Friday 28th March
Rest.
Saturday 29th March
Body pump in the morning. Would not have done this if I had a race the next day where I was trying to get a good time, but the Hogweed Hilly Half was only ever going to be a tough training run. Even so, I probably went too heavy on the squats and knew I would pay for it tomorrow. Decided it was time to check my weight. Suffice it to say I was horrified with the result.
Weigh-in
Body weight 15st 13.2lb
Body fat percentage 16.6% (athletic body type)
After the easter weekend I would not have been surprised if my weight had gone up a couple of pounds, but to put on 6lb in 3 weeks is catastrophic. I didn't need Ali to give me a bollocking, I gave myself one. If I'd had my running trainers with me I'd probably have tied myself to the treadmill. Not at all happy. I was supposed to be having a birthday drink with a friend from work in the evening, but told myself beer is not allowed at this juncture.
Still, 6lb should be easy to get rid of in 2 or 3 weeks, especially now the calf is fixed and I can crank up the mileage. In a funny way this may be a good thing in the long term as it has come as a salutary reminder that it is very easy to put weight on in a short space of time and even when it's all gone I still need to keep an eye on it. Lesson learned. Weekly weigh-ins now mandatory.
Sunday 30th March
Competed in the "Hogweed Hilly Half Marathon" at Horton, near Chipping Sodbury. I did the event last year as a training run for the London marathon and thoroughly enjoyed it, so entered again this year.
Knowing the course I knew it was only ever going to be a hard training run and set out to just enjoy it, and try to keep to 9-minute miles. This is pretty much what happened, I certainly enjoyed the run and found the hills no easier than last year. In fact, the hill in the ninth mile was so tough, I had to walk part of the way. The hill in the first mile wasn't much easier either. That notwithstanding, I managed to keep to roughly 9-minute miling, although some were obviously faster than others.
I completed the race in 1 hour 59 minutes, which I was quite happy with bearing in mind it was just a training run. I was a little disappointed to be about a minute slower than last year, but that's the way it goes sometimes. My legs were tired from doing body pump and my calf was still a bit of an issue. Can't praise the event highly enough, see my comments on runners' world website for more details.
In the evening I decided to go out for a very slow 6 mile jog. With hindsight, this was probably a very good move as it seemed to loosen the legs up (I was very stiff at the start of it) and I'm not as sore as I thought I might be today (I write the day after the race). Also, I need to get my mileage up so if I'm not knocking out a 3 hour run on a Sunday, running twice in the day is mandatory. Plus it meant I didn't feel guilty about celebrating the event with a few beers in the evening :)
Monday 31st March
Clocks went forward yesterday so for the first time this year I was able to go running in daylight after work. Did 5k on the treadmill, building the speed up gradually, then did another 6 miles (very steady) with the running club. Thoroughly enjoyed it and notched up another 9 miles. If I keep this up those six pounds should be gone in no time.
Monday 31 March 2008
Thursday 27 March 2008
New trainers
Monday 24th March
Long run today, 10 miles, 1 hr 40 mins approx, nice and steady. Did the Elcombe route from the gym that I learnt from the running club guys. Not a bad effort considering I'd been on the sauce all weekend. Definitely felt the weight difference going up some of those hills. Also realised that my trainers are not giving me the support I need so ordered a new pair (good old Nike Air Pegasus) from dorunning.com when I got back. I'd been meaning to do it for a while as they were such a good price.
Tuesday 25th March
Track session. 4 laps to warm up, then 30 x 200m starting an effort every 95 seconds. If it sounds hard, it was. Low numbers tonight probably due to traffic (accident causing chaos across Swindon) but thankfully there was a group 3 (just 3 of us!). Otherwise not sure I'd have managed all of them. 3 laps to cool down. Quality session considering the bank holiday weekend I had.
Spoke to Neil who tells me "summer" training will start next week ie fewer reps and longer recoveries. In a funny way I think I'll miss the winter sessions as they definitely helped get my 10k time down. I won't miss the extra layers of clothing however.
Nice to see my friend Kate Jacobs there as well after a bit of an absence. It made me laugh when she told me some members of the harriers had seen my scathing report on the Bath half marathon on runners' world!
Wednesday 26th March
Kelly Clarkson concert in London tonight (don't laugh) so did a session in the morning. Interval session at the lake, jog out there, 3 laps hard, jog back. I definitely need those new trainers. Undid a lot of my hard work by having a few beers in London and a big plate of Nachos, but will definitely start being good again tomorrow. And the concert was great - the girl can really sing.
Thursday 27th March
My trainers arrived at work today so had an opportunity to break them in. Went to the gym, did 5k on the treadmill in my old ones then put the new ones on and jogged out to Lydiard park (about 2-3 miles). They are great and fit really well. Boy did I feel the difference. So taken with them I did another 5k on the treadmill afterwards. In fact, I might even take a risk and use them for the Hogweed Hilly Half on Sunday..at least they will give me the cushioning I need going up and down those hills..
Long run today, 10 miles, 1 hr 40 mins approx, nice and steady. Did the Elcombe route from the gym that I learnt from the running club guys. Not a bad effort considering I'd been on the sauce all weekend. Definitely felt the weight difference going up some of those hills. Also realised that my trainers are not giving me the support I need so ordered a new pair (good old Nike Air Pegasus) from dorunning.com when I got back. I'd been meaning to do it for a while as they were such a good price.
Tuesday 25th March
Track session. 4 laps to warm up, then 30 x 200m starting an effort every 95 seconds. If it sounds hard, it was. Low numbers tonight probably due to traffic (accident causing chaos across Swindon) but thankfully there was a group 3 (just 3 of us!). Otherwise not sure I'd have managed all of them. 3 laps to cool down. Quality session considering the bank holiday weekend I had.
Spoke to Neil who tells me "summer" training will start next week ie fewer reps and longer recoveries. In a funny way I think I'll miss the winter sessions as they definitely helped get my 10k time down. I won't miss the extra layers of clothing however.
Nice to see my friend Kate Jacobs there as well after a bit of an absence. It made me laugh when she told me some members of the harriers had seen my scathing report on the Bath half marathon on runners' world!
Wednesday 26th March
Kelly Clarkson concert in London tonight (don't laugh) so did a session in the morning. Interval session at the lake, jog out there, 3 laps hard, jog back. I definitely need those new trainers. Undid a lot of my hard work by having a few beers in London and a big plate of Nachos, but will definitely start being good again tomorrow. And the concert was great - the girl can really sing.
Thursday 27th March
My trainers arrived at work today so had an opportunity to break them in. Went to the gym, did 5k on the treadmill in my old ones then put the new ones on and jogged out to Lydiard park (about 2-3 miles). They are great and fit really well. Boy did I feel the difference. So taken with them I did another 5k on the treadmill afterwards. In fact, I might even take a risk and use them for the Hogweed Hilly Half on Sunday..at least they will give me the cushioning I need going up and down those hills..
Sunday 23 March 2008
Maidenhead Easter Ten
Thursday 20th March
Rest.
Friday 21st March
Competed in the Maidenhead Easter Ten 10 mile race. I only really did so because I was offered a lift to the event by Ashley Fox, the endurance co-ordinator with the Swindon Harriers. Otherwise it would have been too far. I was interested to see what time I could get at this distance on a flat course.
In the end, the race went about as badly as it could have done and I was disappointed with my time. Yes it was flat, but the first few miles were just laps of a faceless industrial estate - soul destroying. When we finally did head off into the rural part of the race, we were met with a strong wind which slowed me right down. Also, for some parts of the race we couldn't run on the road and were forced to run in single file along the path, unless you overtook on the grass. Despite a day off and the fact that pump loosened me up, my legs were very sore and the whole thing was just a huge battle.
Was very disappointed to only beat my time from the Tough Ten by 20 or 30 seconds, but not overly surprised. Still, it was another 10 miles of running and Ashley is a very experienced runner who can talk for England so I learnt quite a lot from him. So not a waste of time by any means.
Saturday 22nd March
Body pump in the morning, followed by a stretching session. Ali was not impressed that I had raced again yesterday despite the recent injury. He had a point I guess, but I hadn't done any further damage.
Sunday 23rd March
Treadmill session, just 8km, steady. Would have liked to do an hour on the treadmill but my heel was a bit sore so I decided not to force the issue.
Rest.
Friday 21st March
Competed in the Maidenhead Easter Ten 10 mile race. I only really did so because I was offered a lift to the event by Ashley Fox, the endurance co-ordinator with the Swindon Harriers. Otherwise it would have been too far. I was interested to see what time I could get at this distance on a flat course.
In the end, the race went about as badly as it could have done and I was disappointed with my time. Yes it was flat, but the first few miles were just laps of a faceless industrial estate - soul destroying. When we finally did head off into the rural part of the race, we were met with a strong wind which slowed me right down. Also, for some parts of the race we couldn't run on the road and were forced to run in single file along the path, unless you overtook on the grass. Despite a day off and the fact that pump loosened me up, my legs were very sore and the whole thing was just a huge battle.
Was very disappointed to only beat my time from the Tough Ten by 20 or 30 seconds, but not overly surprised. Still, it was another 10 miles of running and Ashley is a very experienced runner who can talk for England so I learnt quite a lot from him. So not a waste of time by any means.
Saturday 22nd March
Body pump in the morning, followed by a stretching session. Ali was not impressed that I had raced again yesterday despite the recent injury. He had a point I guess, but I hadn't done any further damage.
Sunday 23rd March
Treadmill session, just 8km, steady. Would have liked to do an hour on the treadmill but my heel was a bit sore so I decided not to force the issue.
Thursday 20 March 2008
Bath Half Marathon 2008 - back in action
Friday 14th March
Wasn't sure at this stage whether I'd be fit to run the Bath half on Sunday so decided to train right up to the event.
Today it was just the lunchtime body pump class, and in the afternoon I had a leg massage with Ali. He really got deep into the muscles, especially the troublesome calf, and after subjecting me to 40 minutes of agony, told me I should be ok to run Sunday.
Saturday 15th March
Went to body pump again, going nice and light on the squats and lunges. Didn't feel all that confident I would be able to run at Bath the next day, but had the usual pasta dinner and got my stuff ready anyway.
Sunday 16th March - Bath Half Marathon
This should have been a day to remember, and in the end it was - but mostly not for the right reasons.
Caught the train to Bath (actually it was a replacement coach) and turned up at the runners village to find out the start had been delayed by an hour. This was never going to work in my favour, as it would mess up my body clock.
It had rained heavily and the runners village was like a quagmire. My trainers got covered in mud as I tried to find the lucozade station. I walked around the city for a little while, had a coffee and a snack.
When I eventually did get to the start line I tested my calf and it was still feeling sore. I really wasn't sure ifI was doing the right thing by running.
In the end, when I got going it was fine. In fact, I managed around 8-minute mile pace for the first 5 miles. However at that point I decided I wasn't going to risk any damage by pushing myself and turned my watch off. In any case, at about mile 10 I got a really bad stitch, the worst I had ever had in a race, and it was all I could do just to keep going. It just wasn't a PB kind of day.
As it turned out, I was quite happy to finish in 1 hour 51 minutes, given that two hours previously I wasn't even sure I should be running. Too many things had militated against me getting a good time.
So off I went, covered in mud, to get a Schwartz burger (if you haven't had one, you haven't lived) and a couple of beers on the way home. It was nice to know I could enjoy myself for the rest of the day as no work tomorrow.
Monday 17th March
Called in at the gym in the afternoon and did 5k very slowly on the treadmill. My legs were incredibly sore (probably because I couldn't stretch before or after the race yesterday) and I had a recurrence of my stitch?
Off to see the Sugababes in Oxford in the evening so once again my policy of not drinking bit the dust..it was worth it though as it was a fantastic concert. Just a shame I hadn't had a better result to celebrate. Still, the main thing is I'm running again.
Tuesday 18th March
Track session in the evening. Was still feeling very sore (and more than a little hungover) but really wanted to go so I did. The session was 15 * 400m, starting an effort every 2 minutes 30 seconds. I missed out the 5th and 10th efforts, as I didn't want to take any risks and needed the loo! Was feeling really rough and stayed at the back of the group, but I doubt I could have pushed myself any harder on my own.
Wednesday 19th March
Just did body pump in the evening, still taking it quite steady as my legs were still sore. As I write, they are a lot looser so maybe it helped? No spinning as I have a 10 mile race at Maidenhead on Friday (only really doing it because I was offered a lift) so will rest until then.
Wasn't sure at this stage whether I'd be fit to run the Bath half on Sunday so decided to train right up to the event.
Today it was just the lunchtime body pump class, and in the afternoon I had a leg massage with Ali. He really got deep into the muscles, especially the troublesome calf, and after subjecting me to 40 minutes of agony, told me I should be ok to run Sunday.
Saturday 15th March
Went to body pump again, going nice and light on the squats and lunges. Didn't feel all that confident I would be able to run at Bath the next day, but had the usual pasta dinner and got my stuff ready anyway.
Sunday 16th March - Bath Half Marathon
This should have been a day to remember, and in the end it was - but mostly not for the right reasons.
Caught the train to Bath (actually it was a replacement coach) and turned up at the runners village to find out the start had been delayed by an hour. This was never going to work in my favour, as it would mess up my body clock.
It had rained heavily and the runners village was like a quagmire. My trainers got covered in mud as I tried to find the lucozade station. I walked around the city for a little while, had a coffee and a snack.
When I eventually did get to the start line I tested my calf and it was still feeling sore. I really wasn't sure ifI was doing the right thing by running.
In the end, when I got going it was fine. In fact, I managed around 8-minute mile pace for the first 5 miles. However at that point I decided I wasn't going to risk any damage by pushing myself and turned my watch off. In any case, at about mile 10 I got a really bad stitch, the worst I had ever had in a race, and it was all I could do just to keep going. It just wasn't a PB kind of day.
As it turned out, I was quite happy to finish in 1 hour 51 minutes, given that two hours previously I wasn't even sure I should be running. Too many things had militated against me getting a good time.
So off I went, covered in mud, to get a Schwartz burger (if you haven't had one, you haven't lived) and a couple of beers on the way home. It was nice to know I could enjoy myself for the rest of the day as no work tomorrow.
Monday 17th March
Called in at the gym in the afternoon and did 5k very slowly on the treadmill. My legs were incredibly sore (probably because I couldn't stretch before or after the race yesterday) and I had a recurrence of my stitch?
Off to see the Sugababes in Oxford in the evening so once again my policy of not drinking bit the dust..it was worth it though as it was a fantastic concert. Just a shame I hadn't had a better result to celebrate. Still, the main thing is I'm running again.
Tuesday 18th March
Track session in the evening. Was still feeling very sore (and more than a little hungover) but really wanted to go so I did. The session was 15 * 400m, starting an effort every 2 minutes 30 seconds. I missed out the 5th and 10th efforts, as I didn't want to take any risks and needed the loo! Was feeling really rough and stayed at the back of the group, but I doubt I could have pushed myself any harder on my own.
Wednesday 19th March
Just did body pump in the evening, still taking it quite steady as my legs were still sore. As I write, they are a lot looser so maybe it helped? No spinning as I have a 10 mile race at Maidenhead on Friday (only really doing it because I was offered a lift) so will rest until then.
Thursday 13 March 2008
Burning calories
Still no running as I write. The calf is getting better and I'm nearly there, but I don't want to rush back too early and put my recovery back. So I've just done what I can to keep burning calores:
Sunday 9th March
Obviously the 10k at Devizes I planned to do was out of the question so went to the morning spinning class with James. Good class, but horrible knowing I should have been racing.
Monday 10th March
30 minutes on the cross trainer followed by core work. Did almost all of my exercises which was good. Hated not being able to do my recovery run on the treadmill - funny, I never thought I'd miss that piece of equipment this much. Had a chat with Ali who seemed very concerned Iwould try to run through the injury. Obviously I'm frustrated but despite what he thinks I will follow his advice. Went home feeling depressed, did an hour's writing and drank a bottle of wine. Not good I know, but there will always be days like these.
Tuesday11th March
Obviously no question of a track session (again, never ever thought I'd miss it) and Ali had told me that step class would not help, so went to James' spinning class again. Good move this; it transpired it was an endurance class, so was an hour long instead of the usual 45 minutes. Fine by me as it made me sweat profusely and burnt a few more calories.
Wednesday 12th March
Usual thing for a Wednesday, body pump followed by spinning. Ali gave us some old stuff in pump which was good, not least because it reminded me how hard the last chest track was! Lovely to see my friend Kathryn back after she had had some time off with a back injury. Spinning was quiet for once but still good.
Thursday 13th March
Complete rest today as it was our company's quiz evening. Our team won, thanks largely to my compadre Rob Brown's excellent general knowledge and my familiarity with Sugababes, Girls Aloud and Kaiser Chiefs on the music round. Came home with a bottle of bubbly as a prize; I am still hoping to run the Bath half marathon on Sunday (as a training run only - no point at all going for a PB). It would be lovely if I could have the wine to celebrate; I did manage to jog through the car park almost pain-free today and I have a leg massage with Ali tomorrow so let's just keep fingers crossed.
Sunday 9th March
Obviously the 10k at Devizes I planned to do was out of the question so went to the morning spinning class with James. Good class, but horrible knowing I should have been racing.
Monday 10th March
30 minutes on the cross trainer followed by core work. Did almost all of my exercises which was good. Hated not being able to do my recovery run on the treadmill - funny, I never thought I'd miss that piece of equipment this much. Had a chat with Ali who seemed very concerned Iwould try to run through the injury. Obviously I'm frustrated but despite what he thinks I will follow his advice. Went home feeling depressed, did an hour's writing and drank a bottle of wine. Not good I know, but there will always be days like these.
Tuesday11th March
Obviously no question of a track session (again, never ever thought I'd miss it) and Ali had told me that step class would not help, so went to James' spinning class again. Good move this; it transpired it was an endurance class, so was an hour long instead of the usual 45 minutes. Fine by me as it made me sweat profusely and burnt a few more calories.
Wednesday 12th March
Usual thing for a Wednesday, body pump followed by spinning. Ali gave us some old stuff in pump which was good, not least because it reminded me how hard the last chest track was! Lovely to see my friend Kathryn back after she had had some time off with a back injury. Spinning was quiet for once but still good.
Thursday 13th March
Complete rest today as it was our company's quiz evening. Our team won, thanks largely to my compadre Rob Brown's excellent general knowledge and my familiarity with Sugababes, Girls Aloud and Kaiser Chiefs on the music round. Came home with a bottle of bubbly as a prize; I am still hoping to run the Bath half marathon on Sunday (as a training run only - no point at all going for a PB). It would be lovely if I could have the wine to celebrate; I did manage to jog through the car park almost pain-free today and I have a leg massage with Ali tomorrow so let's just keep fingers crossed.
Sunday 9 March 2008
Still can't run, but..
Friday 7th March
Working from home today so went to Ali's lunchtime body pump class, which is 45 minutes instead of the usual hour. Basicall we miss out two tracks, in today's case biceps and triceps. Ali had just returned from holiday, so good to see him back. Good also to see a high attendance. Tested out the calf on the treadmill afterwards but it was still painful. To be fair, this was the first day this week I could walk without limping. I must have done some serious damage.
Saturday 8th March
Body pump again. Suffered a little as I had had a few glasses of wine the night before. Yes, I know, I'm supposed to be off it, but I took advantage of the fact I haven't got a race this weekend and really wanted to see Michelle Ryan on Jonathan Ross. Anyway, got though the class and managed to use some heavy weights, especially on the squats and lunges tracks.
Weigh-in Sat 8th March
Weight 15 stone 7.2lb
Body fat percentage (athletic body type) 17%
Good result this; I have managed to lose 5.8lb in the last three weeks. Doubly pleasing considering I haven't run for a week and the two weeks before were fairly easy as I was tapering for Bourton and Reading. Need to keep this going and my aim is to be down to my target weight of 14 1/2 stone by the end of April. (I have a 10k on 27th April so will be looking for another PB). Wouldn't it be great if all the weight was gone by the time summer comes around?
Working from home today so went to Ali's lunchtime body pump class, which is 45 minutes instead of the usual hour. Basicall we miss out two tracks, in today's case biceps and triceps. Ali had just returned from holiday, so good to see him back. Good also to see a high attendance. Tested out the calf on the treadmill afterwards but it was still painful. To be fair, this was the first day this week I could walk without limping. I must have done some serious damage.
Saturday 8th March
Body pump again. Suffered a little as I had had a few glasses of wine the night before. Yes, I know, I'm supposed to be off it, but I took advantage of the fact I haven't got a race this weekend and really wanted to see Michelle Ryan on Jonathan Ross. Anyway, got though the class and managed to use some heavy weights, especially on the squats and lunges tracks.
Weigh-in Sat 8th March
Weight 15 stone 7.2lb
Body fat percentage (athletic body type) 17%
Good result this; I have managed to lose 5.8lb in the last three weeks. Doubly pleasing considering I haven't run for a week and the two weeks before were fairly easy as I was tapering for Bourton and Reading. Need to keep this going and my aim is to be down to my target weight of 14 1/2 stone by the end of April. (I have a 10k on 27th April so will be looking for another PB). Wouldn't it be great if all the weight was gone by the time summer comes around?
Thursday 6 March 2008
No running for a few days
Monday 3rd March
My calf was giving me immense gyp today, so much so I couldn't walk down the stairs at work without holding on to the bannisters on both sides. I went to the gym anyway, thinking I would stretch it out and see what I could do. In the end all I could do was 30 minutes on the cross trainer. I did try walking on the treadmill but as soon as I (very stupidly) tried to break into a jog it was agony and I stopped immediately. The only consolation is, I can very well remember a time when I wouldn't have even contemplated training the day after a half marathon, so it shows how much fitter and stronger I've become.
Tueday 4th March
The track was closed for resurfacing this week but it obviously wouldn't have been an option anyway. Instead I went to step class, and took it very steady, avoiding things like jumping jacks. (Frankie had given me some sage advice when I told her about the injury). Got a good sweat on but couldn't push it as I would have liked to.
Wednesday 5th March
Body pump and spinning as usual (although I am probably going to have to drop the spinning class soon to free up some time in the evenings). We did some different tracks in pump so I took it fairly steady, using good but not insanely heavy weights. Not sure if spinning was a good idea or not, it hurt my calf at first but I've a feeling it may have helped to stretch it out.
Thursday 6th March
The calf is better today but still not right so I didn't risk running. Instead I spent a good hour doing my core exercises, which I really enjoyed. It was hard work and I think I''ll feel it tomorrow. I really need to do more sessions like this; but I hope there won't be too many more weeks like this.
My calf was giving me immense gyp today, so much so I couldn't walk down the stairs at work without holding on to the bannisters on both sides. I went to the gym anyway, thinking I would stretch it out and see what I could do. In the end all I could do was 30 minutes on the cross trainer. I did try walking on the treadmill but as soon as I (very stupidly) tried to break into a jog it was agony and I stopped immediately. The only consolation is, I can very well remember a time when I wouldn't have even contemplated training the day after a half marathon, so it shows how much fitter and stronger I've become.
Tueday 4th March
The track was closed for resurfacing this week but it obviously wouldn't have been an option anyway. Instead I went to step class, and took it very steady, avoiding things like jumping jacks. (Frankie had given me some sage advice when I told her about the injury). Got a good sweat on but couldn't push it as I would have liked to.
Wednesday 5th March
Body pump and spinning as usual (although I am probably going to have to drop the spinning class soon to free up some time in the evenings). We did some different tracks in pump so I took it fairly steady, using good but not insanely heavy weights. Not sure if spinning was a good idea or not, it hurt my calf at first but I've a feeling it may have helped to stretch it out.
Thursday 6th March
The calf is better today but still not right so I didn't risk running. Instead I spent a good hour doing my core exercises, which I really enjoyed. It was hard work and I think I''ll feel it tomorrow. I really need to do more sessions like this; but I hope there won't be too many more weeks like this.
Tuesday 4 March 2008
Reading Half Marathon 2008
I was well rested and reasonably optimistic ahead of the Reading half marathon. I knew to get a PB I would need to have a good day, but as it turned out, I had anything but that.
I drove up to the race with Clare, a friend from the track, and a friend of hers. Again, it is always nice to have some company at these events. At the lucozade stand we picked up our pace bands and both decided to aim for 1:45. Before long we dropped off our bags, did the last minute preparations and headed for the start line.
I started off at what I thought was a good pace, but the hill in the second mile slowed me down and after 3 miles I was already 40 seconds behind schedule. However, I had a much more pressing concern; I had a pain in my left achilles heel, which was (I assume) a result of pushing myself a little too hard on the last few reps of my track session. I tried to concentrate on just enjoying the event - not the most scenic route but the crowd support was fantastic and I always love being part of such a big group of runners.
I still seemed to be making good progress after 7 or 8 miles (it was hard to judge where I was at most of the time due to mile markers being too well hidden for me) but after about 9 miles I was in quite a lot of pain. I think I had changed my running gait to protect the heel and had done some damage to my calf muscles, where I now had a stabbing pain. I slowed right down because I couldn't maintain a decent pace and at one point stopped and tried to stretch it out - to no avail. People were flying past me in the last few miles which was just rubbing salt into the wound. I was limping badly and crying from the pain.
At about mile 12 my friend Jenny passed me (I expected her to be ahead of me all the way but somehow I passed her at mile 8) and urged me to stay with her. I tried, but as soon as I did the pain became unbearable. All I wanted to do at that stage was finish the race.
The finish couldn't come soon enough and eventually I limped across the line in a time of 1:51:04 - six minutes slower than I had hoped for. To be honest, without the injury a time of 1:47 or 1:48 would have been more realistic given the course but it was a horribly painful disappointment.
I wish I knew why I seem to keep having this kind of bad luck at big events, this was almost a carbon copy of the Bristol half marathon in 2007 when my hamstring went after 10 miles, except a fraction slower and a lot more painful.
I had put plenty of beer and wine in the fridge the previous day for a celebration; I still drank it, and had a chicken tikka massala for dinner, but it was more a case of drowning my sorrows than celebrating. I just hope that things are a great deal different after the Bath half marathon in two weeks' time.
I drove up to the race with Clare, a friend from the track, and a friend of hers. Again, it is always nice to have some company at these events. At the lucozade stand we picked up our pace bands and both decided to aim for 1:45. Before long we dropped off our bags, did the last minute preparations and headed for the start line.
I started off at what I thought was a good pace, but the hill in the second mile slowed me down and after 3 miles I was already 40 seconds behind schedule. However, I had a much more pressing concern; I had a pain in my left achilles heel, which was (I assume) a result of pushing myself a little too hard on the last few reps of my track session. I tried to concentrate on just enjoying the event - not the most scenic route but the crowd support was fantastic and I always love being part of such a big group of runners.
I still seemed to be making good progress after 7 or 8 miles (it was hard to judge where I was at most of the time due to mile markers being too well hidden for me) but after about 9 miles I was in quite a lot of pain. I think I had changed my running gait to protect the heel and had done some damage to my calf muscles, where I now had a stabbing pain. I slowed right down because I couldn't maintain a decent pace and at one point stopped and tried to stretch it out - to no avail. People were flying past me in the last few miles which was just rubbing salt into the wound. I was limping badly and crying from the pain.
At about mile 12 my friend Jenny passed me (I expected her to be ahead of me all the way but somehow I passed her at mile 8) and urged me to stay with her. I tried, but as soon as I did the pain became unbearable. All I wanted to do at that stage was finish the race.
The finish couldn't come soon enough and eventually I limped across the line in a time of 1:51:04 - six minutes slower than I had hoped for. To be honest, without the injury a time of 1:47 or 1:48 would have been more realistic given the course but it was a horribly painful disappointment.
I wish I knew why I seem to keep having this kind of bad luck at big events, this was almost a carbon copy of the Bristol half marathon in 2007 when my hamstring went after 10 miles, except a fraction slower and a lot more painful.
I had put plenty of beer and wine in the fridge the previous day for a celebration; I still drank it, and had a chicken tikka massala for dinner, but it was more a case of drowning my sorrows than celebrating. I just hope that things are a great deal different after the Bath half marathon in two weeks' time.
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