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!

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!)

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...

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?).

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

Lovely day for a run!

Saturday 21 February, National XC, Parliament Hill Fields, London. Not usually a course where I can say I had a lovely day, usually it is hellishly muddy, hilly and hard. But this year it was the most gorgeous and uplifting day. And I didn't come last. And, although the mud and hills were bad, I was pleasantly surprised at the unexpectedly lower levels of mud, especially given the large amount of precipitation we've had recently.

Weirdly, Gary and I both came 524th in our races, what are the chances of that happening?

Official Photos