After the rather successful long run Tuesday I thought I would plot a slightly longer run today. Plus I was kitted out for heavy rain which never appeared??
This route is a keeper, a nice 1k warm up on a slight downhill followed by 2k constant uphill, some bits quite steep. The hills don't stop there though, after you reach the top it's then up and down for another 2k then you get a gradual downhill for 3k. To finish of a rather flat 4-5k with a couple little hills to climb. 12.5k in 1hr 33mins. I felt very good too. No sore knees, my feet felt good and even now, ready for bed I feel good about the run.
I'm amazed I've kicked out this much mileage this week. Even with the drenching I got last week! Even better is my pace, it seems to be improving each time I'm out running. Struggling to get below 8mins per kilometre just a month ago, I'm now 7.2 mins per kilometre.
The core muscle workouts every morning seem to be helping much more than I expected. They're only 30 mins worth but the benefits I'm reaping from them are awesome. No knee pain, no back pain, easier breathing - rather surprising what's happening.
Next run will be the Flitwick 10k. Fingers crossed my time will be much better than last year!
TTFN
Hels
Thursday 12 April 2012
Tuesday 10 April 2012
Trying out a long route
You know how far you want to run but you're not sure how long it's going to take you - so what do you do?
I wanted to manage a longer than 10k route to help with half marathon training. So I thought a good run thats over 12k should do it. I took my average pace over my last few training runs and worked out long it would take to run 12k. It was about one hour twenty minutes.
How did it go?
So there I was again, last week I was unprepared for the rain, this week I was kitted up for it. Just before leaving work the weather was appalling! Heavy rain, high winds and one very dark sky. But, as I left the car and headed out on my selected route the sun came out and it was lovely all the way up to 1k left to run, that's when the heavens opened and tried to drench me yet again!
The route I took was mainly uphill from the start for at least 5k then headed back towards where I started from with occasional downhill & uphill sessions. By 10k I was feeling very chuffed with myself. My feet were a little sore, my left knee was only just starting to niggle but otherwise I felt like I could carry on for another loop. Good thing the kids needed picking up and deffo good thing I got rained on at the finish or I would have been very tempted!
So how did I do? 11.6k in 1hr 26mins. Not to shabby for a relaxed run, I wasn't pushing for speed, just the hills and mileage was important to me and I was very close to my estimate for 12k.
Rest day tomorrow, although...... This is one of those - don't push yourself to hard to soon moments, isn't it?
TTFN
Hels
I wanted to manage a longer than 10k route to help with half marathon training. So I thought a good run thats over 12k should do it. I took my average pace over my last few training runs and worked out long it would take to run 12k. It was about one hour twenty minutes.
How did it go?
So there I was again, last week I was unprepared for the rain, this week I was kitted up for it. Just before leaving work the weather was appalling! Heavy rain, high winds and one very dark sky. But, as I left the car and headed out on my selected route the sun came out and it was lovely all the way up to 1k left to run, that's when the heavens opened and tried to drench me yet again!
The route I took was mainly uphill from the start for at least 5k then headed back towards where I started from with occasional downhill & uphill sessions. By 10k I was feeling very chuffed with myself. My feet were a little sore, my left knee was only just starting to niggle but otherwise I felt like I could carry on for another loop. Good thing the kids needed picking up and deffo good thing I got rained on at the finish or I would have been very tempted!
So how did I do? 11.6k in 1hr 26mins. Not to shabby for a relaxed run, I wasn't pushing for speed, just the hills and mileage was important to me and I was very close to my estimate for 12k.
Rest day tomorrow, although...... This is one of those - don't push yourself to hard to soon moments, isn't it?
TTFN
Hels
Sunday 8 April 2012
Delapre Abbey 10k - so far so good!
After no run Friday or Saturday I was itching for a run today. I had kept up the core muscle exercises but no runs. A part of me really missed the regular run. The other part of me gave me a good slap to say I need some rest days! Ha ha!
Today was the Delapre Abbey 10k by Ultra Go Beyond events. The last time I went to one of their events I was running through parts of Irchester Forest I had never seen before and I've been there a number of times with the family. As the last event with them was so thoroughly entertaining and utterly tough I was looking forward to today knowing it wouldn't be a road race but a mixture of path's and field. So how did it go?
The morning started with drizzle. Driving to Northampton, the windscreen wipers were on all the way. I had towels and a complete change of clothes. After the soaking I had this week I was determined not to repeat the mistake of being unprepared.
I arrived in good time to pick up my T-shirt and chip. Topped up on High5 Zero then did a quick warm up jog to the start line. It was good to see Shon there. The last race I saw him at it was a 5k at Woburn Abbey and
We all started in stages, 10k first followed by half marathon then marathon.
I found the first lap fairly easy, I kept my pace even and not to fast knowing that I'd have to repeat this lap another 2 times. Repeating the lap felt pretty tough, its been a while since I ran in mud and soft grass and even though my legs and lungs felt good my ankles were feeling a bit rough. Lap 1 was a loop around the lake and back to the house, a shorter lap than the following 2 laps. Lap 2 went around the lake like the first lap and then out into the field in front of the main house. Lap 3, a repeat of lap 2, was thankfully helped along by a very friendly and entertaining fella. We had a very similar pace and we kept each other going for most of the first part of lap 3. In the second half of lap 3 this guy kept the encouragement coming that I pushed myself much harder than I would have done if I was running by myself. A huge thank you to this guy, I beat my last 10k PB this year by a whopping whole 3 minutes!!
After spending so much time running this week and getting such a good result this weekend I am planning to make sure I get lots of good runs in this week for the Ampthill Flitwick Flyers 10k next weekend. It will be the third time going round this course and I am totally looking forward to it.
TTFN
Hels
Today was the Delapre Abbey 10k by Ultra Go Beyond events. The last time I went to one of their events I was running through parts of Irchester Forest I had never seen before and I've been there a number of times with the family. As the last event with them was so thoroughly entertaining and utterly tough I was looking forward to today knowing it wouldn't be a road race but a mixture of path's and field. So how did it go?
The morning started with drizzle. Driving to Northampton, the windscreen wipers were on all the way. I had towels and a complete change of clothes. After the soaking I had this week I was determined not to repeat the mistake of being unprepared.
I arrived in good time to pick up my T-shirt and chip. Topped up on High5 Zero then did a quick warm up jog to the start line. It was good to see Shon there. The last race I saw him at it was a 5k at Woburn Abbey and
We all started in stages, 10k first followed by half marathon then marathon.
I found the first lap fairly easy, I kept my pace even and not to fast knowing that I'd have to repeat this lap another 2 times. Repeating the lap felt pretty tough, its been a while since I ran in mud and soft grass and even though my legs and lungs felt good my ankles were feeling a bit rough. Lap 1 was a loop around the lake and back to the house, a shorter lap than the following 2 laps. Lap 2 went around the lake like the first lap and then out into the field in front of the main house. Lap 3, a repeat of lap 2, was thankfully helped along by a very friendly and entertaining fella. We had a very similar pace and we kept each other going for most of the first part of lap 3. In the second half of lap 3 this guy kept the encouragement coming that I pushed myself much harder than I would have done if I was running by myself. A huge thank you to this guy, I beat my last 10k PB this year by a whopping whole 3 minutes!!
After spending so much time running this week and getting such a good result this weekend I am planning to make sure I get lots of good runs in this week for the Ampthill Flitwick Flyers 10k next weekend. It will be the third time going round this course and I am totally looking forward to it.
TTFN
Hels
Thursday 5 April 2012
3 Days in a Row
Was it a good idea?
I went for a good run Tuesday (in the rain!). The club handicap Wednesday night and now this afternoon. A even paced 5k.
I should have felt rough but no, I didn't. I felt good. In the groove. My feet felt a little sore but this was no hard run so it was easy for them. When 5k came up I must admit I was a little shocked. That's it? I was expecting further.
After booking the half marathon events this morning and thinking I'm just throwing money away, I am now starting to think maybe I can do it. My body is obviously getting what it needs (finally) to get me from a to b. Plus downloading my fears, excuses, rants to this blog I can clearly see for myself how much I have been holding myself back. More mental than physical hang ups.
I never thought a running diary would help me run further but when you're making excuses for your body and it's not a physical thing that's holding you back a running diary is the perfect friend to rant to. Plus other peeps can read this and probably see, they're not alone, we may be different in our own right but sometime we suffer the same problems and it's nice to know someone else out there is working through that same problem.
TTFN
Hels
I went for a good run Tuesday (in the rain!). The club handicap Wednesday night and now this afternoon. A even paced 5k.
I should have felt rough but no, I didn't. I felt good. In the groove. My feet felt a little sore but this was no hard run so it was easy for them. When 5k came up I must admit I was a little shocked. That's it? I was expecting further.
After booking the half marathon events this morning and thinking I'm just throwing money away, I am now starting to think maybe I can do it. My body is obviously getting what it needs (finally) to get me from a to b. Plus downloading my fears, excuses, rants to this blog I can clearly see for myself how much I have been holding myself back. More mental than physical hang ups.
I never thought a running diary would help me run further but when you're making excuses for your body and it's not a physical thing that's holding you back a running diary is the perfect friend to rant to. Plus other peeps can read this and probably see, they're not alone, we may be different in our own right but sometime we suffer the same problems and it's nice to know someone else out there is working through that same problem.
TTFN
Hels
Wednesday 4 April 2012
To much to soon - overdoing it!
I've been out and run again this evening. Tonight it was my clubs handicap race, came in 2nd from last but boy did I feel good pushing myself.
Afterwards I felt so good I took a gentle jog home the long way round. My feet feel a little punished for the extra mileage this week and then it hits me. I've gone from hardly any mileage each week to over 20k from Sunday, no wonder my feet are feeling a little over used.
So do I pull back a little and let the recovery take hold or is that another excuse not to run? My running mojo is working well this week and I'm even contemplating signing up for a half marathon in June. A couple weeks ago that would have been a total nono!
What's happening here? What am I scared of?
Overdoing it
Injury
Stress
Home/kids/husband balance
Am I making excuses to fail yet again before my body has even hinted that it can't cope?
Questions, questions....
Well. I'm not a fast runner. I'm not even in the middle pack when I enter these races. So what if I get the chance to do lots of runs this week. I feel good.
Okay so after hashing it out on this blog it's a fear thing, an excuse thing that's saying I will fail if I push to hard. So what do I do about it?
Plan 1 - ease back a little. Sign up for a half marathon and make sure I keep my core muscles in check to prevent injury.
Plan 2 - ease back a little. Don't sign up for the marathon yet!
Plan 3 - keep going while I can, it's not going to last so get those miles in now now now..... Hmmm a bit over the top eh!
Plan 1 to begin with. I don't have to run the half marathon if I'm not up to it at the time of the race. Yeah, that feels good.
TTFN
Hels
Afterwards I felt so good I took a gentle jog home the long way round. My feet feel a little punished for the extra mileage this week and then it hits me. I've gone from hardly any mileage each week to over 20k from Sunday, no wonder my feet are feeling a little over used.
So do I pull back a little and let the recovery take hold or is that another excuse not to run? My running mojo is working well this week and I'm even contemplating signing up for a half marathon in June. A couple weeks ago that would have been a total nono!
What's happening here? What am I scared of?
Overdoing it
Injury
Stress
Home/kids/husband balance
Am I making excuses to fail yet again before my body has even hinted that it can't cope?
Questions, questions....
Well. I'm not a fast runner. I'm not even in the middle pack when I enter these races. So what if I get the chance to do lots of runs this week. I feel good.
Okay so after hashing it out on this blog it's a fear thing, an excuse thing that's saying I will fail if I push to hard. So what do I do about it?
Plan 1 - ease back a little. Sign up for a half marathon and make sure I keep my core muscles in check to prevent injury.
Plan 2 - ease back a little. Don't sign up for the marathon yet!
Plan 3 - keep going while I can, it's not going to last so get those miles in now now now..... Hmmm a bit over the top eh!
Plan 1 to begin with. I don't have to run the half marathon if I'm not up to it at the time of the race. Yeah, that feels good.
TTFN
Hels
Tuesday 3 April 2012
Weather - should it stop me?
So there I was this morning. Do I, don't I. I want to but it's going to rain. Yuck!! I pack my running kit anyway and head of to work in the slim hope that it doesn't rain.
All through the morning, lovely weather. Up to 4pm, lovely weather. I get changed into my running gear at 4pm to go for a run before picking up my son, it rains!!!! Argh!
Do I wus out and keep warm? No! This time I'm going to brave the weather. It's not a good enough excuse and I'm full of excuses on why I can't do things. It took a good five minutes arguing with myself in the car why I should just get if my but and run! Run so fast I stay warm!
Well I did it. 6.2k in 43 mins. Not a bad pace either. Rain, p'ah! It's no excuse. Brrrrrrrr - must get a waterproof running coat tho, hahahaha!
TTFN
Hels
All through the morning, lovely weather. Up to 4pm, lovely weather. I get changed into my running gear at 4pm to go for a run before picking up my son, it rains!!!! Argh!
Do I wus out and keep warm? No! This time I'm going to brave the weather. It's not a good enough excuse and I'm full of excuses on why I can't do things. It took a good five minutes arguing with myself in the car why I should just get if my but and run! Run so fast I stay warm!
Well I did it. 6.2k in 43 mins. Not a bad pace either. Rain, p'ah! It's no excuse. Brrrrrrrr - must get a waterproof running coat tho, hahahaha!
TTFN
Hels
Monday 2 April 2012
Brill Hilly 10k
A gloriously sunny but cool day, perfect running weather - for me at least. I felt good, I was eager to run and nerves about failure or the hills that I hate hadn't dampened my spirits at all.
The shock of the starting pistol was funny. The jump of adrenalin made me lose my pace at first along with the incredibly steep downhill start. 6k later and I'm feeling pretty chuffed with myself. I managed a good easy pace. The first of the hill climbs start and I take them in my stride. The last hill just after 8k is the same steep hill at the start. I gave up jogging for a good strong deep stride uphill. At the top the course flattened out for the last 1k to the finish at 69.3 minutes. I was shocked as my last hilly race at Dunstable downs took 80+ minutes!! I was one of the few at the back of the race to finish but that's still a personal best for me.
No run tonight, no cycling tonight. I still did my core muscle workout this morning though. tomorrow - appointment booked!! I run around a lake, rain or shine. I must be harder on myself if I want to improve more, but I've got to keep it manageable because I'll lose interest again and distract myself with other jobs.
TTFN
Hels
The shock of the starting pistol was funny. The jump of adrenalin made me lose my pace at first along with the incredibly steep downhill start. 6k later and I'm feeling pretty chuffed with myself. I managed a good easy pace. The first of the hill climbs start and I take them in my stride. The last hill just after 8k is the same steep hill at the start. I gave up jogging for a good strong deep stride uphill. At the top the course flattened out for the last 1k to the finish at 69.3 minutes. I was shocked as my last hilly race at Dunstable downs took 80+ minutes!! I was one of the few at the back of the race to finish but that's still a personal best for me.
No run tonight, no cycling tonight. I still did my core muscle workout this morning though. tomorrow - appointment booked!! I run around a lake, rain or shine. I must be harder on myself if I want to improve more, but I've got to keep it manageable because I'll lose interest again and distract myself with other jobs.
TTFN
Hels
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