I didn't run at all for a week after my shuffle round Bungay as I still felt pretty grotty. We attended the Silverstone Racing Club Dinner Dance on the Saturday night which was great fun, good food, great company and lively entertainment. The hotel we stayed at just outside Northampton was next to the Brampton Valley Way, a path along the route of a disused railway line. This is one of my old training runs from the days when I resided in Northampton. We had packed the bike so we could jog/bike for a few miles for old times sakes. It was a gorgeous sunny day so well worth it, although I was still shuffling!
We met our friends Andy and Debbie for lunch at Pitsford; really good to see them and have a catch up.
I still felt pretty rubbish the following week. Although I had booked the Wednesday afternoon off for the Nowton Park Weds league race I decided not to run; I had already run the minimum 6 races and couldn't improve on my points tally. I needed to save as much energy as possible for one last shuffle of the season on the Sunday and the time would be much better spent getting through the mountain of work I needed to get through that week.
The last race of the Suffolk xc league was at Haughley Park. I jogged round to warm up and had to stop and sit down three times! It was bad enough dragging myself round a couple of weeks ago but to have to do it again didn't fuel my enthusiasm! I gave myself a good talking to before the start and aimed to get round in one piece and collect the points. The race was pretty rubbish and I felt dreadful but I did what I needed to do and hung on to the position of first lady.
Unforeseen circumstances resulted in me having to pull out of the inter-counties and national vets xc champs this year. I'm gutted as I was unable to run at the Nationals at Parliament Hill so haven't been able to test myself at a level above regional.
Although the last two races of the season (Bungay and Haughley) were very disappointing I've got to be positive and look at the season as a whole as, aside from the nationals and inter counties I've achieved everything I've aimed for. Its easy to get hung up on the things that have gone wrong, especially when they are toward the end of the season and fresh in the mind.
So here are the positives;I won my leg of the Round Norfolk Relay and broke the course record, setting the time I'd aimed for by the second. I won the Eastern Regional xc champs, I won all six Weds league xc races and the ladies championship for the second year running and I won all four of the Suffolk xc league races, although rather untidily at the last two races! Unfortunately the Suffolk xc league rules award the Women's Championship to the highest placed senior lady so I can't win that (too old!) but will be awarded the highest placed female vet 35, for the second year running.
I'm having an enforced couple of months rest from running now, back shuffling' again in a while! Little Bloke over and out............................................
Tuesday 13 March 2012
Sunday 26 February 2012
A few weeks of ups and downs.......
Well my three weeks of hard training got off to a great start! I had a good track session on the Monday evening, 18x400m. I did the first 6 at 90 second pace, the second 6 at 85 pace and the third set at 80 pace. I felt comfortable and in the zone, a place where you can only be for a short while before dropping off or burning out. Wednesdays track session was just as good; 10x4 minutes. I ran at just under 90 pace and again felt very comfortable, apart from my hands which felt incredibly cold! Although I felt good and my fitness seemed to have peaked. I always have the nagging doubt in the back of my mind that I've peaked too early but I hoped that this wasn't the case.
I had a good hill session on the Friday morning before work. The ground was so frozen that I thought the road was a safer option. We live near a very undulating quiet lane which is great for a hill session when you are short on time. I did 8 reps, which was definately enough.
I had planned a long run with the boys at Brandon on Sunday, and then 6 inches of snow fell overnight and put an end to that! I was snowed in for the day in Chedburgh but managed to run over to Ickworth to meet the boys there instead. We did two laps of the park, which added up to 17 miles! Great for fitness running in snow that deep and brilliant for cleaning shoes too!
On Wednesday I went to Easton college with Pat and Eloise for the cross country. have to say we were all very surprised that it wasn't called off. The course was two laps of farm tracks and was covered in compressed snow and ice. When we jogged round to warm up it was so slippery I decided to put my spikes on. This ended up being a good choice, I was able to get on my toes confidently and didn't slip at all. I had a good race and finished first lady. I'm really pleased as I've now won the Weds League with 6 race wins, woo hoo!
I met the boys at Ickworth for a steady 17 miles on the Sunday. The ground was still frozen and icy so we tried to stick to the woodland trails as much as possible. I felt great, raring to go, and then, as it can often do when you reach peak fitness, it all went horribly wrong!
When I got home from the long run I discovered a blister on the underside of my big toe. I drained it, cleaned it and dressed it as I'm prone to infections from blisters. On Tuesday night my toe started throbbing, and by Wednesday morning I couldn't walk on it! No training for me this week :-( .I started taking antibiotics straight away, and by Saturday it was ok to walk on but I felt pretty lousy. I was supposed to be racing at Bungay the following day, which gave me a bit of a dilema as I needed to complete this race to feature in the league but had far too much to do at home and felt under the weather.
I decided to man up, and made my way over to Bungay. I started jogging round to warm up and had to walk several times. I felt too hot, and then too cold. Not good at all. After a quick chat with Herbi I decided that I might as well shuffle round as we had driven all this way. I started ok, and then half way round the first lap went backwards. My legs felt like jelly, no strength in them at all. I got slower and slower until I was struggling to jog. I was being overtaken by people who were usually quite a way behind me which was frustrating. Fortunately there is a dog leg in the three lap course which gives an opportunity to have a sneaky peek at who is behind you. I could see the next lady about 45 seconds behind me and, as I was still 1st lady at this point decided to compose myself, hang onto my jog pace and 1st place and take home the points.
I managed to hang on, and finished first lady, although I have to say I really didn't deserve it! I felt awful at the finish and went straight home for a lie down! After much waffling on at various running buddies about how badly I ran (aplogies to Pete B, Pete G, Chris, Darren , Mike and Herbi for ranting on!) I've decided that it was most likely due to the anti-biotics and feeling a bit crap!
I'm going to have a few easy days now and get my self back in gear for the last three races of the season. Lets hope they are more successful than Bungay..................................
I had a good hill session on the Friday morning before work. The ground was so frozen that I thought the road was a safer option. We live near a very undulating quiet lane which is great for a hill session when you are short on time. I did 8 reps, which was definately enough.
I had planned a long run with the boys at Brandon on Sunday, and then 6 inches of snow fell overnight and put an end to that! I was snowed in for the day in Chedburgh but managed to run over to Ickworth to meet the boys there instead. We did two laps of the park, which added up to 17 miles! Great for fitness running in snow that deep and brilliant for cleaning shoes too!
On Wednesday I went to Easton college with Pat and Eloise for the cross country. have to say we were all very surprised that it wasn't called off. The course was two laps of farm tracks and was covered in compressed snow and ice. When we jogged round to warm up it was so slippery I decided to put my spikes on. This ended up being a good choice, I was able to get on my toes confidently and didn't slip at all. I had a good race and finished first lady. I'm really pleased as I've now won the Weds League with 6 race wins, woo hoo!
I met the boys at Ickworth for a steady 17 miles on the Sunday. The ground was still frozen and icy so we tried to stick to the woodland trails as much as possible. I felt great, raring to go, and then, as it can often do when you reach peak fitness, it all went horribly wrong!
When I got home from the long run I discovered a blister on the underside of my big toe. I drained it, cleaned it and dressed it as I'm prone to infections from blisters. On Tuesday night my toe started throbbing, and by Wednesday morning I couldn't walk on it! No training for me this week :-( .I started taking antibiotics straight away, and by Saturday it was ok to walk on but I felt pretty lousy. I was supposed to be racing at Bungay the following day, which gave me a bit of a dilema as I needed to complete this race to feature in the league but had far too much to do at home and felt under the weather.
I decided to man up, and made my way over to Bungay. I started jogging round to warm up and had to walk several times. I felt too hot, and then too cold. Not good at all. After a quick chat with Herbi I decided that I might as well shuffle round as we had driven all this way. I started ok, and then half way round the first lap went backwards. My legs felt like jelly, no strength in them at all. I got slower and slower until I was struggling to jog. I was being overtaken by people who were usually quite a way behind me which was frustrating. Fortunately there is a dog leg in the three lap course which gives an opportunity to have a sneaky peek at who is behind you. I could see the next lady about 45 seconds behind me and, as I was still 1st lady at this point decided to compose myself, hang onto my jog pace and 1st place and take home the points.
I managed to hang on, and finished first lady, although I have to say I really didn't deserve it! I felt awful at the finish and went straight home for a lie down! After much waffling on at various running buddies about how badly I ran (aplogies to Pete B, Pete G, Chris, Darren , Mike and Herbi for ranting on!) I've decided that it was most likely due to the anti-biotics and feeling a bit crap!
I'm going to have a few easy days now and get my self back in gear for the last three races of the season. Lets hope they are more successful than Bungay..................................
Monday 30 January 2012
From the beaches of Goa to the mud of Nowton Park!
Our holiday in Goa seems months ago, we've been back less than two weeks! South Goa has become our annual winter holiday destination. It breaks up the cold damp winter months and makes the spring seem so much closer. The hotel was fantastic, we would definately stay there again. We ran every other day on the beach first thing in the morning; it was great seeing the sunrise whilst running as well as the fisherman bringing in their catch. The 32 degree dry heat was perfect for lazing around reading and sleeping for the rest of the day!
It was a bit of a shock to the system when we arrived back in the UK where it was -4 degrees! I was keen to sharpen up as the Nowton Park cross country was scheduled that weekend. I got straight back into my morning gym routine on the Monday and completed half of the track session on Monday night. I had calf problems last year at a Monday night track session straight after our holiday and ended up having to take the rest of the week off so I was keen not to make the same mistake again this year. Fortunately my calves were fine this time round, and I was able to complete Wednesday's track session comfortably.
Whilst I was away the Bury Natural Health Centre, where the Suffolk Sports Injury Clinic is based, moved premises. The new location, Park Farm Business Park in Fornham is great with plenty of parking. The new centre was opened officially by Sally Eastall. Thanks to Sally and to Pete Golding for their help with this!
The Suffolk Cross Country took place at Nowton Park Sunday 22nd. We had a lot of rain during the week, although fortunately the windy dry conditions on the day took a lot of moisture out of the 2 lap course. I chose to run in spikes for a bit of extra grip on the corners, although to be honest I didn't manage to accelerate enough at any stage to need that amount of grip so would probably have got away with wearing my innov8 x-talons!
I started slower than usual and felt a bit flat. I got on the shoulder of the leading lady in the first mile who then put her foot down and pulled 10 metres or so away from me. I didn't feel sharp enough to challenge her again but she upped the pace to a one I was happier with so I'd go the response I wanted.
I decided to maintain the gap and try and keep the pressure on throughout with the intention of challenging for the lead in the latter stages of the second lap. My plan worked, and I was able to catch and overtake the leading lady 400m from the finish, putting my foot down all the way to the finish.
Pacers had a great turnout and there were fantastic performances from all runners. Steve Robinson won comfortable, and it was good to see Kevin Murphy running so well.
I swam on Monday morning and completed a recovery gym session on Monday night. Tuesday was a busy day at work so I had the day off. The Wednesday League was held at Shouldham Warren the following day. I hadn't run there for well over 10 years so was grateful that Pat Partridge was able to run and navigate!
The course was great, a shade under 3 miles on woodland tracks. I felt a lot sharper than I did on Sunday and set off with the leading men (remember that the men complete 2 laps of the course whilst the ladies only run round once, I wouldn't be anywhere near the leading men if I had to run as far as them!) The two leading men moved away after the first mile, but I managed to stay just off the back of the trailing two. I'm really pleased with my run and aim to stay on the shoulder of the men ahead for the whole lap at the next race.
I've got three weeks of hard training now in preperation for the National XC at Parliament Hill on Feb 25th and the inter-counties xc on the 10th March. The real training starts now.............
It was a bit of a shock to the system when we arrived back in the UK where it was -4 degrees! I was keen to sharpen up as the Nowton Park cross country was scheduled that weekend. I got straight back into my morning gym routine on the Monday and completed half of the track session on Monday night. I had calf problems last year at a Monday night track session straight after our holiday and ended up having to take the rest of the week off so I was keen not to make the same mistake again this year. Fortunately my calves were fine this time round, and I was able to complete Wednesday's track session comfortably.
Whilst I was away the Bury Natural Health Centre, where the Suffolk Sports Injury Clinic is based, moved premises. The new location, Park Farm Business Park in Fornham is great with plenty of parking. The new centre was opened officially by Sally Eastall. Thanks to Sally and to Pete Golding for their help with this!
The Suffolk Cross Country took place at Nowton Park Sunday 22nd. We had a lot of rain during the week, although fortunately the windy dry conditions on the day took a lot of moisture out of the 2 lap course. I chose to run in spikes for a bit of extra grip on the corners, although to be honest I didn't manage to accelerate enough at any stage to need that amount of grip so would probably have got away with wearing my innov8 x-talons!
I started slower than usual and felt a bit flat. I got on the shoulder of the leading lady in the first mile who then put her foot down and pulled 10 metres or so away from me. I didn't feel sharp enough to challenge her again but she upped the pace to a one I was happier with so I'd go the response I wanted.
I decided to maintain the gap and try and keep the pressure on throughout with the intention of challenging for the lead in the latter stages of the second lap. My plan worked, and I was able to catch and overtake the leading lady 400m from the finish, putting my foot down all the way to the finish.
Pacers had a great turnout and there were fantastic performances from all runners. Steve Robinson won comfortable, and it was good to see Kevin Murphy running so well.
I swam on Monday morning and completed a recovery gym session on Monday night. Tuesday was a busy day at work so I had the day off. The Wednesday League was held at Shouldham Warren the following day. I hadn't run there for well over 10 years so was grateful that Pat Partridge was able to run and navigate!
The course was great, a shade under 3 miles on woodland tracks. I felt a lot sharper than I did on Sunday and set off with the leading men (remember that the men complete 2 laps of the course whilst the ladies only run round once, I wouldn't be anywhere near the leading men if I had to run as far as them!) The two leading men moved away after the first mile, but I managed to stay just off the back of the trailing two. I'm really pleased with my run and aim to stay on the shoulder of the men ahead for the whole lap at the next race.
I've got three weeks of hard training now in preperation for the National XC at Parliament Hill on Feb 25th and the inter-counties xc on the 10th March. The real training starts now.............
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