Gluten Free Running Girl: 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!