February Rundown

January was such a solid month of training, it was hard to live up to. In February we had a week of school holidays, another day off for Robbie, 2 weekends of work for me and we were busy with family get togethers on the other weekends. All that considered, my training went pretty well!

Ran 16 times = 77.78m
Cycled 3 times = 29.18m

The low bike mileage was partly down to snow, and partly because I was just focusing on running in the build up to last weekend's race. The latter excuse also works for the complete lack of pilates - must do better. I didn't do any races in February although I would have really liked to, but this was due to being busy EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND!

My running mileage for February was only about 5 miles down on January, despite it being a shorter month. I certainly ran my longest weekly distances and longest runs for ages, and I've kept up 4 runs a week every week in 2012 so far. And it all helped me achieve my PB on Sunday!

With the start of March we've had some Spring-like weather, interspersed with cold winds and rain. The outbreaks of sun really make me want to get out there and run / bike, so roll on summer...

Eastbourne Half Marathon - Race Report

So on Saturday night I was lying in bed considering entering another half marathon at the end of the month, as I thought Sunday's race would not go well. The forecast for heavy rain and strong wind was putting me off, I must admit. I wasn't so worried about the rain, but obviously wind can really slow you down.

When the morning arrived, the rain wasn't too heavy, although it was very consistent, and the wind could have been worse. We decided that Pete and the kids would drop me off and go shopping, as it was no weather for spectators. This is the worst thing about bad weather on race day - the fact that it keeps spectators away.

I queued up for the toilet with my bin-liner on, and got colder and colder. The rain and cold temperatures were making me shiver. I couldn't wait to start running to warm up. As I assembled in the start pen (this was a race where runners were simply told 'fast at the front, slow at the back' rather than any organisation!), a man told me he'd done the race every year, and it was always sunny before this one. He also warned of a huge hill ('a killer'), that seemed to flatten out and then continued. A group of us were listening intently for his insight on the course.

Then we were off, and there was a bit of scuffling and barging to get across the start. The start and finish were in a park, and it was very muddy and slippery already. It was a relief to get onto the tarmac.

The race started along a flat road by the sea. Despite the persistent rain, it was quite pleasant, and not too windy. After the first mile, my Garmin beeped - 9m06s. Too fast, I thought, and resolved to try to slow down. I failed though, as mile 2 was 8m56s.

At 2.5 miles we reached the start of the hill, and it was indeed a killer. In the next mile we climbed from sea-level to 400 feet, as we approached the top of the cliffs. I was completely stunned by the steepness of the road. I had no idea it would be so bad. I kept jogging for as long as I could, but eventually I gave up and walked parts of it. Yes, walked! In a race!! At this point I decided there was no way I would get a good time, and I felt really angry and fed up.















Cliffs - pretty but steep

Then at about 3 1/2 miles, we reached a peak, and turned round to descend the hill. Suddenly I was speeding off, trying not to fall. It wasn't easy to run so steeply downhill, but it was a lot faster than the previous mile! My Garmin said 10m05 for mile 4, so I reasoned that if I could run the downhill mile in about 8m, I would still be at my target pace overall.

We continued downhill almost as far as the 5 mile marker. As my Garmin beeped again, it showed 8 mins exactly - back on track! The rest of the race was more or less flat, along the sea front.

After speeding down that hill, I felt absolutely elated, as though I had been flying, and that feeling really stayed with me for most of the rest of the race. I felt great, and every time my Garmin beeped it seemed ridiculous - I told myself to slow down for the next mile, otherwise I'd be sure to run out of steam. But it never happpened, and I just kept the same pace up somehow. I had totally underestimated how much faster you can run in a race than in training, because my times in training had been nothing like this! My splits were as follows:

Mile 6 - 8.46
Mile 7 - 8.58
Mile 8 - 9.04
Mile 9 - 8.52
Mile 10 - 8.41 !!!
Mile 11 - 8.58

I think this was the fastest I've ever run 10 miles as well - I was there in about 90 minutes. I did start to flag a bit in the last few miles, but there were a few people who kept going past me, and then I'd go past them again, and I just didn't slow down. By this stage I knew I had a good chance of getting under 2 hours, and I didn't want to throw that away.

I started thinking I might never run such a great 10 miles again, so I'd better go on and get a fast time now, or I might never do it! For these last few miles I was actually smiling as I was running. I was so excited, I just couldn't help it!

For the last 2 miles, it got a bit tougher. We turned round and started running right into the wind - for the first time in the race really. It was along the seafront and completely exposed. This part felt very tough, and I was starting to feel tiredness in my legs. I really thought I was running well over 9 min/miles, but the chance of getting under 2 hours was totally pushing me on. The last 2 miles were just as fast as the others, despite the wind:

Mile 12 - 8.55
Mile 13 - 8.42 !!

Finally I turned into the park again, and of course by now I knew I was going to do it! I was so ecstatic that I was still flying, and I charged towards the finish line. It was extremely muddy and runners were slipping all over the place. Someone called '20 seconds to get under 2 hours, keep going!', and I pushed on a bit harder! (Of course he was talking about gun time, rather than chip time anyway).

As I crossed the line I was elated. My garmin said 1h58m48s. Better than I could ever have imagined. The whole race just went so well, and even the hill had been good, as the downhill kick-started my speed! From that point I just couldn't slow down.





















Later the results were online. My chip time was 1h58m38s!!! Awesome. A PB by almost 12 minutes and well within my goal of going under 2h05m! For stats fans, my position was 778 out of 1444 runners, and I was 154 out of 469 women.





















That was probably the best race I've ever done, as I totally exceeded my expectations of what I could do.




















This is as probably as fit as I have ever been, and it feels particularly fantastic after spending so many months unable to run last year, and then taking so long to get back to full fitness. There were times when I doubted I'd be able to run regularly again, and certainly not as far as 13.1 miles. Take that Plantar Fascia!! Ha ha ha!!!

Breaking news

Oh good grief, I can't believe it but I DID IT! I completely smashed my goal and ran the Half Marathon in under 2 hours!! I never expected that before the race, but once I started running, I just couldn't slow down and I was flying for much of it. Garmin time is 1h58m, but I'll have to wait a few hours for the official time to be posted. I'm so happy, it was the best race I've ever run! Race report to follow...















Yaaaayyyyy!

Goals for Sunday

This weekend I'm running the Eastbourne Half Marathon. This is my first proper race of 2012, and my first Half since I hobbled round the Great North Run with the beginnings of heel trouble in September 2010.

At the start of this year, I decided that 2 of my goals for 2012 were to run a PB in a half marathon, and to run one in under 2 hours. With these aims in mind, I signed up for this race, and have been training for it for the last 8 weeks. The training has gone pretty well overall, but from my recent speeds, I think it's very unlikely indeed that I am in a position to run under 2 hours (9.09 min/miles). I know this is a realistic long-term goal though, as I was running that pace before the heel started playing up in 2010.

So for this race I'm definitely hoping to get a new PB. It currently stands at 2h10m, which was set in my first attempt at that distance, before I'd run a marathon, and on a hilly course in Glasgow. My aim on Sunday is to run under 2h05m, and the closer I get to 2 hours the better!

On a related note, the weather here has been mild, dry and calm with outbreaks of glorious sunshine for the last few weeks. The forecast for Sunday is heavy rain and wind. Bloody typical.

A faster week

My running has been a little speedier this week, although my cycling was much slower than usual... This was the week of my last long run before the half marathon I'm training for, so it was a bit of a taper week.

I started with an evening run on Monday, which was a recovery run after Saturday's horrible 12 miles. I expected to be tired and slow, but for some reason I was a lot faster than I'd assumed. It was just 3.1 miles, but my average pace was 8.36 min/miles. The previous Monday's recovery run (also 3.1 miles) was run at 9.17 pace, so this was a huge improvement.

On Tuesday I had time for a bike ride, but it all went wrong when I had to struggle home with a flat tyre - see previous post. Pants.

Wednesday was an early morning run, and I did 4 miles while my family slept, at 8.53 pace. This was particularly pleasing because I ran great splits, getting faster with each mile: 9.14; 9.02; 8.50; 8.27. It was also great that I can now experience the sunrise at this time, whereas a couple of weeks ago it would have been pitch black outside.















Then on Friday afternoon, I had to fit in my last long run, as I wouldn't have time at the weekend. I was hoping for a better run than last week's 12 miles, which I struggled for most of and lost all my confidence in running long. On that post I had a whole lot of supportive comments urging me not to worry and that I would do better in the race. Thank you so much for those! You were probably right, as I had a much better attempt on Friday.

I ran 10 miles in 1h32m35s, which is one of my fastest times for 10 miles. In sharp contrast to last week, I actually struggled to go slowly enough - at the start anyway. My first 2 miles were sub 9 mins, and the first 5 miles were all around 9 mins. I slowed down for the last 5 miles, and ended up with 9.12 pace overall. Very pleased with that! And I felt much better too, and could enjoy the run.

On Saturday I was out all day working as an examiner, and on Sunday we had to visit Pete's family for lunch. I didn't have much time in the morning, but squeezed in a 2.2 mile run, just for the fun of it! perhaps the fact that we were in a hurry made me run faster too, as I averaged 8.25 m/m pace - my fastest (if shortest) run for a few weeks.

So in total, that was slightly fewer miles than the last couple of weeks, at 19.3.

This week I am going to keep things just ticking over for the Half which is on Sunday! Can't wait!

The trouble with bikes

As I've been concentrating on my upcoming half marathon recently, I've been using most of my spare time to run. My cross-training has fallen by the wayside a bit, and I haven't cycled as much as I would like.

Up until this week, I had only managed one bike ride in the whole of February. This was during the week after the snow came, and there was still a fair bit of ice and compacted snow on the paths when I tried to cycle on them. This meant a slow ride, and one which was cut short because it was such hard-going.

Then I planned a bike ride last Tuesday. I was looking forward to it as I've been doing so little cycling, and I intended to do about 12 miles. Before I went, the back wheel looked as though it needed some air, so I pumped it up. I went off, and was having quite a good ride, although it was very windy, so I was pretty slow.

After about 4 or 5 miles, I realised that something was wrong. I could feel every bump in the path a little too well, and it was getting harder to keep going. I looked down at the back wheel and it was completely flat. I had a puncture. I changed direction and headed home the quickest way I could, which was about 4 more miles.

It was so hard getting home! I tried to go really carefully so I wouldn't damage the wheel, and it was so uncomfortable. It was extremely slow as well.





















I know nothing about bike maitenance, so it's always a worry that a chain could come off, or something else could go wrong. This is where running has a huge advantage - no equipment that can scupper your session - except your tired old body of course!

Last week's miles

As I mentioned in my last post, it was half-term last week, so my training has not been in its usual routine. Although having the kids at home meant I lost the time I would normally have to myself, the fact that Pete took 3 days off too gave me the chance to fit some running in.

On Monday morning I set off for a 5 mile run to start the week, but almost straight away I had to ammend my plans. I hadn't realised how much my body would still be aching from the previous Saturday's 11-miler. My legs felt very sore, and I only managed 3.1 miles at a 9.17 min/mile pace! I had forgotten how much these long runs can really take it out of you. In addition to this, I got a bad cough over the weekend, and I don't think that helped.

I next ran on Wednesday, when I did 4 miles at a 9.10 pace, so some improvement. However, after I got back, I felt quite wobbly and realised I had a little bug to fight off. Emma had had a bad cold over the weekend, and I think I'd caught something from her.

By Thursday evening I felt a bit better, and ran another 4 miles, at 9.01 pace, so I was gradually recovering my speed from the long run!

On Saturday it was time for my next long run, and at 2 weeks out from my half marathon race, it had to be 12 miles! I planned my route on Friday evening, so I knew exactly where to go, and I tried to get myself in the right mood. I put some podcasts on my ipod and made sure I had enough to last nearly 2 hours. It was so much warmer than last week, which made getting out a lot easier.

However, the run was anything but easy. My legs felt tired from the start, and by 4 or 5 miles I was seriously thinking of heading home. It was windy and blustery, and there were some stretches where I was running into the wind when I was really going at a walking pace. From mile 5 onwards it was incredibly hard work. I just told myself to keep going, and trudged through one mile at a time.

Eventually I made it. I was exhausted by the end, and my mile splits were horrendous. 4 of the 12 miles took 10 minutes or more, which is a time I never like to see. My overall pace was 9.48m/m. In a half marathon this would give me a finish time of 2h 08m, when I'm really aiming to go under 2h 05m.

So it was not a great boost to my half preparations. On the other hand, I always feel a certain pride in sticking out a really tough run, and I'm so glad I was able to get through it and complete the distance in spite of struggling. Taking into account the wind and the fact that I'd been a bit under the weather and had a nasty cough, I hope I can do better in a couple of weeks.

All that running came to 23.1 miles - still going up! I'll have a little taper next week though, so it won't be as high.

Apart from training, half term has been pretty good. We've managed a fair bit of relaxing, as well as the cinema, a castle, a bike ride, a school project, an art gallery, a walk on the beach, the library, some tree-climbing, and many, many cafes!