Last evening run in daylight tonight before the clocks change. Next week it will be running in the dark in the evenings. Time to dig out the reflective jacket and torch again.
Running in the dark is strange, it always feels like I'm running quite fast but when I look at my watch it's actually very slow. Weird.
Looking at the weather forecast for the next few days it won't be long until the long trousers and gloves come out of storage either. Brrr...
Friday 27 October 2017
Sunday 22 October 2017
Stroud Half Marathon - good and bad
The good is that today's result is my best half marathon time this year at 02:03:36. The bad is that's over 9 minutes slower than my PB set on this course last year.
Of course last year I hadn't run an ultra marathon just five weeks before - which has a lot to do with today's result.
The first 6 miles were fine with my pace actually a little faster than last year. It even felt easier than last year, not feeling like I was even breathing that much harder than I would on an easy run (which fits with my experience of running this pace in training the last few weeks). Then my left knee started to hurt.
I managed to maintain a respectable pace until about mile 9 - which would have brought me in just under the two hour mark. But from then it was a real struggle - I even resorted to walking for a minute at about 11 miles to see if that would ease off the pain. It didn't so I carried on running but now very slowly - more a jog than a run. All of which pushed my time over the two hour mark.
Meanwhile Scott, my running buddy from the Westminster to Cheltenham ultra marathon finished in a very respectable 1 hour 52 minutes.
Oh well, there's always next year.
Of course last year I hadn't run an ultra marathon just five weeks before - which has a lot to do with today's result.
The first 6 miles were fine with my pace actually a little faster than last year. It even felt easier than last year, not feeling like I was even breathing that much harder than I would on an easy run (which fits with my experience of running this pace in training the last few weeks). Then my left knee started to hurt.
I managed to maintain a respectable pace until about mile 9 - which would have brought me in just under the two hour mark. But from then it was a real struggle - I even resorted to walking for a minute at about 11 miles to see if that would ease off the pain. It didn't so I carried on running but now very slowly - more a jog than a run. All of which pushed my time over the two hour mark.
Meanwhile Scott, my running buddy from the Westminster to Cheltenham ultra marathon finished in a very respectable 1 hour 52 minutes.
Oh well, there's always next year.
Friday 20 October 2017
Brian
Brian the storm, not the snail from the Magic Roundabout. Wonderful timing for Brian to hit the day before the Stroud Half Marathon though hitting on the day itself would have been worse as we'd have had rain as well as strong winds. The worst of Brian should have passed by Sunday morning so it should be dry but it's still going to be quite windy - and cold.
The Met Office are currently forecasting westerly winds of 20 mph, with gusts up to 40mph. The first two miles of the race route head pretty westerly from Stroud before turning north at Stonehouse. The route then heads west again from miles 4 to 6. Once we get to Whitminster just before mile 7 the course then heads east back to Stroud so we'll have the wind on our backs for the second half of the race.
The other thing about the weather is it's forecast to be quite cold - 10C feeling like 7C. At least that's made the decision on what to wear quite easy - long sleeve top, shorts and gloves. Last year it was warmer and I spent hours agonising over long sleeves or short. I even changed twice before the start before going with long sleeves then regretting it about 2 miles into the race.
I've got my three plans ready for the race:
- plan 1 is to finish regardless of the time - highly likely to achieve that unless something really bad happens (really bad things can happen in your head as you can convince yourself you can't finish even when you physically could)
- plan 2 is to finish in under two hours - it's possible to achieve that if nothing goes too badly wrong
- plan 3 is to finish in under 2 hours 55 mins - feels a bit unlikely this year as I've not done enough speed work and I've still got a few residual twinges from the Westminster to Cheltenham run. Plus the wind is going to make the first part of the race hard work and slow things down a bit.
No more runs now before Sunday.
The Met Office are currently forecasting westerly winds of 20 mph, with gusts up to 40mph. The first two miles of the race route head pretty westerly from Stroud before turning north at Stonehouse. The route then heads west again from miles 4 to 6. Once we get to Whitminster just before mile 7 the course then heads east back to Stroud so we'll have the wind on our backs for the second half of the race.
The other thing about the weather is it's forecast to be quite cold - 10C feeling like 7C. At least that's made the decision on what to wear quite easy - long sleeve top, shorts and gloves. Last year it was warmer and I spent hours agonising over long sleeves or short. I even changed twice before the start before going with long sleeves then regretting it about 2 miles into the race.
I've got my three plans ready for the race:
- plan 1 is to finish regardless of the time - highly likely to achieve that unless something really bad happens (really bad things can happen in your head as you can convince yourself you can't finish even when you physically could)
- plan 2 is to finish in under two hours - it's possible to achieve that if nothing goes too badly wrong
- plan 3 is to finish in under 2 hours 55 mins - feels a bit unlikely this year as I've not done enough speed work and I've still got a few residual twinges from the Westminster to Cheltenham run. Plus the wind is going to make the first part of the race hard work and slow things down a bit.
No more runs now before Sunday.
Sunday 15 October 2017
Life can get in the way
Just occasionally the rest of life gets in the way of running. This week I've had:
Monday - Scouts
Tuesday - Leaders meeting
Wednesday - Church Night
Thursday - full day work party on the Scout Hut
Friday - hubby had a hospital appointment
Saturday - Standing Strong event in Birmingham
Today I managed to squeeze in a 6 mile run between the end of church this morning and the start of a special Thanksgiving Service this evening.
A fantastic week with lots achieved but not a lot of space for running.
Monday - Scouts
Tuesday - Leaders meeting
Wednesday - Church Night
Thursday - full day work party on the Scout Hut
Friday - hubby had a hospital appointment
Saturday - Standing Strong event in Birmingham
Today I managed to squeeze in a 6 mile run between the end of church this morning and the start of a special Thanksgiving Service this evening.
A fantastic week with lots achieved but not a lot of space for running.
Saturday 7 October 2017
Happy Birthday Parkrun - 13 today
I'm a huge fan of the concept of Parkrun - mass participation, it's a run not a race, you can jog or walk. But when it comes to taking part I'm less enthusiastic and only turn up occasionally. In the time it takes to drive there, run the 5k (3 miles) and drive home I could have run 10 miles. And the Parkrun I normally go to doesn't have much of an atmosphere and the course isn't great either with two tight 'U' turns on each lap. And running a 5k as fast as I can hurts more than running 30 miles - it just doesn't last as long!
But it was Parkrun's 13th birthday today. So I thought I'd turn up and show some support. In total there were 111 runners at the event I joined today and I finished 50th overall (14th female) with what for me was a fairly middling time, though most runners today seemed to be 30 secs to a minute slower than their PB as overnight rain had left the course 'greasy'. I suppose if you want a personal best it's also better not to have run a hard hill work session the night before.
But it was Parkrun's 13th birthday today. So I thought I'd turn up and show some support. In total there were 111 runners at the event I joined today and I finished 50th overall (14th female) with what for me was a fairly middling time, though most runners today seemed to be 30 secs to a minute slower than their PB as overnight rain had left the course 'greasy'. I suppose if you want a personal best it's also better not to have run a hard hill work session the night before.
Wednesday 4 October 2017
Nice and steady?
Day 2 of an attempt to find some speed in preparation for the Stroud Half Marathon with a steady paced run.
McMillan Running describes steady paced runs as having an easy to medium effort level. Let's say his description of easy and mine don't have a lot of overlap. I did manage to keep mostly within the target pace range I'd calculated but it was never going to happen running up Pennylands Bank which although it's quite a short hill doesn't take prisoners. I always hope there is lots of traffic at the top of the bank so I can stop on the verge for a breather. I was out of luck tonight and had to keep running, though fortunately there is a slight downhill back into Broadway.
In theory the steady pace is close to the pace I can run a half marathon at. It was fine for today's planned 3 miles but that's less than a quarter of the distance I'll be covering. It's going to be a tough one.
McMillan Running describes steady paced runs as having an easy to medium effort level. Let's say his description of easy and mine don't have a lot of overlap. I did manage to keep mostly within the target pace range I'd calculated but it was never going to happen running up Pennylands Bank which although it's quite a short hill doesn't take prisoners. I always hope there is lots of traffic at the top of the bank so I can stop on the verge for a breather. I was out of luck tonight and had to keep running, though fortunately there is a slight downhill back into Broadway.
In theory the steady pace is close to the pace I can run a half marathon at. It was fine for today's planned 3 miles but that's less than a quarter of the distance I'll be covering. It's going to be a tough one.
Tuesday 3 October 2017
Tempo Intervals
I've put my entry in for the Stroud Half Marathon later this month. Trouble is with doing so much ultra distance work over the summer I've neglected to do any speed sessions as they really aren't relevant when you are planning to cover 30+ miles in a day. Two weeks is probably a bit short to make any real difference but I've re-started speed sessions.
Today was a tempo intervals session. That means running at a pace just a bit faster than you could sustain for an hour. It's all a bit guesswork on how fast you need to be running athough there are calculators that give ranges based on race results. 4 x 800m intervals with 400 metres jogging between each interval. Overall quite pleased with how it went.
Today was a tempo intervals session. That means running at a pace just a bit faster than you could sustain for an hour. It's all a bit guesswork on how fast you need to be running athough there are calculators that give ranges based on race results. 4 x 800m intervals with 400 metres jogging between each interval. Overall quite pleased with how it went.
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