I've even been having the subtitles on the tv!
I really hope I can get back into proper training next week. I'm then off to Lanzarote the week after and want to get a good training week in whilst out there. Disappointed too as I've had to sack off a half marathon I had planned on 22 Jan. Really gutted - as I was hoping to do well in it.
Last day of taking the 7 day antibiotics course today and I still can't hear very well. I've even been having the subtitles on the tv!
I really hope I can get back into proper training next week. I'm then off to Lanzarote the week after and want to get a good training week in whilst out there. Disappointed too as I've had to sack off a half marathon I had planned on 22 Jan. Really gutted - as I was hoping to do well in it.
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Christmas
Had a good Christmas in Kent - great to see my family and gets lots of pressies!!
Had a bit of a cold whilst down there though which meant I didn't run quite as much as I was hoping. This also meant that I didn't get to to test out whether runners are more smiley to other runners down south or up here! When I did go out running it was generally early in the morning and I didn't see anyone else. Will have to test it out again next time I'm down!
On a good note though I did a longish run in the same place as I saw lots of miserable runners before and actually got hellos out of all the runner I passed!!
Had a bit of a cold whilst down there though which meant I didn't run quite as much as I was hoping. This also meant that I didn't get to to test out whether runners are more smiley to other runners down south or up here! When I did go out running it was generally early in the morning and I didn't see anyone else. Will have to test it out again next time I'm down!
On a good note though I did a longish run in the same place as I saw lots of miserable runners before and actually got hellos out of all the runner I passed!!
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Running
Well its been over 3 weeks since my marathon and I can't believe how recovered my legs feel! I've been mostly doing short easy runs but did my first session of efforts (only 20s efforts though!) 2 days ago and legs are feeling springy!!
I also can't believe how warm the weather has turned this week! Last Friday I was out running and it was snowing and this morning the sun was shining and it was about 12 degrees. Despite the gorgeous running weather though I was surprised at how many miserable runners I saw. I ran past about 6 people and said hello to all and I didn't get one hello back or even a smile. Very sad.
I'm going back "down south" over Christmas and will be doing lots of running so I'm going to test out if people are happier runners up north or down south. I will report back next week......
I also can't believe how warm the weather has turned this week! Last Friday I was out running and it was snowing and this morning the sun was shining and it was about 12 degrees. Despite the gorgeous running weather though I was surprised at how many miserable runners I saw. I ran past about 6 people and said hello to all and I didn't get one hello back or even a smile. Very sad.
I'm going back "down south" over Christmas and will be doing lots of running so I'm going to test out if people are happier runners up north or down south. I will report back next week......
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Marathon de la Rochelle 2011
I've returned to La Rochelle to run my second marathon (not including the attempt at London last year)!! Luckily the weather is better - around 12 degrees as opposed to last year being 1 or 2 degrees with sleet and rain during the race!
I have different feelings leading up to the race this year. Last year it was always an unknown and felt very exciting whereas this year I know how it is likely to feel and although I still feel excited there is also more pressure that I'm putting on myself to achieve the time I feel I should be running.
10 mins before the start and I line up at the front with the other elite female runners. The gun goes and although the start feels slow I know from last year that it will be faster than it feels. 3 Ethiopians and French girl are in front and I don't let myself get carried away with them and stick to my own plan. My first km was a touch fast but where I expected it to be. I settle into my pace and the next km is spot on. At 3.3k we join up with the men and I looked for a good group to pull me round. Unfortunately it was really strung out. Last year there were several big groups of men but this year its very different.
All in all the race went quite well. I hit a bad patch around 25k but managed to get my head together. My splits were more even paced than last year although I did lose some time in the 2nd half but not as much as last year. I finished in the same time as last year - 2hr 51 but with an improvement from 8th up to 5th place. I was really happy with my finish position but did feel disappointed with my time. I was really aiming to run sub 2hr 45 but it just wasn't the race for it. Its hard enough if you run a 10k race on your own but doing a marathon on your own is incredibly tough on your head!
My coach, Dave, and his wife, Cathy, were there supporting me and both said I looked loads better in my running than last year but knew after 10k that it wasn't going to be a race to get a time and that there was nothing I could do about that.
The presentation was fantastic. The top 5 finishers for both the men's and women's race were called up on the stage to be presented to. I was more nervous waiting to be called onto the stage than I was before the race!
I do love racing in France and will have to make more of an effort to learn to speak the language better if I'm going to race there again!
Thanks to Dave and Cathy for all your support for the days before and after and thanks to Xena (their cat) for warming my thighs in the days after the race!
I have different feelings leading up to the race this year. Last year it was always an unknown and felt very exciting whereas this year I know how it is likely to feel and although I still feel excited there is also more pressure that I'm putting on myself to achieve the time I feel I should be running.
10 mins before the start and I line up at the front with the other elite female runners. The gun goes and although the start feels slow I know from last year that it will be faster than it feels. 3 Ethiopians and French girl are in front and I don't let myself get carried away with them and stick to my own plan. My first km was a touch fast but where I expected it to be. I settle into my pace and the next km is spot on. At 3.3k we join up with the men and I looked for a good group to pull me round. Unfortunately it was really strung out. Last year there were several big groups of men but this year its very different.
All in all the race went quite well. I hit a bad patch around 25k but managed to get my head together. My splits were more even paced than last year although I did lose some time in the 2nd half but not as much as last year. I finished in the same time as last year - 2hr 51 but with an improvement from 8th up to 5th place. I was really happy with my finish position but did feel disappointed with my time. I was really aiming to run sub 2hr 45 but it just wasn't the race for it. Its hard enough if you run a 10k race on your own but doing a marathon on your own is incredibly tough on your head!
My coach, Dave, and his wife, Cathy, were there supporting me and both said I looked loads better in my running than last year but knew after 10k that it wasn't going to be a race to get a time and that there was nothing I could do about that.
The presentation was fantastic. The top 5 finishers for both the men's and women's race were called up on the stage to be presented to. I was more nervous waiting to be called onto the stage than I was before the race!
I do love racing in France and will have to make more of an effort to learn to speak the language better if I'm going to race there again!
Thanks to Dave and Cathy for all your support for the days before and after and thanks to Xena (their cat) for warming my thighs in the days after the race!
Friday, 4 November 2011
Worksop Half Marathon
Well what can I say? Good points and bad points about this race. I'll start with the good.....
I came 1st so obviously I was happy with that! It was a good race - well organised, good location, great atmosphere and friendly marshalls. Started off at a good pace - not too fast but considering the first mile was up hill my first split it was probably a touch quicker than necessary. I found myself in a nice group and was neck and neck with another lady (I think she was the winner from last year). I felt great to start with on the flats and downhills but on every up hill I really felt the tiredness from marathon training in my legs!
By about 4 miles the group had spread out a bit and I had a few looks behind me and seemed to have dropped the other lady so felt I could relax a bit! A good proportion of the race was through Clumber Park which was lovely (still undulating though). Me and another guy really helped pull each other round. When I was suffering I just managed to hang on to him and I think I helped him when he was suffering too.
The final mile was great as it was all downhill (we had done the same in reverse at the start). I managed to pick my pace up a bit and even had a smile in the final 400m with loads of people cheering!
Not a fantastic time but on tired legs and being a fair bit hillier than I expected I can't complain.
But.....
Getting ready to leave on Friday and I looked at the race info which I hadn't really looked at before. I was disappointed to see that there was a significant difference between the top prizes for men and women especially for 1st place. 1st place male was to win £150 and 1st place female was to win £90. Why?? This is the 21st century and a time of equality. I wrote to the race organiser stating my thoughts and that I do appreciate there are generally less women taking part in these races than men but the top 3 men and women generally train just has hard as each other and I don't feel that women should be rewarded less. The organiser did get back to me saying that they are gradually bringing their races in line, but why not just bring it in line now - why gradually?
Anyway as I did then turn out to win I was even more disappointed when I received my prize as it turned out to be a voucher. I wouldn't have minded but their website listed all amounts in cash and nowhere did it say prizes awarded in vouchers!
Would I do it again? Maybe as a training race and I happened to be in the area for the weekend!
I came 1st so obviously I was happy with that! It was a good race - well organised, good location, great atmosphere and friendly marshalls. Started off at a good pace - not too fast but considering the first mile was up hill my first split it was probably a touch quicker than necessary. I found myself in a nice group and was neck and neck with another lady (I think she was the winner from last year). I felt great to start with on the flats and downhills but on every up hill I really felt the tiredness from marathon training in my legs!
By about 4 miles the group had spread out a bit and I had a few looks behind me and seemed to have dropped the other lady so felt I could relax a bit! A good proportion of the race was through Clumber Park which was lovely (still undulating though). Me and another guy really helped pull each other round. When I was suffering I just managed to hang on to him and I think I helped him when he was suffering too.
The final mile was great as it was all downhill (we had done the same in reverse at the start). I managed to pick my pace up a bit and even had a smile in the final 400m with loads of people cheering!
Not a fantastic time but on tired legs and being a fair bit hillier than I expected I can't complain.
But.....
Getting ready to leave on Friday and I looked at the race info which I hadn't really looked at before. I was disappointed to see that there was a significant difference between the top prizes for men and women especially for 1st place. 1st place male was to win £150 and 1st place female was to win £90. Why?? This is the 21st century and a time of equality. I wrote to the race organiser stating my thoughts and that I do appreciate there are generally less women taking part in these races than men but the top 3 men and women generally train just has hard as each other and I don't feel that women should be rewarded less. The organiser did get back to me saying that they are gradually bringing their races in line, but why not just bring it in line now - why gradually?
Anyway as I did then turn out to win I was even more disappointed when I received my prize as it turned out to be a voucher. I wouldn't have minded but their website listed all amounts in cash and nowhere did it say prizes awarded in vouchers!
Would I do it again? Maybe as a training race and I happened to be in the area for the weekend!
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