Tackling the long runs....

Ground frost, bright sunshine, blue sky - perfect running conditions for my 11miler. the last mile or so started getting hard (bearing in mind that there are no flat roads in and around Reigate!!) but was quite chuffed about it at the end. Must sort out the music though - I've been listening to the same CD since I started running and at these long distances I end up listening to it 3 times!!! Any tips on running music greatly appreciated.

Beating the winter blues

Managed to fight the little voice urging me to stay in the warm and bright of the house and went for a 4 mile run last night - felt sooo much better for it - still smiling :-)

Children's Trust Marathon Training day

 The Trust organised a training day which comprised of a run (6/12miles), breakfast and a tour around the Trust itself. In addition we had the opportunity to speak to experts about the training plans, nutrition, injuries and fundraising. It was a great morning (the run less so) and good to meet the other runners.
Training wise this was an off-week - I've been very tired and did not manage to get out running at all. Add to that a gruelling weight session on Fri and the run on Sunday and everything still aches. Trying to be positive and make sure I get all the runs in this week... this is the difficult part...

Add another x-country for good measure

Overtaking during the second lap

The Perch - an odd title for a race. It's an old land measurement of 5.5 Yards and 2,000 makes the unique distance of 6.25 miles or 10.05 kilometres.
Previously held on the Epsom Downs, it was moved to Nonsuch Park in Cheam instead. Believe it or not, they managed to find every single mud track in the park. With all those paved roads available, the organisers turned into another bl***y x-country race!!!!!
Never mind, I stuck to it and to be fair it felt much much easier than the day before and I started overtaking people on my second lap, mostly on the uphill. So whilst I'm not fast, I seem to be building up stamina and endurance which is really what the training is all about.

Going for the finish (not looks)

So I was mightily pleased with myself when I managed  to beat a couple more runners to the finish line - as you can see by the look of concentration I gave it my all (that was left that is).

Timing - again about 2 mins slower than 3 years ago. But, glass half full mode - I did race a similar distance the day before and this was pure cross country whilst the previous Perch had quite a bit of road running thrown in.
Satisfied and achy I went home and spend the remainder of the day recovering ...

Double x-country whammy this weekend - Take 1

For some strange reason I had committed to 2 different races not quite realising that they were both on the same weekend...so much for careful planning. So this weekend was tough:
First the embarrasing performance with RPAC at the Surrey X-Country fixture. Having said yes back in Novemeber I felt dutybound to turn up. Good news is, only the first 4 in the team count towards the league and I could not bring down the team through my non-performance. Bad news - it was a true x-country race - all 5 miles of it!!! The heavens had obliged by sending lots of rain the days before so there was mud, mud and more mud. The spikes arrived the day after the race and it was all very very painful.

But, as I'm determined to be a glass half full person in 2011 - I did not come last (managed to overtake someone on the last 500 m - thank god) and I did not walk (my personal objective for that race).

Needless to say I went home rather muddy and beaten...

Tempo run

Training run with RPAC - not long, just 4.23 miles (0:33:34) but it was a tempo run for me at 7.5 min/mile. Shall not get disheartened by the fact that vertually everybody keeps overtaking me.
Seem to have eaten something dodgy last weekend - as not feeling well. Turns out that Hanna and Sarah suffering the same - nothing major but just not quite right...

Like a dolphin

went down to Dorking Swimming Club again. Whilst I'm not amazingly fast (in fact I try and keep at the back so as to not slow people down), it is still quite enjoyable. It is surprisingly hard work though - this will definitely do wonders for my lung capacity. It is amazing how hot and out of breath you can get in a pool - managed to get through 1pt of water during training...

Sunday almost 10 mile run (1:46hrs)

...turns out I only did 9.65miles as I turned around to early - clearly I should have packed the GPS with me.
The weather was glorious and just cool enough so that I wouldn't overheat. Have bought myself a belt to carry waterbottles with me - looks ridiculous but it turns out to be a good idea as the run was MUCH more comfortable. I also took gels for the first time - they also made an amazing difference and I got home without feeling sick for once. (They also seem to have a somwhat laxative effect - hopefully just a fluke otherwise I have a problem.)

Hill Training with Reigate Priory Club

3 sets of 3 sprints uphill with a jogg back in the pitch black ....I survived and just about to relax into my well deserved bubble bath!!
Tip of the day: Never ever have dinner just before you go out for a running session...

Cross-training

The glow of the Tadworth 10 is slowly fading and it's now into the hard bit of training in miserable grey weather. Sat down and did an outline training plan (no point in getting too scientific about it - it'll only put me off...) which has hopefully enough variety to keep me going. So yesterday I did 1 hr swim session at the Dorking Swimming Club (trust me - not a simple pootle up and down the pool...). Hardest bit was - yes, right guess - getting out of the house. I managed, only to arrive at the pool (6miles from home) realising I forgot my cosy. But I did not give up, scrambled my last punds together and acquired a dreadful swimming costume which is going straight in the bin. Well, at least I did the session. This morning, a little weary.
Outlook for this evening - Hill training session with the running club - deep joy (unless someone feels the urgent need to schedule a vital conf call for 7pm?????)

Milestone 2 - the Tadworth 10 miler

Today I ran the Tadworth 10 mile race in the Epsom Downes (read NOT flat) in 1hr 56 mins. I had a really good race - felt strong, confident, even happy until mile 8 at which point muscles started aching rather badly. All in all, the race felt much easier than the one I did in 2008, unfortunately I did not manage to beat that time (i ran 2 mins faster last time). I don't quite understand why as it felt much easier (and I ran up ALL the hills which I was unable to do before). Maybe it's down to weight and the fact that last time I only stopped rowing 3 months earlier and maybe I still had much more strength in my leg muscles?
I went home and laid down in an icecold bath (well just my lower extremeties) for 10 mins before having a nice boiling hot shower. Apparently the cold bath is supposed to aid a speedy recovery - I'll let you know whether it works in the coming days.