TRAINING UPDATE: Week 8 of half marathon training

I'm two thirds into my half marathon training and I must say I am feeling a little apprehensive. It has been a manic couple of weeks, what with a new job and just generally getting back into the swing of a normal routine post Christmas. I have managed to upkeep a strong steady plan (I may have missed two sessions though), yet I am feeling utterly exhausted!

Week six of training was my first week in my new job so I had get used to a new cycle route. This one is slightly longer than my previous commute and includes some short, steep hills. Three weeks in and I am already seeing the benefits this commute is having on my cycling. I feel faster and stronger which is an added bonus as it helps set me up for triathlon training in March. Anyway, going back to week six and it kicked off with a swim using my new Garmin watch that I got for Christmas. It quite simply is such a delight to have one of these on a swim now. Gone are forgetting how many laps you have done halfway through a swim and now I can finally see how fast I am going. This watch has an accelatrometer so I have to make sure I push off for the start of a new lap hard enough for it to clock a new length. For this session, I did a simple front crawl swim up to 1250m and was really pleased to come in just over 27 minutes. 

Next up on Tuesday was a paced four mile run where I really struggled in the first mile to reach a 7.55 pace. I was almost 30 seconds behind schedule! So I upped my speed and overall finished the run with an average pace of 7.54. This is great as its my half marathon target pace, however, due to that slow mile, I had to run the last three faster.

By Thursday, I had decided to venture down to the athletics track with my running club to kick off the year with a tough speed session. Annoyingly, I forgot my watch (I was livid!) so I had to run blind a session of:

1200m threshold running

5x 400m @ 5K pace

1200m threshold running

(60 secs rest between each set)

Despite not knowing my pace, I ran the fastest I could and felt super energised at the end - can you tell!?

At the weekend, I rested on the Saturday, rolling and stretching to get prepared for a 10K race on Sunday. This was the normal 10K I do - Mornington Chasers Regents Park 10K. I was oddly feeling quite nervous (even though I have done the race so many times!) about the pace I would be able to keep for this and the weather that particular morning was fecking freezing! By the time I arrived at the park, my hands and feet were frozen. I just wanted to get running to warm up!

Luckily after the first of three laps on the course, I had warmed up and was stripping off my gloves. I tried my best to keep steady throughout and managed to cross the finish line in 46.45 with an average pace of 7.30. I am really happy with this as it has been my target 10K pace in the tempo runs I have been doing.

The next day (and the start of week seven), I opted to do a workout session at home as my legs were a bit tired. For Christmas, I got Joe Wick's Lean in 15 book (which by the way I highly recommend) and he includes some HIIT workouts in there. Looking at the weights focussed one, I thought I could do it so I picked up my 5KGs and got to work. 

Oh my lord it was hard! I had to use these weights for squats, lunges, bicep curls, press up arm pulls and a couple of other things. I had to repeat the workout three times but sheepishly gave up after two as my body felt broken. Man alive I am weak! Give me endurance any day but tell me to do a weight session and I am useless. The next day I felt it too. Lets just say I took the lifts that day at work.

The rest of the week, I carried out a swim, hill repeats and a paced run, ending the week with a nine mile run. Joined by a fellow running buddy, we went out easy and finished with an average pace of 8.55. The distance didn't feel too bad either which must be good!

Come week eight and I am starting to feel tired. Work was particularly busy this week and I found myself staying late some nights, which caused a bit of disruption to my training plan. On Tuesday, I was supposed to get up at 6am for a run but told my alarm to f**k off when it went off. I laid in and woke up with enough time to get ready and dash to work. I felt guilty I didn't go for a run and so I decided to make up for it and would do a quick run session after work before I met my friend for a catch up coffee.  My GPS wouldn't work on my watch so I decided to run hard for 30 minutes. And I really did - so much so that halfway round the outer circle of Regent's Park I tripped and went flying! I managed to save myself from any rolled ankles or grazed knees thank god! I finished in Kings Cross where I met my friend and felt like I had maintained a good pace. When I got home that night, I decided to look at the route I took on MapMyRun and it turns out I did four miles bang on. So in 30 minutes that is 7.30 pace! Wahoo!

After this successful session, it went downhill from there as work was still crazy busy. I ended up missing a planned tempo run on Thursday. I tried so hard to get up on Friday to do it before work but I was unbelievably tired and just couldn't drag my body from the warmth of my bed. 

Do I feel guilty for missing this? Well yeah, but at the same time work has to come first over my hobby and sometimes this just cannot be helped. Instead of feeling bad, I am going to dust myself off and carry on. Next up is a 10 mile run tomorrow where I will again be going casually to get my legs used to the distance. 

To reflect on the past eight weeks and the next four until race day, I feel OK(ish). I don't feel strong and confident to secure the all important sub 1.45 but I am going on the hope that everything will all come together on race day. For now, I just need to keep focussed and simply do the best that I can. There is no point in worrying or piling on the pressure. At the end of the day, whatever I do will be an achievement and who can complain about that. :) 

Lipstick Runner. 

2016 Race Calendar

With 2015 shortly coming to an end (where has this year gone!?) and Christmas out of the way, I have been busy accessing my goals and lining up races for 2016. I must admit, I have been a rather chaotic decision maker which has caused me to self evaluate realistically what I want to do. 

My problem is that I get over excited too quickly and take action upon things I haven't really, really thought through. For example, back in April, I decided I was going to bite the bullet and do a marathon. After spending another year watching London Marathon take place, I got that urge to give the distance a go (as I do every year) and decided to enter Brighton Marathon 2016. At the time I was so excited that I was finally going to be doing a marathon. I had succumbed to taking on the challenge. Yet by June, after completing my first triathlon, my train of thought was starting to take a different direction.

I had done better than I thought in the tri and never have I enjoyed a sport so much! The thought of switching back to a sole running focussed challenge didn't seem so exciting now. Instead, I wanted to do more tri's. By this point, I also didn't like the sound of doing 20 mile training runs in the cold winter months of February. However, I hadn't yet made a decision to proceed or not. Instead, I put it down to being on a post tri high and decided to sit it out and wait for the marathon urge to return. 

It is now late December and the urge has not returned - it has barely made a slight noise. What's worse, is that I have entered two more triathlon events, plus a potential duathlon in 2016. I haven't even thought about how I am going to fit all these around a marathon but in all honestly, I'm not sure I even want the worry of trying to make it all work. Truth is - deep down I have already resided to the fact that I don't want to do a marathon next year and I have been feeling really guilty about it. Goodness knows why I feel guilt as it doesn't effect anyone but me. I guess what I am feeling is slightly ashamed at my over eagerness to enter one. A very valuable lesson has been learnt here and one that comes to all of us at several points in our lives - think before acting. 

Despite this glitch in my event calendar, I feel I have planned a relatively busy and challenging race calendar for 2016. It involves a mixture of events to give all areas of my training a good workout in the bid to help improve my running, cycling, swimming and core fitness. 

First up, are two 10Ks in January and February to whip my body back into shape post Christmas and New Year. These are also vital elements of my training for Wokingham Half Marathon in February. I am really looking forward to this as I am desperate for a PB in this distance. I also see this as good base training as I start to increase my distances in triathlon. 

Following the HM, I am planning on entering a duathlon in April and currently have my eye on Newbury Duathlon again as it's such a wonderful, intimate event (you can read my review here). This will be a great exercise to practise transitions and will also offer me a solid brick training session. Plus, the views make for a lovely bike ride. 

By May, I will be in full swing with triathlon training, yet have decided to squeeze in a Tough Mudder, which I recently posted about here. This event is to offer me a fun, team building day but also offer something different to break up my pattern of training. I think (hope) it will also really help me to 'buff up' my core strength - an area that is currently rather weak. 

Come Summer, I will be in full triathlon mode, starting the season off with the Cotswold's Women Only Triathlon in June. I have opted for the Sprint distance here and hoping to improve on my time from Blenheim in 2015. This event will also be a part of my training plan for my last and probably most important event of the year - Hever Castle Triathlon. Here I will be racing in the Olympic distance and it will be my biggest challenge to date. With the big day coming in September, I am hoping all my previous events will put me in excellent shape to complete this distance confidently.  

So in all, a busy 2016 so far! Let's just hope I get through it all injury free and with a big smile on my face :).

Lipstick Runner. 

TRAINING UPDATE: Extreme exhaustion yet running improvements!

(source: Quickmeme)

The last couple of weeks can only be described as exhausting. There has been a sudden drop in temperature, daylight hours have decreased and the sudden need for piping hot soup and Horlicks has returned.

I like to follow a pattern - its merely organisation. When it becomes challenging to follow that pattern, it does slightly irritate me. You will have seen that I love a good training plan (read here) and when it becomes hard to follow this regime, I automatically panic that I will lose everything I have trained for. I always wonder if this is a common concern for runners, or whether it's just me being paranoid..?

It has been mostly weekday training that has been hard to squeeze in. Due to a manic work schedule currently, finding the time (and energy) to squeeze in a run at the end of the day has been tough. Come 8pm, when I am ready to head out, my mind and body lacks the boost to go pound the streets. The pitch black outdoors is also incredibly uninviting. In my mind, I know as soon as I am out running, endorphins will kick in and I will find my running mojo but it is initially getting the foot out of the front door that I am finding hard to do.

So whilst weekday training has been in dribs and drabs, I have made sure I make the most of my weekends to work towards increasing my mileage and I am pleased to say that my goal to reach 13 miles by Christmas is looking very achievable.

I first started to see progress when I ran to Tower Bridge (read about this here) and reached eight miles. I found it tough but stuck to a controlled, steady pace of 8.27 per mile. I was happy with this but wanted to increase my threshold pace. So I followed this with a couple of fartlek sessions and hill runs in a bid to improve strength and speed.

Next up a couple of weeks later was The Mornington Chasers Regents Park 10K. Sticking to my plan to complete two 10Ks by the end of the year, this was the first. I decided to pick this race as it is my clubs own and it offers a slightly challenging, undulating course. I have done this race many times (my PB is 45.45) but my aim for this fixture was to get a sub 50. This event was to test exactly where my race pace was at.

Turns out, my race pace is faster than expected! Seems those speed sessions paid off. At times during the race, I did wonder if I was holding back. I am well aware of how easy it is to overdo it on a 10K. I wanted to remain strong with even splits and that is exactly what I achieved, plus a finish of 46.54! Each mile ranged between 7.22 and 7.42 which I am super pleased with as it shows I am starting to control and own my pace.

Following my 10K high, I decided to up the distance to 10 miles. For this, I ended up being back in my home town and took the opportunity to enjoy a relatively flat route for this. I opted for the towpath, which I thought would be nice and scenic with fresh country air when in fact I found it incredibly dull and continuous. I couldn't wait until I reached five miles as I knew I could turn round and come back! Despite my lack of interest on the route, I again felt good, despite having another awful week of missed training sessions. I completed the run in 1.22.16 which is only four minutes off my PB for this distance!

By seeing this progress, I have really started to enjoy running again. Post triathlon, I really struggled to get back into distance running. I missed my 5Ks and HIIT sessions but these last few weeks, I have reignited my passion for road running.

To finish off this post on an even bigger high, today I woke up and headed out on an eight mile run. I took a similar course to my Tower Bridge route but decided to head west when I reached Southbank towards Big Ben. As I hit eight miles by the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben struck 10am and I was so, SO happy to see that I had ran this distance four minutes quicker than last time and hit an average pace of 7.55.

I AM FINALLY BACK IN THE SUB 8 CLUB!

Lipstick Runner.

TRAINING UPDATE: Achieving small goals

It's strange when you aren't training for a race. You almost feel in limbo, unsure what you are contributing to when you go out running. Don't get me wrong, it is nice to just go out for a run without any strings attached, to not follow any strict nutritional plans and to not feel guilty when you move your run to a different day so you can go to the pub. Despite these positives, I do slightly miss the discipline of training.

However, even though I am not training specifically for anything, these last couple of weeks I have seen only improvement. Running is at the forefront of my mind and whilst I have found it hard going back to three runs a week (during triathlon training I only did two), it is incredibly satisfying racking up the miles again.

In my last post, I set some mini goals to help me get to a fit running state by Christmas. One was to enter two 10K races. I really need to get these booked in so I have headed out twice now to try and run the distance at a strong pace. The first was tough and it felt like it went on forever. By mile five my ITB pain had kicked in but I still managed to finish in just over 50 minutes. The next weekend, I headed out again this time taking on a new, slightly hilly route. By mile five, I was chuffed to have no pain at all and instead of stopping at 10K, I carried on to complete seven miles. All in just under one hour!

(the trails have been calling me these last few weeks)

So in all, running is good. Pace is slowly creeping up (I've gone from 8.50s to 8.10s for 10K) and I have also started to get back into HIIT and speed work. Boy, do these sessions hurt though! Especially when you have taken a few weeks off from it. 

Along with my two 10K races, I set myself another challenge. This one non running related but a goal I very much wanted to achieve - to swim 1500m open water. I recently got a reminder saying my wet suit needs to be sent back soon (I opted to hire it for my first triathlon) and so I wasted no time in trying to hit this target. At 6.30am on Saturday morning I was up and cycling to my local reservoir to see if I could manage it.

(super keen in my kit)

I haven't been in open water for a few weeks now and I was actually a little nervous getting back in. Hovering on the jetty, I faffed around for a couple of minutes, getting my goggles comfy and asking fellow swimmers what the water temperature was. One lady, who was maybe late 60's, turned to me and said 'no news on the water temperature but sod it, lets just get in!'. With that, she pranced down the jetty and flung herself in the water. That was my lesson in manning up right there...

(West Reservoir, Stoke Newington)

The water was bloody cold but I took inspiration from this lady and just cracked on with it. I needed to do three laps of the reservoir and I was surprised at how fast it went. By the time I entered my final lap, my stroke and alignment was fluid and smooth and I was so chuffed to reach the end feeling pretty good. I don't have a time recorded for this but it was great to finish my triathlon season on a high, achieving this small goal. 

Next step for me is to enter these two 10Ks. I am going to research into race options this week, aiming to do one in October and the other November. Suggestions are very much welcome!

Lipstick Runner. 

TRAINING UPDATE: A week to myself

I have been dying for this week to come! Time off work is something I have been craving for weeks. I've been starting to get the constant feeling of exhaustion and I can tell by looking at myself in the mirror that I need a break. Skin is grey and dull, eye bags are drooping down to my toes and my hair is limp and lifeless. When my fiancé's family asked if I could puppy sit their two French Bulldogs whilst they were on holiday, I didn't hesitate. A week out of London to recuperate? Yes please!

Another great thing about this week off is that I get to use my time to get out running and cycling in Essex countryside. This has definitely been a real treat, especially when you are limited to city routes on a daily basis. I arrived here on Friday night and straight away on Saturday morning, we were up and out to do a nice 10K training run. In my last Training Update, I mention at the end that I wanted to try a 10K and try and hold a steady pace. We started out running through some residential areas and the first mile or two I did feel really tired. I am noticing this a lot when I run. It takes me ages to get started and I do find it hard to get a rhythm working.

I started with a couple of 8.50 miles which was really bumming me out. Pre-injury, I would run 10K on a training run at around 7.50 miles, so knowing I am a minute slower is really getting me down. Still though, halfway in we had reached the winding county lanes and picturesque villages so having the nice scenery helped to pick me up. We ran down little lanes, past corn fields, horse stables and stunning views. It was super lovely! I returned back home to complete 6.2 miles with an average of 8.33 miles. This run did involve a lot of stopping and starting so really not pleased with my time BUT no point in dwelling and I must keep my patience intact.

The next day, we both went on a bike ride. It was really great to head out as a couple as my fiancé doesn't keep his bike in London. We headed out the same direction as we did for the run the day before but extended further into small quaint villages. This was only the second time ever I have cycled my bike without locks clamped to the rack and a huge backpack weighing me down. It felt soo light and quick - it was great!

When the start of the week came round, I tried to keep to a similar fitness routine as I would on a typical working week. Monday's is Nike Training day so I opted to do a 30 minute session working on key core and strength exercises. I am starting to look forward to these sessions now as it's a nice change to high intensity workouts. It's also a great time for me to stretch out my ITB and work to rebuild it's strength. 

As I am in a house this week and not a top floor apartment with thin wooden flooring, I took the opportunity to actually complete a full Nike workout. When I wrote my review on this app (see HERE) I mentioned that I have to pick carefully each step I take as ones involving jumping, hopping, running aren't suitable to do in my apartment. I'd fear I could fall through the floor into downstairs living room! However, with a huge living room to do my workout in this week, I chose the Slim Chance workout in the Get Lean category.

This workout got my heart rate working! With light jogging, split jumps, high knee runs and side hopping intwined with press ups, mountain climbers and Russian twists, I was pooped by the end! My core however felt the burn from it which can only mean it's working.

Tuesday I opted to do a standard four mile run. I've got into a routine of doing this. It's long enough to feel like I've done a workout but short enough to ensure I have plenty left in the tank for a speed session and long run later in the week. Again, like my 10k at the weekend, I found this run so hard. I was hot and bothered and had to stop early in to use my inhaler, something I hardly ever do! I completed the four miles with an average pace of 8.21 per mile and again, I am feeling a bit low that I am not getting any faster. What's gutting is that I feel incredibly tired during my runs and right now, I can't imagine running 10 miles, which I have to do in six weeks! Right now, I'm not sure how I ever managed to run at a sub eight minute mile pace for this sort of distance and sadly, I don't think I'll reach this standard for a long time.

Wednesday I headed out on a cycle, again heading back to the country lanes I went down at the weekend. I absolutely loved going back along this route. As it was mid week the roads were empty and at one point I stopped in this field and just stood there. It amazed me that there was not a sound to be heard. It was refreshing to be surrounded by this compared to the hectic rat race of London.

During the cycle, I noticed so many hot spots for blackberry picking. I mean loads! So with that in mind, the next day I came back out on this cycle, three tupperware boxes in the rucksack to get on a major blackberry picking spree. It was really therapeutic to be back out in the country, minding my own business and I also got tonnes of juicy blackberries. Check out my post on my findings and how I used them HERE.

On Friday, I was working from home so had a pretty busy day glued to my laptop catching up on everything. I worked straight through to 5.30pm and after staying in the same spot all day, I felt like I needed a good run. This was the perfect time for a HIIT session! My aim was to do three miles so I chose to do 800m warm up followed by 4x 800m at 5K pace and 2x 400m at 3K pace. It felt good pushing myself - hard but rewarding. Comparing my times to the last speed session I did (read about it HERE) my pace stayed exactly the same. I was slightly disappointed that it hadn't improved but at the same time, I've got to appreciate that it wasn't any slower.

Saturday = rest day. It was lush!

Sunday was long run day. I had been dreading this a little bit since my awful 10K a week previous. So, instead of going first thing in the morning, I opted to go at midday. Two reasons - 1. I wanted to watch Mo Farah in the Great North Run and 2. I wanted to see if running a bit later in the day, post breakfast and fully awake would make a difference. 

Turns out, it does. I had a fabulous run! I managed to complete seven miles and my pace was slightly quicker than the 10K. I'm absolutely thrilled with this result. I did feel tired but not extremely fatigued and even more importantly, the ITB band held up! I did get a bit choked two miles in when I passed a field being harvested (the dust in the air was horrendous) but this was the only part of the run I struggled with. I definitely think going a bit later helped. Having a bit of fuel in me gave me a boost, especially as this was going to be the longest run I have done in around five months. 

(me feeling super happy with my run!)

Overall, I am chuffed to bits with my training this week. I have managed to cram in a lot of workouts in-between chasing a four month old puppy around the house. I will definitely miss being outside of London, the country bike rides and generally spending all my time doing what I love. But, work is calling and it's time to face the city again. This next week, I make my return to the running club which I am so excited about! Let's start seeing those miles build up!

Until next time.

Lipstick Runner.

TRAINING UPDATE: Parkrun Comeback

Training is starting to get exciting for me now. The last couple of weeks have been full of running and I even completed a week where I ran three times so overall, I feel like I am getting back to my old ways.

What has also been great is that I am now balancing out my workouts by combining running with swimming, cycling and core exercises. Running is starting to take priority now and with Cabbage Patch 10 approaching in around six weeks, I need to start thinking about my training plan and how to get the legs ticking over 10 miles again.

Looking back though since my last Training Update, a lot has been happening! I have been really busy with work, wedding planning and seeing friends, so cramming in exercise where I can has been essential. With running, I am starting to see an improvement in my speed and have also attempted running with a backpack again. I haven’t actually done this since around April/May and after booking in my bike for a service over a couple of days, I took the chance to run home from work on one of them.

The route home isn’t too exciting and scenic but is roughly around four miles, so is well within my capabilities at the moment. It was a really hot day when I did this and I did struggle a bit. I also got THE worse stitch, which is very unusual for me. I wasn’t sure if it was where the strap across my stomach from the bag was digging in, but it sure was painful! This caused me to slow down in the last mile but was still pleased to log another four miler.

The next day, I opted to meet my friend for swimming again. When I left the office to cycle to the gym around five miles away it was pouring it down with rain. Still a little nervous cycling in these kinds of weather conditions, I took a route along the Thames towpath and instantly regretted it once I was on it. So many cyclists, runners, dog walkers and fisherman. Wahh! I couldn’t take it and due to the wet, narrow path and uneven paving slabs, my back wheel kept skidding out.

I came off the towpath early and got a bit lost getting to the gym via busy central London roads and so when I did finally arrive, I felt very tense and shaky. The reason I have explained this particular journey is that I think it may have been one of the causes of what happened in the pool afterwards.

We worked to a routine which involved front crawl intervals, arm pulls, kicking with floats and so on and at around 1000m, I got the worse cramp! I’ve never had cramp whilst swimming and holy hell it hurt! It was in my calf and very much panicked me as I was in the deep end so had to drag my body over to the lane divider to pull myself to the side. I stayed here for a good 10 minutes to massage and stretch the calf. It remained very tense but the cramping had eased off and so I opted to try again. 300m later however, I got cramp in the other calf! Inconveniently it was again in the deep end so there a repeat of getting myself to the side to stretch out the other leg. Typical!

A nearby swimming instructor must have been watching me and came over to have a chat. She explained I may be dehydrated and my friend asked if I drink during swimming. Err no? Is it really important I do? Apparently, it is REALLY important you stay hydrated during swimming as, funnily enough, lack of fluids causes cramp. Learnt my lesson there then didn’t I? I also think the stress and tension from my horrendous journey to the gym was still lingering and may have possibly contributed to the cramp too.

The next day (Friday), I was in agony! My calves felt so stiff and sore and I spent the day hobbling around at work. I was really worried I had damaged myself but I did find the more walking I did, the more my muscles were loosening up. That evening I travelled down to the South West with my fiancé and future in-laws to visit our wedding venue for the weekend (the below view defines the beauty of where we are getting married!). Sitting in a car for two hours did cause them to seize up again but by morning they were feeling a tad better.

On the Sunday, I got up early and left the hotel to go for a jog along the Kennet & Avon canal that was nearby. The calves were back to normal (thank the Lord) and my Maid of Honour drove over to join me too, which was nice! As we were nattering so much, we didn’t really exceed nine-minute miles but we did complete 10K, which I was thrilled about! This is the furthest I have run since my injury and I honestly felt like I had really accomplished something this day. I even celebrated on the lock, with the cows!

The following week, I had a lot of work events on so sadly didn’t get to cycle as much as I had hoped. When I have launches to host, it does mean I am travelling around the city a lot, carrying god knows what whilst also dressed in my finest so having the bike for these occasions isn’t ideal. After one meeting however, I was based in Oxford Circus and so opted to run home from work that evening. 

(running on the go!)

The route was five miles long and the most glum of them all. Up Tottenham Court Road, past Warren Street to Camden and up north on busy roads during rush hour wasn’t the best; but again, I had my backpack and found this run a lot easier and faster! I reached my front door bang on five miles (don’t you just LOVE it when that happens?) with an average pace of 8.27.

By Thursday, I was curious to see if I could take on a speed session. Before my injury, I would head to my local athletics track every Thursday with my running club to do a HIIT session (high intensity interval training). This is where I am at my strongest and going over two months without any of these kind of runs has affected my performance. A little apprehensive to chuck myself back into track training, I opted to do a mini session up at Alexandra Palace by myself.

I chose to do a downward pyramid: 1600m, 1200m, 800m, 400m with a minutes rest in-between and aiming to hit a faster pace as I worked down. Starting off, I tried to ensure I was pushing myself but boy, did I find it hard. Finding the power to turn my legs around faster was tough but the further in I got, the faster I felt myself going. By the time I reached the 400m, I was on 2.5 miles and so I opted to do another half mile to reach three. When my watched beeped at this point, I had done my final mile in 6.50. I haven’t seen a sub 7 in a lonnnng time and I was ecstatic that I managed to hold this speed throughout the session.

By the weekend, I was on my travels again - this time back home to see friends for a BBQ. I knew I wanted to get a run logged during my time there and so I plucked up the courage to attend the local parkrun, with one of my best buds in tow! This particular one I love. It’s one single lap, relatively flat and pulls in on average 350 runners so there’s a great field of abilities.

I haven’t done a parkrun in yonks and this was my first time running in a large pack since Mizuno Endure24 and lining up at the start line, I did feel a little nervous! My aim was to get under 25 minutes (my PB is 21.58 and I knew I wouldn’t even get close to this). Starting off, I kept a mantra in my head to stay steady and don’t bomb it. I really didn’t want to burn out by mile two, so I made sure I held back just a tad. My first mile buzzed at 7.14, which I was really surprised with as I felt like I was doing eight-minute miles. By mile two I hit 7.20 so keeping the pace together. The plan was working and the final mile is a steady incline and we were running in the wind so having some fuel left in the tank really helped. Mile three buzzed at 7.44 and I dug deep for the last stretch to cross the line in 23.09! I was shocked I managed this and my time also secured me 4^th lady in a field of 337 runners, which was amazing!

(feeling chuffed with our results!)

I cannot describe how happy I was with this. I felt like I was back and feeling strong. I didn’t think I would get close to 23 minutes so knowing I have achieved this post injury is brilliant. I definitely celebrated Saturday night with far too much food and gins but now I am back up in London, it is back to training, this time my aim is to run 10K at a steady pace. Hopefully by the time I get round to writing my next training update, I will be well into my training for Cabbage Patch 10.

(yep - I pigged out. But it was SO worth it!)

Until then – happy running!

Lipstick Runner.

RACE RUNDOWN: Bayer 10K

With this particular event taking place in my home town, I didn’t need to hesitate to enter this 10K. I had heard great things from friends and fellow runners about this race and as it takes place over the May bank holiday weekend, why not head home for it!

Bayer 10K is organised by Newbury Athletic Club, with the sponsor being UK science researchers, Bayer. The race draws in around 1000 applicants, who gather in the market place for the start of this part road/part trail 10K.

Now, make note of what I just described this course as. Don’t be fooled into thinking it is a smooth sailing run. What you will experience is plenty of undulating parts combined with road, field, trail and towpath running. Sounds like a right mix I know, but it really is a fantastic, varied course.

The very beginning takes you down the town centre where you take a left turn and head up the hill alongside Bayer HQ. This hill looks steep but I didn’t find it too challenging to get up. This also is the only major incline in the race so its good to get it out the way.

Next you head up narrow residential streets (with some rather nice houses to gawp at) to a field, which I found rather random. This part was most knackering as the grassy terrain was a little uneasy underfoot and was on a slight hill. This however doesn’t last too long and then you are out by the Newbury Bypass.

You then head across a bridge over the dual carriageway and take a secret hidden turn (which in the 18 years I lived in Newbury, I never knew existed!) down a very steep track. From here on, you are in trail running mode. I’ve never done a trail run before so this was a shock to my system and I felt wiped out when I reached the 5K mark.

After a good two miles running along rocky, muddy terrain you then pop out by the town’s leisure centre and you are back on road again (phew!). This takes you back out to the town centre where you are greeted by a wall of whoops and cheers before you turn back on yourself up towards the towpath along the canal.

As I always like to say, when it comes to races along a canal, make sure you get all your over-taking done beforehand as the paths can get very narrow and you do tend to fall into single file running.

At this point, I was shattered and I could tell I wasn’t having a good race. It was also a very hot day and there weren’t as many water stations along the course as I expected (one at mile 2 and one just after 5K). Dehydrated, exhausted and quite honestly, irritated at my weakness, I began to feel rather ill and could have quite easily dropped out at the 8K mark. However, after seeing my best friends mum standing by a bridge along the canal, her encouragement and compliments spurred me on and I, rather slowly, carried on up the path. When we reached the end of this part, we looped round onto a long main road, which lead us back to the town centre. I have never felt so relieved to see a finish line and I managed to find some speed in my legs to churn out a mini sprint finish.

As soon as I crossed the finish line, I had this automatic thought that I hated this course. It wasn’t until I had collected my medal, spoken to fellow runners and recovered from the experience that actually, it was a really fun event. Not once did I feel bored along the way and finding it so challenging has made me want to return to try and smash my time from this year.

For a small local event, it was great to see organisers handing out medals and goody bags. Personally, I also had a fabulous day out with my running pals. Here is a snap shot of how I felt at the end (with my best friend). This photo sums up a good vibe, despite my feelings throughout the race.

Any setbacks? Not really. As with smaller races, toilets are limited and in this particular case, non-existent. However, nearby restaurants and coffee shops are welcoming to runners using their loos and everywhere you go there is friendly, helpful face. If there was any feedback that I would like organisers to consider, it would be adding an extra water station before the canal. If, like this year, it’s a hot day hydration is key and I personally did struggle not having a quick slurp of water after the halfway mark.

RACE OVERVIEW

Course: 3/5

Scenery: 4/5

Facilities: 2/5

Water Stations: 2/5

Medal & goody bag: 5/5

My time: 49.31 (May 2014)

LIPSTICK RUNNER'S OVERALL RATING: 3.5/5

Find out more about Bayer 10 HERE.


Lipstick Runner.