a good hour done

I took a day off work today and decided to go for a run, a long one. I managed just under the hour before completley giving up but I'm ok with it. I had to walk for some of it but again, I was ok with that. The distance was 7k which is under what I would normally do but given I've been quite lax of late it's not the biggest issue really.

There are about three and a half weeks to the run in Brighton. Aside from needing to figure out the details of getting there and back on the day I also need to start pushing myself to get better at the training bit too. With the London run I was pretty focused at the but this one seems to be sliding along under the covers. Oh well.

I've found in the last two weeks or so I've not really pushed myself running, although I have been getting out approx 3 times a week. Thing is I can feel myself getting a bit lardy, even in that short space of time. While it's comforting to know getting out for a run can help fix that, the fact that it can happen so quickly is quite disconcerting. I can totally see it on my face, extra expression is probably a charitable way of describing it.

I wonder what I will be like when I'm 60 and the thought of running is akin to death. I bought a great book called The Complete Guide to Women's Running, perhaps I should take a sneaky peak at the chapter about older lady runners.

For now though, I've done an hour and feel good. Still Brighton bound.

time to go back to the pool

I managed a 30 minutes run tonight and sit here knackered. The nice thing was there were a few moments of being at one with nature, feeling like I was in a comfortable groove etc but there was also a moment where I was behind a guy who was walking and for the life of me, a good three four minutes, the distance between us did not change.

I remind, I was running, he was walking. There is no God.

I've also decided I need to get back in the pool more consistently. My bones are beginning to creak and that's not good. Hopefully my neck, back and hips will enjoy the lighter, wetter side of life for a while - and definitely more than the gruelling pounding of tarmac.

Brighton here I come !

Today the online entry monster struck again. This time I will be strutting my stuff on the south coast in a months time for the Brighton 10k. It takes place along the seafront so should be an interesting run. I'm pleased at the thought of sea breeze to keep me cool and having grown up by the sea it's a comforting, soothing thought - even if it means a full 10k of it, most likely with a less romantic stiff wind and mist.

One of the reasons I chose it (apart from sea breeze) is that it takes place in a months time so I have a number of weeks to get used to the idea. It also allows me to continue running in chunks. Before I know it I may actually make the new year intact and with a few races under my belt.

As for tonight, well, I got back on the horse and went for a run. After the disaster of Saturday I was determined I needed to put it behind me and just get out there. Off I toddled and to cut a long story short I did my 30 minutes non stop and it felt good. The run was difficult only in the sense that there was a match on in the area so there were tons of people milling about forcing me to dodge and duck and shimmy. I guess I should consider it all part of race practice.

When I registered for the Brighton race I put my expected time to be 1 hour 20 minutes. Now that I have a personal best I have something to aim for - for tonight though it was 4.5k in 30 minutes so the pressure is on.

The one thing that is beginning to rear it's head in my mind is my lack of bike and pool time. I need to sit down and think about how I am going to get back into them. I am fine concentrating (for now) on the running but I don't want to push so far ahead with it that I lose touch with what I had achieved in the other disciplines - not to mention the sense of cross training and variety.

This is never ending is it ...

the belt saga

I played golf today and without realising set off from the house sans belt. Not the biggest of crises you would think. Turns out I've lost some weight though, enough weight that it does matter.

Like something out of a cartoon I schlepped my slightly smaller ass around 18 holes having to hoist my trousers back up after each shot. Not quite what I am used to and definitely not what I expected when I woke up this morning (or indeed any).

[making mental note that belt is obligatory wear these days]

reality bites

Sitting here feeling a bit dejected. I went for my usual Saturday morning run but just couldn't do "it". I warmed up as usual and started off fine but was really struggling after just a few minutes. I carried on and decided to walk for a bit after 15 very tough minutes. Gave myself a two minute breather and off I went but again started to really struggle. I only managed another 10 minutes before stopping and walking the rest of the way home.

I think the last time I felt like was when I was training in the early days where the thought of running for 15 straight minutes would have sent me scurrying to this blog to shout to the world I had found a short cut to Christmas, not so today though.

Perhaps this is the real life. The good running days (and I've had my fair share recently) and the tough days that you just have to acknowledge exist, slog through and then put away.

It was a shame though 'cos I weighed myself this morning and headed off to run with an extra light skip in my step.

I'm a runner now momma

It's been a few days since the 10k and finally I have a few minutes to myself to write about it. Even though it feels like an eternity ago, I still have the aches and pains the effort caused. A good pain, naturally.

So, the day began with alot more flexibility than the morning of the Triathlon which was really nice (a) because I didn't have to set an alarm clock in the middle of the night to eat breakfast (b) breakfast didn't need to be a three course meal and (c) getting to Hyde Park was a non issue. Basically I was as relaxed as a well girl could be.

The only issue I really had was that I was sick. I had a cough (still do, actually) and sore throat. The plan became if I could walk 30 mins to a particular tube station without coughing up a lung then I would attempt the run, if I couldn't then I would be cheering from the side line. As it turned out I made it to the tube staion and by the time we got to Hyde Park wild horses wouldn't have stopped me.

[the alien is back .. wild horses not being able to stop me from wanting to run 10k in a very tight luminous green t-shirt in front of 30k people ... the world must surely be coming to an end]

We could hear the pumping of music before reaching the "athlete's" village (yeah, very reminiscent of the London Tri Day), turns out the wave before us was doing the official warm up. When it got to our warm up I realised if I did it, I wouldn't be able to compete in the race itself. Holy shit, it was a total work out.

[making a mental note that must be the bit that seperates athletes from fun runners]

Let me take a pre race minute to introduce the facilities. There were enough spaces for bags and stuff - very well placed, organised and easy to use. There were tons of porto loos - again very well placed, organised, easy to use and they even had toilet roll! All in all, very well organised and user friendly.

Anyway, back to the race. Warm up - check. Chip connected to runners - check. Knees still connected to legs - check. Bottle in hand - check. Toilet visited - check. Energy bar demolished - check. Nervous knot in stomach - check, check and double check. I was ready to join the running elite, bring it on.

We all piled up in our rows to start the final wave and without much ado we were off. I shuffled the first few hundred metres to allow everyone else pass me, get into their stride etc. Thankfully the triathlon had trained me well for the bump and hassle of race starts. I heard afterwards from the fast people I know that at the top of the queue things got a bit hot under the collar but back in slowville where I reside it was all very sedentiary and amicable.

I shuffled my way into a rhythm and by the time I reached 4k in 30 minutes I had earned myself a little break. Weirdly only a minute or so into my walk I found myself tapering back into a run - who knew I had an inner runner just bursting to get out.

I had decided to run with a bottle of home concocted energy drink (something I normally do not do) in my hand - my thinking was by carrying it I would run at a slightly slower pace so I could manage the full distance.

The rest of the race is a blur of continued shuffling, mumbled encouragements to the people around me - in particular one couple who were in danger of splitting up mid race. She was very emotional about not being able to finish while he was being very encouraging of her performance already etc etc. There was alot of that back in slowville and it was that wonderful human side I think gave me the most encouragement to continue.

Anyway, by the time I reached 9k I was ready to dump the almost finsihed bottle and stretching out my stride I turned the corner and sprinted ... yes indeed I did say sprint ... think Coe, think Ovett, think Coughlan (Helsinki, 80's, final bend, Irish, happy days) and you get the picture. I found myself in the middle of the road with a few runners ahead of me, dotted like breadcrumbs leading to the finish line and one by one I over took them. It was such a fantastic feeling. I can't explain it but I got into a zone, my arms were pumping and I was a flying bundle of me-ness.

I finished in just under 75 minutes. My first time completing 10k - including training - and I felt good. Being able to sprint at the end had blown me away, I just couldn't believe I had found the energy to do it. That will stay with me for a while I have to say.

I sit here this evening with another medal and t-shirt in the collection. I now have a personal best - never thought I'd have me one of those :)

The big question of what next remains open but I went for a run tonight and it felt good so I suspect there will be something in the not too distant future.

On a sidebar, SBR are opening a new outlet near where I live - it's a divine sign from the tri gods surely, their own personal reward to me for my 2006 endeavours .. right?

1:14:33

That's the time I managed the Run London 10k race in earler today. I'm beginning to get stiff and my cough / cold / sore throat is looking for payback and I feel very tired.

Beyond the tiredness though (just for a minute) I feel very proud of myself - at both the finishing and the manner of the finish itself. I sprinted the last kilometre - something I never expected I would be able to do.

Details tomorrow, today has been busy enough already.

pre race day sick

Tomorrow is my first ever 10k race and I sit here feeling a bit sick and sorry for myself. Over the last few days my throat has been tickling and people around me slowly started to cough and splutter as the weather changed. It was only a matter of time for it to reach me. And it has.

I will decide tomorrow morning whether to run or not. There will be a number of factors - did I sleep? can I spend more than 15 minutes not coughing? is it likely to rain? did I feel like I have the energy to take on a race / walk? would I be silly to do it? would I be able to not do it without feeling wretched anyway?

It really is all very disappointing.

But.

It's not over yet. The battle today is to get fluids in, as many as possible. To rest up, easily and with lots of warm cosy things around me. Just maybe I can beat this or at least stave it off for another 48 hours, then it can do it's worst, just get me through the next 25.

30 minute milestone

Having had not very much sleep last night and a really long, draining day today I wasn't hopeful for my run tonight. I only have a few days to go before my 10k debut so I feel I need to follow the 0-10k in 6 weeks schedule to the letter - that meant a 30 minutes steady run.

[I've not managed 30 minutes steady all in one go running before]

I cycled home and tried to keep that same level of movement up by coming through the front door and in a constant motion fashion change into my fashion free running gear and leave the house before my head caught up. I got out the door pretty quickly but similarly to Sunday's run I was slow to get into a rhythm and a feeling of control.

Eventually though I got into my stride and with mucho concentrationo I passed the 15, 20, 25 and finally 30 minute mark without stopping. While I was overtaken many times by other runners I feel I achieved something new and that's another milestone added to the list.

Think the distance was about 4.5k so while I'm never going to break any records I think I'm hitting a level of consistency and that's great.

no sport today

I feel I need to spend some time redressing the fitness balance that has devoured this blog. I write tonight knowing that I did absolutely no exercise today (not sure cycling the 10 minutes home really counts?) and I'm totally fine with that.

I still struggle with the mantle of runner or triathlete. It's nice, actually it's wonderful .. but .. it's just not me. I like a pint or two and the roast or whatever that can often accompany it and I make no apologies for that either but I've not worked out how to reconcile the two.

This evening I went to the pub to meet a friend and enjoyed my few pints as we caught up and laughed at the mad things happening around us.

I didn't have the heart to mention that after two pints my body was beginning to say "ok, that's enough now". It really can't get any madder than that.

Nike, Bill Hicks and an 8k milestone

As I was running earlier and thinking about this blog a voice inside my head screamed that the only thing worth blogging today was a screen full of "I must be insane I must be insane I must be insane" etc.

[I wasn't having a nice time]

Somehow I managed to struggle on (the first 15 minutes was really tough today for some reason) but in the end it turned out to be quite the decent run - caveat caveat - for me. I did 8k in exactly one hour. Given that I've registered myself as needing 100 minutes for the full 10k I will be delighted if I can repeat that form this time next week.

Actually, it is pretty much exactly this time next week. I'm due to start at 12.45 and it's now 13.38.

My job for today on the training front has been achieved now I need to head into town to join a massive queue to collect the only t-shirt I'm allowed to wear at the run. I have to say, I'm not enamoured with the way runners are being constrained into having to use the Nike Shop to collect. For example:

a) organisers will not post out the t-shirts you have to wear, you must collect them in person
b) t-shirt can only be collected in Nike Town on Oxford St, London
c) you cannot run the race without your allocated t-shirt
d) t-shirts will not be available for collection on the weekend of the race in Hyde Park

So, with a slightly cross expression and a brilliant Bill Hicks rant about marketeers being the devil incarnate echoing in my head I will make my way into Oxford St hell on a Sunday afternoon.

This had all bloody better be worth it.