Double blogging including very successful halfing!

Abingdon Marathon Training - 5 weeks to go 

Few! I've had an awesome but seriously busy fortnight- this is the first opportunity I've had to blog. 2 weeks worth...it's gonna be a long one! 

Monday 11th September 2017 

A much needed lie in today before my first 'proper' day back at school with the kids. A really great day. I love my new class - they're super well behaved (which always helps!) and really young - I always forget how they start the year all sweet and innocent! 

After school, John and I ran to and from the GWR committee meeting to make a solid 7 mile start to the week. Just at recovery pace of 9:30mm. 

Tuesday 12th September 2017 

We were up super early (5am) today for an early morning run through the woods. We got out the head torches and did my new favourite route which goes up Bridge Valley Road, through Leigh Woods, down onto the Towpath and home. 11 miles done before most people are out of bed! Nice! We were feeling really strong and kept a good 8:27mm average pace which, considering the off road nature of the route, is pretty good. 

After school we had a PT session with Jules. This week went as follows: 

1 min sets.......30secs rest

Db to sh pup position......4kg

Sq n press......4kg

Upright row......10kg

Shoulder press.....10 kg bar

Squats to floor......15kg dbs 

Dips

Curls......10 kg bar

One arm rows......10 kg db.....30 ea side

Press ups

Seated row......#12

Sq jumps

8/10 ball slams

8/10 ball sq n press

Shoulder taps raised leg

Tube clean n press........12/8

Sq plus 30 kg bar

Press ups

Mountain climbers

Split lunge jumps

Sq plus 10kg plate hold

Sq hold

Bench burpees

Phew! A great workout as always. 

Wednesday 13th September 2017 

A gentle run first thing to get our legs recovering. 3 miles at 9mm pace. 

In the evening, we ran to club and joined the gang for our first winter 10 mile route of the year (I work in academic years!). I really enjoy this route through Westbury, Henleaze, Shirehampton and finally along the Portway and back up Bridge Valley road. Unfortunately, it chucked it down. The memories of doing this route, while getting splashed by lorries in the freezing cold in the pitch black, all came flooding (literally!) back. With the run back from club as well, we finished with a total for 14miles for the night at an average of 8:13mm - pleased with that. 

Thursday 14th September 2017 

Yet another early start today and another 3 mile recovery. The 9:55 mm pace showed that we worked hard yesterday! With the Bristol half quickly approaching, the rest of the week would be filled with gentle recovery runs to get our legs in the best shape possible. 

In the evening, we got ready to run, left the house, ran 5 steps and once again the rain started to pour. Well neither of us wanted another soaking after yesterday...so instead we ran to our local gluten free fish and chip shop! Salt and Malt do (in my opinion) the best fish and chips in Bristol so we never need much persuading to visit! 

Friday 15th September 2017 

You've guessed it ...another early morning recovery. Legs are feeling pretty good (fingers crossed) Sunday. After work, I popped across to the Physio Hut in the Triathlon Shop so Jenny could give me my pre-half marathon massage. She even remarked that they were feeling better than usual! 

An evening of resting and relaxing after a very busy week at work. 

Saturday 16th September 2017 

Last bit of recovery today before racing tomorrow. We ran to Ashton Court for a very gentle parkrun then nipped home to tidy the house before my parents came around. They come ever year to watch the Bristol Half. It's always a real boost to see them. We spent the rest of the day eating and sitting before getting an early night- perfect pre-race prep. 

Sunday 17th September 2017 

As usual before a race, I was up early eating my favourite pre-race breakfast of homemade egg fried rice exactly 3 hours before the start. Then back to bed for a bit as we have the luxury of being able to walk from our apartment to the start line in less than 10 minutes. My race goals for today were:

1) Finish in the top 20 ladies.

2) Try to hold as many miles as possible around the 6:30mm mark.

3) Get a time of around 1:26 - 1:27 

After posing for the customary GWR clan photo, we had a good 1 mile warm up before taking our places in the 'fast club runners' pen. Being so close to the front is ideal as I don't have to worry about getting caught up behind slower runners at the start. In fact, quite the opposite...

The gun sounded and we were off. I had checked out the other women around me and felt pretty confident that top 20 was on the cards...maybe even top 15! I was caught up among the quicker runners and felt great. I checked my watch ...6:00mm pace ..oops! I slowed down a bit, watching some of my female rivals storm on ahead...making a mental note that I'd catch them later, I continued to slow my pace down to what I knew I could sustain. The first 4 miles passed easily.  I was running with Dr Dave. We were chatting a little, posing for the cameras and working together.  The pace felt straight forward and I hit - 6:11, 6:25, 6:26, 6:32 mm for the first 4 miles. Seeing John pass me on the other side gave me an added boost - especially seeing him in 1st position for our club.

At mile 4, I turned the bend and ran back the other way down the Portway. This is my favourite part of the Bristol Half as I get to see all my friends going the other way. Waving and shouting makes the miles pass much faster. I'm always amazed by how many people I know! Every single shout makes holding the pace that little bit easier. Miles 5, 6 and 7 (6:24, 6:34, 6:24) went by also without much issue - pace of . On the turn, I counted that I was in 11th position - itching now for that top 10 spot, I pushed on. 

Mile 7 - 8 is often a challenge because it is slightly uphill on Cumberland Road. Knowing that my Mum and Dad were waiting for me at the top really helped and I dug deep and tried to keep to that 6:30 pace. Mile 8 was 6:30 exactly. I was overtaken at the start of Cumberland - pushing me down into 12 position but managed to overtake a local B&W rival to put me back in 11th -surely I could hunt down 1 position! 

Mile 9 passed by quickly (6:36) and I was feeling good. I also saw some of my favourite supporters - my good friend Fliss and my God Daughter Amelia. 

At mile 10, something strange happened, as we were going round Queen's Square, despite feeling that I was putting in the same effort, my watched showed a dip in pace to 6:55 mm. Not sure if this was due to a more twisty section of the course or a problem with the GPS signal but, not wanting all my fast miles and seconds gained to go to waste, I pushed on and managed to knock out the next mile in 6:33 - phew! Back on track. 

It was at about this point that I managed to catch a glimpse of a very familiar looking head....the Maestro...not too far off! Knowing that if he spotted me, he'd pick up the pace and I'd have lost my chance, I decided to try and run as quietly as possible and sneak up on him! Slightly closer than the Maestro, I spotted fellow GWR runner and frequent race rival, Rob. He was my next target I decided. Focusing only on real-ling him in, I pushed on alone - sorry Dr! - and covered mile 12 in just 6:27. In the final mile, I passed Rob and had my eyes focused tightly on the Maestro...unfortunately, despite a 6:28 last mile, I ran out of road. Even more frustratingly, Rob, who I thought I'd left behind, had clearly been sitting on my shoulder, and nipped past me on the line! Still, 11th lady, first GWR lady and very surprisingly a new PB! 1:25:32 - delighted! 

John also got a PB and finished as 41st man overall - out of 10,000 - wow! 

Now we come to the reason that I am writing this a week late...After the race John and I had a lovely dinner with my Mum and Dad before going to the running club for our Summer BBQ. A celebratory glass of wine turned into 4...plus a shot...thanks Dr Dave - just what I needed on a Sunday night! 

A really great night but one that I would pay for for the next week! 

Monday 18th September 2017 

The run after the night before! Incredibly, we managed to drag our still spinning bodies out of bed at 6:30am for a recovery run...really don't know how I managed to get round the Harbourside without throwing up!

In the evening, I did another 3 miles around the Harbour before Yoga. 

Tuesday 19th September 2017 

Today called for 10 miles and as we had PT in the evening, it had to be another early one (literally can't remember the last time I lied in!). This was hard work today. We decided to do 10 miles out and back along the Towpath. Head torches needed, we left home at 5:30am and it took us a few miles to warm up our legs into sub 9 min miles for the required GA run. This was one of those runs where you just want to cut it shorter and shorter...by 3 miles I was having to work hard to convince my legs to keep going! We almost stopped and turned around at 4 miles but John managed to spur me on to the full 5 miles before we turned around and headed for home. That is one of those times when I remind myself just how beneficial it is to run with someone. If I was on my own, I probably would have only done 6 miles! Instead, another 10 mile GA run banked. 

In the evening, was our weekly PT session. Jules had a monster workout planned: 

Warm up - Star jumps...Burpees.....squats.....plank hold for 30s.......X3

5 sets of 20 for 1000 reps.

Press ups

Squat jumps

Mat hops

Squat n press 8/10 kg mb

Mountain climbers...count on one foot!

Balance v sits 4/6 kg mb

Slams....8/10 kg mb

Squats plus mb hold to chest 8/10 kg

Split lunge jumps

Shoulder taps....count on one arm!

 Yes...you read that correctly...1000 reps! 

Wednesday 20th September 2017 

Just 3 miles this morning - recovering from last night's efforts. 

After work, we did another 3 miles before walking to the Retro Crisp Buffet...which is exactly what it sounds like! For dinner, we ate 3 platefuls of retro crisps - so good! Clearly it's what the pro marathon runners eat!

Thursday 21st September 2017 

Today we didn't go out early (hooray!) instead, we waited until the evening before doing a long run. As I had a super busy weekend lined up, this was to be my long run of the week. 16 miles along the Portway, over the Avonmouth bridge and back up the Towpath. Lovely weather, great company, and a really positive run with an average pace of 8:28, I was really happy with that. 

Friday 22nd September 2017 

A recovery run again this morning. Although one that was punctuated with worrying about a pigeon that I'd seen outside our apartment which was either in a very deep sleep (standing up on the ground in the middle of the walkway) or dead....luckily, when we returned from out 3 mile loop, the pigeon was not where to be seen...hopefully that means he was just sleeping! 

In the evening, we left Bristol and headed for London to watch John's favourite band Sigur Ros. I had listened to quite a bit of their music and liked it so I thought I'd enjoy a relatively normal gig. Well, Sigur Ros live are very far from a 'normal gig'. The music made up just a proportion of the atmosphere- coupled with the vast array of flashing lights, intense base, smoke and visual effects - the whole performance was an amazing sensory experience. 

My little sister has a new apartment just a few minutes drive from the Apollo and she kindly offered to let us crash her new pad! 

Saturday 23rd September 2017 

Since dragging her around Ashton Court parkrun, Amy has a new found love of running! We were up early (for Amy) and she gave us a running tour of her local area - which included the very stylish Chelsea Harbour! 

After a delicious breakfast, we drove to our next destination - the Cotswolds! Our good friend Cat was embarking on a mega challenge - running 102 miles - the whole of the Cotswold way - insane! 

We went to checkpoint 2 (27miles) to cheer her on. She looked mega strong and managed to keep up a brilliant pace throughout to finish in 27 hours - incredible! 

Sunday 24th September 2017 

My mileage this week was looking pretty low so I wanted to pop out early today and get 10 miles in before my friend, Steve's, stag do! 

 It was a lovely run...until I twisted my ankle on some uneven ground (bloody trail running!). When I heard my ankle twist and felt the pain, initially I freaked. In a split second, I thought the worst - 14 weeks of marathon training...4 weeks to go and injured...what if I can't run...what have I done! 

The pain was pretty bad and I couldn't put my foot flat for a couple of minutes. Despite my hysterics, John managed to keep a calm head and reassured me. After managing to calm me down, I was able to try some movements and put weight on it. I could see some swelling but I felt like I'd be able to continue running. Thankfully, I was able to run with only a slight pain. I finished the 10 miles and iced my ankle before getting ready for the day...fingers crossed it will heal in a couple of days. 

Putting my ankle out of my mind, I headed off to meet my friend Steve for his stag do! I was super excited to be invited and couldn't wait. We drove to Birmingham and raced 'clown cars'. These were 6 different types of car that proved to be brilliant fun. Some examples were: Robbin Reliant racing, push me pull yous (two front ends of cars welded together) and double decker cars...check out the pics!

A very busy but very fun fortnight! 

64.9 miles for last week and 54.1 this week.

 Running is still going strong...as is my social life! 

Training while on school camp!

Abingdon Marathon Training - 6 weeks to go! 

Monday 4th September 2017 

John and I started the week off with a 5 mile recovery run around Ashton Court. We were up early ready for my first day back at school after the 6 weeks off. In the evening, we attended our usual yoga class to stretch out ready for another week of training. 

Tuesday 5th September 2017 

Today I was taking my Year 6 class on school camp for 4 days. We were up early so I could get a really solid run in as I wasn't sure how much running I'd get done over the next few days - it all depends on how good the kids are! 

We set off at 5:30am feeling surprisingly awake! We took the first couple of miles steady, gradually picking up the pace. As I was feeling good, I suggested that we do a progressive run - with each mile quicker than the last. Here are my mile splits for the first 8 miles -

8:26

8:11

7:57

7:44

7:31

7:20

7:10

6:55 

Really pleased with that - a very successful run. We finished off the 10 miles with 2 miles cool down. 

After a very easy journey, myself, 3 other adults and 31 children arrived at camp. Our first activities were abseiling and the challenge course. After dinner, the kids played a game before going to watch a film. While they were occupied, I popped to the gym and did a 20 minutes treadmill run before bed. 

Wednesday 6th September 2017 

I was up at 5:45am to get an early morning run in before the kids woke up - 30 mins and 3 miles done. 

Today's activities were vertical challenge, raft building, the giant swing and areoball. Lots of cross training for me today! In the evening we had a campfire and while the kids watched some more of a film, I managed to get another 20min treadmill run in. 

Thursday 7th September 2017 

Another early morning start for me and another quick 20mins on the treadmill. 

Today we had climbing, archery, zip wire and canoeing. In the evening, the kids had a disco and I managed to squeeze in my last treadmill run of the week - starting to get a bit fed up with them now! 

Friday 8th September 2017 

No running today. After a jam packed week full of activities and being responsible for 31 children, I was feeling pretty shattered so decided to give my legs some time to recover. 

We had the trapeze and tunnel trail in the morning and then, after lunch, it was time to head back to school. In the evening, I was very much looking forward to relaxing with John (who I'd missed loads!).

Saturday 9th September 2017 

After a pretty exhausting week, we didn't manage to make it up in time for parkrun. Instead we had a lie in and then went out for a run around Leigh Woods. So nice to be running outside after a week of treadmill workouts. 10 miles flew by as John and I chatted away - great to be home. 

We were out in the evening to celebrate Ian's Birthday. For once we were pretty controlled with our drinking - I only had 2 glasses of wine to (hopefully) enable me to be in good shape for my long run tomorrow. 

Sunday 10th September 2017 

After watching the Great North Run on TV, we were feeling inspired to get out and continue our training. I needed 22.4 miles to get me up to a nice round 60 miles for the week so the plan was to do a stead run at around 7:30 - 8 mm pace. We went along the river Avon trail which is brilliant because it's flat but it was rather muddy today which slowed us down a tad. I also got covered into stingy nettles - ouch! We then joined up with part of the Green Man route before reaching the Bristol to Bath cycle path. I finished off with a lap of the Harbourside making it exactly 22.4 miles in exactly 3 hours and 1 second - an average pace of 8:02mm. Despite taking a gel with me, I didn't feel the need for it. My body was craving water instead - luckily I took some with me. I'm starting to think that I won't actually use gels for the marathon and simply drink water. It will stop me having to worry about it upsetting my stomach, I won't have to bother carrying them and I feel like it's healthier as well. 

A solid run that felt good - my furthest run of this campaign so far. 

Total miles for the week - 60 exactly! 

Racing again at the Oldbury 10

Abingdon Marathon Training 7 weeks to go! 

Monday 28th August 2017 

Bank holiday woohoo! Really nice having John home for another day so we did a gentle 6 mile recovery (with a pit stop part way through for cake!) after the Severn Bridge race yesterday. We spent the rest of the day soaking up the last bit of summer sun at our friend's housewarming BBQ. 

Tuesday 29th August 2017 

It's been a while since I've done a good speed work session so, when John mentioned (on Monday evening) that he was planning to get up early and bang out a speedy 10 miles the next morning, I was keen to go along...however, my mind changed very quickly when awoken at 6am...oops! Back to sleep I went...well it was my last week of holiday after all! After analysing John's data on strava, I decided to do what any loving girlfriend would do...go out and try and smash his workout! Mwhaha! 

10 miles with 10 sets of strides on the plan. I love running with strides; it makes the miles zoom past. My target was to try and keep all my miles around the 7:30mm mark. I used mile 1 as a warm up (7:53) then started my strides on mile 2. I decided to do 0.1 mile of strides every 1/2 a mile (at 0.4 and at 0.9). To start with, I found that when I finished each set of strides, my pace slowed considerably. Consequently, I set myself a new challenge - to finish the strides and then maintain a faster pace for the rest of the mile. I did the strides in miles 2 - 6 in a pace of : 7:29, 7:23, 7:24, 7:23, 7:14 . Once the strides were complete, I focused on simply maintaining a solid pace for the last 4 miles - 7:41, 7:32, 7:36 and 7:34. Boom! A really strong workout done and, most importantly, a quicker average pace than John! Hehe! 

Wednesday 30th August 2017 

Today John and I wanted to do a long run as we wouldn't be able to over the weekend. We set out with the intention of running 20 miles. Running to club, my legs weren't feeling mega fresh after yesterday's efforts but we were taking it relatively steady around 8mm pace. We managed to bag 5 miles before getting to club and arrived just in time to head out again with the 10 mile group. I haven't ran the summer 10 route for a while and I'd forgotten just how challenging it is when you're feeling a little tired! It's pretty hilly and despite being able to keep up with the boys on the flat and downhill sections, on the uphill, I just can't keep up - very frustrating - must do more hill training. John and I managed to get up to 16 miles but were slowing down and running out of energy so decided to cut it short. Still, 16 isn't too shabby for a Wednesday night. 

Thursday 31st August 2017 

Having failed to get up early on Tuesday, today I was more successful. Up early with John for a 5 mile plod around Ashton Court. Good to remind myself of what it was like to get up early and my 6 weeks of holiday was nearly coming to the end. This was the start of a few days of recovery before the Oldbury 10 mile race on Sunday. I spent the rest of the day with my Aunty and Cousin who came to visit me for the day. Had a lovely time showing them all of the best bits of Bristol - it really reminded me just how great this city is and how much there is to do and see. 

After eating far too much during the day, I was feeling guilty so did another gentle 3 miles around the Harbourside before Yoga with Amelia at Cargo 2. A really great class this week with lots of stretching and relaxing - just what I needed. 

Friday 1st September 2017 

Another 3 mile recovery run today before going into school (for the 3rd time this week) to finish off sorting out my classroom ready for the new term. I also had a sports massage from Jenny  to loosen up my legs ready for the weekend. 

Saturday 2nd September 2017 

Saturday means parkrun day! I knew I needed 7 miles to make a lovely round 60 miles for the week so we ran there and back as well. As much as I love run parkrun flat out, I also really enjoy a gentle run because I use it as a chance to have a good ol' chat and catch up- finding out how everyone's running journeys are going. 

Normally, we like to spend the day before a race, relaxing, eating and generally doing very little...well this wasn't the case today. After convincing our good friend Cat to run the Butcombe Ultra while drunk at the BBQ on Monday, we thought we'd better pop along and support her. John did some calculations and worked out which checkpoint he thought she'd be at. We arrived only to find that she was going great guns and had already passed...on to the next checkpoint we went. Assuming that we had a bit of time to kill, we went to the bar and go a couple of drinks and snacks. We'd literally just made it outside when Cat appeared looking so strong and super happy! She finished in 4th place overall and 2nd lady - seriously impressive. Very proud. 

Next stop for the day was to go hang out with some friends at a rugby club cider festival. Beautiful sunshine, great rhubarb cider, a bouncy castle (yes I had a go!) and fab bands playing made for a lovely afternoon. The only downside was that we were standing up for a long time and not really resting...hope that doesn't cause us a problem in the race tomorrow. 

Sunday 3rd September 2017 

Today was the Oldbury 10 miler. Its leisurely start time of 10:30am meant that I didn't have to eat my usual pre-race breakfast (egg fried rice) until 7:30 which made was rather nice. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't kind to us. It was very very raining and also rather windy...maybe it will calm down I thought...

My aim for the race today was to get all miles as close to 6:30mm pace as possible. I was also hoping for a good position but wanted the pacing to be my main challenge. At the start I noticed that the lady who beat me last week was there again today...round 2 ding ding! 

I set off and was feeling pretty good for the first mile. One lady I didn't recognise stormed off ahead and was well in front. I was running with my new rival from Bitton. She was clearly planning on running the exact same pace as me so I formulated a plan to sit behind her and let her pace me before sprinting past her at the finish to take 2nd place - simples! However, I didn't quite manage to execute this cunning plan. The first 4 miles were solid 6:26, 6:29, 6:31 and 6:36. The course was flat at tarmac, the weather was cool - on paper the conditions were perfect for me - but something just didn't feel right. My legs felt really heavy and tired and lacked the spring and energy that I knew I needed to sustain this pace. My Bitton rival managed to maintain the pace and as I slowed slightly I could just see her inching away, mile by mile. I dug in and really tried to pick it up and get back on track but it just feel like the whole course was steadily uphill. Then the wind really started to pick up - great! The rest of the miles were pretty depressing time wise 6:40, 6:37, 6:53, 6:50, 6:57 and 6:48. There was nothing I could do but dig deep and try to hang on for a PB. 

I finished in 3rd place in a time of 1:07:23. I'm pretty disappointed with the time but I put it down to spending too much time on my feel yesterday combined with racing hard last weekend.

 Luckily, I scrapped a PB by around 20 seconds which does mean that I have now officially PB'd in every distance - 1 mile, 2 miles, 5000m (track), 5k (road), 10km, 10 miles, 20 miles, half marathon and marathon in 2017! 

I was really pleased to get 3rd place and especially delighted that alongside Louise and Claire, GWR women won the team prize for the 2nd year running! I also won my first ever hamper! John hit his target of sub 60mins and finished in 5th position - amazing! Always proud x. It was really great during the prize giving ceremony as almost every other prize was going to a member of GWR - so wonderful to be part of a club that's friendly, great fun and also really successful in so many different age categories. Well done everyone. 

So another week of training gone and only 7 weeks to go. Next week I'm taking my new Year 6ers off on camp so will be a relatively light week of training. I will still try and run as much as possible...but might have to be before the kids wake up or after they've gone to bed - oh dear! 

Total for this week - 61.6 miles