Run like the Wind…

Yikes, I have been pretty busy at the moment, and have found it hard to find the time to keep up with the blog. Anyway, I did the usual in between runs last week – Tue saw a speedy Madame Tussuads run with the chasers, Wed lunch was a 6miler up and down the Regents Canal, Thu was going to be a chaser track session, but I went and forgot my running bra. Sadly, you can’t happily run a track session without one. No problem I thought, I’ll just have to run on Friday. The gods must have known that I wasn’t quite in the mood, as a mile in I went head over heels, skidding into the pavement. Main injury, nasty graze on left hip bone and right knee. I hobbled home, a little faint and attempted to attend to my wounds. Quite a feat for someone as squeamish as me.

Still a little sore from my fall – I think I must have jarred/bruised my left leg – I set out on my long run on Sunday a little dubious as to how far I would get. It was a beautiful day, not too cold, but with a brisk wind and a beaming sun. I set off from home and made my way to Canary Wharf, under the river then along the river toward London Bridge. The ever growing Shard my goal. It teased me all the way, as it jumped from one side of the river to the other, then finally began to loom ahead, tucked behind Tower Bridge and City Hall. I’ve done this route on both a bike and on foot, and it’s a really interesting one. I love weaving through the old wharf buildings in Wapping, popping out every so often to rejoin the Thames path next to the river. I throughly recommend it. There also looks to be some great pubs tucked away on the waterfront – something to explore this Summer.

A bit of a wait at London Bridge for a train home, which brought on the chills a bit, but were rescued a little by a cup of tea. All in all a satisfying run, and glad that I wasn’t broken after my fall !

Next time I want to explore heading out along the river toward the sea.

Today I ran a 10k. I’ve forgotten how tough they are! I haven’t raced one for at least a year. I figured if I picked a home race back in Norfolk the field would be week, and I would triumph. I was wrong. All the wirey, seasoned runners of Norfolk were out. Bungay Black Dogs, Norfolk Gazelles, you name it, descended on sleepy Swanton Abbott (a village in the middle of nowhere, the school, which was the base, is one room) Seeing as today was my official long run day I decided to run there and back, with the 10k sandwiched in the middle.

The ground was still pretty frozen (it had been -8 on the Friday night) and as I crossed my first field, I was running into the fog abyss which clung to everything in sight. A nice even paced 2.8 miles to the village – a really good warm up – something which I tend to neglect doing for a race. I had just enough time to nip to the loo and hang my coat on the back of a tiny school chair. The start line was a little in the distance, and I should have really nudged to the front, but I was in Norfolk and I didn’t fancy being that girl with a London team vest pushing to the front. The expectations would have been too high! Anyway the first half a mile consisted of a bob and weave, to get out and into a bit of room. A surprisingly hilly course, with a couple of long hills to contend with. All the marshals were pretty friendly, and I even managed a sprint finish/overtake on the last 50m. Something I particularly enjoy on a race! I didn’t stop for long to enjoy the tea and cakes, as I knew I still had the journey home to contend with, on tired legs. The fields had turned to mush, and I was set upon by a pair of lurcher pups, other than that I triumphantly landed on my parents doorstep, and was treated to a roast. A good day.

I think I ended up doing an OK 46 ish min 10k.

 – obligatory proud parental photo…

At home this weekend so some nice county running. Easy 6m out and back along an old railway line, some snow underfoot. Luckily only two dogs, both on leads. I’m always thinking about meeting dogs when I run out here. London dogs are indifferent to runners, country dogs attack. So for a large majority of the run I had “One man and his dog went to mow a meadow” on a loop in my head. A little annoying. However the sun was out and I was soon distracted by the view, and trying to   avoid slipping on various icy spots. The trail trainers were out again – useful. Sunday sees the Swanton Abbott Valentines 10k race…

Very cold still, but managed to push myself out the door at lunch at do an easy 5mile run. Everywhere was still pretty frozen. I had the chills for the rest of the day – my shower in the evening was so very welcome.

It was unbelievably cold last night. I think around -2. Foolishly I decided to do the interval/threshold training session, and suffered as a result. I had two buffs on, three layers, gloves, all that Jazz and still, after 40mins of hard running I don’t think I had broken a sweat. My legs and joints felt heavy and stiff – breathing was touching on the painful. We ended up doing 6 x 2min at 80% effort sandwiched between an 8min threshold run either side. Luckily Primrose Hill is included within the royal park of Regents – so the paths had been well gritted – you just had to avoid the various dead snowmans littering the sides. I’m writing this as I gear myself up for a lunchtime 5miler – it’s not helping. The ipod will be my saving grace, that and two buffs again…

Up early to fit in my long run today. Decided on my trail shoes in case I encountered any ice amongst the snow. I always encounter some strange looks when I run out in ‘adverse’ weather conditions. I guess people imagine it’s too dangerous. However I always feel its not too bad! Snow when its powdery isn’t slippery at all – so with a bit of dodging and a bit of hopping  all you get is wet feet.

I had plans for tonight so I decided to squeeze in a run at lunchtime. I’ve only just started training so no great milage for my mid week run. Was feeling surprisingly OK after last nights threshold. A beautiful sunny day, but icily cold. A quick 4.5miles up to Regents Park and back.

A bearable threshold session tonight – 5 x 6mins. My Garmin didn’t agree thought, and freaked out half way through – no idea what it’s problem was, perhaps the cold?! It felt a little too comfortable, so I was either not trying hard enough, or feeling strong – sadly no real way to tell without my Garmin stats, oh well. I short run tomorrow lunch, as I’m out in the evening. This is my first week of some consecutive running days, I have a feeling I’m going to feel pretty fatigued come the weekend.

Today officially marks the beginning of my Marathon training. I have 4 months to get into shape to complete my second 26.2 miler. Not the most inspiring of starts. The weather is pretty dull, grey and cold, and my ipod failed me. Usually I wouldn’t mind but I hadn’t planned a particularly exciting route, so I was looking forward to zoning out a bit. Anyway, I had set myself the mission of doing a pick up on my run. A couple of weeks back, I went to a pottery painting thing with my cousin, where I painted a rather handsome mug. Not knowing when I was next going to be in Greenwich I decided I should pick it up mid run. A little challenging running back with a mug in my right hand, but my run had had a second purpose, and I felt good because of it. I ran 8 miles, at around 9min mile pace. I need to do some sums and decide what my marathon pace is going to be, as I know my longer runs should be run at around a minute slower than this. So I guess 8min mile Marathon. This gives me a straight 3:49 to aim for. However my last Marathon I ran a 3:51, with what felt like a little extra left in the tank. So perhaps I need to have a rethink and step up the challenge a bit….

Tuesday’s session was tough. Tom took us to Primrose hill where we did 7min at threshold pace up and down the hill, followed by   5min, 4min, 3min, 2min, 1min at increasing speed, with 1min rest in between. It was v. tough! To try and push that little bit faster come 2mins, yuk. I was feeling a bit coldy, so was pretty wiped out afterwards. Writing this two days later, I was supposed to be running tonight but I’m going to skip, I feel too gross. I think I better start proper training this weekend… help. No time for colds then.

Wish I had been wearing my heart rate monitor for this one.

Thought I better aim for a long run today. I managed 7 miles. Wasn’t the easiest run, although looking at the stats I seem to have sped up. I need to get back in the habit of making sure my long runs are consistent.

First track session for a long time – ouch. I felt very slow.