Sunday 31 October 2010

Explosive Times...

I have never laughed out loud in the middle of a race but I did when I spotted the 'for Fawkes sake' sign as I was ploughing up (read speed walking) the final hill of the Guy Fawkes 10 mile race today. And this pretty much summed up the race, which also included signs for the Birstwith Brute at four miles (apparently 15%!) and the Swincliffe ( I think) Swine at about 7 miles. Despite having run this race last year, for some reason, I had completely blanked out the hills, possibly because of the tongue in cheek way they were introduced to runners during the race.

Or possibly because the race is sponsored by Nestle resulting in a fabulous goodie bag filled with chocolate, sweets, coffee, tea and pasta which is presented to each finisher at the end of the race.

Running the race were lots of fellow Eccleshill Road Runners, shown above with Guy Fawkes himself at the end of the race. I travelled over with Gill (and husband, Ian as our chauffeur and photographer), Lisa and Julie who was bravely attempting her first race since succumbing to a nearly three month break from racing due to an injury with her Achilles. I was really pleased to be racing again with my original running crew, and super proud of Julie for being back in the game!

There must have been over 800 runners in the race, which started and finished in the stunning Ripley Castle, just north of Harrogate. It was a little congested at the start but thinned out by mile two, and was a great course with sufficient downhills to negate the beast and swine hills.

Given my recent run of luck running without my watch, I decided to try it again and ran round at a pace which felt like I was pushing myself but not so much that I would run out of steam. I was overwhelmed at the end of realise that I'd managed to run it in 1 hour 35 my new 10 mile PB, knocking eight minutes off last years time!

It's races like this that make me really proud to be part of a running club. The camaraderie is just amazing, with every runner no matter how fast or slow being cheered on and encouraged by fellow members.

And that, I think, concludes my races for 2010 unless I suffer a severe memory loss about the horror of the three Peco XC League Races I naively ran in the 08/09 season and put my name down for any in the forthcoming season...

I am extremely stiff now, and am on leading duty at club tomorrow night for the monthly three mile time trial. A recovery run is in order I think...

Sunday 17 October 2010

PB By the Sea

Absolutely glowing after a great day out on the east coast of Yorkshire in Bridlington, eating ice-cream and fish and chips on the seafront, oh and running a half marathon.

As I hadn't felt great all week, I went into this race with low expectations and decided not to wear a watch and just try to enjoy it.

And I did.

It was one of the nicest, most scenic races I have ever run starting and finishing on the Bridlington seafront and heading off out into the countryside via the villages of Sewerby, Flamborough and Bempton before returning to Bridlington. The last couple of miles which pass through Sewerby Hall grounds and along Flamborough Head were pretty blustery but the view of the sea made it worthwhile.

The end in sight
I genuinely had no idea what time I was on as I ran the final half mile along the seafront and so was amazed to cross the finish line and see that the timer clock read 2 hours 3 (it might have been 2 - my memory's gone hazy), knocking about seven minutes off my previous half marathon PB.

My reward was a large ice-cream and fish and chips...clearly not really a true athlete yet!

Thursday 14 October 2010

Zonked

 I ended last Thursday's training session at the track on a real high, endorphins flowing. It was week three of the speed for endurance runners course being put on by BAN. We had done some work with hurdles and various plyometrics, followed by 10x400m round the track with a 30 second sprint and two minute interval. Totally knackering but I seem to get a buzz from this type of running that I just don't find with middle and long distances.

It was a late one, and I didn't get home until 10pm. Putting this in the context of the other Tuesday night course, bootcamp in Roundhay on Wednesday evening, 10 mile race on Sunday and up for work at 6am, I guess it's not hard to predict my downfall...

Yes, tiredness hit me on Friday evening, sore throat on Saturday, blocked nose Sunday and by Monday I began to feel completely listless and just, well...zonked. The result being that I haven't been able to run or do anything all week. I've even been breathless trying to get up the stairs. I had done too much...

The moral of the story?

Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing...

Sunday 3 October 2010

Scenery, Mud and Beer

Two weeks to go until the Bridlington Half Marathon, the last race in the club summer championships, and I was starting to get nervous about the lack of mileage over the last few months. Quality training? Yes. Time on my feet? Not much (curse you fetcheveryone, you leave me with nowhere to hide!).

So, not really thinking twice about it I decided to enter the Harewood 10 Mile Trail Race intending to use it as a training run. Saturday had been a beautiful day and several fellow Eccleshill club members who had run the race in previous years reported it was a great course - really scenic.

And it was. It started in the grounds of Harewood House and included parts of the Leeds Country Way, Dales Way and Ebor Way. The route is traffic-free, half in the Harewood House estate, half around Eccup Reservoir and it also passes Emmerdale Village (where I spotted Tom Willams of Marathon Talk fame).

But the rain had started at some point in the early hours of Sunday morning and didn't let up until some point late Sunday afternoon (the race finished by midday). It wasn't just spitting either - it was pretty torrential. What more can I say other than I see the race now seems to have been renamed 'Harewood Trail, Mud and Rain Race' on the organisers' website.

Well, it turns out that I can still run 10 miles with no problems. And in knee deep mud with rain pouring down. My trainers will never be the same again.

Worth it for a bottle of beer?

Definitely.