The first race of our annual summer midweek league took place in sunny Stevenage on 14 May. We're in division 1 again this year and we're desperately hoping to avoid relegation (as we are the West Brom of the MWL). The best way to avoid this is to get as many people to run as possible (increases the odds of the super speedies being there) and we got over 50 people out, what a success!
I went there straight from work with Karen kindly offering to pick James and I up from the station (plus a lost St Albans strider, running is a very friendly sport!) and my kit being transported by Gazza and Christine.
The course was a measured 10k and a new route. Statto had done some research and warned of a tough second half to the race...I took heed of this (unlike the man himself!) and set off nice and steadily (something I am getting better at).
All sorts of people seemed to be overtaking me in the first few km which worried me but as I couldn't go any faster it wasn't an issue! I actually found the first few km much harder than I expected and I didn't much enjoy slogging along next to busy roads. Just after halfway, the course turned into Fairlands Valley park and it got a lot more enjoyable. I was able to catch up a few people (but I was still being overtaken by hoards of others) and I was getting into a nice rhythm. It did start to get tougher as it dragged uphill but soon the dependable NHRR supported started to pop up en route which was well timed as I needed it.
A quick plug for Julia Stroud here, she stormed past me a couple of km from the finish and got miles ahead of me, what a good finish! I was struggling to keep myself going (I even had to content with a quick football dribble as one was kicked into my way in the last 500m) and eventually I cruised over the finish line in 1:01:18 (which I was pretty pleased with). Hardly an amazing time (and certainly not one where you would expect the person running behind you to be encouraged by a loud, repeated shout of "Take her out" (her referring to me I suppose and for the record she didn't) but not a bad time all things considered.
Sadly the water ran out at the end and the evil Fairlands Valley park gnats struck again but otherwise it was a successful run. The results worked out really well too, 3rd for the men, 2nd for the ladies and 3rd overall on the night. Our vet men also came first which I am sure they are very proud of. All in all a top night for NHRR!
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Running with a bump
As I mentioned a couple of posts ago I am pleased to announce I'm having a baby at the end of September. In true Lindsay style, I thought I had better investigate if this running business was a good idea in my current state!
To start with, the standard advice to pregnant women re exercise is to continue with whatever you are doing, don't change anything and certainly don't embark on a new fitness regime! That said, when you tell people you are going running they do look at you with a certain amount of shock, running, in your condition?
As far as running is concerned, as it is a good workout then it seems a good idea although running can be tough on joints and with the hormone relaxin loosening joints there is a greater chance of injury. OK, so I think that souonds like it is probably OK. It is important to remain well hydrated and not to over-exert yourself (no worries there then...)
There are some well known elite athletes (cos I am obviously one of them) who continued running while expecting, Liz McColgan said "...I trained all through my pregnancy. I was three and half months pregnant before I knew that I was pregnant and I was training 100 odd miles a week... I trained right up until I had her. I think it was about the week before I had her I was out for a run and I took a really sore stomach and I said 'Well, that's nature telling you stop running,' so I stopped running then... But I just love running. I think if I'd stopped I just wouldn't know what to do with myself." As for Paula Radcliffe, she trained a lot but her husband admitted "People were looking at her as if she was crazy". Apparently she only went for one run a day whilst pregnant instead of two!
A bit further back, Ingrid Krisitiansen trained throughout her pregnancy and Fanny Blankers Koen won the 4 gold medals in the 1948 Olympic games whilst 3 months pregnant.
I've even found a training plan for pregnant ladies!
So, that's all very well in theory and I am hardly as fit as my examples were so what about the practice. Well, luckily I've been feeling really healthy and well so I've been pottering on at 2-3 runs per week. I am definitely feeling more tired (in general not just in running) and more recently I have started to get out of breath more quickly (apparently that is due to high levels of progesterone supposedly cause a heightened sensitivity to C02). I am also suffering from having to carry some excess ballast and more frequent trips to the loo which will only get worse!
The next thing is where do I find suitable running kit and does the NHRR kit secretary do (even) larger vests than the one I own! Answers on a postcard please...
To start with, the standard advice to pregnant women re exercise is to continue with whatever you are doing, don't change anything and certainly don't embark on a new fitness regime! That said, when you tell people you are going running they do look at you with a certain amount of shock, running, in your condition?
As far as running is concerned, as it is a good workout then it seems a good idea although running can be tough on joints and with the hormone relaxin loosening joints there is a greater chance of injury. OK, so I think that souonds like it is probably OK. It is important to remain well hydrated and not to over-exert yourself (no worries there then...)
There are some well known elite athletes (cos I am obviously one of them) who continued running while expecting, Liz McColgan said "...I trained all through my pregnancy. I was three and half months pregnant before I knew that I was pregnant and I was training 100 odd miles a week... I trained right up until I had her. I think it was about the week before I had her I was out for a run and I took a really sore stomach and I said 'Well, that's nature telling you stop running,' so I stopped running then... But I just love running. I think if I'd stopped I just wouldn't know what to do with myself." As for Paula Radcliffe, she trained a lot but her husband admitted "People were looking at her as if she was crazy". Apparently she only went for one run a day whilst pregnant instead of two!
A bit further back, Ingrid Krisitiansen trained throughout her pregnancy and Fanny Blankers Koen won the 4 gold medals in the 1948 Olympic games whilst 3 months pregnant.
I've even found a training plan for pregnant ladies!
So, that's all very well in theory and I am hardly as fit as my examples were so what about the practice. Well, luckily I've been feeling really healthy and well so I've been pottering on at 2-3 runs per week. I am definitely feeling more tired (in general not just in running) and more recently I have started to get out of breath more quickly (apparently that is due to high levels of progesterone supposedly cause a heightened sensitivity to C02). I am also suffering from having to carry some excess ballast and more frequent trips to the loo which will only get worse!
The next thing is where do I find suitable running kit and does the NHRR kit secretary do (even) larger vests than the one I own! Answers on a postcard please...
Sunday, 19 April 2009
Flitwick 10k
So the next challenge was the shorter (yay) Flitwick 10k. Hurrah for shorter races...
Once again, Statto had done his research to undercover a somewhat hilly 10k. This is another race I've done a couple of times before and I have always really enjoyed it so I was looking forwards to it.
Once again I set off with no aim and again I benefited from that approach, there is something to be said for not putting yourself under pressure, I am not sure the end result would have been any different if I had targeted a particular time but I am hardly an expert in sports psychology!
I had a couple of other NHRRs to keep me honest though! Geoff P (again!) and Christine Sharp were both in viewing distance in front of me. Not long after the water station at halfway (which was next to a field where they had been muck spreading and I almost threw up all over the road, it's hard to breathe, not breathe and retch all at the same time) I managed to get closer to both of them and finally managed to catch them on the penultimate hill. As in the Sandy 10, I got stronger as the race went on and finished with a flourish in a time of 60:38.
Again, another photo, less flattering this time though!
Once again, Statto had done his research to undercover a somewhat hilly 10k. This is another race I've done a couple of times before and I have always really enjoyed it so I was looking forwards to it.
Once again I set off with no aim and again I benefited from that approach, there is something to be said for not putting yourself under pressure, I am not sure the end result would have been any different if I had targeted a particular time but I am hardly an expert in sports psychology!
I had a couple of other NHRRs to keep me honest though! Geoff P (again!) and Christine Sharp were both in viewing distance in front of me. Not long after the water station at halfway (which was next to a field where they had been muck spreading and I almost threw up all over the road, it's hard to breathe, not breathe and retch all at the same time) I managed to get closer to both of them and finally managed to catch them on the penultimate hill. As in the Sandy 10, I got stronger as the race went on and finished with a flourish in a time of 60:38.
Again, another photo, less flattering this time though!
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Sandy 10
It was a nice day for the short trip north up the A1 to Sandy for the Sandy 10. It's a while since I last did this race plus I haven't done it many times but I did remember it had a hill in the first couple of miles that you run down again near the end of the race. Other than that it's all a bit of a blur of not running well!
Gazza (aka him indoors or my worse other half) had had a bit of a knee injury and I wasn't expecting too much of my race...mainly because I am due to have a baby at the end of September (but more of that in another post at a later stage) so we weren't too stressed out.
So we set off, out of Sandy in the sun and towards the hill. About half way up the hill I came across a running friend, Malc from Bedford Harriers so we had a nice chat before Malc had a little walk not long before the top of the hill. Luckily the hill wasn't as bad as I had remembered (btw, see Statto's blog for more undulation information). Needless to say, Malc caught me up again before long, then I caught him, he caught me etc all the way until the downhill finish where he stormed past me...I'll get him next time!
All in all, I had a nice run, ran all the way, finished strongly (even catching Geoff P a couple of miles before the end), I paced it well and really enjoyed it. Maybe there is something to be said for starting a race with no real aim and I was happy with my time of 1:38:53?
I even had a half decent photo taken of me (look at the top right of the screen!)
Gazza (aka him indoors or my worse other half) had had a bit of a knee injury and I wasn't expecting too much of my race...mainly because I am due to have a baby at the end of September (but more of that in another post at a later stage) so we weren't too stressed out.
So we set off, out of Sandy in the sun and towards the hill. About half way up the hill I came across a running friend, Malc from Bedford Harriers so we had a nice chat before Malc had a little walk not long before the top of the hill. Luckily the hill wasn't as bad as I had remembered (btw, see Statto's blog for more undulation information). Needless to say, Malc caught me up again before long, then I caught him, he caught me etc all the way until the downhill finish where he stormed past me...I'll get him next time!
All in all, I had a nice run, ran all the way, finished strongly (even catching Geoff P a couple of miles before the end), I paced it well and really enjoyed it. Maybe there is something to be said for starting a race with no real aim and I was happy with my time of 1:38:53?
I even had a half decent photo taken of me (look at the top right of the screen!)
Monday, 9 March 2009
Milton Keynes Half Marathon
My blog frequency and training frequency are very tied together. Therefore no blogging equals precious little training. So entering the Milton Keynes Half Marathon maybe wasn't the wisest thing to do? Well, both Gazza and I entered, I've not run this race before so it was a nice change.
Getting to the race was ok (apart from the queue to turn right into the Open University). The race itself seemed quite big with loads of non club runners (I'll talk more about that later) with fairly average organisation and long toilet queues! (more queuing). There were 3 main downsides, first, it took us an hour to get from the Open University to M1 junction 13 (ouch), second it was very windy in the second half of the race (as Statto had predicted) and it made conditions very tough indeed and third, it poured down in the last couple of miles. Serves me right for being so slow as I finished in a pathetic 2:20 and I don't care about the seconds.
As I was running, I made some observations about my fellow runners. I don't want to sound up myself or superior here so if I do I apologies. But most of these observations were made about the non club runners around me...
Why do some runners pin their number on their back?
How many gels do you really need for a half marathon?
So many runners were carrying large water bottles when there were water stations every 3 miles. And even worse, quite a number were wearing camel back rucksacks which didn't look that comfy
A lot of people were wearing way too many clothes, waterproofs, fleeces, hats, gloves, long leggings, jogging bottoms, all of the above
Why do people wear baggy shorts over leggings?
Adidas leggings are often see through in the wrong light!
And how do I know (as a seasoned runner) that some of these things are daft? Experience I guess...
Getting to the race was ok (apart from the queue to turn right into the Open University). The race itself seemed quite big with loads of non club runners (I'll talk more about that later) with fairly average organisation and long toilet queues! (more queuing). There were 3 main downsides, first, it took us an hour to get from the Open University to M1 junction 13 (ouch), second it was very windy in the second half of the race (as Statto had predicted) and it made conditions very tough indeed and third, it poured down in the last couple of miles. Serves me right for being so slow as I finished in a pathetic 2:20 and I don't care about the seconds.
As I was running, I made some observations about my fellow runners. I don't want to sound up myself or superior here so if I do I apologies. But most of these observations were made about the non club runners around me...
And how do I know (as a seasoned runner) that some of these things are daft? Experience I guess...
Friday, 6 March 2009
Post New York Marathon reflection
I know, I know, I went underground blog-wise after the New York Marathon, what happened? Well, I was pleased...and tired...and jet lagged...and went on holiday...and then it was Christmas, just like that. I did all Stevenage 5ks (the first one of them in my fastest time for around 5 or 6 years), the NHRR cross country and the Bungtingford 10 but for the rest of 2008 that was it.
And it appears I was missed. A few club members commented that I hadn't posted for a while plus a Stopsley Strider (hello!) mentioned it in passing during the NHRR XC!
2009 started a bit better with the Herts XC (tiring!), Fred Hughes 10 (disappointing) and then the blog is up to date.
What happened? Well, 2 marathons in a year was tough going both physically and mentally and I needed a break. But I am back now (unluckily for you but you don't have to read this do you?).
And it appears I was missed. A few club members commented that I hadn't posted for a while plus a Stopsley Strider (hello!) mentioned it in passing during the NHRR XC!
2009 started a bit better with the Herts XC (tiring!), Fred Hughes 10 (disappointing) and then the blog is up to date.
What happened? Well, 2 marathons in a year was tough going both physically and mentally and I needed a break. But I am back now (unluckily for you but you don't have to read this do you?).
Sunday, 1 March 2009
East Haddon XC
East Haddon XC
I've said it before and I will say it again, I love cross country. OK, so Easy Haddon is 60 miles away but the course is fairly scenic, there's mud and hills, what more could a girl ask for? Added to that it was a lovely day, very spring like! Sadly, only 19 squirrels could make it but those that did had a very special experience and (as far as I know) enjoyed it a lot!
I ran ok, pootled along really. That is until the penultimate field where i came across Neil Miller and Luke Humphries who encouraged me to catch the 2 people in front of me (they had just overtaken me on the hill going into the field). Anyway, I did. And then I decided the next 2 were in my sights. I charged along with all sorts of people cheering me on and I had one of those moments where I seemed to be catching them with every step. I caught them and then still had to charge into the finishing straight hoping I would stay away from them and I did, hurrah!
In the process, the most unflattering photo of me ever got taken but at least I know I was running fast at the same time!
NHRR Photos
Originally uploaded by NHRR
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