Cross-training over the summer holidays!

Abingdon Marathon Training - 13 weeks to go

Monday 24th July 2017 

The summer holidays have arrived and we celebrated with a nice lie in! Today actually didn't run - shock horror! The reason we didn't run is because we were embarking upon a new challenge - a Tandem bike ride! John had bought me a voucher for a days hire for my birthday. We planned to cycle from Bristol to Bath on the cycle path which would be my furthest cycle ever. 

Picking up the bike from the cycle center near the cycle path, the owner gave us some tips and we had a little practice cycle. She informed us that the front rider (John) was known as the captain - consequently, we renamed ourselves Captain Cox and Lieutenant Dicks. We set off cautiously but it didn't take long for us to feel stable and start to pick up the pace! We managed to get up to 20 miles an hour at one point - before I started screaming and forced John to slow down. We stopped off a few times on the way and then ate lunch in Bath before returning home. 32.1 miles cycled! 

In the evening, we continued our cross training with our favourite yoga class - much needed as my bottom was incredibly sore after all that cycling! 

Tuesday 25th July 2017 

Today we decided to do some speed work. We went to the local track with the aim of doing some 800m reps. It was very hot and my legs were still aching from the cycling yesterday but I still managed 8 x 800m efforts at a pace of between 5:50 - 6:15 mm. 

In the evening, we went to the Ivy in Clifton Village. The parents of my Year 6 kids bought me a voucher so we headed up to check it out. The restaurant itself is stunning - an old bank with hundreds of transport themed paintings covering the walls. The menu was big and there were lots of gluten free options - although not a separate gluten free menu so I had to remember the options. The staff were attentive and brought gluten free bread. It's a great place to go for a special occasion. 

Wednesday 26th July 2017 

We missed our usual GWR run this week because we had a Harry Potter quiz in the evening. So John and I went out in the afternoon for a GA (general aerobic) workout. 13.2 miles ran on a hilly route - I've been trying to make more of an effort on hills to try and improve on my weakness. 

Thursday 27th July 2017 

Today was our next cross training activity of the week - squash! We ran to and from the court at Easton Leisure Center to get some extra miles in. Using MoveGB the squash court was free to hire. 

We played 3 games initially and I lost all three pretty quickly! Then John gave me some top coaching advice and let me try out his extra special racket ...watch the video below to see what happened! 

Friday 28th July 2017 

Today was the next in the Towpath series. John was planning on racing in the evening but I wasn't so wanted to get a few miles in during the afternoon. John kindly agreed to accompany me as my domestique on his bike! 8 miles done and as my legs felt progressively looser and warmer, I picked up the pace which made for a good progressive effort. 

mile 1 - 8:27 

2 - 8:10 

3 - 8:11

4 - 8:25 

5- 7:49 

6 - 7:44 

7 - 7:47 

8 - 7:21 

All the time, it felt comfortable and my heart rate was below 150 the whole time so pretty pleased with the workout. 

John's warm up cycle clearly worked as he finished in 2nd place at the Towpath race in the evening. It's always great getting to watch John finish as usual I'm running the same race but further back in the field. Today was an especially exciting finish as he was in a very close race for 1st position. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite able to get a win but did pick up a bottle of wine! 

Saturday 29th July 2017 

Due to the fact that we had a wedding the next day, today was to be our long run. We were up at 6:30 so that we could get some miles in before parkrun. Unfortunately, today was just one of those days when you're not feeling it. My legs were tired, I was tired, the hills seemed huge and never ending and so the run was pretty slow. Still, another long run done - 18 miles ticked off the plan. I guess it's good to run even when you're tired - good practise for the end of the marathon when my legs will definitely feel tired! 

This evening, we went to see the Jungle Book at the Old Vic followed by a few drinks in Clifton to celebrate our friend Andy's birthday. 

Sunday 30th July 2017 

Another fairly early start today as we had a wedding to go to! A nice steady 3 miles to wake us up before driving to Nottingham for my friend's wedding. 

Relay racing and track racing

Abingdon Marathon Training - 14 weeks to go

Monday 17th July 2017 

Last week of term!!! Woohooo!!

With just 5 days to go until the summer holidays and a very busy week at school looming, I just wanted to get a solid week of miles in and have a good crack at 2 races coming up this week. We managed to drag ourselves out of bed for an early morning recovery run. 

In the evening, we'd booked into Yoga. It was also the day that John chose to cycle home from work (20miles!) for the first time. He estimated that he'd be back at home around 6:45...well 6:45 came and when and when it got to 7:25 I was starting to get rather worried. I also wanted to go to Yoga! I decided that, rather than sitting at home worrying, I'd go to Yoga and worry there! I kept my phone near me and kept checking it...but still  heard nothing!  Savasana  pose was less relaxing that normal as my mind kept conjuring images of mangled bikes under lorries...thankfully, towards the end of the class I got a 'all good' message - phew! 

Tuesday 18th July 2017 

Another early start today as we had a spin class booked in. We ran to and from spin which made 4 miles in total. I also manged to spin 2km further than last week - steady improvement! Also had a lovely chat with the instructor who noticed my GWR running top and to us that she runs for Clevedon AC! Really like her classes because they're well planned and a good mix of sprints, heavy climbs, seated and standing efforts - unfortunately, she's now away on holiday for 3 weeks. Hopefully her replacement will be just as good. 

After a long day at school, I had to organise our Year 6 leavers' service at our local church. The service was supposed to be on the Monday but had to be changed - this caused me a dilemma. Tonight at 7:30 was the Eastville Park 1 mile relay race and the final race of the series. I had organised the teams and made sure I was running the last leg to give me as much time to get there as possible but I was still worried that it might be rather tight! 

The leavers service started 6pm and is supposed to last for 30 mins - I started to panic slightly however when I checked my watch at 6:50 and the service was still a while off! To make matters worse, I'd left my phone at home, so couldn't contact any of my team mates to warn them! At 7:10 the service finished and I politely (I hope) made my excuses and dashed out of the church. I jumped in my car and drove towards the park which was on the other side of Bristol. Amazingly, every red light I came to changed instantly to green as I approached. I'd also had the foresight to put my running clothes on underneath my church clothes so was able to undress in the car (at appropriate safe places of course). Incredibly, I arrived at the park at 7:27 and the first leg runners were just getting into position. 

My team was led by Clare Meraz with Louise Cronin in the middle and me bringing up the rear. We had a brilliant turn out with around 7 or 8 teams - so there were GWR vests everywhere. John was running first for his team so I just had time to wish him a good race before they were off! 

John was in 3rd position overall after his leg and passed the (imaginary) baton to the Maestro. Clare had done a brilliant job for our team and finished as the 2nd lady overall - behind Nicola  Brookland (a very impressive runner who was leading the series). Luckily for our team, Nicola was racing as part of the mixed team which meant that Clare had put our team in the running for the 1st ladies team. Louise stormed off with lots of other GWR faces all doing a brilliant job for the club. After leg 2, the Maestro came up the hill in first position! AMAZING! Woody had the job of holding that position for the last mile. The next few GWR men came through all looking really strong. Then a couple of non-GWR women appeared - oh dear! It looked like I had some work to do. Louise was sighted, tagged me and I was off. I fixed my gaze on the women ahead of me and stormed down the hill as fast as I could. 1 mile done in 5:57 min mile pace and best of all, first place for the team! The GWR men had also finished first - brilliant! 

Wednesday 19th July 2017 

I ran to school today - 3 miles there and 3 miles back. Stead 8:54mm pace there and 8:37mm pace home. Wednesday evenings mean GWR club nights and Marcus was keen to do his new 11mile route - after a bit of moaning on my part - he even agreed to alter it slightly to avoid the hideous long grassy field. 11 miles done in an average pace of 8:42 which wasn't too bad considering it was a pretty hilly route. 

So a good total today of 17 miles. 

Thursday 20th July 2017 

Just a recovery run today to try and get the legs feeling better before the 5000m track race on Saturday. 3.2 miles at 9:39mm pace around Victoria park. 

John was planning to cycle home again today so I'd had the idea of running out a couple of miles to meet him. This time he was much quicker than anticipated so I'd actually only gone 0.7 miles before meeting him - still - good to stretch the legs with a little 1.4 miler by the time we'd got home. 

In the evening was the next parkrun social at the Cottage - ideal because it's a short walk from our home and does some great gluten free food. We just opted for chips tonight but they do offer burgers in gluten free buns. 

Friday 21st July 2017 

LAST DAY OF TERM!

A very exciting day for children and teachers alike! We ran in the morning - just 3.2 miles again nice and slowly because in the evening was our school end of term party! 

Our end of term do was at Jungle Rumble crazy golf. We were in groups of 4 and, as usual, John Anderson and I became very competitive and put bets on who would win...quickly though, it became obvious that the winner would not be me! Felicity started slowly with a couple of 7s before 'getting her eye in' and quickly improving with some 2s, 3s and a hole in 1!! I followed Felicity's lead  with a couple of 7s and also improved with one hole in 1! John was fairly steady throughout but the ultimate, undisputed champion was clearly Julia who astounded everyone with a very impressive performance! 

After paying my dues (in the form of shots!) we ate dinner at Coal in Cabot Circus. I was really impressed with their large gluten free menu. I opted for a halloumi, mushroom and pepper burger which was very good. 

All in all, an excellent night. 

Saturday 22nd July 2017 

You know that you're in need of a lie in and rest when you don't set an alarm and wake up at 11am! Today consisted of lots of snoozing, reading and relaxing - perfect race prep. 

In the evening, we picked up the Maestro and headed to Yate for our first track 5000m race. I was feeling really good and eager to get a PB. The evening was organised much like the night of the 1000m PBs at Highgate that we attended a few months ago. There were a number of races starting slower and finishing with the A races (the super speedy ones - you can spot them because they have the shortest shorts!). We arrived in time to watch the first race which had a good number of GWR runners. It was great fun supporting and cheering them on. I was also feeling rather nervous. I'm not very good in new situations and tend to over-focus on small details. Today I was worried about the number of laps - how would I keep count? What would happen if I ran too far or not far enough? What about if I got lapped or came last? My mind was full of worries but also excitement as I was pretty sure that running on a track without any hills would make for an easier race. 

The race was being paced and I was under strict instructions (from John) to not get carried away and go off like a loon (advice he clearly didn't take on board himself - wait for his race!) The gun went off and I stayed sensibly behind the pacer. I've watched enough track races to know to keep the inside line so I don't run further than necessary. I got into a good position and tried to settle in to a pace. The problem was that I felt that we were going a lot faster than needed...my watch was telling me that I was going way too fast and, worried that I would blow up later, I slowed down a little and let people come past - hoping that I'd be able to overtake them later on. Every time I passed the spectator's area, I got such a lift hearing loads of my friends cheering for me. When I passed some of the race organisers, they were shouting out numbers - unfortunately, with 'runners brain' I wasn't able to work out what the numbers were representing and so I relied on my watch. This turned out to be a mistake and despite the pace being really good, the time was not. I finished feeling that I should have had a PB and could have pushed more had I known that my watch wasn't accurate. 

Lesson learned for future track races - I need to: not wear a watch, work out what my lap splits need to be, stick with the pacer and listen more carefully to what numbers are being shouted at me! 

Despite being disappointed with my time, I did really enjoy the event. Marcus and Garys' race was next and cheering them with a glass of wine was great! Marcus had a brilliant second half of the race and came back strong with an excellent sprint finish. 

Next up was John's race. Now remember the advice had gave me before mine: 'Don't go off like a loon - stick with the pacer'. Now take a look at this pic...

Hopefully, you can just about make out the guy storm ahead like a loon way ahead of the rest of the field! Yes! That's John! Although I am joking about it, it was in fact very impressive. He blasted the first 400m and was way ahead of the rest of the field. Luckily, he was able to sustain this effort and finished as 3rd man (yes he did get chicked!). Like Marcus, he had to work hard for his position and produced a magnificent sprint finish. It was wonderful to watch him perform so brilliantly - very proud.

A brilliant event and I very much hope that Bristol and West will hold it again next year. 

Sunday 23rd July 2017 

Another lie in today after a few glasses of wine last night! John was up early and went for another bike ride (slightly worried that he's switching from a running geek to a cycling one - although I think it's just the Tour de France influence!). Once again, my day consisted of relaxing and reading - any teachers reading this will agree that these days are much needed at the end of term! 

Around 3pm, we headed out for our Sunday long run. My BBC weather map assured me that it would remain dry. John wanted to do a trail run taking in some elements of the Green Man route. I'm not really a trail enthusiast but I felt that I'd got my own way quite a lot recently with running so decided to be good and quietly and patiently follow John's lead. Now this would have been fine, if John was able to lead...despite planning a route, he'd forgotten to upload it onto his watch CJ! The first few miles were lovely, running to Ashton Court, taking videos on the GoPro, generally enjoying running. That was until we'd traveled a few more miles into various fields and through a large number of stinging, scratching and generally nasty plants, to discover that John didn't know where we were, I didn't know where we were and we were lost! 

It was about this point that I'd mentally decided that I definitely didn't like trail running and really hated plants - especially grass - especially the very long, itchy, scratchy, makes-legs-swell-up grass! I was also at this point that the heavens opened; my BBC app was clearly incorrect and rain bucketed down. Despite my inner moaning, I kept very calm and didn't whinge, grumble or strop! I was however, very glad when we decided to head back towards Long Ashton and rejoin tarmac roads - oh how I love roads! 

13 miles done for today and I think I'll stay away from trails for a while now! 

Next week is the summer holidays (I don't think I've mentioned that yet?!?!) so I'm planning on training like Kenyans; lots of running, sleeping and eating. Combined with lot of cross training and strength work - time to get fit! 

Total for the week = 50 miles. 

Training during my Birthday Week!

Abingdon Marathon Training - 15 weeks to go 

Monday 10th July 2017 

This was the start of the busiest week of the year for me so I started the week with a lie in (for me - 7am) and planned to run in the evening. After school, I went for a recovery run alone (John was having a running strop!) 3.4 miles at 9mm pace - legs feeling a bit tired after last weeks efforts. 

Tuesday 11th July 2017 

Today was to be the first of 3 very long days. It was the opening night of our Key Stage 2 Production of the Jungle Book. Knowing that I wouldn't want to run in the evening (as it was likely that I wouldn't be home until around 8:30pm) we had planned to run in the morning. We'd also booked onto an early morning spin class using MoveGB. We ran there and back as well which meant that by 7am, we'd already ran 4 miles and done a 30min class - around 700 calories burned before most people are even awake! - nice! 

Wednesday 12th July 2017 

The first night of the Jungle Book went brilliantly. Tonight was the 2nd night performance so I knew I'd have to get my medium-long run in before school. We had planned to be up at 5am to run to Morph in his new position, but slept through the alarm. Luckily, we woke up naturally at 6am and still had time to get a good amount of miles in. 

John and I set off together but after John's 2nd (but not last!) running strop of the week, he headed back for home and I decided to push on. 

I was feeling strong and wanted to get a strong 10 miles done at a good pace. I decided to use the Portway because it is relatively flat and gave myself the challenge of running progressively - running each mile quicker than the last. 

Mile 1 - 10:04

2 - 8:42

3- 7:38

4- 7:20

5 - 7:24

6 - 7:16

7- 7:11

8 - 7:15 

9 - 7:22

10 - 7:09 

Really pleased with today's efforts - felt like I was working hard but not overdoing it. Also delighted with my heart rate which averaged 134bpm - much lower than for this sort of session in the last campaign. 

 Thursday 13th July 2017 

Today was my last late night at school - thankfully as I was starting to feel tired! After school today was my first Governor's meeting which, I knew had the potential to go on until 10pm! Preparing myself for a 14 hour school day, I was up at 6:30am for 5 miles at 9:23mm pace. 

Friday 14th July 2017 

Today was the GWR Mob Match (a team race where the team with the fastest 20 runners across the line wins) so I decided to run to and from school to get the miles in. A total of 6 miles done for the day. The race also went really well. We had a huge turnout and everything went smoothly. 

Saturday 15th July 2017 

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! 

I was woken up pretty early by a very excited John this time! He had decorated our home with balloons and banners and presented me with a host of wonderful presents - the best of which has to be Ed Shearan tickets! Wooohooo! 

What better way to celebrate a birthday, than by running parkrun! After attaching the VERY large badge that John had got for me, we ran our usual route to Aston Court. It was a special run for Marcus as well - his 200th! We couldn't let this go unnoticed, so I made him a balloon necklace - which looked good and was obviously great to run in! 

We started off running steadily but at the halfway point I noticed that I wasn't far off 3rd place. Knowing that the lady in 1st was Chrissie Wellington - 4 time Ironman world champion and that the lady in 2nd place had raced in the Olympic marathon, I couldn't resist trying to push into 3rd place. 

Picking up the pace on the downhill felt pretty easy. I cruised past 3 ladies without much problem but one of them kicked and pushed on - giving me a race for 3rd. I played it cleverly and sat on her shoulder before sprinting past her near the finish. I wasn't looking at the time but ended up running my fastest ever mile - 5:15 pace! (OK yes it was downhill but still!). 

The rest of the day was fab - Women's world cup cricket with the family - England won - woohoo! Then a lovely meal at Tare in the evening. 

Tare is a new restaurant at Cargo 2, near the M-shed in Bristol. It offers a 5 course tasting menu for £35 which I think is brilliant value because the quality was amazing! The best part though is that they have a full Gluten Free menu. Because the Gluten free menu is just as good at the 'normal' menu, I asked for it for the whole family - and everyone was really impressed. 

Fellow Glutards (a new term coined by Marucs) must give it a try! 

Sunday 16th July 2017 

Having consumed large quantities of alcohol, our long run was scheduled for later in the day. So that meant an actual lie in! Hooray! We slept through until 9am! After a spot of reading John wanted to pop to the bike shop so he had the idea of cycling there. I'm still rather wobbly on the bike but riding regularly is sure to help, so I jumped on the bike and cautiously followed him down the chocolate path only to find that the shop was closed! Oh well - a trip to Asda instead to buy our post-long-run dinner of Quorn Chilli - if it's good enough for Mo! 

After bumming around and watching some of the tennis and tour de France we set off with 20 miles to do. My aim was to get all miles between 7:30 and 8mm pace. I wanted to check my fitness with a strong, even paced long run. 

We were planning on using the Bristol to Bath cycle path but ended up on a the path that follows the river towards Hanham and Kenysham. A really great find. A flat route with lovely views. 

Here are my splits for the run - 

Mile 1 - 7:24

2 - 7:29

3- 7:31

4-7:31

5- 7:47

6- 7:30

7 - 7:35 

8 - 7:45

9- 7:55

10 - 7:44

11- 8:00

12 - 7:45

13- 7:36

14- 7:44

15 - 7:44

16 - 7:46

17 - 7:50 

18- 7:48 

19 - 7:41

20 - 7:28 

I'm super pleased with the even pacing and meeting my target! 20 miles done in 2 hours 33 mins 

Total miles for the week = 55.7 

Target for next week - take it fairly steady as I have a big race on Saturday - my first ever track 5000m! 

Upping the miles and watching my idols

Upping the miles and watching my idols

Monday 3rd July 2017

This week began with my class trip to The Houses of Parliament. This meant an early start so there wasn't time to run in the morning. I wasn't actually sure that there'd be time to at all today (oh no- panic!) as I was going straight from work to running club for a meeting. Luckily, John saved the day and packed my running kit so I could run home after the GWR comittee meeting. Just 2.5 miles but better than nothing.

Tuesday 4th July 2017

Today was the next in the series of the Eastville Park races. Just 2miles tonight -brill! To get the miles in, John and I ran to and from the race. Unfortunately, the race itself wasn't especially quick but I was very consistent - both miles at exactly 6:19 MM. pace.

I find the course challenging because the first half is downhill - awesome - but the second half (and section into the finish) is uphill. I had a mega battled today for 2nd place with Alice. We're a similar speed but I've been finishing ahead of her in races for a while now so I was somewhat shocked - and impressed -when she stormed passed me on the first uphill (note to self - do more hill training!). I decided that I needed to plan to try and beat her. My plan was to go absolutely mental on the next downhill to try and scare her into backing off! The next downhill came and I did gain a bit of space but not enough. Alice was just too strong and, once again, took me on the uphill. Really impressive running from her.

Wednesday 5th July 2017

Really chuffed with today's efforts. 17 miles in total.

I ran to and from school (3miles each way). A really lovely day for it - just enjoying running for fun!

Then 11 miles with the GWR crew. The Maestro had created an exciting new route. Once we'd got out of the hideous field of long grass (a nightmare for any hay fever sufferers), I actually really enjoyed the route - well done Dad!

Thursday 6th July 2017

Today was our school’s sports day so we headed out early for a warm up so I would be ready for the teachers race! (Yes I did win the hotly contested egg and spoon race!). 5 very slow miles but round a beautiful, sunny Ashton Court.

In the evenings we had our first PT session in a while. Lots of competition between John and myself - and annoyingly - he's starting to win! Must get stronger!

Friday 7th July 2017

This morning we were feeling radical so we tried a different morning route! Heading out towards Victoria  park, it felt good to have a change of scenery. Victoria is a great park to run around because there are lots of tarmac paths following different routes. This is also where our nearest Jr. Park run is held- I am planning on bringing my running club here on mass next year- quite a few of them already go regularly.

Lunchtime was my last running club of the academic year. I asked the kids to vote on their choice of route today and was pleased that, during the vote, lots of them chose different routes which shows me that I am catering for different preferences. The winning route was the local woods so we headed off for just over 1 mile of running.

Saturday 8th July 2017

Due to our busy day tomorrow, we had to do our long run today. Not wanting to miss parkrun, John cunningly planned a route that would finish at the start at the right time. It was a really good run. I felt strong and the 8-8:30 pace felt really easy. I think running a similar route at target marathon pace the week before made this weeks steady miles feel fab! Parkrun was also good. Not good enough for a podium finish and I was way off my usual pace for the uphill but I did have 12miles in my legs at that point

17.2miles at an average pace of 8:24 not too shabby for my 2nd long run of the week.

Sunday 9th July 2017

I am, at this moment, writing this on a coach returning to Bristol from an amazing day at the anniversary games.

So inspiring to watch Laura Muir, Jess Judd, Dina Asha-Smith, Andy Butchart, Tom Bosworth (who ran a world record for the race walk - 1 mile faster than I could run it- 5:35!) and of course - Sir Mo. I had such a wonderful day and was itching to get down onto the track and race!

Owning to this event, we were up early again (no lie ins this week!) to get a steady 5.6 in.

Why exactly 5.6 you ask? Well, to keep my OCD at bay- I've now totaled 60miles exactly for the week!

Quite a short and not especially exciting blog but I'm rather tired and still alcohol infused which is making typing challenging!

The aim for next week is just to try and run as much as possible because I've got loads on at school and IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!

Abingdon Marathon Training - 17 Weeks to go!

Abingdon Marathon Training - 17 weeks to go 

Monday 26th June 2017

Week 2 of marathon training began with a lot of snoozing! Alarm went off repeatedly between 5:45 (the initial alarm) and 7:15am (the time we managed to drag ourselves out of bed!). Consequently, we decided it best to leave our run until the evening - I think I was still recovering from Jennifer's hen weekend! 

After work, John and I headed out for 5 miles before yoga. A gentle 9:14mm pace before 1 hour of stretching and strengthening which included the pose of shoulder stand; a position which is very intense and finishes with the instructor casually asking you to drop your feet down onto the floor behind your head! Hmm...more work needed before I achieve that one I think! 

Tuesday 27th June 2017

Another much needed lie in this morning as we had a race in the evening. This was the final race in the Aztec West fast 5k series. John and I had agreed to do 8 miles tonight - 3 before the race as a warm up, 3 miles during the race and then 2 to cool down. I was feeling quite good after the first 3 miles so decided to go for a PB. My PB is currently 18:50 which I achieved 3 races ago. Last race, I went out too fast and ended up with a 37 second swing out of the three miles! So my tactic for today was to go for an even pace of 6mm and try to have a smaller swing. 

Because today was the mob match (clubs competing against clubs) we had a really good turnout of GWR runners. 

Unfortunately, I had one of those races where you feel like your going fast, everything is working well and you're on for a good time...then you look at your watch and your running 10 seconds a mile slower than you should be! Annoying but probably a result of marathon training starting and the mileage starting to increase. Here are my splits:

Mile 1 - 6:06

Mile 2 - 6:20 

Mile 3 - 6:25 

So I wasn't anywhere near 6mm pace but I did have a smaller swing (19 seconds) and my heart rate was considerably lower than in previous races. 

Fortunately, my feelings of disappointment weren't to last long...As it was the last race of the series, the prizes for the season were being given out. The race director started with the men. When John's name was called as second senior man for the whole series, I was overjoyed. He was awarded with a trophy and his face a wonderful mix of surprise and pride. Even more surprised to hear his name was Woody who was awarded with 3rd senior man. Marcus' name was then called as 3rd vet 40 and Fi as 2nd vet 35. Last year I'd finished 2nd in the series so I was hoping to equal or better that result...finally, my name was called - I'd won the series! It was wonderful to look around at my group of friends and club mates and see such a huge selection of trophies. Well done everyone. 

Wednesday 28th June 2017

Wednesday night is always GWR club night. We had hoped to do a run in double figures but the arrival of the new club kit meant we needed to drive it to club. Lack of enthusiasm for the 10 mile route meant we opted for the summer 8 mile route instead. Last time I ran the summer 8 I didn't especially enjoy it and so developed a bit of an anti-8 feeling. However, today's run felt really good so I have a new-found appreciation for the 8 mile route! 

Thursday 29th June 2017

Knowing that I had a mega-busy day at work meant that I knew I had to run in the morning. I managed to drag both myself and John out of bed in time (just) to get a 5 mile recovery run done before work. 

Friday 30th June 2017 

Tonight was the 3rd race in the GWR Towpath series. After winning this series last year, I decided not to run any of the races this year and to focus on helping with the organsing.  As I knew I wouldn't be able to get much running in during the evening, I decided to run to school (3.2 miles) then I had running club at lunchtime (1.3 miles) then I ran to the towpath (2 miles) before running between the race HQ and start line a number of times (2.3 miles). A grand total of around 9 miles for the day - not too shabby. 

The Towpath race went really smoothly once again. If you live in or around Bristol and fancy giving it a go, all the details can be found on our club's newly updated website http://www.greatwesternrunners.org.uk/ (good skills John!). 

After the race, a group of us headed down to Salt and Malt - a newly opened GLUTEN FREE fish and chip shop. Having not had fish and chips for over a year now, I had been really looking forward to this opening on my doorstep! It has been open for 3 weeks now and we've visited about 5 times...oops! 

Saturday 1st July 2017 

Saturday is parkrun day! We ran via the Aardman HQ to catch up with our mate...

We've missed a few parkruns recently but were looking forward to this one because it was our friend James' 50th. Planning to run steadily with James, we set off in the middle of the field and spent the first half of the run overtaking people and chatting merrily. John -eagle eyed - Cox managed to spot triathlete extraordinaire Chrissie Wellington   running up ahead. We picked the pace up in the second half of the run to finish in a respectable (and palindromic!) time of 21:12. 

Having recently read Chrissie's autobiography, we couldn't resist popping over to ask for a cheeky pic. We were pleasantly surprised by how warm, friendly and chatty she was. Often, when you meet famous athletes, they are happy to pose for a picture and then they politely carry on. Chrissie seemed genuinely keen to chat and share her future ultra running plans - John suggested that she try Bristol's Green Man Ultra - watch this space! 

After waiting for the customary 50th parkrun celebratory cake which did not materialise (tut tut James!), we ran home giving us a total of 7 miles for the morning. 

In the evening, we visited another newly opened Cargo 2 restaurant called Tare. This restaurant offers a brilliant dining experience. I won't say more about it because I am taking my family here for my birthday meal and I don't want to give too much away! 

Sunday 2nd July 2017 

After having a few drinks last night, we decided not to set an alarm but instead allow our bodies to catch up on sleep. Unusually, we managed to sleep through until 10am! By the time we'd properly woken up and contemplated running, it was getting rather hot outside. So we decided to leave our long run until the evening. This meant we had a morning of relaxing on the balcony reading our books. I'm currently reading 'Running with Kenyans'  a  brilliant, inspiring book - recommended to my by John - about a man who takes his whole family out to Kenya so he can find out the secrets of the Kenya success. So far, I've learnt that the secrets are as follows: 

1) Kenyan athletes start off as very poor children who have no choice but to run to school every day for fear of being beaten for being late. 

2) Eating ugali - a maize based food which Kenyan's love and eat all the time. 

3) Not eating loads of fat and processed foods.

4) Drinking milk with cows blood in...

I've started doing number 1...I did actually find myself looking in Asda for number 2...I probably should give number 3 a go ...I'll probably avoid number 4! 

Really enjoying the book and would recommend it to any running enthusiasts! 

For lunch today, we decided to cook our first roast dinner as a couple! It was a huge success. We had lamb, roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots, asparagus, gluten free gravy, stuffing and home made gluten free Yorkshire puddings - yum! 

After letting our roast dinner go down and having a little nap - living the Kenyan lifestyle- we headed out for our long run at 6pm. The aim of the run (for me) was to get a solid long run in with some miles at my new marathon pace. This would be the first time I would be officially training with sub 3 in mind and I was feeling a little apprehensive. The planned route was to go along the towpath to Pill, across the Avonmouth bridge and back down the Portway.  

John and I ran the first two miles together before he paused for 1 minute to give me a head start. I really enjoy running like this as it gives the feeling that I get when I am leading a race - trying to stop others from catching me! The plan was to do 4 miles at marathon pace. I spent the first mile trying to get into a rhythm. My legs aren't yet used to running at 6:45mm pace so I had to make quite a lot of adjustments. It didn't help that the ground along the towpath is very undulating. I settled into more or a rhythm in mile 2; I felt like I was working hard but it felt sustainable. John passed me at 2.5 miles and yelled out that he was only going to do 3 miles at pace rather than 4 as planned. When you're working hard and someone gives you the opportunity to do less, you take it! So after 3 miles at less than target marathon pace, I eased back and tried to give my legs a chance to recover before the 2nd set of marathon pace miles. Feeling rather pleased with 3 miles so far, I was looking forward to catching up with John and sharing my success with him. 

Having not ran further than 10 miles since the Boston marathon, at the 10 mile point, I was starting to tire a bit and wished that I'd brought water or a gel with me. When the time came for our next 3 marathon paced miles, I was very glad that it was on a downhill section. Even with the downhill, 6:45mm pace was proving hard to sustain. When my watch beeped for the end of the 2nd mile I just had to stop. My head started spinning and I realised that I was very dehydrated. Rather than continuing with the marathon pace efforts, I decided I needed to just finish the run with a couple of slow miles. 

15 miles in total at an average of 7:47 pace. 

5 marathon paced efforts:

Mile 3 - 6:46

Mile 4 - 6:43

Mile 5- 6:38 

Mile 12 - 6:48

Mile 13 - 6:51

Total for the week = 57 miles