A bit hot for running !

Wow ! what great weather we have been having :) I can't remember a bank holiday weekend that has been so consistently nice !

After having a week last week with reduced mileage I wanted to up the miles I ran a bit this week... In total I ran 31.96 miles, the first time I have run over 30 miles in one week.

Tuesday evening I had planned a 7 mile run along the river in the evening, relatively flat and a nice route.... the thing is I had only roughly planned the route and it was one I hadn't run before..... I also started out a bit later in the evening than I had planned.... I know I really should know better and I should have stuck to a route I knew but when I go out cross country I do carry ordnance survey maps with me on my phone (a great app called Multi Map) and I normally use the same app on my ipad beforehand to map out my route so I know where I am going... but this time I "guessed" at the extra distance and true to form got it wrong. By about 2 miles.

2 miles doesn't sound much but at the end of a run when it is getting dark and you are running through fields and woods that you don't know it seems further than it actually is ! the other thing I find is that although some footpaths and bridleways are clearly marked and "obvious" others aren't. I ran the wrong way at one point in to a dead end in woods (and brambles) and had to retrace my steps.. I also stopped a few times to look at the map (you know the "surely I must be there by now" feeling !). But, I now know the route and it is certainly one I will run again.. I also now know how I can shorten it and where the footpaths actually are ! the high point of this run was the field full of baby lambs that I ran through, really tiny newborn lambs...

Anyway, this is Tuesday evenings route..



You would think I would learn from my mistakes... and most I do but Good Friday I had a run planned from Steyning to Worthing Sailing Club. Phill was on safety boat duty down at the club so I thought it would be great to run down there and get a lift home. I sent him off with a bag of my stuff including recovery drink, clean top etc to leave in the car and I took the spare car key with me so I could still get to it all if he was still on the water. I had learnt from my lack of route planning Tuesday and had measured this route at 11.4 miles and it was almost exactly spot on. What I hadn't taken fully in to account was the temperature and the effect of running in full sun. Running along the river I had a choice of paths... the one that I though might offer some shade... or the one right on the river bank in the sun... I opted for the one that I thought would offer some shade. It didn't really. I got very hot ! Once I crossed the river and ran along the river bank (the path I now know I should have chosen) it was far more comfortable even if it was still in the sun because of a slight breeze. About 4 miles in I really didn't think I would make it and found some shade to stand in for a couple of minutes to cool down. I contemplated phoning Phill and telling him that I had turned round but knew my the time I had got home I would have covered 8 miles anyway so thought I would continue to the seafront and then see how I felt.

From then on it did get a bit easier, a slight breeze from the made it a bit more comfortable and by then I had stripped off to just shorts and running bra, by this point I really didn't care what people might think, I was just soooooo hot !

I made it to the Sailing Club... slightly slower than I had hoped but a very valuable learning experience.

Things that I learnt on this run :

1. Running when it is over 20 degrees C really makes it much, much harder
2. I don't like running carrying 1.5 litres of water. This made the first part harder than it was normally and affected my balance and posture. Next time I will stick to 500ml and take change to buy additional drinks on the way or fill up from water fountains etc.
3. Sunscreen works :)
4. Over the 11.4 miles I lost about 2 litres through sweating.
5. I must sort my feet & trainers, I'm still getting blisters in the same places..

Anyway, this is a map of that route.

Bluebell 10k

We had a beautiful day for running the Bluebell 10k on Sunday, warm and sunny.... luckily a fair bit of the run was through woodland so we were running through the dappled shade of the trees in the bluebell woods.

This was Holly's first 10k race so I ran with her all the way, including the killer hill at the end that I had promised to drag her up if necessary ! We made it round in 1:07:57, not my best time ever but quite a good time for Holly's first 10k and something to build on.

This is the data from my Garmin :)



And these are a few of the photos :)

I will certainly add this to my list of races to run again. A really well organised race, plenty of parking and great scenery.....

I'm next racing with Holly in 4 weeks time... It will be another trail run and this time the race is on !

Race number for Sunday

Well, this is it, my race number for Sunday. I have a very busy couple of days at work Friday and Saturday and will be working twelve hour days so I'm not expecting it to be my best ever run.... But I will enjoy it :)

It should be a lovely day and I love running through woods. It will also be the first 10k race Holly has ever done, she had to pull out of one earlier in the year after fracturing a bone in her foot, she has also been quite ill recently so again may not be on her best form !

After this race we have a month before we race together again so it will be interesting to see if we can improve much in a month :)




Anyway, hopefully it will be dry, clear but not too hot on Sunday, I will let you know how we get on !


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Why ?...

Well, after entering the Brighton Marathon I spent some time chatting to Holly to decide if we would use our efforts to raise money for charity. We have decided to raise money for the Myotonic Dystrophy Support Group (MDSG)

Most of you won't know but my husbands brother and sister both died of illnesses related to Myotonic Dystrophy. Derek had a particularly severe version of the illness, Pauline didn't know she was carrying the gene until she needed a general anaesthetic, this triggered a severe reaction that left her paralysed from the neck down and eventually led to her death a couple of years later.

It is only in the last few years that research has led to a genetic test being available for Myotonic Dystophy, something that Phill was able to have done to make sure he wasn't carrying the same gene as Derek & Pauline.

Myotonic Dystrophy isn't something that many people know anything about, I certainly didn't and having reliable information available from the MDSG was invaluable, they also sponsor some research into Myotonic Dystrophy.

So, we both now have very personal reasons for running and completing this Marathon.

I will be posting a link to a just giving page as soon as we have set it up and any donations will be gratefully received.


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What have I just done.......

Well, I have just entered the 2012 Brighton Marathon. Why ? I'm not entirely sure but I will be training with, and running it with my daughter, Holly.

So, I now have a year to train... for me that should be just about long enough.... At least this way I can increase my mileage gradually and make sure I am capable of completing it.

My target time is between 4:30 and 5:00... Am I allowed to feel nervous already ??

My long run yesterday was 14.36 miles (details posted below) so hopefully I should be able to build on this over the year... guess I will be reading all the marathon running for beginners guides and taking advice from seasoned marathon runners (one person springs to mind immediately :))

This blog now takes on a whole new purpose... to track my journey to become a marathon runner.

PS My total for the week was 23.36 miles, next week will be less partly due to work and I am also running at 10k race on Sunday instead of my normal long run...

My first ever run

In a couple of weeks time I would have been running for a whole year....

I thought I would post the data of my first ever run. It seems a bit strange looking back now, all of a sudden it brings it home how much fitter I am now !

Route: Morning Mouse Lane
Activity: Run
Google Maps URL: http://maps.google.com/?q=http://share.abvio.com/0d0c/b8d6/4bcd/7a50/Runmeter-Run-20100424-0715.kml
Shortened Google Maps URL: http://j.mp/bEgfkx
Import URL: http://share.abvio.com/0d0c/b8d6/4bcd/7a50/Runmeter-Run-20100424-0715.kml
Started: 24 Apr 2010 07:15:21
Run Time: 36:09
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 2.29 miles
Average Pace: 15:48 /mile
Fastest Pace: 10:58 /mile
Ascent: 98 feet
Descent: 115 feet
Calories: 189
Official: Yes

http://www.runmeter.com

Sent from my iPhone

Mothers Day

So, it is Mothers Day today... So I was up fairly promptly to get out for my long run :) I planned on increasing my distance a bit today and ended up covering 12.74 miles.I used my Garmin to track my route and heart rate and tried to keep my heart rate between 60 & 70% of it's max... I'm still getting used to this and I think it will take me a bit longer.. I did find that I needed to slow down on the uphill sections and speed up on the downhill bits ! I also still haven't worked out my max heart rate... I'm using the max it has been so far plus a little bit, I hope to do a more accurate measurement this week..

It was really a gorgeous day to be running, and I was out in shorts and t-shirt again, at one point the sea mist started coming in but the sun did break through. Over the next few weeks I will have to make sure I remember the sun cream !

If you look in the column on the right you should see links to my recent runs :)


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