Forest Half Marathon 'Race' Report

Sunday saw me bimble my way around 13.1 miles of beautiful Forest of Dean scenery for the Forest Of Dean Half Marathon..

This is the second time I've completed the event, last time I suffered an injury which curtailed my training, I ran it anyway and enjoyed it enough to promise myself a re-run at some point.

At the end of last year, with a season of triathlon events in mind, I signed up again with a view to giving myself that excuse to get out and train through the winter.

It's safe to say that the route is thought of as tough, seasoned runners generally react only by wincing when you mention you're doing it.  Good reason too.. take a look at this bad boy..

that's 2768ft of elevation over the 13.1 miles..

I'd be lying at this point if I said I wasn't damned proud of my performance on the day.  Off the back of far less training than I wanted to have done, I managed a very respectable time (for me, given that I ain't a runner) of 1hr 47.. giving me a placing of 579th out of 1834 runners.

Doing the event having done a 13 mile run during the training for the event gave me a massive mental boost, I knew I could do it, even if my training had tailed off during the last 6 weeks.  I tagged onto the back of two runners at around mile 6 who were aiming for 1hr 45 finishing times after they had admitted their target to me, I'd made note that I was aiming for 1hr 59. 59 if it meant I came in under the 2hr mark.  Being told I was well inside that marker gave me confidence and I made damn sure that I kept them in view for the remaining miles.

For some reason the miles passed easily, far more easily that during my last attempt at the race and I felt as though I was running within myself for the majority of the distance - hovering between 7,50 and 8.30 min mile pace felt comfortable and I'm confident that carrying on from this point will give me a cracking base for summer events that I'm now looking at

Excuse the excuses..

So, it's been a little while since the last post.  Last week I had it all planned in my head, the blog had lain dormant but I hadn't..

Remember in my last post I was saying how I felt incredibly tired? well last week Callum upped the game to spinal tap 11 by not only coming down with Chicken Pox, but deciding he fancied a few more teeth.

As a result, my running went out of the window completlely, in fact, I haven't run for about 10 days, not a massive one I guess, but my legs feel itchy and I know I need to get out.  I rode last wednesday as usual, but the temperature suddenly rose above freezing and stayed there, I was still dressed in the proper winter kit that has become common-place.  As a result I boiled in the bag, feeling utterly lousy by the end of the night.

The net result of all this angst and being a bit of a big girl over the whole thing was that friday night I woke up shivering with cold, my teeth were chattering and everything ached.  I got up, threw on tshirts a fleece jumper, trousers, thick socks and then went back to bed.  I stayed cold but managed to get back to sleep, I woke up around 9 with the mother of all headaches and a body that didn't want to know.  I got up long enough to have a drink then headed back to bed.  The lights went out as soon as the duvet was over me and I stayed there til gone lunch.

Amazingly, I woke up feeling fine, I've given myself a few days extra rest and I think I'm now ready to get back to it.. not sure what the cause was, but there seems to be a fair amount of bugs around at present.

The other niggle is my left knee which first made its presence felt during a long run a few weeks back, since then it's been always there, not enough to stop activity but enough to not forget about.  I've put it down to muscle tightness and upping my stretching should sort it out.

I guess the only other thing of note is that I finish work this friday.. redundancy strikes, I'm looking forward to it if the truth be told, I have an interview monday which I'm excited about and I'm kind of hopeful of being able to ride during the day for a week or so to up my mileage :)

Affirmation

It's definately safe to say that there has been very little in the way of updates to the site in the last couple of weeks.  That's not to say that I've been sat around doing nothing though.

My training has carried on pretty much as per schedule, with the miles increasing on a weekly basis.  I've taken my training schedule from 2:09 events and so far it seems to be doing me good.  I'm doing 6 sessions per week, that's giving a split of around 30 running miles and on average 15 miles during the weekly bike ride (although given the state of the forest at present this must surely equate to twice that accounting for the mud and general crapiness of trails at present).

I was starting to get concerned the training was getting a bit too much and that the feeling of being utterly knackered was the start of being overtrained.

Chatting to a hugely experienced runner and biker and going through my week with him has put my mind at rest in no uncertain terms though..

"So what you doing?"

"Sunday - long run
Monday - Easy run
Tuesday - Intervals
Wednesday - Bike Ride
Thursday - Hill Reps
Friday - Easy Run
Saturday - Rest"
"Sounds good to me, you've got the basics in there"
"I just feel knackered, I was riding wednesday and my legs felt properly shot to pieces"
"Are you sleeping?"
"like the dead"
"eating?"
"err, yes, alot"
"and you're doing the normal stuff like drinking and stretching?
"kinda"
"In that case, you aren't overtrained, you're just getting used to the increased exercise, crack on and you'll soon adapt"

It's funny, that simple conversation has made getting up for my morning run suddenly more bearable, knowing that I'm on the right lines, coffee will see me through til bed and that tired legs are just a by-product of what I'm doing.

Here's to tomorrows lie in (baby allowing) and another week of progress :o)

Rhythm

Not a word I generally tend to associate with myself I have to admit, possibly backed up by anyone who has ever had the misfortune of watching me approach a dance floor. No, the rhythm I'm referring to is in my training.

I realised a couple of weeks back that I had been drifting along without any real focus to my training. I've laid it down for all to see that 2011 will see me compete in a number of triathlons, Bike Endurance events, and possibly even an open water swim.

That's great, but, in the words of a motivational quote I'm sure you've all seen "A plan without a goal is just a wish"

Before you get nervous about me becoming a lentil knitting hand wringer, I'll throw this in;

There, cynicism restored

I'm aware that my initial objective for 2011 is the Forest of Dean Half Marathon. Not a biggie for some people, but I know that I'm not a runner, it's a past time that although I enjoy, I don't excel at. Given the option between trainers and tyres, the trainers would stay in the hall and I'd soon be hitting the singletrack. Trying to reawaken my running during Winter isn't ideal either, but needs must and I'm aware that if I'm to be any use at all next year I need to focus hard on those areas at which I struggle.

Determined to do something about this, I spoke to a work colleague who has an impressive running pedigree, including a PB for the marathon of 2hrs 30. He briefly outlined the sort of weekly mileage I should be aiming at along with a little structure about workout type. Armed with this no nonsense advice I put finger to keyboard and prepared a basic training schedule.

I'll hold my hands up and admit I backed out of yesterdays session, no reason but in the eternal battle between duvet and pavement, duvet took it by a mile. Pavement, it appears has allies though, one of which called himself Guilt and took great delight in sitting on my shoulder for the remainder of the day.

Needless to say, at the sound of the alarm this morning I rolled reluctantly out of bed, got my stuff sorted ready and stepped outside. My Garmin was obviously as reluctant to face the subzero temperatures as I was, for it doggedly refused to find any satellites, normally, this is a 30 second task, but today it stalled for a good 10 minutes, frustrating, but the little blighter didn't escape that easily, the heart strap did though, as it appears the batteries have gone.

Once out on the road I ran well, the cold air stung my lungs for the first few miles and the moisture from my breath froze on the buff I had pulled up over my face. That was OK though, I pulled it lower and carried on. I have to say I enjoyed it, even the bit when my eye lashes developed their own icicles.. it's being out there in the tough stuff that makes me feel good about my training.

Driving the same road an hour later, the car showed a low of -11.5, smug levels set to high, I parked at work and set about the rest of my day.

Another week of (nearly) nil

This is becoming rather annoying.. at least my extreme tiredness has an identifiable cause this week.  It's a 12 month bundle of teething joy.  Couple teething with the sheer amount of bugs that seem to be going around Callum's nursery and, consequently our family at present amd it's no wonder that in the fight between duvet and trainers it's a one sided battle.

Made more annoying by the occassional tweet of my mate Birdie who is currenly enjoying New Zealand in his build up toward the World Singlespeed Champs.  It would seem lots of trails, miles and smiles are the bedrock of his trip so far.

I'm very aware that running is my weak point, I run and struggle, very rarely do I get a run in that feels effortless, maybe, as Greg Lemond once said though "It never gets easier, you just get faster".

In an effort to get some form of training in and stop the degradation of my hard won fitness, I got out Saturday for a trail run.  Armed with head torch I set out for a short loop, it was over before I knew it and my legs ached far more than I thought they would do, I admit I've not run much but the terrain changes, loose ground and uneven trails made for a cracking all body workout,  It was hard work, indeed, as I dropped down the final hill to home, another quote came to mind.. that of William James, "Most poeple never run far enough on their first wind to realise they have a second..."  I've paraphrased that to suit, but it sits pretty well.

I can safely confirm my second wind was no where near challenged, but it was a hugely enjoyable experience nonetheless.  We live in an area that is surrounded by woodland, the roads are rubbish and it's quite amazing that I've never decided to run off road before, I spend a lot of time riding singletrack and so running it would, to a normal person, be a pretty obvious choice, not to me it seems.  This will, however be my running terrain of choice though in the build-up toward next year.