Result - 2nd
Race Report:
With the race being held in Lloyd Park in Croydon - my favourite cross country course and home to the Surrey Championships in January - I was looking forward to tackling the mud for the first time this season. Unfortunately I didn't have a very professional build up to the race. I'd ordered new cross country spikes in the week, but they hadn't arrived, so I was forced to use my track spikes which wasn't ideal. And I also managed to forget to pack my club vest. Fortunately one of my team mates had a spare, unfortunatley it was a lady and a petite lady at that! Let's just say it was something of a snug fit! I'm quite often the butt of a lot of jokes at my club, but I now know my fate is sealed, probably for the rest of my life, as the fastest cross dresser in the land! The race went ok. I finished second less than thirty metres adrift. My legs had felt very tired, especially on the hills, a result of a hard weeks training and for sure my Box Hill session. But my time over the course shows some progress which is encouraging. I promise one of these days I'll do a race where everything's perfect. Maybe not next week as I'm planning on training hard all week again, but fingers crossed for the week after!
Tuesday 30 October 2007
Tuesday 23rd October
Training Report:
Another great week's training. Even though I had a race on Saturday I decided to keep my training load high, with the race being of a lesser importance to other races coming up. If I was to ease back for every race I've got on in the next few months I'd be doing no training at all! My enjoyment for my steady state runs is really growing at the moment. They use to be more of an ordeal, a means to an end, I know it's a bit corny but I'm enjoying watching the changes in the seasons, especially in the crisp bright mornings we've been having.
Right, enough of the sissy stuff back to the hard graft! I found Tuesday's track session a little harder than I expected. I think it was manly due to it being the first really cold evening I've done speed work on. I find the cold air effects my breathing quite a lot, as well as it causing the muscles to be slightly tighter than normal. Having kept my mileage high during the weeks my legs were already a little tired by Thursday, so in my wisdom I decided to tackle what was to be one of the hardest sessions I've ever done. I drove over to Box Hill on the South Downs to do a hill repetition session. An old coach had recommended it to me as it was much longer and steeper than the hills I had been using. By long I mean it took close to two minutes to reach the summit, when normally I'm going up hill for forty five seconds, and by steep I mean I watch walkers struggling to walk down the hill let alone up it. I loved the session; I have done nothing like it before. I was on my knees after only two runs. I kept going and got so exhausted that I've no idea how many times I actually ran up the damn thing. Five? Six? Seven? Your guess is as good as mine. After my final run I must have looked like a drunk. My legs struggled to keep me upright and I was so fatigued and light headed I was staggering from left to right. I managed a warm down but was still in such a state that I didn't want to drive home, and I knew I had to eat something. The only place to go was a bikers' fast food cafe at the bottom of the hill. I haven't had burger and chips for a long time and don't really enjoy them but this burger tasted like heaven! My theory for sessions like that has got to be 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger', I hope so anyway!
Another great week's training. Even though I had a race on Saturday I decided to keep my training load high, with the race being of a lesser importance to other races coming up. If I was to ease back for every race I've got on in the next few months I'd be doing no training at all! My enjoyment for my steady state runs is really growing at the moment. They use to be more of an ordeal, a means to an end, I know it's a bit corny but I'm enjoying watching the changes in the seasons, especially in the crisp bright mornings we've been having.
Right, enough of the sissy stuff back to the hard graft! I found Tuesday's track session a little harder than I expected. I think it was manly due to it being the first really cold evening I've done speed work on. I find the cold air effects my breathing quite a lot, as well as it causing the muscles to be slightly tighter than normal. Having kept my mileage high during the weeks my legs were already a little tired by Thursday, so in my wisdom I decided to tackle what was to be one of the hardest sessions I've ever done. I drove over to Box Hill on the South Downs to do a hill repetition session. An old coach had recommended it to me as it was much longer and steeper than the hills I had been using. By long I mean it took close to two minutes to reach the summit, when normally I'm going up hill for forty five seconds, and by steep I mean I watch walkers struggling to walk down the hill let alone up it. I loved the session; I have done nothing like it before. I was on my knees after only two runs. I kept going and got so exhausted that I've no idea how many times I actually ran up the damn thing. Five? Six? Seven? Your guess is as good as mine. After my final run I must have looked like a drunk. My legs struggled to keep me upright and I was so fatigued and light headed I was staggering from left to right. I managed a warm down but was still in such a state that I didn't want to drive home, and I knew I had to eat something. The only place to go was a bikers' fast food cafe at the bottom of the hill. I haven't had burger and chips for a long time and don't really enjoy them but this burger tasted like heaven! My theory for sessions like that has got to be 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger', I hope so anyway!
Monday 22 October 2007
Tuesday 16th - Saturday 20th October
Training Report:
Training for the rest of the week went really well. It was probably the best week I've had. Tuesday's track session of 4 x 1600 metres was a breeze. I felt strong and relaxed doing two ten mile runs on Wednesday. Thursday was a punishing hill session on Epsom Downs and an easy evening run. Friday's 5 and 8 mile runs went well. By this time of the week I'm normally tired making small changes to my schedule, with regards to the intensity that I would complete a run in, as well as that runs total distance and would wish away the rest of the week so I could take a rest come Monday. But I was enjoying every run, I sometimes felt tired during the sessions but once I was finished and had refuelled all I could think about was the next one. Saturday's tempo session was hard, a 1.5 mile loop followed by a 3 mile loop and to finish another 1.5 mile loop, all at a solid tempo speed of my 5k race pace for the shorter loops and my 10k pace for the longer one. My confidence in my running and fitness continues to grow almost daily, and I'll take the occasional bad race if I can get a week's training like that again, but only the very occasional one!
Training for the rest of the week went really well. It was probably the best week I've had. Tuesday's track session of 4 x 1600 metres was a breeze. I felt strong and relaxed doing two ten mile runs on Wednesday. Thursday was a punishing hill session on Epsom Downs and an easy evening run. Friday's 5 and 8 mile runs went well. By this time of the week I'm normally tired making small changes to my schedule, with regards to the intensity that I would complete a run in, as well as that runs total distance and would wish away the rest of the week so I could take a rest come Monday. But I was enjoying every run, I sometimes felt tired during the sessions but once I was finished and had refuelled all I could think about was the next one. Saturday's tempo session was hard, a 1.5 mile loop followed by a 3 mile loop and to finish another 1.5 mile loop, all at a solid tempo speed of my 5k race pace for the shorter loops and my 10k pace for the longer one. My confidence in my running and fitness continues to grow almost daily, and I'll take the occasional bad race if I can get a week's training like that again, but only the very occasional one!
Monday 15th October
Training Report:
After being so disappointed by my race in Cardiff, training was the last thing I really wanted to do. My legs didn't fancy it either as they had seized up on the drive home. My quads had got very tight so I just did some light stretching and had a hot bath and I slept for most of the afternoon. I knew I had to stop feeling sorry for myself and although I'd had a bad race - and that it was ultimately my mistake that caused it - these things happen and I'd learnt a good lesson. The poor showing had nothing to do with my fitness and if anything it showed I'm in good form, producing a solid run in bad circumstances. So at nine o'clock I pulled on my shoes and headed out for a twenty minute recovery run. Every thing felt back to normal, having run for seventy one minutes in Cardiff and not really enjoyed a second of it I knew twenty minutes wasn't enough and that the pace wasn't as quick as I wanted to go, so the recovery run soon turned into a forty minute tempo session. I was enjoying running and Cardiff was long forgotten.
After being so disappointed by my race in Cardiff, training was the last thing I really wanted to do. My legs didn't fancy it either as they had seized up on the drive home. My quads had got very tight so I just did some light stretching and had a hot bath and I slept for most of the afternoon. I knew I had to stop feeling sorry for myself and although I'd had a bad race - and that it was ultimately my mistake that caused it - these things happen and I'd learnt a good lesson. The poor showing had nothing to do with my fitness and if anything it showed I'm in good form, producing a solid run in bad circumstances. So at nine o'clock I pulled on my shoes and headed out for a twenty minute recovery run. Every thing felt back to normal, having run for seventy one minutes in Cardiff and not really enjoyed a second of it I knew twenty minutes wasn't enough and that the pace wasn't as quick as I wanted to go, so the recovery run soon turned into a forty minute tempo session. I was enjoying running and Cardiff was long forgotten.
Wednesday 17 October 2007
13th October: Race weekend
Race Report:
I travelled up to Cardiff on Friday afternoon and took advantage of the gym, pool and spa at the hotel as soon as we arrived to stretch out my muscles from the journey. For once I didn't stay in a Travelodge and enjoyed the extra benefits of the facilities, feeling that they would have a positive impact on my race. Saturday was a gentle 20 minutes with some strides to get the legs turned over and some more stretching in the gym and relaxation in the pool and spa.
I felt ready for the race. My final act of Saturday was dinner for which I made a bad choice. I had macaroni cheese which sounds fair enough, but the cheese sauce was very thick and creamy. Having recently cut down on my dairy intake the rich sauce was a bit to much for my stomach. I woke up feeling sick and a bit lethargic, not a good sign. I was nearly sick as I walked over to the start, again not a good sign. My warm up was ok so I started at 69 minute pace. It felt ok and I was comfortable in a group in third place. As we went out to Cardiff Bay the wind was in our faces so I took a back seat in the group and waited until the turn where I up the pace and my legs felt good. My only problem was I still felt sick and all I could think about was this macaroni cheese which was not helping me at all. By mile 8 I began to fade as my stomach was still not feeling great and I slipped to 5th place.
The rest of the miles I ticked over drinking water in an attempt to settle my stomach and to try and up my pace to sub 5.20 minute miles, but it just wasn't happening. I finished in 71.28 which is a 2 minute personal best but I had hoped for a lot more and knowing I was in shape to do it added to my frustration of the mistake I made at dinner. It's another lesson learnt in thinking more about what you consume especially the night before a race. Don't just go on what looks good on the page especially if its quite different for the type of foods you've been consuming normally. I just thought "pasta that'll do"! I don't think I'll eat it again for a while. I'm very disappointed and a little disheartened by the last two races which have promised so much and yet delivered so very little. I cant wait for the cross country season to kick in and I can take my frustrations out over the mud and hills...
I travelled up to Cardiff on Friday afternoon and took advantage of the gym, pool and spa at the hotel as soon as we arrived to stretch out my muscles from the journey. For once I didn't stay in a Travelodge and enjoyed the extra benefits of the facilities, feeling that they would have a positive impact on my race. Saturday was a gentle 20 minutes with some strides to get the legs turned over and some more stretching in the gym and relaxation in the pool and spa.
I felt ready for the race. My final act of Saturday was dinner for which I made a bad choice. I had macaroni cheese which sounds fair enough, but the cheese sauce was very thick and creamy. Having recently cut down on my dairy intake the rich sauce was a bit to much for my stomach. I woke up feeling sick and a bit lethargic, not a good sign. I was nearly sick as I walked over to the start, again not a good sign. My warm up was ok so I started at 69 minute pace. It felt ok and I was comfortable in a group in third place. As we went out to Cardiff Bay the wind was in our faces so I took a back seat in the group and waited until the turn where I up the pace and my legs felt good. My only problem was I still felt sick and all I could think about was this macaroni cheese which was not helping me at all. By mile 8 I began to fade as my stomach was still not feeling great and I slipped to 5th place.
The rest of the miles I ticked over drinking water in an attempt to settle my stomach and to try and up my pace to sub 5.20 minute miles, but it just wasn't happening. I finished in 71.28 which is a 2 minute personal best but I had hoped for a lot more and knowing I was in shape to do it added to my frustration of the mistake I made at dinner. It's another lesson learnt in thinking more about what you consume especially the night before a race. Don't just go on what looks good on the page especially if its quite different for the type of foods you've been consuming normally. I just thought "pasta that'll do"! I don't think I'll eat it again for a while. I'm very disappointed and a little disheartened by the last two races which have promised so much and yet delivered so very little. I cant wait for the cross country season to kick in and I can take my frustrations out over the mud and hills...
Friday 12th October
Training Report:
This week's training has been very relaxed and easy in order to get me in good shape for the Half Marathon on Sunday. Other than Tuesday and Thursday I reduced my runs to just one a day and on Wednesday they were between three quarters and half my normal distances and were eased back on the intensity of each session. Tuesday's track session was slightly more intense than the week before but this was compensated by a much more relaxed final speed session on Thursday.
This week's training has been very relaxed and easy in order to get me in good shape for the Half Marathon on Sunday. Other than Tuesday and Thursday I reduced my runs to just one a day and on Wednesday they were between three quarters and half my normal distances and were eased back on the intensity of each session. Tuesday's track session was slightly more intense than the week before but this was compensated by a much more relaxed final speed session on Thursday.
Tuesday 9 October 2007
Sunday 7th October: 10k Race
Race Report:
The weather was perfect, no wind and the air temperature was warm. I was excited as it was the national championships and there would be a stella field. I knew the top boys would be well in front but also knew the quality of the field would be good enough to pull me round to a good time. Unfortunately my race was ruined by a ridiculous situation at the start and I knew all chances of a big personal best were gone in the first kilometre...
As the field contain over 1000 runners the officials decided to move the faster runners to a different start to enable them to get away cleanly. Due to a mix up with where the faster runners had to congregate I found myself towards the back of the group, but as there were only 50 to 100 runners I was not too bothered as I knew they would get away quickly and I could get to my pace after a few seconds. However we were funnelled down from a dual carriage way to a single carriage as we started which slowed me down. Then after 20 metres the masses joined as from a 90 degree angle and all hell let loose. It was like a stampede. One of the top female runners in the country was tripped and smashed her hand and knee on a flying barrier knocked over by the joining runners. She was a couple of metres ahead and because there was suddenly a barrier with an athlete slumped on top it caused all the runners in front of me to slow. The runners to my right away from the accident streamed past as did the masses to my left. By the time I got running I was in about 400th place with a sea of runners ahead.
Between 3 and 4k I had finally cleared most of the runners, and by 5k I had reached the back of a group that were travelling at a good pace. I sat in with them and tried to recover the energy I had expended weaving in and out of the field trying to catch up to where I should be. I had tried to control my pace as I carved through the field but I knew giving everyone a 400meter headstart was not what I wanted. I stayed with the group till the finish and felt strong and controlled during the second half of the race. I finished 10 seconds off my pb time and was left with mixed emotions. On one hand I had run well and close to my best after such a bad start, but was left wondering what might have been if I hadn't been held up, if I'd not had to expend extra energy weaving through the field and if I'd been further up the field working with a faster group who would have helped pull me round to a big pb. Its really stoked a fire in my belly to show what I can do in the half marathon next weekend which is my main goal, but its always nice to break your pb. But there is always next time!!
The weather was perfect, no wind and the air temperature was warm. I was excited as it was the national championships and there would be a stella field. I knew the top boys would be well in front but also knew the quality of the field would be good enough to pull me round to a good time. Unfortunately my race was ruined by a ridiculous situation at the start and I knew all chances of a big personal best were gone in the first kilometre...
As the field contain over 1000 runners the officials decided to move the faster runners to a different start to enable them to get away cleanly. Due to a mix up with where the faster runners had to congregate I found myself towards the back of the group, but as there were only 50 to 100 runners I was not too bothered as I knew they would get away quickly and I could get to my pace after a few seconds. However we were funnelled down from a dual carriage way to a single carriage as we started which slowed me down. Then after 20 metres the masses joined as from a 90 degree angle and all hell let loose. It was like a stampede. One of the top female runners in the country was tripped and smashed her hand and knee on a flying barrier knocked over by the joining runners. She was a couple of metres ahead and because there was suddenly a barrier with an athlete slumped on top it caused all the runners in front of me to slow. The runners to my right away from the accident streamed past as did the masses to my left. By the time I got running I was in about 400th place with a sea of runners ahead.
Between 3 and 4k I had finally cleared most of the runners, and by 5k I had reached the back of a group that were travelling at a good pace. I sat in with them and tried to recover the energy I had expended weaving in and out of the field trying to catch up to where I should be. I had tried to control my pace as I carved through the field but I knew giving everyone a 400meter headstart was not what I wanted. I stayed with the group till the finish and felt strong and controlled during the second half of the race. I finished 10 seconds off my pb time and was left with mixed emotions. On one hand I had run well and close to my best after such a bad start, but was left wondering what might have been if I hadn't been held up, if I'd not had to expend extra energy weaving through the field and if I'd been further up the field working with a faster group who would have helped pull me round to a big pb. Its really stoked a fire in my belly to show what I can do in the half marathon next weekend which is my main goal, but its always nice to break your pb. But there is always next time!!
Thursday 4th October
Training Report:
My runs this week have been 75% shorter than a normal week and the intensity has been dropped too. This was my last real speed based tune up before Sunday, other than a few strides I'll do on Saturday to freshen the legs. An easy run with reps of 1,2,3,3,2,1 minutes in length with half the rep time recovery. I just relaxed, concentrated on my form and got my head into the right sort of mind set ready for the race. Every thing seems ready, no niggles, I feel fit and my legs are full of bounce, and my mind is really focused on getting well inside 32 minutes on Sunday.
My runs this week have been 75% shorter than a normal week and the intensity has been dropped too. This was my last real speed based tune up before Sunday, other than a few strides I'll do on Saturday to freshen the legs. An easy run with reps of 1,2,3,3,2,1 minutes in length with half the rep time recovery. I just relaxed, concentrated on my form and got my head into the right sort of mind set ready for the race. Every thing seems ready, no niggles, I feel fit and my legs are full of bounce, and my mind is really focused on getting well inside 32 minutes on Sunday.
Tuesday 2nd October
Training Report:
An easy track session. I'm starting to ease back for my half marathon in Cardiff on the 14th as well as as a 10k on Sunday 7th, so this session was aimed at getting my 10k pacing wright and turning the legs over. 6 x 600, which is 2k less than normal run at my predicted pace for 10k. It was quite hard to get the pacing right as I'm used to going a lot quicker over 600 metres but by the end I had it pretty much nailed. This was followed by 4 x 100 metre accelerations, where you slowly move through the gears upping the pace every 20 metres, so by the end of the straight you are close to flat out. I enjoyed the session a lot as I felt really comfortable and its a rare feeling coming away from a session without feeling fatigued at all.
An easy track session. I'm starting to ease back for my half marathon in Cardiff on the 14th as well as as a 10k on Sunday 7th, so this session was aimed at getting my 10k pacing wright and turning the legs over. 6 x 600, which is 2k less than normal run at my predicted pace for 10k. It was quite hard to get the pacing right as I'm used to going a lot quicker over 600 metres but by the end I had it pretty much nailed. This was followed by 4 x 100 metre accelerations, where you slowly move through the gears upping the pace every 20 metres, so by the end of the straight you are close to flat out. I enjoyed the session a lot as I felt really comfortable and its a rare feeling coming away from a session without feeling fatigued at all.
Monday 1 October 2007
Saturday 29th September: Bushy Park 5K Time trial
Result - 1st
Race Report:
Having trained quite hard during the week I used this race as a bit of a blow out before my bigger races that come in the next two weeks. The conditions weren't ideal due to heavy ran during the night which left the grass sections very waterlogged. I ran a solid race beating my personal best for the course but I was disappointed not to have gone under 16 minutes. Unfortunately after 1k I was out on my own and I think I got a little lazy as the race was not a big priority for me. But I won and feel there's a lot more to come in the 10k im racing in Chichester next week and the Half marathon in Cardiff the week after.
Race Report:
Having trained quite hard during the week I used this race as a bit of a blow out before my bigger races that come in the next two weeks. The conditions weren't ideal due to heavy ran during the night which left the grass sections very waterlogged. I ran a solid race beating my personal best for the course but I was disappointed not to have gone under 16 minutes. Unfortunately after 1k I was out on my own and I think I got a little lazy as the race was not a big priority for me. But I won and feel there's a lot more to come in the 10k im racing in Chichester next week and the Half marathon in Cardiff the week after.
Thursday 27th September
Training Report:
A morning tempo session. The idea is to run at your 10k pace in order to get your body used to that tempo and to make the run hard but not at its absolute max for the distance. A 3 and a half mile loop with a five minute jog recovery in between laps. The first lap was completed comfortably in 17.06 but the second lap was a little harder. The cold air temp and strong breeze was causing my sinuses real problems. Half the lap was run with one of the worst ice cream headaches I've ever had. I was only 30
seconds slower which was good but it took a couple of hours for my head to recover. As a result of my headache I think I neglected my food and drink intake, and paid the price during my easy pm run in which I found myself falling off the back of the group and feeling weak and lightheaded. Fortunately one of my training partners always seems to have an abundance of
food at his disposal so a quick cheese sandwich and a Lucozade had me recovered quickly.
A morning tempo session. The idea is to run at your 10k pace in order to get your body used to that tempo and to make the run hard but not at its absolute max for the distance. A 3 and a half mile loop with a five minute jog recovery in between laps. The first lap was completed comfortably in 17.06 but the second lap was a little harder. The cold air temp and strong breeze was causing my sinuses real problems. Half the lap was run with one of the worst ice cream headaches I've ever had. I was only 30
seconds slower which was good but it took a couple of hours for my head to recover. As a result of my headache I think I neglected my food and drink intake, and paid the price during my easy pm run in which I found myself falling off the back of the group and feeling weak and lightheaded. Fortunately one of my training partners always seems to have an abundance of
food at his disposal so a quick cheese sandwich and a Lucozade had me recovered quickly.
Tuesday 25th September
Training Report:
Having rested up to fully recover from the effects of my cold I started back on the track. A twenty minute run in the morning blew away most of the cobwebs and I felt no worse than when I started, so was confident for the main session of the day. 4 x 1 mile on the track with a quick 60 second turn around. I knocked out 5 minute miles for each rep, wary of not going too fast due to my illness. I finished feeling strong, my sinuses were giving me some pain because of the cold but it was manageable.
Having rested up to fully recover from the effects of my cold I started back on the track. A twenty minute run in the morning blew away most of the cobwebs and I felt no worse than when I started, so was confident for the main session of the day. 4 x 1 mile on the track with a quick 60 second turn around. I knocked out 5 minute miles for each rep, wary of not going too fast due to my illness. I finished feeling strong, my sinuses were giving me some pain because of the cold but it was manageable.
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