Official Photos

Tired and jetlagged but chuffed to bits!

So, as the millions of real-time updates told you, I finished! Here’s the story of my New York experience…

We arrived late on Thursday night. Sadly, the first thing that happened was the immigration computer system crashing and we had to spend an hour and a half just sitting in immigration. Luckily we got through eventually and jumped straight in a taxi from JFK airport to our hotel in Manhattan. I’d chosen our hotel based on the tripadvisor hotel reviews which said the beds were comfortable. And yes, that was true, thank goodness.

We woke the next morning at a sensible time and by lunchtime we were up and about and enjoying the New York experience. First on the list was the free shuttle bus to the marathon expo to pick up our numbers and obtain some marathon themed merchandise (I invested in a lovely pair of gloves with the names of the 5 NY boroughs on each finger) and then we got a free bus to a sports shop after we were lured by the offer of free lunch. There was indeed free lunch plus Deena Castor and the same marathon merchandise with 20% off (boo). Next up we decided to walk around a bit to see the sites of Lower Manhattan including the statue of liberty at sunset on the Staten Island Ferry…lovely. In true Gary and Lindsay style we did walk around a lot and we were pretty tired by the end of it…maybe not the best marathon preparation! Later on we took in the Greenwich Village Halloween parade which gave us the opportunity to observe our American friends' love of getting dressed up at Halloween, has to be seen to be believed.

We decided to take it a bit easier on Saturday. Well, after the International friendship run which was 4k from the UN to just before the marathon finish line in Central Park. The highlight of this was the large French flag carried by some frogs singing La Marseillaise, very entertaining! We also discovered that out of 35,000ish runners in the marathon the were 3,800 brits, 3,500 French and 3,000 Italians. I was truly amazed by how international the marathon is as well as the way it takes over the city. On the plane, in immigration, in the hotel and walking around the streets there are so many marathon runners. I wonder if is the same in London, I am not sure you notice it when you live in or near a city as opposed to visiting.

We spent the rest of the day at the “Top of the rock”, an excellent viewpoint at the top of the Rockefeller Centre which was lovely and warm and mild and had loads of good benches to rest on! On Saturday evening we took in the marathon pasta party and the marathon fireworks in Central Park, very exciting! By this point I was a little bit nervous and young Gary was suffering from a random paranoid injury moment when he was unable to walk without a limp on the way back to the hotel, most worrying.

We were on the latest possible Midtown bus option on Sunday morning to the start at Staten Island which left at 6am. We arrived at the start at around 6:45am, a good 3 and a half hours before my race started, way too early. I am not sure why they get you there so early, probably something to do with the bridge you run over in the first mile and getting there but 3 and a half hours is too early. Especially when the mild weather from the rest of the weekend disappears just when you need it to be replaced by a rather cold and bitter wind. It was sooo cold. Some people were well prepared with sleeping bags and duvets. Other, such as Gazza and I, just sat cold in a heap and huddled together for warmth. We were a very sad and sorry sight indeed.

I said goodbye to Gary at around 8am as he went off to the blue start, and I went off to the green start. It is hard to keep yourself occupied for that length of time, there was coffee and bagels and loads of toilets but nothing else really. I managed to amuse my self by translating all the announcements into English (the language geek in me came out while I was bored!).

I was on the Green wave 3 start in the first pen and 10:20. We seemed to hang around for ages waiting to get into our pen as the 10am start got out of the way, after a quick trip to the loo (again!!!) I realised that I would be able to start more or less on the start line as pen A was the first pen in the Green start. How exciting and what unchartered territory! We walked up to the start and after a false start from a fellow inexperienced 4 and a half hour marathoner (we don’t usually make it so close to the start line) we were off to the tune of “New York, New York”. Now, I have seen the start of the New York marathon before and I was expecting to be one of many people crossing a bridge with not a lot of room. As it happened, the Green start was on the underside of the bridge and there was no-one in front of me! It was a very strange and eerie experience and not at all what I expected. This also contributed to me going a bit too quick at the beginning (plus I missed the mile markers for 3 miles so it was only then I realised) but never mind!

We started to catch the first tail enders form the previous start as we came off the bridge after about a mile and a half and by 3 miles we were well and truly integrated back into the field. We’d started in Staten Island but fairly soon we were in Brooklyn. The support was simply amazing, loads of enthusiastic yanks shouting “good job (or should I say jarb), great job, nice job). I am not sure I have seen this level of enthusiasm before! I was feeling great and trotting along nicely. I knew I was going too quick so slowly I decided to slow down the pace a bit until I settled into something a bit more sensible. Soon we passed over another bridge and into Queens which was a bit less noisy but still enthusiastic. Around 13 -16 miles I had a really strange patch where I slowed a lot. Not sure what happened but I had to have a strict word with myself and get sorted out.

At 16 miles we crossed another bridge to Manhattan and the crowd was amazing again and I had sorted myself out so I trotted along first avenue very nicely thank you. At around 19 miles it started to become more of a struggle, some gradual uphills were taking their toll on tired legs and I really started to tire as we crossed into The Bronx for a couple of miles before crossing back into Manhattan. I was tired by this point, but not so tired I had to walk (apart from drinks stations, the drinks were in cups and I kept splashing my face!!!) so I kept going.

I was slowing and as we ran alongside Central Park the support was amazing but it was starting to become a struggle. But not as much of a struggle as in the past. I was able to keep running without having to battle with myself about walking, I just wasn’t running as fast as I had done at the start! In fact, I think I ran almost all of the way from 23 miles to the end and this was probably the brightest last few miles in a marathon I had ever had.

Just before the finish we went a bit uphill which was tough but eventually I was finished, 4:26:01, my 4th fastest of 13 marathons and I was very happy. And very cold, shivering in fact. It seemed to take an age to get through the finish and back to the hotel. I encountered Gary en route who was disappointed with his new 2:55 PB but had just bought tickets to a show so was OK!

Post race we ate a Macdonalds, I know this is a bad thing to do…then we took in a show and then fell into a deep (and rather chuffed with myself) sleep, yay!!!

2008 ING New York City Marathon Alert Notification

Event Information:
Event:	The ING New York City Marathon
Runner:	Lindsay Cook
Latest Results at 02:46:06 PM:
Location Time Pace/mile 5km 0:27:56 8:59 10km 0:57:24 9:14 15km 1:27:32 9:23 20km 1:58:36 9:32 Half-Marathon 2:06:15 9:37 25km 2:31:32 9:45 Mile 16 2:37:36 9:51 Mile 17 2:46:06 9:46 Mile 18 2:56:02 9:46 30km 3:03:12 9:49 Mile 19 3:06:50 9:50 Mile 20 3:17:42 9:53 Mile 21 3:28:46 9:56 35km 3:37:13 9:59 Mile 22 3:39:48 9:59 Mile 23 3:50:54 10:02 Mile 24 4:02:20 10:05 40km 4:11:38 10:07 Mile 25 4:13:12 10:07 Mile 26 4:23:45 10:08 Finish 4:26:01 10:08

All times are unofficial. Times may vary in post race official results.

Please note: This e-mail was sent from the NYRR Automated E-mail Notification System. Please do not reply.

Sincerely,
New York Road Runners

You receive alerts because your e-mail address was added to our notification list by a runner or yourself.

Be careful where you urinate!

NYRR strongly suggests that runners use the portable toilets prior to walking onto the bridge. The bridge will house electrical equipment, and urinating on the bridge is extremely dangerous to you and your fellow runners.

Now this is a danger I have never even thought of!

New York, New York...

We're going tomorrow evening, I think I am excited but also a little nervous. We've got all our documentation through and we know what we are doing (well for the marathon stuff at least, haven't formulated the tourist plan yet!).

We arrive at around midnight on Thursday evening, I am hoping that travelling in the evening and then arriving at night when tired means we'll sleep brilliantly and have no jetlag. I'll be ok, I sleep anywhere (I often miss take off and/or landing as I am snoozing) and after a few trips to Seattle with work I think I have more or less cracked jet lag!

We'll probably go and get our numbers on Friday, there are even free shuttle buses to get there, our American friends like to make life easy for us! On Saturday morning we're going to do a gentle friendship run and on Saturday night there is a pasta party (complete with recipes). Oh, and we need to pop into the Empire State building as apparently: "The Empire State Building, the most recognizable building in New York City, will show its marathon colors from November 1 to 2. The building’s tower lights will radiate orange, blue, and white in honor of the marathon. This beacon will signal all marathoners to go to the Empire State Building to receive a free pin while supplies last. Runners need to present their bib, or a copy of their registration card, at the cashier's office to collect the pin."

Then on Sunday we get a bus at 6am (ouch) remembering that daylight savings kicks in (again) on Sunday. The start is quite a long way from Manhattan, the route goes through all 5 New York boroughs, finishing in Central Park.

Gary is in the 9:40 start and I am starting at 10:20 (number 49378, Green start, Wave 3, Corral A to be exact). Apparently you can track me online if you want or fingers crossed my "e-mail to blog" experiment will keep you up to date...

And what I am aiming for? Better than this year's London Marathon, better than 4:30 and in an ideal world around 4:20 (I'd love to get my third best time).

Fingers crossed, and important to know, the official ending time of the race is 6:40 p.m.

Testing, testing 123...

I am just testing a new way of posting...if it works, I will be able to set up the New York Marathon website to send Athlete Alerts during the race...what a great use of technology!

Is someone out to get me?

First, the fat foot saga, then the fat ankle debacle, now I have a weird blister issue!

My shoes rubbed my heel a bit on Monday lunchtime, must have been an incorrect sock/show combo. It wasn't major rubbing, just a slightly pink heel (I did amuse my colleagues by wandering around shoeless for the afternoon though). Then, at 3am this morning (Wednesday!) I woke up with the most painful heel in history. Not sure what happened but my pink heel must have got infected, it was bright red, seeping and painful enough to stop me sleeping.

It's still sore now, I smell like I have bathed in TCP and I am not impressed...

Holiday Running

Gazza and I have just come back from a lovely relaxing canal boat holiday touring around the black country (The Black Country Cruising Ring comprises a combination of canals each memorable for different reasons. Leaving the much-revamped water frontages of Birmingham via the New Main Line and negotiating parts of the elegant Staffordshire & Worcestershire and the Trent & Mersey before returning along the Coventry and the Birmingham & Fazeley the voyage offers vivid contrasts between heritage and contemporary life.) So there.
We timed the holiday to coincide with tapering but I started the holiday with wrecked legs after a 19ish mile run on Saturday morning before we even set off. Now, compared to lots of other holiday locations, canals are good ones for running, all you have to do is jump off the boat, run for xx minutes in one direction and then turn around and run back. That also means you can play the game of trying to get back to where you started in less time than it took you to get there in the first place.
I managed to fit in 3 runs, all of an hour or more (70 minutes, 60 minutes and an hour and a half at Fradley junction where we were even brave enough to leave the safety of the canal) so all in all a good week!

Just where do you find the time? (Part 2)

This week continued in much the same form as the previous week, but with more varied reasons for not being able to run.
I don't usually run on Mondays so I didn't even consider that as an option, plus, as our current news hack is climbing Kilimanjaro) I had to compose a Comet report for Standalone (it only got edited a little bit, I am pleased with the outcome!). Tuesday is the club night, but a miscommunication between me and my better (not this time) half meant that he brought my running bag as usual to the club but minus my smelly trainers so no running for me! He was away for the latter half of the week so, despite my good intentions, I ended up going out for a drink or two with my new boss and colleague so was in no fit state to run that night or the following morning. I really should no better than to drink on a school night with no dinner, will I ever learn?
So, but the time Thursday came along I was in a right old panic...I was due to visit a friend that evening so no running could be done that day either, then I came up with my ingenious plan. I would run at lunchtime! We have a shower and our office is in Covent Garden so within easy reach of pretty places to run. The only downside is the risk of my colleagues seeing me in lycra. Luckily, I have just invested in some new smart running tops (which were free when buying some trainers) so I at least looked, well, less luminous? I invented a lovely route down to the river, back through St James Park and Green Park, all of which took an hour. Just to feel extra virtuous I had a healthy fruit smoothie from the stall on Earlam street and my halo was back, if a little wonky and tarnished!

This gave me renewed enthusiasm and I even went for a run on Friday night after my Japanese class, 8pm on a Friday night and running round Hitchin, this is the girl who refuses to go supermarket shopping on a Friday night as she thinks it is too sad and now she is running instead?

Just where do you find the time? (Part 1)

Being a slow runner means that long runs take a long time and thus a larger percentage of your day. It's pretty obvious really but think about it a bit more.

Using Mr Cook as an example, he would budget around two and a half hours for a 20 miler. In my case, you are looking at more like three and a half to three and a quarter (and the rest!) And this works for every run, from your 5-6 miles (45 minutes v 1 hour) to your second long run of the week (10 miles in 70 minutes versus 1 hour 40). This does mean that sometimes it is hard to fit runs in, especially during the week, simply because to do a run of a certain length takes a while. But this weekend really showed how hard it can be and how other factors are also at play.

On Saturday I attended a road race organiser’s seminar which involved a 10am start in Huntingdon returning home at 5ish. (definitely worth attending by the way). Now, yes, I should and probably could have gone for a run when getting back but I was tired and it was wet, cold and windy (yes, I am human!) On Sunday, I arrived at Standalone Farm at 6am. My original plan was to run home, but I mislaid my food and drink so by the time 1pm came along I had hardly drunk or eaten all day long plus I was super tired...and it was wet, cold and windy so I went home and curled up on the sofa instead (complete wuss).

So, now I am stricken with guilt, cannot believe I missed a load of training last week due to the fat ankle and now I have missed my long run too...

From start, continue ahead up steep hill to gate...

So, the last you heard from me was that I had a fat ankle. Well, probably against all sensible people's best advice I decided to still do the Dunstable Downs 20. In my defence, despite having to work from home as I couldn't walk on Wednesday, my fat ankle recovered quickly. I was back at work on Thursday (albeit with an impressive limp much to the amusement of my colleagues) and moving a lot more smoothly on Friday. By Sunday, although the ankle was still quite puffy the pain and the limp had more or less gone. However, this race was still going to be a challenge. Tash and Gary gave me a good talking to at the start, telling me to turn back at the point where the 10 mile turned back, my marathon was more important than a silly old trail race, blah, blah, blah. I did listen to them and I was very aware that doing something daft now would really screw things up impressively. I am also a very determined person and I don't like to give up so I was hoping my head would persuade me to be sensible. The trail race was not marshalled or marked but had fairly detailed instructions and, as instructed, from the start we followed the grassy path straight up the steep hill on to the downs, through the gate and into the mist. It took a good half hour for the mist to clear and we then went through fields, up and down hills, past farms and generally meandered along a very pleasant route through the countryside. I would highly recommend this run, it was extremely enjoyable. At the turn off point for 10 miles, the ankle was holding up well and I decided to continue. As the next few miles went on, some through a pretty rutted ploughed field, treacherous for ankles at the best of times, I lost sight of the few people I had been running with and I was on my own (I blame my slow time on the fact I was having to do all the navigating myself) and the instructions were good but with no real sense of perspective, at one point I spent quite some time looking for a turn on the right which turned out to be quite some distance from where it sounded like it would be! It was a hot day, so the water and jelly bean stops were very welcome indeed, they also had little pieces of Mars bars too...mom... Anyway, there are a lot of excuses here and I was slow and, especially near the end, I found it very hard indeed. As I finished, not last may I add, Gary was sat a few metres from the finish funnel, on a deckchair, wearing his sunglasses and reading a newspaper. It was nice and quiet and he looked very relaxed indeed! So, how is the ankle then? Fine actually and, despite my very slow time (4:14:39), I am happy with this in a "time on your feet" kind of way!

Fat Ankle

I posted a few weeks ago about my fat foot (due to a hungry northern mozzie). Well this time I have a fat ankle. Here's the sorry tale. Actually, not much to tell, I was running with Christine on Tuesday night and we had promised ourselves a nice easy run as she had done the Quicksand 15 on Sunday. It's that time of the year right now where it is dark in the evenings, the street lights are on but the leaves are still on the trees so it is pretty treacherous. We've already had one nasty injury to the head caused by tripping on the uneven Letchworth pavements. Just as we got to Baldock all of a sudden a bike was coming towards us to I moved to one side...and slipped down the little kerby bit at the edge of the path. I went right over on my right ankle and immediately knew I had done some damage. Nowhere near as bad as 5 or 6 years ago where I did something similar and had to get a life back to the club in a police car but certainly not great. Christine and I ended up walking/jogging slowly back to the club (I think Chris was secretly relieved to have an easy run!) and I iced my ankle thanks to help from 'el presidente'. Also in the wars was Oliver who had grazed his knee by tumbling over. By the time I got home my ankle was quite swollen and painful, I ended up not sleeping well at all and spending the next day "working from home" with my feet up on the sofa and my laptop on my knee.

I struggled into work this morning (no bike today as although I think I could have ridden it, scaling the stairs at Hitchin station with a dodgy ankle and a bike in one hand would not have been good) but the ankle isn't much better. I have to admit that although I am normally a positive person, this is definitely worrying.

On a slightly related note, getting the tube for the first time in ages today reminded me how rude Londoners can be on the tube. I was slightly hampered by the dodgy ankle and I got pushed all over the place, thank god I wasn't more injured (for so many reasons). Fingers crossed I can get back on the bike asap!

Training progress

The blue line is Gary and the red line is me. From this scientific image you can see that we don't both have good weeks training at the same time.

More training...

So, after last week's excellent training week how was this week's training. First, my intention at the start of the week was to make this week a bit easier, especially as it started with a Half Marathon near Ely. Given I had accidentally run 9.5 miles the day before and also attended a bootcamp class so I wasn't as fresh as I could be. As it happened, all went really well and I finished in just under 2:05 which is probably faster than I have run for ages!

There isn't too much to say about this week's training really, a late night at work on Thursday meant no training and then I went to Edinburgh for the weekend so I managed a lovely run in Edinburgh on Saturday morning. I used to live in Edinburgh so it was nice to be back, it's a very attractive city with loads of nice places to run, I wonder if there are any jobs for me in Edinburgh? :-)

Week Seven
Sunday: 13.1 Grunty Fen Half Marathon
Monday: 0
Tuesday: Circuits (am), 5 miles (pm)
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: Circuits (am
Friday: 0
Saturday: 6 miles in Edburgh

Total: 29.1 miles, 2 circuit classes
Verdict: Hmmm

You can't have it all...

While you have been reading of my improving fortunes as far as training is concerned, my running hubby has been having a rough time. His training had been going supremely well, he was looking fit, running well and generally all was good. However, 10 days ago he got some weirdness in his calf and has been quite down in the dumps with it all.
We've come to the conclusion that the running gods can't let us both be running well at the same time (how cruel of them) so they pick on one or the other of us. I am feeling a little responsible (well, a lot actually) as I put Gary's schedule together so maybe I over-trained him a bit? Fingers crossed he perks up in the next day or two, I don't think he will have lost too much (mainly confidence I think)...

On the up

Things are definitely on the up :-) In my previous post I told you about my Sunday run 20 mile antics which was followed by a Dunhams Lane hill session on Tuesday. For the first time in absolutely ages I did the whole session (3 reps of a lot of running up and down, comes to 7.5 miles in total). I gave myself Wednesday off and then did another fartlek on Thursday. On Saturday I set off with the aim of 8 miles but due to a catastrophic wrong turn on Deadwoman's Lane, I actually ran 9.5 miles and almost missed the bootcamp class at the gym!

Week Six
Sunday: 20 (10 plus 10 miles race@Swineshead)
Monday: 0
Tuesday: 7.5 miles hills
Wednesday: 0
Thursday: Circuits in the morning, 6.5 miles fartlek
Friday: 0
Saturday: Accidental 9.5 miles bootcamp

Total: 43.5 miles, 1 crcuit class, 1 bootcamp
Verdict: Yahoooo!

Mad Sunday

Thought I'd tell you about my Sunday this week...it started with the idea of running Swineshead 10, the NHRR Run of the Month for September. Being a good club member, I entered, looking forwards to doing a new race.
Given I am marathon training I had to work out a way of getting my mileage in. My first idea was a long run on Saturday but then Gary had a sore calf and fancied going to the bootcamp class (and we were 2/3 of the way through a bottle of wine on a Friday night) so I decided some sort of add on post Swineshead 10 was the way forwards. Then I realised the race started at 11:30 am so came up with the plan of running 10 miles before the 10 mile race. Almost sounds sensible when you write it downs like that.
I set off at 7am on Sunday morning towards Preston. As usual, I toiled up the hill and ended up walking just past Offleyholes Farm. not long after that, a lady came running past me like a train!
At the top of the hill there is a regular flood which, given the amount of rain we've had recently, was rather deep and I caught the lady up as she was trying to navigate the puddle (we concluded straight through the middle was the best option!). I turned out she was a member of Garden City Runners (I am embarassed to admit I didn't find out her name) and we had a lovely run back into Hitchin. It was only when I got back I realised we had gone pretty quick (just under 10 miles in 1:40), certainly quick than I probably should have done so I had an extra bowl of porridge to make up for it!
So, on to the race. Given my exertions that day, it went pretty well with me managing to keep going and finish in 1:43 (wow!). I devoured a burger and ice cream at the end, mmm.

I wonder if this kind of training is any good for you, I certainly ran the second 10 miles more strongly and faster than I would have done if I had done them without the 2 hour break? Anyway, it made me feel confident again which is a good thing!
The only problem was that this killed me for the rest of the day. When we got home we had to finish some bathroom painting so I couldn't have a shower for a while and by the time I did I was starting to feel rough. I get this sometimes after a hard run or gym session, I think it is a combination of dehydration and an exertion induced headache caused by the increased speed at which the blood is circulating after running. Whatever it is and whatever it is caused by it's not nice, it's the kind of headache where you can't move and ultimately you are sick (sorry Gary, I do appreciate you made me dinner).

Mmmm, maybe I'll be nicer to myself next weekend!

Slight Improvement

This week has been more encouraging training wise (about time too!)

Over the past couple of weeks, I've really got back into fartleks. At the club at the moment we are doing 6 weeks of hills and fartleks, the latter being very helpful for marathon training too. There are many good things about fartlek training:

it makes you fitter :-)

depending on the lengths of the reps and the recoveries, you can run in groups with people you don't normally run with

you can run as hard as you want (or don't want as the case may be) although obviously you get less effect if you don't do it quite right

it's a good way to do 6-8 miles without really realising it!

Anyway, it's all good. On Wednesday I actually managed a midweek run and on Thursday I did a nasty hill session at Hollow Lane/Windmill Hill in Hitchin.

Week Five
Sunday: 0 (fat foot)
Monday: 0 (trip to Alton Towers and slightly less fat foot)
Tuesday: 6.5 miles fartlek
Wednesday: 8 miles
Thursday: Circuits in the morning, 3.5 miles hills
Friday: 0
Saturday: 8 miles to Preston and bootcamp

Total: 2.5, one circuits class, once bootcamp class
Verdict: Starting to feel fitter...

P.S. While trying to find a link to Windmill i found that in 1697, Hitchin (and the nearby village of Offley) were subject to what is thought to have been the most severe hailstorm in recorded UK history. Hailstones over 4 inches in diameter were reported.

Fat Foot

This week's training didn't start as well as it could have done (given the non-long running last week) so I had high hopes I could bring it round and start to feel a little more confident about my mileage.
I had already promised to go to the cinema with Gary on Wednesday to see The Dark Knight and he had rearranged his training to fit round that so I thought I had better not risk a divorce so I didn't have too many options for fitting in my training. We were also invited to another wedding in the North of England which as already noted makes life tricky when it comes to marathon training.
However, as it happened, it was a Northern mozzie that ruined my training this week! It turned out I was very tasty for Bury-based mosquitos. While getting fresh air at the wedding I got bitten like crazy by these pesky insects including a couple of badly placed bites on my right foot. Of course it swelled up like mad and I was unable to fit my trainer on on Sunday, let alone run!. Luckily for me and my marriage it was a lot better on Monday and I was able to spend the day at Alton Towers to celebrate Gary's birthday!

Week Four
Sunday: 0
Monday: 0
Tuesday: 4.5 miles including 4*5 min hill efforts
Wednesday: 0
Thursday: Circuits in the morning, 6 miles fartlek
Friday: 0
Saturday: 8 miles to Preston

Total: 18.5 plus one circuits class
Verdict: Even worse than last week

BTW I am blogging in bed right now and Gary is snoring, this is such a rare occurrence I felt I needed to share this with you....

The "Light at the end of the tunnel marathon", Seattle, WA

I don't know if you have ever noticed, but at the bottom right had corner of my blog there is a little app called feedjit which maps where visitors to my blog come from. I am a bit of a web geek after all so I find this kind of thing interesting.

Last week I noticed quite a few visitors from Seattle, WA, USA appeared which is a bit of a coincidence as I often go to Seattle with work. On further investigation, it appeared they found my blog in google when searching for "light at the end of the tunnel marathon". (My blog turned up as that was one of my postings earlier on this year.

So, what were they searching for? Well, there is a marathon in Seattle called The light at the end of the tunnel marathon which takes place in August. It's ao off road trail marathon which decends 2050 feet in 26.2 miles and is possibly the fatest Boston qualifier marathon. Sounds good doesn't it? Apparently there are 2 1/4 miles in a tunnel (15' wide and 30 ' tall) though, not sure I really like the sound of that! Have a look at it, it looks lovely!

All dressed up and nowhere to go

I am currently sitting here in my running kit after haivng to abort my efforts at a long run this morning after approximately 400m. I felt a bit sick, my head is all a bit woolly and my legs were completely empty. Not good.

It all started on Friday evening. Gary and I lounged at home, ate the leftovers from the Olympic themed handicap we had at the club on Thursday night and had a wee glass of wine (or 3 in my case...). I spent the rest of the night feeling very ill indeed and being sick and despite the fact I had some wine I am pretty sure that this was not alchohol related, I am currently blaming either dodgy chicken at Nandos, dodgy gelato at the local ice cream shop or my morning coffee (and Friday almond croissant treat bought for me by a colleague at Monmouth coffee (this all says very bad things about my daily food intake, this isn't usual but point taken).
Anyway, I woke up on Saturday morning feeling terible and spent all day in a heap on the sofa not moving and watching the penultimate day of the Olympics. To illustrate my bleughness I even chose not to go for lunch at my favorite restaurant, Just 32. I also didn't do the tidying up that Gary is so keen that I do! Given I had hardly eaten all day I thought running on Sunday would not be a good idea (although I felt loads better) so I decided today was the day. But it turned out not to be the case, ho hum.

It's worrying when you miss out on a few days training in a row. You start to become a bit manic and neurotic, worrying about how this will affect your big race in a couple of months time. I am trying not to worry and attempting not to fall into the trap of forcing yourself to run when you really don't feel up to it.

Apart from this recent disaster, how's has the rest of my training been going then? Well, not too bad really, a bit up and down but generally ok.

Week two
Sunday: post wedding recovery...
Monday: 11.5 miles in total (see also my comments on this)
Tuesday: 0 (cooking at the club!)
Wednesday: 7.5 miles
Thursday: Circuits in the morning, 0 miles running, travelling to my sister's wedding
Friday: 0, having my hair done for my sister's wedding
Saturday: 0, post wedding recovery

Total: 19 plus one circuits class
Verdict: erm, not good

Week three
Sunday: 15 miles in Preston
Monday: 0
Tuesday: Circuits in the morning, 6 miles at the club in the evening
Wednesday: 0 (went to Dublin for the day and had to cook on thursday so no time for running :-()
Thursday: 3.5 miles Olympic handicap race
Friday: 0
Saturday: 0

Total: 24.5
Verdict: Good long run but generally disappointing

Week two, how are you?

Not too bad thank you!
First update of week two (NYCM - 12 weeks) is that Gary and I spent the weekend in France at a wedding. We were in the south of France inland from Cannes near Grasse in a village called Mouans Sartoux which given the weather (hot), the terrain (hilly) and the amount of alcohol (loads) was not conducive to a long run. We did manage a mini run on the Saturday with some plan or not of some more running.
Sunday was out (wedding recovery!) and Monday was the day we were coming back. Was it better to do a long run in France or a long run in England on our return. In the end we decided to do a bit of both. We started with around 5 miles in the morning. Look at the elevation, it was hilly! Then we trekked home and both finished off (in a very tired fashion!) in the evening. I managed 11.5 miles in total, Gary went a bit further.

So, what training benefit is there from running twice a day? Is it worth it? Is it a waste of time? Unsurprisingly I decided to google this.

So, according to google, this is called doing "doubles" and is not usually for the faint hearted. Pete Pfitzinger has written an interesting article on this. He writes "Staying with longer single runs builds endurance, while shorter doubles allow you to train at a faster pace". He also writes "if you are preparing for a marathon and are running less than 75 miles per week, then you should not be running doubles.". Oops, well, this wasn't exactly why we doubled up actually...Finally he states that "an easy 30 minute run on the same day as your medium long run will provide an incremental training stimulus by depleting your carbohydrate stores and training your muscles to rely more on fat at a given speed. It is preferable to add 30 minutes in the evening after a medium long run in the morning. Only do a morning run before an evening medium long run if it will not tire you out for the evening run. A better quality medium long run is preferable to a double in which your medium long run is a slog."
Ah, maybe it wasn't such a silly idea after all?

Of course, Runners World forum members have debated this (and everything else it appears...).

It does sound like convenience sometimes dictates one run or two in a day. I tend to think that something is better than nothing and that was why we ended up doing what we did (and debating it at great length too!).

Week one training update

So, how was week 1 then? Week one was NYCM - 13 weeks and was the first week where I really started to concentrate on training for this darn marathon.

One of my main aims of training this time round is to get regular long runs (half the distance of the longest run) in on a Wednesday and sadly I didn't make that in week one. Instead I went to see Mamma Mia with some work colleagues (the stage show, not the film)...not a bad excuse really.

I am keeping track of my training (and Gary's) in an excel spreadsheet on my work laptop so if you ever see me on the train tapping away I an probably trying to find ways to make my mileage look like more than it actually is!

Anyway, back to week one:
Sunday: 12.5 miles long run(ish), tool me ages (I think around 2 and a half hours) and there was loads of walking
Tuesday: Circuits (am), 6 miles off road at the running club (pm)
Saturday: 3 miles in Mouans Sartoux, France
Total: 1 gym session, 21.5 miles.
Verdict: OK start but could do better


Oh, and as i am using a american book for guidance this time round, all the weeks start on Sundays not Mondays, they do say a change is as good as a rest!

And so it begins...

Today was my first official run (or in my current state of fitness run/walk) in my New York Marathon training...12.2 miles...

Long time no blog...

Too many hen dos, trips to Seattle, coughs, colds, work and holidays have meant I haven't blogged for ages. And the lack of blogging is reflected in the amount of running I've been doing. Anyway, I'm back now with renewed enthusiasm (if not fitness)...
So, what's been happening recently? Well, we did brilliantly at our fourth midweek league race and almost (but not quite) won the league and got promoted (that was quite exciting). Sadly I missed the Mob Match due to hot date with Christine Sharp at the exciting AGM at the Letchworth Corner Sports and Social Club. Probably the less said about this the better but I've had more interesting evenings!
I spent a week in Seattle with work, the expedia website was had a succesful (more or less) upgrade and I had a week on holiday in Somerset which was fun despite the nasty cough I took with me.
All in all, this does add up to not a lot of training. So, in true Lindsay style I decided to find out how quickly you loose your fitness.

According to this Runners World Article "Most runners can be completely sedentary for a week without losing much fitness. After two weeks, you’ll notice a change, and after three weeks of complete rest, you’ll experience a significant loss of fitness, leaving you feeling ‘untrained’. Five weeks with no training will cause a loss of race-readiness."

Time to run state that "After a long layoff you're bound to lose at least some fitness. A general rule of thumb is that it takes about two weeks of "retraining" to come back from every week in which you do no exercise."

Brian Mac confirm that "When training ceases the training effect will also stop. It gradually reduces at approximately one third of the rate of acquisition."

Eek, this doesn't look good for me does it? So why is this and what is it called?

I found an interesting post on another blog (I must try harder) where the blogger talks in more detail about this:
Reversibility
One of the core concepts of training is reversibility, which simply details that when a training stimulus is inadequate or absent then the physiological aspect it relates to begins to decline. Or even more simply, use it or lose it. As a rule of thumb it is thought to take between 2 and 6 weeks to lose a "significant level of conditioning".

Maximal oxygen uptake (V02 max) declines by 4-20% in 2 weeks

Endurance athletes have a 5-12% decline in blood volume in 2 DAYS.

In eight weeks the dimensions of the heart decrease in parallel with stroke volume. The left ventricle can decrease by up to 20% in 3 weeks

Maximal voluntary ventilation (breathing rate) can decrease by 10-14% within a month.

Oxygen uptake by muscles can decrease by 8-12% in 3 weeks

There are other stats from a variety of studies, but the main point is that 3-8 weeks of complete inactivity can have an immense affect on your level of conditioning. Even 2 weeks complete rest can diminish your hard earned conditioning by a significant degree.

Oh, and before I forget, here's a running and beer article from
Runners world which is somewhat related to my last blog post about beer and running.

Too busy to train?

I've had a manic couple of weeks so I've done very little training (which is not a good thing!).
2 weekends in a row were taken up with hen nights. Most girls reading this blog will have been on a hen night (or more often weekend these days) or two and they nearly always involve lots of drinking...so this got me to thinking, what does alchohol do to your running performance?

Running immediately after a drink or two: have you ever done that? I have tried once or twice in my younger days and discovered I got very out of breath very quickly. I don't know if this is a medical fact or not, just my own observation but looking on the internet it seems like everyone is in agreement, beer immediately before running is not generally considered to be a sensible thing to do.

Running the morning after a heavy night: now we've probably all done this however we all know this is bad. But why? Alcohol is a diuretic, which means drinking too much the night tends to leave you dehydrated. The effects of poor hydration are lack of coordination, decreased blood volume so less blood returns to your heart, your heart pumps less with each heartbeat, you muscles get blood which isn't as rich in oxygen, your muscles have less oxygen to produce energy and you then run slower. Now if you have had a really heavy night you'll probably be feeling very rough before you even start!

According to this running times article, in a study investigating the effects of alcohol consumption on running performance, five sprinters and five middle distance runners raced over 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1500 meters while sober and while intoxicated. Running performances were negatively affected at all distances except for the 100 meters. Sounds like a fun study to observe!

Beer during a run/race: During The Grizzly a couple years ago, nearer the end the course took us through a brewery where beer was on offer. I really fancied it so downed a cup full and that combined with the jelly baby I had just eaten had an amazing effect on me and I overtook loads of people in the next few miles. Why was that? I don't really know but after some research I have concluded a couple of sips during a run are probably ok but a large amount of beer while running is probably a bad thing due to the reasons already stated!

How about this for a run though? The Beer Mile is a drinking game that combines beer-drinking with elements of track and field. Participants complete a mile, consuming four beers at the same time. There are even rules to this, participants must consume one full beer, then run one quarter mile. This process is repeated three times, resulting in running one full mile, and consuming four beers. Hmm, not sure NHRR should adopt this type of event, or should we?

Post run/race beer: now, again, beer is bad post-run despite the carbs it contains. However, personally I reckon if you have run then you should enjoy yourself...bearing in mind that that beer will slow down your recovery...

I think this RW article sums it all up, moderation!

Midweek League Race 3@Welwyn Garden City

Wednesday 11 June saw race 3 in our midweek road race league hosted by Herts Phoenix in Welwyn Garden City.
When reviewing the fixtures for this year's league, I realised I was due to be at a conference in Berlin on Tuesday/Wednesday (Localisation World, I am a linguistic geek). So, what would any sane person do? They would apologise profusely for not being able to make the race. Of course, that was not the option I chose. I decided it would be far more fun to leave the conference early and try to make the race.
My flight left Berlin at 16:35 (I had to miss the last session of the conference intriguingly entitled "The Intergalatic Impact of Language") so I jumped in a taxi at 3pm making it to the airport in enough time to remember I needed to eat and drink more water. Luckily the flight took off on time, I'd checked in online so I'd chosen a seat near the front of the plane and I only had hand luggage (I was flying to Terminal 5 so there was more than one reason to not check in luggage, after all I wanted to see it again (Did you know unclaimed luggage gets auctioned?)).
We landed at Heathrow early! This was good news as looking at the train times it was going to be tight getting to the race on time. But sadly we were too early for our stand and had to wait 10 minutes until another plane left. By this point, I'd taken the precaution of putting my trainers on and I legged it through Terminal 5 (it's big!), accidentally jumped the passport queue and threw myself onto a tube train that left 30 seconds later (what luck!).
Then I spent an hour on a tube train. I knew there was a train at 18:36 and 19:06 and there was no way I'd be there in time for the 36 so I just sat with my fingers crossed hoping there was no delays on the tube. Luckily there weren't and I made it to Kings Cross (after running up the escalators) with a few minutes to spare.
At this point, I deployed the next part of my plan which was to change into my running kit on the train (I did feel like a wally sitting on the train in my kit) and then I sat on the train. Sadly, I hadn't spotted that the train was goiong to spot at Potters Bar AND Hatfield on the way to WGC which added crucial minutes onto the journey time. My heart was beating like crazy and I was all clammy...at this point I decided that if I missed the start I'd do the race anyway...
The train got into WGC at about 19:35, by some fluke I had managed to get on a carriage that was opposite the ticket barriers so I jumped off the train, flung myself at the barriers, legged it down some escalators and into a taxi.
I decided that I would get the taxi driver to drop me off on the start line (to hold the race up if needed), I arrived with 3 minutes to spare (best £3 I have spent in ages) and I even had time to find a safe place for my bag and have a wild wee under a tree.
Oh yes, and there was a race too. I ran surprisingly well finishing the (was it wasn't it?) 5 mile course in 42:41. Must have been all the adrenalin pumping round my body!

(Oh, and thanks to Tash for the use of her Wimbledon towel!)

Running...and cycling too!

Last Sunday (8 June), Gary and I decided to do the Barton 10k. Initially, Gary hadn't been too keen on doing this as we had a Midweek League Race the following week. But I was always keen (and he came round to my way of thinking eventually). We did this race last year and it was very enjoyable (if a bit warm and polleny) and I was keen to do it again.
In true Lindsay-style, I decided a good plan was to cycle to the race (only 6 miles from Hitchin), do the race, and then go on a bike ride. The 6 miles there was a nice loosener and I don't think it affected my run although I am glad it wasn't any further.
The race starts by running (off road) up a nice bug hill. It's one of those hills where your legs are like jelly at the top (I also get this feeling when I walk up the stairs at work!) and you heart is beating so hard it is painful. SO yes, of course I had to walk the last little bit of the hill (and another little one at 7k) but otherwise I really enjoyed this run and I fely nice and strong, especially near the end where I overtook 5 or 6 people. My time was nothing special (62 mins) but that wasn't the point today!
After the race, we set off on our bikes again, it was a gorgeous day, not a day for housework (in our house it never is unfortunately). We decided it was the perfect day to use our National Trust membership and visit the nearest NT place to Hitchin which was Shaw's Corner in Ayot St Lawrence. The cycle there (and back again!) was really lovely, the sun was shining and all was good with the world.
We crawled back home at about 6pm (we'd left at 10), tired and somewhat flushed from having been in the sun all day. A mad day, but a lovely one!

Can't sleep

After a hard raining session, do you ever find that you can't sleep? It's 12:30 and I can't sleep!
Tonight's session was fun, I really enjoyed it (there has been some good stuff recently, thanks Karen!). After Tuesday's 1500m reps (which went well for me, I averaged around 7:25/7:30 for the 4 reps), it was refreshing to do some 200m reps. The session was 200m reps with reducing recovery time (90s/75s/60s/45s/30s/15s). I missed the Balke test when we did it the week after the marathon (if I remember rightly I could barely walk that day) so I've been "borrowing" Linda Aird's times/distance. My aim was 54 seconds per 200m and if at any point you went beyond your target then it was time to bow out gracefully, it was all about quality not quantity! I managed the whole set 4 times, mainly at 52/53s with the final set more like 50/51s.
So a combination of pushing myself hard and a late dinner means here I am, blogging when I should be sleeping!!!

Midweek League Race 2@Stevenage

So, on to the second race in our Summer Midweek League. After the first race we were winning, but only just so we needed another superhuman performace in the second race. The race was in Stevenage and was a measured 10k. I've done this course a number of times before and it isn't the easiest course around, basically you have to slog up a longish hill before cruising back down to the finish. This time, the weather wasn't great either and it was a soggy, miserable evening.
I started off ok, I really wanted to do as well as last time to proove it wasn't a fluke but I was also worried about getting too over excited and setting off too quick. I felt a little heavy legged and my left foot (which has been a bit achey for the last week or so - you should see me getting up from my desk at work, very amusing) gave me a little bit of annoyance but otherwise I didn't feel too bad. The uphill was even longer than I remembered and the downhill wasn't as much of a respite as I had hoped! Depsite my grumbles, I finished in 54:10 which I was pretty pleased with although not quite as fast as last time.
And as a club we did really well, but not quite as well as last time and we were a close second place to FVS. They had a huge number of runners out and did better in both the men's and ladies races. Our ladies were there usual brilliant selves and I think our men did slightly worse than last time and we ended up in second place.
So 2 races to go (one of them is ours) and it's all to play for!

Marathon marathon history

After running my 11th marathon this year I asked our club statto to remind me of my other performances...

13/04/08 33 Marathon London Marathon 04:43:46
22/04/07 32 Marathon London Marathon 05:28:46
18/03/07 31 Marathon Rome Marathon 04:55:05
09/04/06 31 Marathon Paris Marathon 04:29:13
10/04/05 30 Marathon Paris Marathon 04:11:16
18/04/04 29 Marathon London Marathon 04:36:45
04/04/04 29 Marathon Zurich Marthon 04:23:00
06/04/03 28 Marathon Paris Marathon 04:12:00
14/04/02 27 Marathon London Marathon 04:29:51
30/09/01 26 Marathon Berlin Marathon 04:51:24
22/04/01 26 Marathon London Marathon 04:41:52

certainly quite a range!

Next Midweek League

For any NHRR who are reading this, don't forget the next MWL race is at Stevenage on Thursday. I am very excited, we won the last MWL by the smallest of margins and over 50 runners from NHRR took part so it felt like a double success to me.

I wonder how I will get on tomorrow? I asked Statto to find out how my MWL BS time looked compared to my other recent 10k times. Well, good news. It's the fatest 10k I have done in the last 3 years! According to the stats, my fastest 10k in a NHRR vest was 52:57 in October 2004. My top 5 10ks were between 2001 and 2005 so I am pretty impressed with my most recent performance! To be honest, I think it was the yellow socks that did it!!!!

Training week ending 25 May

It's been a busy week this week so my main focus hasn't been running (sadly) but here's my training this week:

Tuesday: am - circuits, pm - 10x300m parlauf/100m recovery
Thursday: am - circuits
Saturday: bootcamp
Sunday: 5 miles

Not a great week running-wise but I have just come back from yet another lovely Sunday run.
Most people reading this blog probably know I am not from Hitchin originally. I'm an exiled northener whose work meant I ended up living and working in Hertfordshire (initially on a 3 month contract - I was going to go back home!), joining NHRR, meeting Gary and unexpectedly deciding to live in Hitchin.
But I was lucky, I love living in Hitchin, it's a great mix of convenient location and loads of nice countryside nearby. Today, was a perfect example. From home, I ran 5 minutes out towards Charlton and then into the countryside. It was raining...I love running in the rain, and everywhere was all green and fresh. OK, so I was off road and there are some heavy muddy paths but they didn't last too long (luckily!). I guess the downside is by the end of the run I was soaked (especially my feet), and my legs were covered in nettle stings (still stinging now I am back!). This kind of run is precisely why I love running.

Training week ending 16 May

Slightly belated but here goes!
This was a week of not that much really...
Tuesday: circuits
Wednesday: MWL@BS (10k)
Thursday: circuits
Saturday: 4 * 7.5 mins@ balke test rate. I managed average 1400m I think)
Sunday: 7.5 miles (this is a top run on a nice sunny day!)

Ran too hard?

I have really sore legs today, maybe I pushed it too hard on Wednesday?
New objective: run sub 54 minutes for 10k and still be able to walk 2 days later!

Midweek League Race 1@Bishops Stortford

Well, tonight we started our summer midweek league. That means the start of me skipping out of meetings early, rearranging meetings (or missing cocktails as happened this week) and getting the train to far flung places around and about. Well, actually, this year we aren't going to too many far flung places thanks goodness!

I managed to get there in plenty of time tonight thanks to the tube, a nice fast train and a taxi ride from the station. On my arrival, Derek had just got the numbers and Lissa was surfing in the car park... It was a little stressful trying to sort out the numbers when it was a bit breezy but we managed it ok and it was on to the race.

It was a lovely evening with a fantastic sunset, I just wish I had had my camera with me! The course was 10k according to the BSRR GPS measurement and was the same course as the last couple of times which looks a bit like a hilly lollipop!

So, on to the run itself. It went really well...I caugh Linda and Gill up which is very unlike me and although Linda strolled off in the last km (her legs are longer than mine) I put up a good showing. This was probably due to having Linda and Karen on my back for most of the race so I had to push quite hard. Lorraine informs me I did this in 55 minutes last year and I did Flitwick in 58 minutes but it looks like I finished this one in around 53:30 (I didn't have my watch on) which...wait for it...means I have met one of my SMART objectives already which was to run under 54 minutes for 10k. I am not going to settle with that, I now want to run under 54 minutes again! I do have a feeling it was a fluke but a repeatable fluke is less flukey somehow...

So, what happened? Where did that come from? Seemingly I have been doing very little training and I also find it hard to run the Midweek League races as I always feel like I have had a herculean journey to get to the races. The simple answer is I don't know but I will take it and enjoy it for a day or 2.

Splogging...

I am not sure if anyone noticed, but for a couple of days, my blog was no longer...
Your blog is disabled. Blogger's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog.
I don't know what I did, but apparently I made my blog look like a spam blog. What's a spam blog anyway?
Well, here's a definition from wikipedia...a spam blog is also known as a splog. So there.

Short training update - 11 May

Well, I've been getting back into training...a little bit at least. I've been able to keep up my gym work with my twice weekly circuits and occasional bootcamp classes (and only today noticed I had a new muscle in my arm).
As far as running is concerned, last week was a little tricky what with watching radio shows being recorded, committee meetings and Japanese classes but I did make it out on a lovely run on Saturday morning with CMJ, Chris and Sally. Here's the route:


The weather is lovely right now but I am not a good runner in the heat...too much extra ballast to carry...

So, here's this week's training log:
Mon: Impington 5k approx 27 mins
Tues: circuits
Thurs: circuits
Sat: 6 mile run and bootcamp

OK, so not exactly Olympic material but I'll get there!

Not tired, just not entirely bovvered...

I am not currently entirely enthused about running just now which is unlike me!
Over the bank holiday weekend, I didn't really feel like running (or the Thursday before) so I didn't really. I am not too worried about this, there will be enough running going on in the next few weeks with all the Midweek league races!
However, I did do a 5k on Monday in a village called Impington, near Cambridge.

View Larger Map
It was a village fun run and jolly nice it was too! I finished in 27:17 and really enjoyed it. My main fun was provided by watching the kids around me as they struggled to pace themselves round. They sprinted, walked, sprinted, walked and wily old Cook just kept plodding along and beat them in the end!

Charity pub crawl

I broke the rules and took some photos...this is the only one I will publish though!
And, I sent it from my phone, how clever is that!

Grown up press ups

I just had to share with you my latest achievement...I did 3 proper, real, grown up press ups yesterday at the gym! It's taken me 18 months of circuit training to train myself how to do this, I am rather pleased with myself.
Stupidly, I decided to show off to Gary last night by trying to demonstrate how I can do a grown up press up. This might be the cause of my sore arms and shoulders today, will I ever learn?

Next blog...

Have you ever clicked on the next blog link at the top of the page? I have and it's addictive, it's amazing what people blog about...go on, you know you want to!

Marathon marathon history

After running my 11th marathon this year I asked our club statto to remind me of my other performances...

13/04/08 33 London Marathon 04:43:46
22/04/07 32 London Marathon 05:28:46
18/03/07 31 Rome Marathon 04:55:05
09/04/06 31 Paris Marathon 04:29:13
10/04/05 30 Paris Marathon 04:11:16
18/04/04 29 London Marathon 04:36:45
04/04/04 29 Zurich Marthon 04:23:00
06/04/03 28 Paris Marathon 04:12:00
14/04/02 27 London Marathon 04:29:51
30/09/01 26 Berlin Marathon 04:51:24
22/04/01 26 London Marathon 04:41:52

certainly quite a range of times...wonder if I could ever do sub 4?

Lazy blogger

Yes, I am a lazy blogger...tee hee.
So, how's it going post marathon then? Well, amazingly enough I am not feeling too tired and heavy legged (one week after the marathon I even managed the Flitwick 10k and a 13 mile cycle with fellow marathon blogger CMJ) and I've been training a couple of times. Probably time to get properly back into it though.
I had loads of good and virtuous plans for running at the weekend, I managed a lovely run on Saturday morning around the Mulligatawny course with my fellow NHRR-ites but sadly that was the end of my good running plans at the weekend as I joined the aforementioned NHRR-ites for a charity pub crawl on Saturday night. On the plus side we raised £100 for Roger's charity, I CAN. Also on the plus side I had a lovely evening. On the minus side I felt somewhat rough for a large part of Sunday. Silly girl, at my age I really should know better!

SMARTer goals

In my previous post, I alluded to my goals for the next few months. Well, in order to acheive them they need to be more SMART. So, here goes:

1. Improve my 10k time by 5 minutes before the end of the summer season (let's say end of July). So let's start from my Flitwick 10k time of 58:57 and get it down to under 54 minutes. %-wise that means going from 50.74% to 55.45% (according to this age grading website)

2. In the New York marathon, (November 2nd) run sub 4:30. Ideally I'd be sub 4:20 but let's see how it goes and amend nearer the time!

3. By my sister's wedding (15 August) be more slim :-). I'm not going to reveal where I am starting from but:
3a x-10% by 22 June (that's 10 weeks after London marathon)
3b x-20% by 15 August

So, what next?

It's one week since the London Marathon and I've already moved on! It's amazing how you can spend all that time training for something and then just leave it behind like a peice of rubbish...
My legs were super sore until Thursday but otherwise I felt fine, not too tired at all which was a relief. On Thursday I started back at the gym and went for a 5 mile run and I felt fine and today I ran the Flitwick 10k. Not a great time (58:57) but I was very pleased with how I felt on the way round which is good.
So, what next? Well, this blog was ambiguously named so it can be a blog about training for a marathon or just a blog of marathon proportions. I think I will choose the latter, writing the blog does appear to have shamed me into some training...
And as far as running is concerned, Chris P hit the nail on the head with his comment about my training:
"Having followed your blog that was an amazing time of the back of that training. There is natural talent in there somewhere. Time you set yourself a single aim and targeted it and tried to stick with it.
It could be just to increase your age graded 10K result by a certain amount. Are you doing New York ?"

So that's it, to improve on my 10k % (well, basically my time) until July/August when I will start thinking about New York Marathon. Also, my sister is getting married in August and I'd like to be...erm...more slim by then. More over, more slim usually means more fast so let's give it a go!

The day after...

So, how does it feel the day after running a marathon?
First, I find I don't sleep that well despite being really tired! I think it is a combination of adrenalin and my body complaining a lot at being pushed so hard. So today I feel a bit out of it.
The next thing is the legs. My quads are very sore, in fact they are painful to touch. I'm also pretty sore around my knees. I am staggering around the office like an old woman and walking downstairs is tricky. I feel a little like my legs will give in and collapse so I have been clinging to the handrail to make sure I don't tumble head first down the stairs. The biggest challenge I have had so far today is the stairs at Hitchin station when tryng to carry my folding bike...it was almost very nasty!
Finally, the chaffing. Yes, not a nice subject but 26.2 miles of running after being very drenched/attached by hailstones does have some unfortunate side effects. I found that my running top rubbed badly on my shoulders (that's never happened before) which was very painful as I got in the shower yesterday. Today these areas are very tender (aw, poor me!)

Otherwise, I feel fine! I managed my usual cycle to work with nowhere to sit on the train and I am currently wasting time writing this instead of working...my colleagues aren't very taken by all things marathon which is a bit disappointing but never mind!

I did it!

I finished in 4:43:46, here are my splits.
Initial thoughts:

I did what I wanted to which was to beat last year's Rome time of somewhere in the region of 4:55ish (I can't find out the exact time as I didn't write it down and the Rome Marathon website won't tell me)!

I did walk a little bit, mainly around water stations but nothing like the way I've had to walk in past marathons. I actually felt like I could keep running which is pretty rare for me

I slowed down in the second half of the race but it wasn't as bad as other races

I very much enjoyed it despite the driving rain and hailstones at times!

NHRR are good at supporting (so far I think NHRR are good at running, making food, eating and supporting!)

So basically I am pretty chuffed...and tired so I am off to clean up and rest now!

Update on this week's tasks

Pick up my marathon number Done! (very speedily too, I was only in there for about 15 minutes and most of that was trying to find the exit!)

Drink loads of water debatable...

Go to bed nice and early also debatable, mind you it's only 23:20 now

Don't get too stressed and busy at work Yay, managed this and long may it continue!

Don't get sick! I am a bit bunged up...fingers crossed

Check what time the race starts (yes, at the moment I don't actually know!) 9:45

Buy some Percy Pigs done

Obsessively check the weather forecast but of course...

Pre marathon dream

I thought I wasn't too nervous but maybe I am more nervous that I thought. Last night I dreamt that Gary and I stayed over in a hotel before the marathon (which is what we are doing!) and when I got my kitout in the morning I had Gary's running socks with me. Except in my dream his socks were enormous! Needless to say it was all very stressful sorting out the large sock problem, I ended up cutting them in half or something daft like that!

I'm loosing it...

Things I need to remember to do this week

Pick up my marathon number :-)

Drink loads of water

Go to bed nice and early

Don't get too stressed and busy at work

Don't get sick!

Check what time the race starts (yes, at the moment I don't actually know!)

Buy some Percy Pigs

Obsessively check the weather forecast (so far so good)

Marathon in the snow anyone?

After the weather of the past few weeks I am now pondering what running a marathon in the snow would be like? I've come to the conclusion it would suit me a lot more than any other kind of weather. I found the very hot weather from last year's marathon really unbearable and I've done 3 or 4 races where it's been very cold or snowy. The BBC weather forecast doesn't go as far as sunday yet but so far no sign of snow.

So, if it did snow, what would I do differently? I'd still wear my 3/4 length leggings, they are my kit of choice at the moment and I'd probably wear a long sleeve t shirt instead of a short sleeve one. My main worry would be that I'd be out there for a long time and I find I get cold the longer I am out there. A 3 hour marathon is 2 hours shorter than a 5 hour marathon after all. And if it was extreme I'd wear my gloves and my fleecy ear warmer.

So, I have a plan now, bring it on!

Getting a cold?

It's less than a week now until London (thank goodness it is almost here!). Unfortunatly I am not feeling great today which is a worry. I ran the XC yesterday but my legs didn't really fancy it. I put it down to a late night working on Wednesday, late night out on thursday and very early start on Saturday morning as I had to go to work then too. However, when I woke up this morning I still felt tired and pretty bunged up...looks like I need to remember to look after myself this week!

Last Sunday's long run

I promised I'd tell you about last week's run. Well, here goes. After being cut short at the double Bypass I felt like another long one...I know, I know, I know, 2 weeks before London and I run 22 miles...maybe not the best idea but none of my training has been 'the best idea'!
So my main plan was to set off and see how I felt and then see where I ended up...and I ended up doing 22 miles as documented in multiple posts below! It took me a very long time (4 and a quarter hours) but I was super chuffed with my efforts when I got home...and I feel OK now (apart from the fact I got up at 4:45 this morning to go to work).
So, what next? Well, off home soon, ceilidh tonight and XC tomorrow. And yes, none ofthof this is ideal marathon run up but hey ho, it'll all be ok!

Countdown

I was reading a couple of the other blogs yesterday and both of them mentioned the countdown to London and the feelings and rituals of the penultimate couple of weeks. I have to admit I am feeling none of that, in fact, it's only in the last few days where it has really hit me that it is less than 2 weeks to the marathon now. On the train into work this morning I was wondering why I am not feeling like the others and why I am feeling so blasé about the whole thing. I've come to a few conclusions which I'd like to share with you.
First, I am definitely not performing at the same level as Secret Squirrel or Lissa. Does that really make a difference? Well, yes I think it does, especially for Lissa startinig at the elite start (scary biscuits!). Of course I want to do the best I can but the best I can do is distictly average (I am usally in the 50s when it comes to age grading %). Second, I think my expectations of myself are lower. I know I am not as fit as I could be and I am bit too lardy to be quick so that really does take the pressure off. Third, whatever I do I'll be ok with it. That's the key. I do care how fast I run but if I don't run as fast as I hope I'll still have enjoyed myself and there will always be another time! And finally, this is marathon number 11! I've done this before, I know I can finish and I know I'll do more marathons and I know one day I'll get somewhere near my PB so it'll all be OK!

Training week ending 30 March

Week ending 30 March
Monday: rest
Tuesday: Gym(am), 3 miles at the running club (pm)
Wednesday: committee meeting
Thursday: Circuits (am)
Friday: rest
Saturday: 6 miles (am), Bootcamp
Sunday: 22 miles
Totals:
Training sessions: 3 running, 1 circuits, 1 Bootcamp, 1 gym
Total milage: 31

Verdict: chuffed with my v long run, I'll tell you all about it later on, it's time to go to bed now!

Sunday Run

My GPS had this at more like 22 and a bit (I think I am not very careful when mapping my run on http://www.mapmyrun.com


Some piccies from my very long run I did on Sunday...more words to follow at some point!

The marathon shuffle

I think I have started to perfect my marathon shuffle. Just imagine...your legs are tired, your quads are tight and painful...what's the most economical way to run? Yes, you guessed it, the marathon shuffle!

Training week ending 16 and 23 March

Week ending 16 March
Monday: rest
Tuesday: circuits (am), 3 miles at the running club (pm)
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: circuits (am), 4 miles at the running club (pm)
Friday: rest
Saturday: rest
Sunday: Oakley 20
Totals:
Training sessions: 3 running, 2 circuits
Total milage: 27

Week ending 23 March
Monday: rest
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: cold
Thursday: Circuits (am)
Friday: cold
Saturday: cold
Sunday: 13 mile Cardiac Arrest Double Bypasss
Totals:
Training sessions: 1 running, 1 circuits
Total milage: 13

Cardiac Arrest/Double Bypass

I'm blogging in bed again, it's started to become a really bad habit, either that or I just don't have enough hours in the day.

Since the Bury 20 I have run once due to illness (see my post about being bunged up to explain why!). And the only time I did run was pretty memorable!

For some reason I decided I liked the write up Jo did on the Cardiac Arrest so being adventurous I decided that it was a good idea for Gary and I to enter the 2 lap/16 mile version of this race on Easter Sunday. In my defence, I didn't know it was going to snow as well!

Everywhere was white when we woke up but we decided to go anyway. Jo S sensibly wimped out, I wonder why we didn't? By the time we got to the farm at Weston Underwood it wasn't as snowy but it was still pretty cold.
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We hung around in a draughty barn before the race started at 11am with less than 40 hardy souls. The 1 lap version was due to start half an hour later, but more of that in a sec.

We started round a field, through a muddy wood, down through a stream and back again (just for the sake of it!), it was cold, quiet and very definitely off road. In the first field I spotted Gary leading the race and I checked behind me, there were 5 people behind me!

The weather stayed cold and windy with snow on the ground (although the snow did disappear after while) and I plodded on. It was slippy underfoot, especially clambering up, over and round a railway bridge swiftly followed by a very deep stream crossing (I got wet pants, very unladylike!) with a very steep clamber out through some brambles, this was the first time I scratched my legs and had to tighten my shoe laces).

And so it continued, slippy, slidy, steep stream crossings, a longish tunnel (scary dark), more slipply slidy up and down hills in a wood and over a few hay bales. After 40 minutes the leaders of the Cardiac Arrest started to pass me, they must have started earlier than 11:30! Next was a scramble up and over piles of rocks in a quarry followed by some very claggy fields and then a long section where you crossed over and ran though and up a stream for quite some time. There was a great part just before a mini tunnel where the only way down the bank was by a control slide in the mud! Another part involved a steep bank that took me 3 attempts to scale. It's worth mentioning I was on my own for a good part of this race and there were very few marshalls. After having been in a race in the past where I fell and broke my arm, I am very glad I didn't do that in this race (although it wouldn't have been a surprise if I had) as I would have had to go quite some distance before seeing another person and it was cold!

Near the end of the first lap, the 2 lap people got to skirt 'The Dudleys', 2 large deep ponds which was good but gave you an insight into what was to come...

Something did go wrong somewhere as I managed to miss the first 3 miles of the second lap (I feel a bit cheated I only did 13 miles and not 16!). The second lap was very quiet and I had a number of bramble issues which meant I had some very impressive war wounds on my leg (loads of blood!). My trip into the Dudleys was cold, very cold...

Mmm, don't fancy this
Easy does it
Deeper
Bit cheesed off now
Phew, all over!

I managed to catch the guy in front of me (but not overtake sadly) just before the finish and then it was over, I was tired and very cold but pleased...even more so when I discovered Gary had won! Yippee! Just a shame I missed the presentation as I was still shuffling round in the snow!