Bramley 20

This should have been my third 20-miler of the campaign but due to illness was my first 20 and longest run since the Abingdon marathon. What was called for was a good bit of discipline to keep things really easy and make sure I recover well for a hard week of training before the Mad March Hare 20 next week.

I'd made a tentative arrangement to meet TR from my online training group but couldn't spot the orange vest anywhere at the start. I set off at the start feeling all alone in a field of hundreds, not having spoken to anyone all day, and not having any team mates around me. Poor little me!

I wasn't too sure about the weather. I had tights and a long sleeved Helly-Hansen on under my club vest, but no hat and gloves. With some spots of rain at mile 1 and some dark clouds I wondered if I was wearing enough layers for jogging. In the end though we were really lucky with the weather, particularly as it rained on the journey there and on the journey back. We even had some sunshine during the race.

I'd told TR to look out for a tall bird in a Victory vest, as I'd be the only one (Victory vest or tall bird for that matter), but I was really pleased when team mate Beth passed me at 3 miles, particularly as I hadn't seen her in ages (it turns out hugging someone whilst running is quite tricky!). Could I resist the urge to race her? She was doing the 10-mile option, presumably a fair bit quicker than my 20-mile pace. Discipline Susie!

Another pleasant surprise was the familiar sound of Mick'n'Phil coming up behind me. Where does Phil get all that energy to drag is dad round? ;-) They were going at a pretty good pace - another target to not aim at.

I was managing to keep my pace and heart rate under control and feeling quite good. We were 8 miles in and I could see a lot of the 10-milers were preparing themselves for the push to the finish. I was aware too that I'd been shoulder to shoulder with a guy for a few miles now. He must be using me for pacing. Should I introduce myself? Nah!

As we entered the last mile of the first half I caught up with Beth. I wasn't sure if she was keeping her pace down for her running partner, but she looked to be slowing. This surprised me a little, as I've had some good battles with Beth in the past and thought she might be faster. I eased past her and carried on for my second lap.

The guy was still there pacing me so I finally broke the silence. We chatted about snowboarding, ankle injuries and broken collar bones, as you do, which passed the time nicely on what was becoming a pleasant Sunday run.

I caught Mick'n'Phil as we hit the hill at 16-miles. I grabbed the handle of Phil's chair to offer assistance. Mick waved me away. That must have been quite a hard push up the hill. Fantastic effort.

My legs were beginnig to tire a little but I was pleased I was able to pick up the pace a little for the closing miles - still keeping things fairly easy though. I finished in 2:53:03. An average of 8:39/mile and 127bpm, with an even pace: a pretty good training run.

I finally met TR at the finish and had a chat - another virtual pal made real. I also met Louisa, one of Karen's Greenwich hill session runners, who'd done a great time of 2:17 - looking good for London!

I guess I wasn't on my own so much after all!

Weekly summary - 9 weeks to go

Another interruption to my training with a week off due to sinusitis. There was some horrible stuff coming out of my painful eyes! With hindsight maybe I could have avoided all this by resting longer the first time around and not doing the Ryde 10 and the Southern Cross Country, but it's a bit late now. At least I scored the club some useful points!

It's been 4½ weeks since onset of symptoms and my throat is still slightly gunged up, however I'm definitely on the mend now. A few more days and I should finally be clear of the bug. Fingers crossed!

I'll try to ramp up the mileage now as best I can, and hopefully get back on track for London in a few weeks. Hopefully I can still put in a reasonable performance.

Bramley 20 next week, followed by the Mad March Hare 20 the following week. I should hopefully be OK for both now, but will be taking them very easy!

Monday 5th Feb	3 miles	3 miles easy coaching my beginners group	Feeling rough again!
Tuesday	0 miles
Wednesday	0 miles		Sinusitis! On antibiotics
Thursday	0 miles
Friday	0 miles
Saturday	0 miles
Sunday	0 miles		So much wanted to do a long run but still feeling tired
Total	3 miles

Monday 12th Feb	3 miles	Hill session with beginners group	Feeling better
Tuesday	6.1 miles	Very easy club run
Wednesday	6.6 miles	Easy run	A little bit tired but OK. Did some weights afterwards
Thursday	5.5 miles	Steady club run 8:44/mile 125bpm
Friday	6.6 miles	easy run
Saturday	4 miles	Early morning easy run	Was going to go to the gym in the evening but felt tired and changed my mind
Sunday	15 miles	First 6 miles on road 8:48/mile 125bpm followed by 9 offroad	Felt tired afterwards but pleased that the run went well
Total	46.8 miles

A career high point?

After another rough patch having missed a week with sinusitis (details in the training summary to follow), I was in need of cheering up when I attended the Havant Borough Sports Council 27th annual awards on Thursday.

I'd been nominated for 'Veteran Sportwoman Of The Year', for my marathon results and services to the club. This blog was also quoted in the citation!

I duly won the award - pleasantly surprised, but figuring I was one of very few nominees - silly self-deprecating me. I was dead chuffed though - very honoured.

Then at the high point of the evening, in a room full of English schools 100m finalists, county 400m champions, English international judoka, and 70-year old record breaking weight lifters, the title of "Havant Borough Sportsperson Of The Year" was announced. Quite a shock! Me! Blimmin' 'eck. So now I have a rather large silver trophy with my name below Kath Bailey's. Cool!

I'm very honoured by this. I hope I can live up to the title, being very off form at the moment having missed a lot of training through illness.

A friend asked me if this was the high point of my athletics career. I think it is! In a different way, the other high point was running down The Mall in a flood of tears in my first marathon. How do you judge between the two? Magic moments both.

Lots more to do yet though - onwards and upwards.

Weekly summary - 11 weeks to go

I enjoyed the cross country, but was it too much too soon after the illness/Ryde 10 combination? I don't feel ill, but my throat has got sore again, fortunately without the fever symptoms this time.

I may have to take some more time off. This is very frustrating as I feel ready to up my mileage. Mind you, there may be signs that I'm suffering by continuing to run as my paces have been down in the last few days. Maybe a day or 2 of rest will really benefit me.

Monday	6 miles	am:2 miles treadie + weights pm: 4miles coaching beginners	First gym sesh in 12 days after illness
Tuesday	5.5 miles	easy club run 128bpm	Glutes really sore after gym session
Wednesday	8.7 miles	am:2 miles treadie + weights pm: 6.7miles easy	Very tired for evening run, but glutes less sore
Thursday	5.2 miles	jogged the club session	Still tired
Friday	4.2 miles	am: easy hilly run 9:12/mile 121bpm	HR seemed high, felt tired, so didn't run in the evening
Saturday	6.2 miles	SEAA vets XC 3.55miles 7:46/mile 153bpm	Throat sore - was it a bad idea to run?
Sunday	18 miles	9:06/mile 123bpm	HR a bit high - getting ill again?
Total	53.8 miles

Southern Vets Cross Country 2006

A beautiful day for a bit of cross country, so we made the trip to the wonderfully named Mad Bess Woods in Ruislip for the SEAA veterans cross country championships.

First up the boys in the over-50s (I guess that makes them quite mature 'boys').
Here's 2 I found in a tree:

Pete led them home:

followed by Graham:

and John:

Next up were the girls, also proud tree-huggers:

Here's Amanda:

Marilyn:

and Belinda:

and at the poorly named finish line, the team:

I have no idea how we got on, as the results haven't been posted yet, but any fears of finishing at the rear of the field proved unfounded so I suspect we represented the club well.

I ran OK, leading the girls home, but I think the effects of the virus are still there. Pete commented how I didn't appear to be moving freely at the end. Pete's a good observer, the mark of a good coach, and his comments are significant. I hope I get my 'mojo' back soon. Another week of gentle running is needed I think.

(Yes I know a hilly 10-mile race followed by a hard-run cross country isn't exactly easy running, but I promise to take a bit easier next week!)

A little music

OK, this is a running blog, but
a) If I ran to music this is what I'd currently be running to (when I posted this it was playing "Me plus one" - love it!)
b) You can type "Shoot the runner" in the title field and watch that video - instant relevance!


You can watch all of Kasabian's videos on the player - cool!

Weekly summary - 12 weeks to go

A bit of a catch up, as I didn't fancy doing my weekly summary whilst ill in bed.

A fortnight to forget really, but things were starting to come together. I just hope my first illness in well over a year isn't as a result of overdoing it.

I feel tired as I write this, with the prospect of the Southern Veteran Cross Country Championships tomorrow, followed by my first long run in a month the day after. I hope I'm OK.

London seems very close, and my training is way off track. Hopefully a more positive outlook next week.

Monday 15th Jan	1.5 miles	Very easy!	Coaching a group of beginners
Tuesday	7.5 miles	Hilly tempo run with the club 135bpm ave	Tired, so couldn't get HR any higher
Wednesday	10.3 miles	am: gym sesh with 2 miles treadie pm: 8.2 miles easy 112bpm 1hr15
Thursday	9.7 miles	am:3.3 miles pm:6.4 miles tempo 758m laps: 3 laps fast, 1 lap slow, 3 laps fast, 1 lap slow, 2 laps fast: 10:06 145bpm, 9:56 143bpm, 6:49 141bpm maxHR 147bpm.	Morning run in storm force winds - throat felt sore afterwards
Friday	3.5 miles	am: easy run	Abandoned evening run, feeling rough
Saturday	1 mile?	Some running on 'Fitness in Running and Walking' course	Throat now quite sore and feeling ill
Sunday	0 miles		In bed!
Total	33.5 miles

Monday 22nd Jan	0 miles		In bed feeling very tired - throat painful
Tuesday	0 miles		Still in bed
Wednesday	0 miles		Feeling better but still tired
Thursday	0 miles		Returned to work but too tired to run
Friday	4 miles	Pace test 4 miles 9:00/mile 113bpm	Not a bad pace considering
Saturday	5.6 miles	easy run 116bpm	Feeling back to normal
Sunday	13 miles	Ryde 10 1:17:54 7:47/mile 145bpm	A bit too much too soon!
Total	22.6 miles