I made good use of the time out of training whilst my back settled down and got stuck into writing up my thesis. By Wednesday I needed a break from it so stopped off at the Pacers to join in with the track seesion. Great session, I'm not particuarly track fit at the moment and have plenty of work to do but its a good start. I'll try and get there at least once a week over the winter months.
I felt confident that I was ok to run a cross country race so decided to give the Ampthill Challenge trophy a go at the weekend. I'd never run this course before, and have to say its the toughest track I have ever raced! Lots of steep hills but fortunately dry weather had resulted in light firm terrain. It was a two lap course; I was pretty much finished after the first lap but kept going for the second lap. I finished 3rd lady so really chuffed with that! I felt incrediby unfit, but I guess my training programme for a fast flat 5 mile road race wasn't particuarly good preperation for this race! I'd like to have a go next year and train properly for it. I'm sure its helped my fitness :-)
I've picked up the swimming again now, increasing to 3 sessions a week. I'm determined to get the hang of front crawl by the end of the winter! Managed to get to the track on Wednesday, just half a session as I was racing again on Saturday. Saturday's race was the eastern region v Cambridge Uni v RAF held this year at Gog Magog Downs. Not quite as hilly as the previous weekend but still a tough course. I finished 3rd again so happy with that.
We had some friends round for dinner later that evening, had a lovely evening, lots of food and booze and a really good catch up. Managed to fit in a 25 mile bike ride on Sunday morning before the Indian Grand Prix. Enjoyed chilling out with a cup of tea whilst watching Jenson Button drive superbly to finish 2nd. The Indian Grand Prix is our wishlist to attend in the future!
The next xc race is towards the end of November so the aim over the next few weeks is to fit in some harder sessions and man-up!
Sunday 30 October 2011
Wednesday 12 October 2011
Weekend in Lake Garda
What a weekend! After a panic on Thursday when our friends Pete and Sarah Golding informed us that our outbound flight to Verona had been cancelled (good job they did as Ryan air didn't bother informing us!), we managed to book a flight to Milan.
Fantastic weather all weekend, sunny and warm, beautiful scenery and yummy food! We took Mum and Dad with us this year, it was great to take them to the Town Hall in Limone where we got married and the restaurant where we had our wedding meal, as well as the beach where we necked bottles of Forst after the ceremony!
We bumped into Pete and Sarah on their way to pick Sarah's number up for the marathon. Great to see them, and great to see that Jenson Button was second on the grid for the Japanese Grand Prix the following day, and even better to see him win the race the following morning.
We managed to fit some shopping in, couldn't resist as they have some gorgeous clothes here!
Had a swim in the very choppy lake, bit of a learning experience for me as I've never swum in rough water before. Bit scary to start with but I got the hang of it in the end.
We heard that Sarah had finished the marathon in 3:40, what a great result!
I thought that a relaxing weekend would be the ideal preperation for the Wix 5 mile the following weekend, and was looking to a couple of training sessions in the week. Unfortunately when we got to Verona airport I srtaed to get some pain in my left shoulder. I thought nothing of it, then when I stepped off the plane at Stansted my back seized up and I was stuck! I'd leant forward to catch my breath when it seized and couldn't stand up straight again. How embarrassing, it must have looked like I was throwing up! In the end the very kind and helpful staff got me a wheelchair and wheeled me out to the car.
I had to lie very still for 24 hours and take some diazapam and now now back on my feet again, with a very sore shoulder though. Unfortunately the Wix 5 doesn't look very likely to happen for me on Sunday. I'm really disappointed as I'd been following an eight week training programme to get me ready and had worked hard during the speed sessions. On a positive note the programme contributed to a great run in the round norfolk relay and got me round the first cross country race of the season so it wasn't in vain.
Time to make use of some time out of training and racing and crack on with my PhD..........
I
Fantastic weather all weekend, sunny and warm, beautiful scenery and yummy food! We took Mum and Dad with us this year, it was great to take them to the Town Hall in Limone where we got married and the restaurant where we had our wedding meal, as well as the beach where we necked bottles of Forst after the ceremony!
We bumped into Pete and Sarah on their way to pick Sarah's number up for the marathon. Great to see them, and great to see that Jenson Button was second on the grid for the Japanese Grand Prix the following day, and even better to see him win the race the following morning.
We managed to fit some shopping in, couldn't resist as they have some gorgeous clothes here!
Had a swim in the very choppy lake, bit of a learning experience for me as I've never swum in rough water before. Bit scary to start with but I got the hang of it in the end.
We heard that Sarah had finished the marathon in 3:40, what a great result!
I thought that a relaxing weekend would be the ideal preperation for the Wix 5 mile the following weekend, and was looking to a couple of training sessions in the week. Unfortunately when we got to Verona airport I srtaed to get some pain in my left shoulder. I thought nothing of it, then when I stepped off the plane at Stansted my back seized up and I was stuck! I'd leant forward to catch my breath when it seized and couldn't stand up straight again. How embarrassing, it must have looked like I was throwing up! In the end the very kind and helpful staff got me a wheelchair and wheeled me out to the car.
I had to lie very still for 24 hours and take some diazapam and now now back on my feet again, with a very sore shoulder though. Unfortunately the Wix 5 doesn't look very likely to happen for me on Sunday. I'm really disappointed as I'd been following an eight week training programme to get me ready and had worked hard during the speed sessions. On a positive note the programme contributed to a great run in the round norfolk relay and got me round the first cross country race of the season so it wasn't in vain.
Time to make use of some time out of training and racing and crack on with my PhD..........
I
Thursday 6 October 2011
Barnham XC
Icing and anti-inflammtories seem to have done the job, no swelling around the ankle Wednesday morning. I strapped it and thought I'd see how it felt on a warm up lap of the xc course. It felt fine, I decided that as long as I ran in clear air so I could see where I was putting my feet and stayed on my toes it should be ok. The course was mostly through woodland and a very nice one to kick the season off, albeit a bit windy with some rough ground in places.
I had a good start and got into clear air straight away. I worked hard on the level woodland tracks and tiptoed carefully through the tank hazards. I ran most of the course with Chris Cooke, who was running very well. I'm thankful that ladies run one lap less than the men as I don't think I could have stayed with him for another lap!
I came in about 40 seconds in front of a young girl running for UEA, think she's one to watch and will be stiff competition for future races! Emma Figures finished in 3rd place for Pacers Ladies and Trish Dennison 5th. Fantastic turnout for the Pacers today 13 runners, really good to see the Wednesday Club girls again, Cathy Lambert, Pat Partridge and Eloise Calver all ran well. Nice to see some new faces in the Mens team too.
Bring on the next one! :-)
I had a good start and got into clear air straight away. I worked hard on the level woodland tracks and tiptoed carefully through the tank hazards. I ran most of the course with Chris Cooke, who was running very well. I'm thankful that ladies run one lap less than the men as I don't think I could have stayed with him for another lap!
I came in about 40 seconds in front of a young girl running for UEA, think she's one to watch and will be stiff competition for future races! Emma Figures finished in 3rd place for Pacers Ladies and Trish Dennison 5th. Fantastic turnout for the Pacers today 13 runners, really good to see the Wednesday Club girls again, Cathy Lambert, Pat Partridge and Eloise Calver all ran well. Nice to see some new faces in the Mens team too.
Bring on the next one! :-)
New Garmin!
Well I tried out the Garmin 610, managed a somewhat pathetic jog from Mum and Dads round Nowton Park. The ankle was a bit iffy, feels unstable off road and my legs felt like lead, think thats due to the mankey cold. Definately wouldn't have wanted to have run any further than 2.5 miles but I got round in one piece. A session on the wobble board on Tuesday, icing, anti-inflammatories and some cough mixture and I'll see how everything is on Wednesday morning before I make my decision.
The 610 was great, easy to use and very smart. I even managed to download the software and upload my run to face book all on my own ;-)
The 610 was great, easy to use and very smart. I even managed to download the software and upload my run to face book all on my own ;-)
Sunday 2 October 2011
a week of ups and downs.....
Well the week started off well, had a good speed work session on Monday, 12x400m at 90 second pace with 45 second recoveries. It was hard work but I felt strong and was looking forward to my first Frostbite League race on Sunday. I had a good swim session on Tuesday morning, I think I'm improving a little :-) After a busy day at work I fancied a quick 14 miles on the bike as it was such a beautiful evening.
On Wednesday evening I planned to run 5x1mile reps in Ickworth. I was going well and almost at the end of my third rep when I landed awkwardly on a tree route and sprained my ankle, the same one I sprained in Cyprus earlier in the year. It hurt like hell and I couldn't put my foot on the ground for a few minutes. I was 4 miles from home with no mobile phone, whoops! After a while I got hobbling and then managed an easy jog home, ice pack straight on!
Fortunately it didn't blow up as much as it did the first time I did it. Plenty of icing and rest for a few days its now looking pretty good. No Frostbite League for me on Sunday though, its not ready to run at a reasonable pace off road yet.
Friday night I started to get a sore throat and felt a bit rough, and then on Saturday the sore throat turned into a mankey cold, felt rubbish! I blame Herbi, he had it last week! Had a brilliant night out at Ravenwood to celebrate our wedding anniversary, fantastic meal and great atmosphere.
Still felt a bit rubbish on Sunday morning but a little better than the day before so decided to take the bike out. Did 20 miles, that was far enough for me today! The ankle was ok, just twinged a little when I unclipped my foot.
I'm hoping to run on Monday, snot allowing, the ankle should be ready by then! I'm desperate to try out my Garmin 610, a birthday present from Herbi!
Here's hoping the ankle and everything else is ok for me to run at Barnham on Wednesday.............
On Wednesday evening I planned to run 5x1mile reps in Ickworth. I was going well and almost at the end of my third rep when I landed awkwardly on a tree route and sprained my ankle, the same one I sprained in Cyprus earlier in the year. It hurt like hell and I couldn't put my foot on the ground for a few minutes. I was 4 miles from home with no mobile phone, whoops! After a while I got hobbling and then managed an easy jog home, ice pack straight on!
Fortunately it didn't blow up as much as it did the first time I did it. Plenty of icing and rest for a few days its now looking pretty good. No Frostbite League for me on Sunday though, its not ready to run at a reasonable pace off road yet.
Friday night I started to get a sore throat and felt a bit rough, and then on Saturday the sore throat turned into a mankey cold, felt rubbish! I blame Herbi, he had it last week! Had a brilliant night out at Ravenwood to celebrate our wedding anniversary, fantastic meal and great atmosphere.
Still felt a bit rubbish on Sunday morning but a little better than the day before so decided to take the bike out. Did 20 miles, that was far enough for me today! The ankle was ok, just twinged a little when I unclipped my foot.
I'm hoping to run on Monday, snot allowing, the ankle should be ready by then! I'm desperate to try out my Garmin 610, a birthday present from Herbi!
Here's hoping the ankle and everything else is ok for me to run at Barnham on Wednesday.............
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