Did all my stretching and core work today and then headed up to run with the club. Went a bit early so I could get a warm-up lap done so as not to make the same mistake as last week. Ended up doing 7 miles by myself as only the men and some of the faster ladies were there and as I just mention repeatedly I need to concentrate on doing my own pace right now while I'm building my mileage...at least outside of sessions at the track.
Its not that I want to plod along indefinitely at my own slow-ass pace. I just want to throw in faster stuff when my legs feel like it rather than trying to keep up with faster runners during my easy runs. I'm new to this running with people thing and when I started going to the athletics club first I wasn't getting any recovery or easy runs in. For the ego this was probably good but it was no good for my poor old legs and I found I didn't have anything left for racing and I love to race! With myself mostly :)
So did the first couple of miles at about 9min/mile and dropped that to 8:15-8-30 for the next 5. Felt very comfortable so would be a good half marathon pace so a safe plan for the half in may could be to keep to that pace for 10 miles and go for some negative splits after that. That should bring me in under 1:50 but maybe it's a bit conservative? Early days yet....will see how the build up goes.
Monday, 3 March 2014
Race Recap - Slane 5k Trail Race
So this is from a couple of weeks ago but it was different to any other 5k I've done so I thought it was worth recording as I might like to do something like this again. Or remind myself why not to!
This race took place on an open farm with a tourist hostel on it. It's just outside Slane village in Co. Meath and is overall quite idyllic.....possibly more so if it hasn't rained almost constantly for a month and isn't located (quite famously) in a valley. More to come on this!
I arrived over an hour before the race start and parked in an already worryingly muddy field considering I was one of the first cars there. As I got out of the car to go pick up my number someone with a high spec car was already spinning his/her wheels trying to park.....as someone with a practical little runaround this made me a little gleeful and I might have had a little giggle/cackle. I'm not proud of this! They were fine in the end...don't worry!
I picked up my race number with no problems with a little bag of treats too - a bottle of water, an orange, some race flyers and a 10 euro voucher for wheelworx/runworx....not bad! There may have been more but I can't remember now. It was quite chilly at this point so went back to my car where I ended up meeting a girl I connected with on the facebook event page who was also running the race alone. Once we got our numbers sorted we headed up to the start area to people-watch, chat about our other races and generally make the wait for the start less awkward than when alone. God bless social media! We did a brief warm up which was worryingly difficult due to the already churned up ground before the race had even started. This is where I started to be very glad I had signed up for the 5k and not the 10K.
A few minutes before 12 people began to drift up to the start and the route was explained by one of the organisers. With not much ado the 10k people were off. Poor things! About 2-3 minutes later he let us go and we were away.
Off I went downhill about 200 meters into a sharp left through a gate where I became immediately very glad I had tightened my shoelaces firmly before the racc - someone left a shoe behind in the sucking mud! And I have a feeling this was not the last time this happened during this event. Around the bend we went and were faced with a truly massive hill. I was more shocked at the fact that I hadn't noticed it's existence at all than surprised that we were expected to climb it. Luckily I had done my share of massive hills in Achill the week before on a run out and back to Keem beach so I wasn't particularly phased by it but I knew I would have cried if I'd seen it a year or two ago. Started to pass a lot of people from the 5k at this stage and some of those from the 10k too but felt really strong so kept at it. The 1k mark wasn't long after the crest of the hill but we didn't get much relief as the next kilometer was marked by being single track trail in areas where it was very hard to overtake as well as very treacherous ground. This bit seemed to go on forever but going through trees as we were I could see the appeal of racing on this in better conditions. Trying to find the best line, dodging around branches etc. As it stood this wasn't really possible as it was all about staying upright!
The next couple of kilometers were mostly just very very wet ground with only very rare steps where you weren't up to your ankles in mud. There was also a small stream which in normal circumstances could probably be forded quite easily but I opted to go straight in to mid calf as it was too hard to see the stones due to the flooding. To be honest this was quite a relief just to get the clogged mud off the shoes at that stage!
During the last kilometer there was about 300 meters on road as we headed back towards the start area and this felt like running on clouds, fairydust and Beyonces backside. Of course I was so happy to be on road I sprinted like a fool and toasted my legs. I was in for a lovely surprise when we got back on boggy ground for the last run uphill to the finish. I may not look like Bambi but my legs did a damn good impression! Luckily I had left enough of a gap between me and the next competitor that she didn't catch me on this bit as I hadn't a hope of speeding up!
Was delighted to find out after that I was the 7th lady in the 5k out of around 70. Not bad for a slow coach.
Overall a really good first running of this event and I hope they run it again next year. I was sore up to mid thigh until the following Wednesday so just goes to shoe what different muscles these sort of events use over a road 5k. Hopefully these sort of things stand me in good stead for when I do my first road 5k or 10k of 2014 over the next few weeks.
This race took place on an open farm with a tourist hostel on it. It's just outside Slane village in Co. Meath and is overall quite idyllic.....possibly more so if it hasn't rained almost constantly for a month and isn't located (quite famously) in a valley. More to come on this!
I arrived over an hour before the race start and parked in an already worryingly muddy field considering I was one of the first cars there. As I got out of the car to go pick up my number someone with a high spec car was already spinning his/her wheels trying to park.....as someone with a practical little runaround this made me a little gleeful and I might have had a little giggle/cackle. I'm not proud of this! They were fine in the end...don't worry!
I picked up my race number with no problems with a little bag of treats too - a bottle of water, an orange, some race flyers and a 10 euro voucher for wheelworx/runworx....not bad! There may have been more but I can't remember now. It was quite chilly at this point so went back to my car where I ended up meeting a girl I connected with on the facebook event page who was also running the race alone. Once we got our numbers sorted we headed up to the start area to people-watch, chat about our other races and generally make the wait for the start less awkward than when alone. God bless social media! We did a brief warm up which was worryingly difficult due to the already churned up ground before the race had even started. This is where I started to be very glad I had signed up for the 5k and not the 10K.
A few minutes before 12 people began to drift up to the start and the route was explained by one of the organisers. With not much ado the 10k people were off. Poor things! About 2-3 minutes later he let us go and we were away.
Off I went downhill about 200 meters into a sharp left through a gate where I became immediately very glad I had tightened my shoelaces firmly before the racc - someone left a shoe behind in the sucking mud! And I have a feeling this was not the last time this happened during this event. Around the bend we went and were faced with a truly massive hill. I was more shocked at the fact that I hadn't noticed it's existence at all than surprised that we were expected to climb it. Luckily I had done my share of massive hills in Achill the week before on a run out and back to Keem beach so I wasn't particularly phased by it but I knew I would have cried if I'd seen it a year or two ago. Started to pass a lot of people from the 5k at this stage and some of those from the 10k too but felt really strong so kept at it. The 1k mark wasn't long after the crest of the hill but we didn't get much relief as the next kilometer was marked by being single track trail in areas where it was very hard to overtake as well as very treacherous ground. This bit seemed to go on forever but going through trees as we were I could see the appeal of racing on this in better conditions. Trying to find the best line, dodging around branches etc. As it stood this wasn't really possible as it was all about staying upright!
The next couple of kilometers were mostly just very very wet ground with only very rare steps where you weren't up to your ankles in mud. There was also a small stream which in normal circumstances could probably be forded quite easily but I opted to go straight in to mid calf as it was too hard to see the stones due to the flooding. To be honest this was quite a relief just to get the clogged mud off the shoes at that stage!
During the last kilometer there was about 300 meters on road as we headed back towards the start area and this felt like running on clouds, fairydust and Beyonces backside. Of course I was so happy to be on road I sprinted like a fool and toasted my legs. I was in for a lovely surprise when we got back on boggy ground for the last run uphill to the finish. I may not look like Bambi but my legs did a damn good impression! Luckily I had left enough of a gap between me and the next competitor that she didn't catch me on this bit as I hadn't a hope of speeding up!
Was delighted to find out after that I was the 7th lady in the 5k out of around 70. Not bad for a slow coach.
Overall a really good first running of this event and I hope they run it again next year. I was sore up to mid thigh until the following Wednesday so just goes to shoe what different muscles these sort of events use over a road 5k. Hopefully these sort of things stand me in good stead for when I do my first road 5k or 10k of 2014 over the next few weeks.
Shoes! Really this time...
As you can see, my orange-laced Saucony Omni 11's had passed their sell by date. I got these just before I started training for the marathon so they have got well over the recommended 500 miles on them. I do rotate my shoes but my other 2 pairs are both over 2 years old. Shame on me!!
These guys have served me well and I have had no significant injuries in them so far so I made the decision to buy the exact same shoe online. This meant I got last years shoe at a big discount which is ace as I'm broke :) I have supported running shops in the past and most probably will again in the future but right now due to the financial realities of being a working single parent of teens I am not in a position to spend 135 euro on runners I can get for 70 online. I will continue to pay my taxes, give to charity etc. but I'm just not a complete mug!
Can't wait to give the new one's a run out but yesterday, in the rain, on the curragh was not the time. In fact I didn't even wear the dirty ones so that's not even why they are filthy! I always wear a less cushioned shoe on the grass as I don't feel I need it as much and when it's wet or uneven I'm much more concerned about grip and contact with the ground than cushioning. I'm liable to topple over at the least provocation at the best of times so I need all the help I can get on uneven ground.
These guys have served me well and I have had no significant injuries in them so far so I made the decision to buy the exact same shoe online. This meant I got last years shoe at a big discount which is ace as I'm broke :) I have supported running shops in the past and most probably will again in the future but right now due to the financial realities of being a working single parent of teens I am not in a position to spend 135 euro on runners I can get for 70 online. I will continue to pay my taxes, give to charity etc. but I'm just not a complete mug!
Can't wait to give the new one's a run out but yesterday, in the rain, on the curragh was not the time. In fact I didn't even wear the dirty ones so that's not even why they are filthy! I always wear a less cushioned shoe on the grass as I don't feel I need it as much and when it's wet or uneven I'm much more concerned about grip and contact with the ground than cushioning. I'm liable to topple over at the least provocation at the best of times so I need all the help I can get on uneven ground.
Sunday, 2 March 2014
Injury scare and new shoes!!
Ooops! Fell of the wagon again. It does take me a while to build a habit but then once I do I'm on rails and dislike not doing what I'm supposed to so need to treat this blogging like salads and lunges!
Speaking of habits I need to pick up I had been dallying with some strength work and a bit of stretching to compliment my running but not with any regularity. Well trust the universe to give me a good kick in the arse quite literally.
To give you some background I have been building up my mileage from a base of about 20miles a week after the marathon and in January back to 25-30miles in the last few weeks. I was hoping to then gradually build this up to 40-50 by mid summer with the aim of being able to build up to a marathon from that base quite easily should I feel like it. Anyway there I was going my merry little way with nary a thought of my poor stressed muscles, ligaments and tendons. Surely disaster was about to strike!?
Last week I had put a target of 32 miles in place. Started well with 10 on Monday feeling fine. Rested Tuesday and went to the track for 8x400 on Wednesday which with a warm-up and cool down came to about 5 miles total. Thursday was where I made a major mistake. I usually meet similar paced friends from the club for a couple of easy 2.5mile laps following the speed work the previous night but wanted to get some extra distance in so arrived early. Only to be met by the friendly, lovely, but much too speedy L & P. Now these guys insisted that I should tag along with them as they were doing an easy recovery run anyway. I argued briefly but allowed my arm to be twisted......silly girl!!! I could tell they were slowing down for me but we still did the first lap at an average 8:10min/mile.......this is not recovery pace for me and I was not warmed up after a long day at a desk and an hours drive home. Sure enough I started to feel discomfort along my left side about half way through the first lap. Oh no! Typically I was too busy trying to pretend I was ok at that pace to say anything so I waited until the end of the lap to stop......and then continued to do two more laps at a slower pace for a total of 7 miles. By the time I got home I couldn't even decide where it hurt except that I ached all down my left side from under my ribcage to the ankle. Fully. My. Fault.
This is where I do something smart for a change!!! I rested. I was very scared that this was something that would put me out of running for a few weeks or even months so while the discomfort wasn't that bad I decided to be conservative. I read around and figured out it could be my IT band (have had issues there before) bursitis of the hip or something involving one of the glutes. Or! Or! It could just be my back which might sound more serious but if its only my back I know exactly where I stand from long experience and I know I can run on it. Yay!
So I foam rolled and had a hot bath. I self massaged and yoga'd. I youtubed and as a result, myrtled (look it up!) Everything that was in my arsenal I used except painkillers as a) I wasn't in enough pain and b) I wanted to locate the source of the discomfort. By yesterday I still had pain to my ankle and this was very good news! I've had sciatica enough to know that thats probably what it was.
I was going to go for a short trot yesterday to test it but sanity ruled and I left it until this morning. There was a group from the club doing a ten miler at ten but again, good sense reigned and I decided to go by myself so I had control of the variables. I wanted a few things. Firstly I wanted time to do a proper warm up and to start slowly and work up to my own easy pace so I could watch my form. Secondly I wanted to run on grass and I'm fairly sure the 10 miler would be mostly on road and thirdly (and relatedly) I didn't want a road camber to irritate my hips. Anyway I set out in the pouring rain but I didn't care cos it was pain free for all 6 miles. Yippee!! Got back and did the stretches and strength work again and I'm still feeling good....pretty sure it's lower back pain. Fingers crossed I can get back to building up my miles....phew!
Also I bought new shoes but I haven't gotten to wear them yet and this post is too long so I'll put up a pic in my next post.
Speaking of habits I need to pick up I had been dallying with some strength work and a bit of stretching to compliment my running but not with any regularity. Well trust the universe to give me a good kick in the arse quite literally.
To give you some background I have been building up my mileage from a base of about 20miles a week after the marathon and in January back to 25-30miles in the last few weeks. I was hoping to then gradually build this up to 40-50 by mid summer with the aim of being able to build up to a marathon from that base quite easily should I feel like it. Anyway there I was going my merry little way with nary a thought of my poor stressed muscles, ligaments and tendons. Surely disaster was about to strike!?
Last week I had put a target of 32 miles in place. Started well with 10 on Monday feeling fine. Rested Tuesday and went to the track for 8x400 on Wednesday which with a warm-up and cool down came to about 5 miles total. Thursday was where I made a major mistake. I usually meet similar paced friends from the club for a couple of easy 2.5mile laps following the speed work the previous night but wanted to get some extra distance in so arrived early. Only to be met by the friendly, lovely, but much too speedy L & P. Now these guys insisted that I should tag along with them as they were doing an easy recovery run anyway. I argued briefly but allowed my arm to be twisted......silly girl!!! I could tell they were slowing down for me but we still did the first lap at an average 8:10min/mile.......this is not recovery pace for me and I was not warmed up after a long day at a desk and an hours drive home. Sure enough I started to feel discomfort along my left side about half way through the first lap. Oh no! Typically I was too busy trying to pretend I was ok at that pace to say anything so I waited until the end of the lap to stop......and then continued to do two more laps at a slower pace for a total of 7 miles. By the time I got home I couldn't even decide where it hurt except that I ached all down my left side from under my ribcage to the ankle. Fully. My. Fault.
This is where I do something smart for a change!!! I rested. I was very scared that this was something that would put me out of running for a few weeks or even months so while the discomfort wasn't that bad I decided to be conservative. I read around and figured out it could be my IT band (have had issues there before) bursitis of the hip or something involving one of the glutes. Or! Or! It could just be my back which might sound more serious but if its only my back I know exactly where I stand from long experience and I know I can run on it. Yay!
So I foam rolled and had a hot bath. I self massaged and yoga'd. I youtubed and as a result, myrtled (look it up!) Everything that was in my arsenal I used except painkillers as a) I wasn't in enough pain and b) I wanted to locate the source of the discomfort. By yesterday I still had pain to my ankle and this was very good news! I've had sciatica enough to know that thats probably what it was.
I was going to go for a short trot yesterday to test it but sanity ruled and I left it until this morning. There was a group from the club doing a ten miler at ten but again, good sense reigned and I decided to go by myself so I had control of the variables. I wanted a few things. Firstly I wanted time to do a proper warm up and to start slowly and work up to my own easy pace so I could watch my form. Secondly I wanted to run on grass and I'm fairly sure the 10 miler would be mostly on road and thirdly (and relatedly) I didn't want a road camber to irritate my hips. Anyway I set out in the pouring rain but I didn't care cos it was pain free for all 6 miles. Yippee!! Got back and did the stretches and strength work again and I'm still feeling good....pretty sure it's lower back pain. Fingers crossed I can get back to building up my miles....phew!
Also I bought new shoes but I haven't gotten to wear them yet and this post is too long so I'll put up a pic in my next post.
Sunday, 5 January 2014
Life changer
So I broke up with my partner this weekend. This means big big changes including a move for me in the next few days......bummer :(
This bombshell necessitated several vodkas Friday night which made Saturday mornings 6 miler interesting but at least I was out there. I have a feeling that I'm going to have to run my way through this crisis.
Thank god for my kids, parents and good friends!
Friday, 29 November 2013
Obviously rubbish at this blog business
So here I go again after another massive gap. How many posts is that in total? 5? Over 3 months? Big medal for me I think!
Right...so I did Dublin Marathon. Missed my time goal by 9 minutes but in the end I really wasn't bothered....just wanted to finish. Is it a cliche to say it was one of the hardest things I've ever done? Well it was. So tough that for days afterwards if I started thinking about it or if the subject came up with someone or over the radio I would find myself welling up. I realise that this makes it sound emotional in a quite sentimental way but it wasn't like that at all. I've probably only faced myself warts and all in the way I did over those last few miles of those 26.2 twice before in my life and both were during childbirth. Similarly to labour I had no interest in ever doing it again right after but starting considering it again the next day.....the mind is a really funny thing.
Wonder if it's easier the second time around? Anyway it won't be for a while...possibly not even next year, we will see! Maybe I should do a race report while I still remember it so I can compare to next time?
I felt like I recovered quite well from the marathon..no major problems. Did a half last weekend to round out the season while I still had the miles in my legs. Didn't love it as lots of it was on a beach and I now know that I hate to run on sand. Time was ok - 1:51:44.
So what's next?
Right...so I did Dublin Marathon. Missed my time goal by 9 minutes but in the end I really wasn't bothered....just wanted to finish. Is it a cliche to say it was one of the hardest things I've ever done? Well it was. So tough that for days afterwards if I started thinking about it or if the subject came up with someone or over the radio I would find myself welling up. I realise that this makes it sound emotional in a quite sentimental way but it wasn't like that at all. I've probably only faced myself warts and all in the way I did over those last few miles of those 26.2 twice before in my life and both were during childbirth. Similarly to labour I had no interest in ever doing it again right after but starting considering it again the next day.....the mind is a really funny thing.
Wonder if it's easier the second time around? Anyway it won't be for a while...possibly not even next year, we will see! Maybe I should do a race report while I still remember it so I can compare to next time?
I felt like I recovered quite well from the marathon..no major problems. Did a half last weekend to round out the season while I still had the miles in my legs. Didn't love it as lots of it was on a beach and I now know that I hate to run on sand. Time was ok - 1:51:44.
So what's next?
Cross country season! Have been training with the local athletics club for the last few weeks and I think the coach likes to throw everyone in at the deep end so I'm showing up a 4k ladies race on Sunday morning. Nobody is making me but I would never have volunteered myself so I guess I should be grateful as I'd never ever have even though to enter. Please please please don't let me come last! That's all I ask.
Everyone at the club seems to be really nice and friendly so hopefully this will all be positive. Keep me on the straight and narrow just a little bit longer before I let loose for the Christmas!
Sunday, 13 October 2013
Ooops!
So I sort of forgot to write anything for the last few weeks...a combination of laziness and lack of access to a computer. My phone is banjaxed too and that has been my backup. Must try harder young(ish) lady!
Training for the marathon continues and I'm now officially on taper. Yay! So so delighted about this as the last few weeks of running have been quite tough, just never really felt rested on a run and my longer races have been really really tough to the point where I questioned my level of fitness. Anyway it's done now so no point worrying too much about it until race day. Time to recuperate and focus on shorter quality sessions and staying healthy. Now is not the time to catch a cold!
In other running news I have another new pb over 10k! 47:40 which is also a full 5 minutes faster than I ran the same race last year. Absolutely delighted with that. This is even more impressive when you consider that we ended up in the pub Friday night for more beers than was a good idea at any time and definitely not the night before a race. Not very clever at all! Anyway it all worked out ok in the end so no harm done.
Next big goal is sub 45 but I'm not holding my breath for that for a while. It took me so long to get under 50 minutes that I can't believe I'm actually considering sub 45 at all. I'm starting to feel like I might have some real speed in my legs (relatively speaking!)
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