Stubbington 10k race recap

I ran my first race of the year today: Stubbington 10k. I’ve run it four times previously, so I knew what to expect.

I got up early and went co collect some friends: Rodolfo, Khalid and Khalid’s wife and son. I had been worried about the drop in temperature and thought I might have to de-ice the car, but it was milder, so there were no problems with ice. However, I did have to fill the car with petrol, so was a little late to meet the others.

We had a good chat in the car and arrived in plenty of time to collect our race numbers and t-shirts. I was a little perturbed that most of my friends were in the white wave, which was faster than mine, but then most of them were expecting to finish in under 50 minutes.

Originally, I had hoped that I would be in PB form, but after being ill, I was just hoping that I could finish in under an hour. I thought that it might be possible for me to finish in around 55:15, as that’s close to two of the times I’ve achieved when I’ve not been running well.

When I was getting ready for the race, I met my old friend Lawrence. I first met him about 8 years ago. He was my first karate instructor, so he’s always been a great role model for me. It was a lovely surprise to see him and to be able to catch up.

I also bumped into fellow Japan-cyclist and parkrunner, Jez, who was racing in his new club colours for the first time. I hope he enjoyed the experience of having people shout encouragement for his team at him 🙂

I went to the start line with a group of friends. Teri managed to catch up with us and she took a selfie of us at the start. The focus isn’t perfect, but the picture is so much better than any of my selfies – I always get the angle completely wrong!

© Teri Pragnell

I’ve learnt several things about myself and running:

• I always set off too quickly
• It takes me at least 2km if not further for my pace to settle into a rhythm
• I get despondent if I see a really slow pace on my watch

I decided that I should try to run based on feeling and that I would try not to look at my watch. I also decided that I would try not to set off too quickly, although that’s hard as it always feels much easier when you’re fresh at the start of a race.

I set off at a reasonable pace and knew that I was probably going too quickly, but I decided not to try to chase after team mates, as I know that most of them are capable of running much faster than me.

A few LRR ladies ran past me during the race,but it didn’t bother me as I was totally focussed on running my own race. My breathing wasn’t good, but I decided that I should just carry on and do the best I could.

About 2km in, former LRR and fellow Cornishman, Mike, ran past me. We had a brief chat, but he looked like he was capable of going much faster, so I let him speed onwards.

The marshalls at this race were great, with the vast majority of them clapping enthusiastically and shouting encouragement, which can make such a difference. It was also great to see friends out on the course: Sonia, Gary, Lisa and Tim, in particular.

© Gary Fhithyan

© Gary Fhithyan

Finally, I reached the home straight. I didn’t really have enough energy for a finishing sprint, but at least I hadn’t slowed down significantly:

I managed to finish the race in under 55 minutes, so it was my 3rd fastest [or 3rd slowest, for the pessimists!] attempt at this race.

After crossing the line, I saw Aurelio. I hadn’t realised that he was just ahead of me, although I had recognised Kelly who he was running with. I later saw that their chip times were identical to mine!

As the chips were embedded in our numbers, I didn’t have to stop whilst someone detached something from my shoes. This was a relief as I need to keep moving when I’ve been running, otherwise I faint. I collected a banana and a bottle of water and then headed over to my friends.

It was great to catch up with Ruth, Khalid and Rodolfo. Ruth was one of a trio of friends who narrowly missed out going under 50 minutes (Teri and Paul were the other two who were very close). Likewise, Rodolfo nearly managed to guide Khalid (who is visually impaired) to a sub 42 minute time, but they missed it by a few seconds. It was quite a busy course, so I think they all did brilliantly.

As we were leaving the finish area of the race, I was given a New Forest Running festival buff. It’s dated 2015, but it was free and should be useful to keep in my saddle bag, in case I get cold when I’m out cycling!

Overall, I think this was a great race. Every entrant received a long-sleeved technical t-shirt, which I think is a great idea. Very few races give away long-sleeved t-shirts and I only wear technical tees when running, so this is a shirt that I’m likely to wear in the future.

I’ll be back again next year to do this race (I hope). I didn’t do enough running training in 2015, so after a fast start to the year, things ground to a halt. This year, I’m aiming for a negative split: start slow and build up to a stronger finish!

Did you race this weekend? How did it go?

Illness stopped play :-(

After a great start to January, it didn’t take long for things to go downhill.

On Wednesday lunchtime, my work colleague, Sarah, and I jogged down to Southampton Common where we met a friend from Tri Club, Rob. The plan was to do an intervals session, which was just as well as Rob can run a 17:XX 5k!

We headed up to the model boating lake, which has a smooth tarmac path around it that measures almost exactly 300m. Rob initially planned to do 10 laps, but I knew that I didn’t have enough time to do that many and I was feeling a little under the weather. (I had a sore throat and as I have been struggling with vocal problems since April last year, I am trying to look after  my voice).

After doing a couple of laps, Rob decided that he would aim for 8 laps, and Sarah and I decided to go for 6. My first couple of laps felt quite good, but after that I could feel my technique starting to fail. After four laps I felt tired and was needing longer recovery between laps. By lap six, I felt entirely exhausted and I no longer felt able to pick my legs up properly. When I paused at the end, I felt so hot and was really worried that I would faint, so we walked part of the way back to work, before doing a gentle jog.

On Wednesday evening, I led my first running club session for a long time. I arrived early and waited a short while before runners started to turn up. After a short while, Kirsty and Irene arrived and we were able to get people to sign in. I was staggered by the attendance – there were so many runners, and at least 5 new people.

Kirsty led the first part of the session, which included some walking lunges, clock hops and squats immediately followed by sprints. After that, I led a Mona Fartlek session (named after Steve Moneghetti).

Session: 2 x 90sec, 4 x 60sec, 4 x 30sec, 4 x 15sec. Continuous running.

Total Duration: 20mins including recoveries

*Recoveries are floats of the same duration as the effort prior e.g. after the 90sec reps you continue with a float for 90sec before the next effort starts. Finish the session with a 30sec float. The efforts should be increasingly quicker as the durations get shorter.

Most of the runners took the recoveries as walking breaks as it’s a tough session and it was quite challenging to do it as the first session of the year. Have you ever tried this session?

On Thursday, I had been looking forward to doing a lovely home stretching session with Liz, followed by a spinning class, but I woke up feeling really unwell, so I spent most of the day in bed 😦

I spent a bit of time online, so I had a look at instagram and saw this which cheered me up:

I can’t wait for my Team SOAS 2016 kit to arrive. I guess it will be in about March. What are you looking forward to this year?

I also learnt about Bounts “a digital health app that literally gets you rewards and prizes from big name brands, right down to free stuff from the local store”. It probably requires hundreds of hours of exercise to get a single voucher, but I figure that if I’m doing the exercise anyway then I might as well log the hours and earn the points. I think Bounts is currently available in UK, USA and India. Have you used it? What do you think?

On Friday, I felt slightly better, but just walking up and down stairs made me wheeze and exhausted me, which was very frustrating. I worked from home as I knew I wouldn’t be able to cycle my bike up the hill from my house. I hoped that I would make a SUTRI swimming session in the evening, but I was ready for bed by 6pm, so that was another session I missed.

For over five years, my Saturday morning routine has included getting up in time to complete parkrun. I had wondered whether I would be able to go along and take it as a gentle jog, but when I woke up, I realised that I was still feeling rough, so I turned over and went back to sleep. Later in the morning, I went out to the kitchen fitters to discuss our proposed new kitchen, which took quite a long time. By the time I got home, I was ready to go to sleep again – just standing up had felt exhausting. I also still had a temperature 😦

I was so grateful to feel significantly better this morning. My temperature had dropped back to normal and although I felt a little stiff and tired, walking up and down stairs felt normal. It has been so frustrating to be ‘trapped’ in my house, so i decided to go out for a gentle run. I’ve volunteered to be part of the Sunday Runday crew in preparation for Marafun’s ABP Southampton Half Marathon. I had let John know that I might not be well enough to run and that if I did run, I would probably go with a reasonably slow group. As I was feeling much better, I said I would back mark the 10 minute mile group (the middle group).

 

I can’t say that I found the run easy, but it was lovely to catch up with Jill, Malcolm, Laura, Peter, Kim, Kate and various other friends. I even had enough energy to tackle, the laundry and dishes and to do lots of food prep when I got home, which is such a relief.

I’m hoping that I can get in a full week of training this week, as I have my first race of 2016 on Sunday: Stubbington 10k. I love the email that they sent – it makes it seem like I’ve achieved something simply by entering!

I’ve entered this race several times previously and have blogged about my experiences. It will be interesting to see how my run stacks up against previous times:

• My Stubbington 10k 2015 time (52:10) – 3rd fastest ever 10k after Eastleigh 2013 (52:02) and Eastleigh 2012 (51:06)
• My Stubbington 10k 2014 time (55:17)
• My Stubbington 10k 2013 time (55:14)
• My Stubbington 10k 2012 time (53:03)

I’ll see how it goes on the day, but I’d like to finish in under 55 minutes.

How’s your week been?

Stubbington 10k race recap

I’ve run Stubbington 3 times before, so I knew what to expect from this race. It’s held on a fairly flat course and being early in the year, the weather can be a bit unpredictable. Two years ago, it snowed during the race (which is unusual for this part of the UK). This year, the weather was fairly cool, but not unbearably cold. As you can see from the group photo, most of the runners in my club had opted to wear full-length or capri tights and many had long-sleeved base layers under their club vests.

I chose to wear calf guards as my legs were a bit achy, but I chose not to wear any other ‘unnecessary’ clothes – no head band, no gloves, no base-layer etc. Fortunately, this was the right decision as I felt really warm by the time I’d run 1km.

Lordshill Road Runners at the start of Stubbington 10k, 2015 © Emily Smith

Stuart, Jez and I arrived quite early, which gave us a chance to chat with lots of other runners. I saw Jan from the tri club and then noticed Steve, one of the tri club coaches. Steve and I had a chat, and I jokingly suggested that I would draft Steve as I had done at the track earlier in the week, but he was starting in an earlier wave than me.

 

I really enjoyed chatting with a few runners who I haven’t seen for a while, but the time passed quickly and before I knew it, it was time to check in my bag and assemble for the group photo.

After the photo, I realised that I had checked in my bag, but forgotten to drink anything or put on any lipsyl on. Curses! Emily kindly offered me some lip balm, so that was one problem resolved.

We then lined up up on the road ready for the start… and I realised that I had forgotten the most important item in my bag – my inhaler. The last time that I tried to ‘race’ (at parkrun) without an inhaler, I really struggled and had to keep slowing down as I was worried that my wheezing would get worse. I decided to start the race and that if I felt unwell, I would slow down.

I had set several goals of increasing difficulty for myself for this race:

• Beat my Stubbington 10k 2014 time (55:17)
• Beat my Stubbington 10k 2013 time (55:14)
• Beat my Stubbington 10k 2012 time (53:03)
• Beat my Eastleigh 10k 2013 time – my second fastest 10k time (52:02)
• Beat my Eastleigh 10k 2012 time – my PB (51:06)

Despite the asthma worry, I was feeling quite confident about this race. My build up hadn’t been perfect – my eating is not on track, mainly as a consequence of a family situation – but I’m running better than I have since 2012. I knew that beating my Eastleigh times would be hard as Eastleigh is a flatter course, but I wanted to try.

One of my worst running habits is to start off far too quickly, so I tried to rein myself in a bit… but I also tend to rely too much on my watch, so I decided that I wouldn’t allow myself to look at it until I was 2km into the race and that it would then only look at it when I saw a km sign.

At about 2km into the race,  I was passed by Lauren and Alison from my running club. I couldn’t catch up with them, but hoped that I would be able to keep them in sight and thought that maybe I would be able to use my endurance strength to my advantage later in the race.

Shortly afterwards, at about 3km, I saw Steve from tri club. He seemed to be running strongly, whereas I was unable to speak. he asked me what happened to my drafting plan, but I was only able to give him a little wave as I went past.

I hit 5km in about 26:30. I was disappointed as I think that when I got a PB at Stubbington, I also got a 5km PB. However, I also realised that I was feeling good and I didn’t want to give up too soon, so I pushed on.

The race goes along the seafront and afterwards, I was told that there was a good view of the grounded ship (the Hoegh Osaka), but I was so focussed on my race that I didn’t see it. The only thing I noticed was the absence of my favourite race photographer Paul Hammond… but I knew that he’s currently taking photos somewhere more exciting than the South Coast!

When I got to the final incline of the race, I was amazed at how good I was feeling. At this point in the race last year, my friend Kate had tried to motivate me to keep up with her, but I had absolutely no strength or energy left. This year, I saw my nemesis (Adrian) from WADAC, so I decided to try to push on and pass him. He said hello (well, actually, he swore a little!), but wasn’t able to pass me again. The series of photo taken by my club mate Emily show this moment!

I didn’t want to be passed again and I knew that I was only a couple of km away from the finish, so I started pushing harder.

I glanced at my watch and could see that I was doing quite well. I knew I wouldn’t be able to beat 51:06, but I thought I might be able to get my second fastest ever time…

Unfortunately, this made me keep looking at my watch. I knew I had to ‘suck it up’, but I just wasn’t able to push any harder… 51:59… 52:00… 52:01… keep pushing… 52:02… I can see the finish line… 52:03… missed another goal… 52:04… 52:05… 52:06… 52:07… 52:08… 52:09… 52:10… It was over 🙂

I didn’t beat my Eastleigh times from 2012 and 2013, but I did beat all of my previous Stubbington times and achieved my third fastest 10km ever 😀 My only other scheduled 10km race for 2015 (so far) is going to be off-road, so it’s not likely to be a PB course, but I’m not too worried about that.

I was congratulated by Adrian and as I replied to him, I realised something amazing… I felt OK. For the first time ever at the end of a race, I didn’t feel light-headed and I wasn’t worried that I would faint. This probably doesn’t sound like much, but to me it was amazing. I’ve blacked out a couple of times at the end of races and I usually have to walk around in circles before someone can remove the chip from my ankle. (This race had chips in the bibs, but even so, I wasn’t worried about stopping). I was delighted that I had run well, but to feel that my asthma truly is under control and that it shouldn’t hold me back is so exciting.

We were given a commemorative drawstring bag, a banana and a bottle of water. In previous years, we’ve been given a mug and last year we were given buffs, but I’m not really in it for the goodie bag. I have quite a few bags already, but as I often have to carry sports kit to work and lots of my trainers are dirty, another bag is always handy to have.

When I got home, I analysed my pacing for the race. As usual, I started too quickly, and then ran the next two kilometres (which were uphill) too slowly to achieve my goal. To get a PB, I needed to average 5:06/km, but I’m not quite there yet.

4:49

5:20

5:29

5:05

5:13

5:11

5:07

5:08

5:16

5:08

0:14

52:00

Overall, I think my pacing has improved and although it’s not as consistent as I’d like, once I’d warmed up it was OK. I thought I was flagging in the final km, but the data shows otherwise.

A friend is currently running a 1km ‘double negative split challenge’ where the aim is to run 3x1km getting progressively faster. I managed it in kms 5-7 of this race 🙂 I also managed to run a negative split in this race. Success!

Finally, I thought I’d share a news item about pacing: Women are better than men at marathon pacing, says new research.

 

Round up of my first week of a crazy year

I’ve set so many goals for myself that 2015 is going to be a crazy hectic year.

I’ve already got back to some training, but I can’t train outside on my bike at the moment and I’m also not back to swimming yet, so I’ve been doing a lot of running. I’ve also been trying to inspire new runners and have been focusing on healthy eating, which is really hard when people keep bringing in to the office boxes of chocolates and biscuits that they didn’t eat at Christmas. I swear that I’m based in an office full of feeders, but I’m resisting them all! I tracking my progress with healthy eating using Giveit100. Follow me at: https://giveit100.com/@tamsynsmith/hdhzbl My terrible videos are also appearing on Instagram, as that seems to be the easiest way to upload them to Giveit100

Here’s what I’ve been up to:

• Monday: 10k tempo run with LRR
• Tuesday: 1 hour spin with SUTRI (and my first ride on a real bike since before my op! I’m now allowed to commute to work on my bike again, thank goodness!)
• Wednesday: Coaching LRR – which involved doing some squats and some light jogging with some new/returning from injury runners
• Thursday: This was #run2workday. I didn’t feel I could fit in any more running, so I led my first workplace beginners’ running group session. Two of my colleagues came – one of whom is a relatively experienced runner who has had a couple of years off and the other who is a complete novice. The day started with torrential rain, but by the time we went out, the sun was shining and it was gorgeous. We had a fun jog/walk session and I appreciated the opportunity to leave the office and get some fresh air – I must do it more often, as I’m spending too much time at a screen these days.
  In the evening, I did a 5000m track session with STC. I started out way too fast, but settled down for the second 400m. I was a little way back from one of the guys who swims in my lane, and finally managed to catch up with him at about 2.2km. It was very windy at the track, so I decided to tuck in behind the other runner for 200m to try to conserve energy. It was my slowest km, but I think it helped me in the end as I was feeling tired before I started. At about 4.8km, Donna caught up with me, but I think he shoelace came undone, so in the end, I didn’t have anyone to sprint against. Hopefully next time there will be a few more runners who are my pace or slightly faster so that I get dragged along. I’m hopeful that I can get another sub 25 minute 5k time again soon.
  When I got home, I received an email from RunKeeper:
  I’m not really sure that I deserve it, but I’ll take it! 🙂
• Friday: This was rest day… and I was so glad that it was.
• Saturday: I started the day with a parkrun. I love going, but I know that I’m going to have to swap some runs for swims this year. I might alternate until I’ve done my half marathon in April, before switching to swimming almost every week. I was feeling quite tired after Thursday night’s track session, so I didn’t push too hard and was pleased to finish in 26:37.
  
  In the evening, I made some ‘addictive sweet potato burritos‘… only, I didn’t really make burritos, they were more like tacos as my tortillas were a bit small, so I didn’t fold them up. I liked the recipe and may try them again.
• Sunday: Today was the first of the Marafun training runs as part of the build up to Southampton Half Marathon. We did an 8.64km run at a 5:33/km pace (but Stuart threw in some killer intervals). I was tired, so it felt hard, but I know I can do this. Chris was out in town filming the runners – I’m wearing the turquoise calf guards in this video:  https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1574997442718965

I think next week will be equally busy, especially as it will include my first race of the year: Stubbington 10k.

I’ve run Stubbington 3 times before:

• 2012: 53:03
• 2013: 55:14
• 2014: 55:17

My 10k PB is 51:06 set at Eastleigh in March 2012. At that time, 25:33 was my PB for 5k, and I know I’m faster than that now, so there’s hope that I might be able to squeak a PB at Stubbington (or at least stop my downward trend!)

What have I been reading this week?

• Freeplay – a free online endurance sports magazine for women.
• Why open water swimming is the trend of 2015

This infographic on cycling equipment:

Overall, this week it’s been a relief to have a gentle introduction back into my exercise routine.

My goals for 2015

I’ve spent the last couple of days discussing the races and events that I want to enter in 2015. Stuart is a firm believer of quality over quantity, whereas I want to enter everything! I quite enjoy doing cross-country running and usually do some of the local cross-country series (CC6) but Stu doesn’t want to risk injury; also he is leading Marafun training runs on Sunday mornings and these clash with the CC6s, so we have agreed to do these runs together.

I’ve also been considering my SMART goals for the year. These are goals that are:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time-bound

I have four goals:

I am going to eat healthy food for 20/21 meals and assess my progress at the end of 100 days (14th April). I hope that I will lose 14lbs (6.5kg) in that time. I will record my progress on Give It 100.

I am going to work hard on my speed between now and 26th April by attending Thursday night track sessions. I will also run on Monday evenings. My aim is to complete Southampton HM in under 1:55, with under 1:52:19 as my ultimate goal as that would be a PB/PR.

I want to achieve a PB/PR at Ironman Dublin 70.3 on 9th August. I completed Weymouth Half in 7:24. I think that a time of under 7 hours is possible if I work hard on all three disciplines. I will train for 14 weeks from 3rd May.

I want to complete the Scilly Swim Challenge on 5th September. To do this, I will need to go open water swimming at least once a week between June and September. I will speak to my coach about how to train for an endurance swimming event such as this.

I need to work on my training programme to support these goals. I’m not allowed to swim until the middle of January, but for the next few months, my training schedule is going to include the following:

• Monday: Crossfit; running; swimming.
• Tuesday: Spinning; swimming.
• Wednesday: Rest day. (Maybe lunchtime yoga).
• Thursday: Track running.
• Friday: Swimming.
• Saturday: parkrun or swimming.
• Sunday: Long run. Bike ride.

I’ve now scheduled most of my races and events for 2015. There’s a whole range of different events that I’ve entered:

• HRRL – this is a league of 12 races for local club runners. The events are open for any runner to enter, but only the results of local club runners are counted in the league.
• RR10 – this is a spring/summer local off-road running league. These races are free for local club runners and are 4-5 miles long. Dates for 2015 have not yet been confirmed.
• parkrun – this is a free, weekly, timed 5k event. I will be adding them in accoridng to my training schedule, but I suspect that I will need to prioritise swimming over running for much of 2015.
• Eastleigh aquathlons – this is a series of races hosted by TryTri events on Thursday evenings. Entry to them is free for SUTRI members.

Stu and I are also going cycling in Japan with a friend in early April. We’re expecting to ride about 60-70 miles a day, which will be tiring, but good training.

January

• 11/01/15 Marafun training run
• 18/01/15 Stubbington 10k (HRRL)
• 25/01/15 Evans Cycles Ride It Newbury Sportive 112km

February

• 01/02/15 Marafun training run
• 15/02/15 Marafun training run
• 22/02/15 Heartbreak Half

March

• 01/03/15 Marafun run
• 08/03/15 Salisbury 10 mile (not yet entered)
  
• 22/03/15 Winchester Duathlon (not yet entered)
  
• 29/03/15 Marafun training run

April

• Cycling in Japan (1st-19th April)
• 26/04/15 ABP Marafun Southampton Half Marathon
• RR10 #1 RVCP, Netley

May

• 04/05/15 May Day Tri (sprint)
• 16/05/15 Grand Shaftesbury Triathlon (standard)
• 17/05/15 Grand Shaftesbury 10k
• 28/05/14 Eastleigh aquathlon
• RR10 #2 Stoney Cross
• RR10 #3 Wilverley, Sway

June

• 07/06/15 Big Cove Swim (1.5 miles) (not yet entered)
• 20/06/15 Brutal 10 (pair relay – 12 hrs – 10km route)
• 25/06/15 Eastleigh aquathlon
• RR10 #4 Blackfield
• RR10 #5 Alver Valley Country Park
• RR10 #6 Manor Farm Country Park

July

• 12/07/15 GU Energy Weymouth Bay Triathlon (Standard)
• 18/07/15 St. Michael’s Mount swim (~2.5k) (not yet entered)
• 25-26/07/15 Adidas Thunder Run (team relay – 24 hours – 10km route)
• 30/07/15 Eastleigh aquathlon
• RR10 #7 Marwell Zoo
• RR10 #8 Janesmoor Pond, Stoney Cross

August

• 09/08/14 Ironman Dublin 70.3
• 16/08/14 Big Cove Swim (3 miles)
• 27/08/15 Eastleigh aquathlon
• RR10 #9 Itchen Valley Country Park
• RR10 #10 IBM Hursley Park

September

• 05/09/14 Scilly Swim Challenge
• 24/09/14 Eastleigh aquathlon

October

Rest!

November

• 15/11/15 Denbies Duathlon or Gosport Half Marathon (TBC)

December

Off-season rest!

2015 is going to be a busy year. What have you got planned?

It can’t rain all the time

I try to remain positive in my posts (although I am aware that I can be quite critical of myself), but today’s post may be quite negative, for which I apologise.

A picture of my grandmother taken during WWII

Unfortunately, my beloved Grandma died this morning. She was the last of my grandparents and the one who meant the most to me, as she looked after me a lot when I was young. She always had a great sense of humour and never complained. She also had a lovely Cornish accent and used many Cornish dialect words and phrases. She was well-known for her traditional Cornish food, such as saffron buns, hevva cake and congress tarts. I love you, Grandma.

This morning, I did my first race of the year: Stubbington 10k. Two years ago, I achieved a PB there, but last year’s race didn’t go well, so I hoped to put that right today.

Usually, Stu drives us to our races, but today Ellie and Gary offered us a lift, which was a nice change. Before the race, I had to collect my number, which gave me a chance to catch up with some of my club mates and share some (hopefully) motivational strategies.

Pre-race preparation with Teri © Steve Robinson

Tagging my bag

The race started at 10am, and as usual, I set off at a fairly swift pace – I’m terrible for not starting at a steady pace – I love the excitement of the first few minutes of a race, although I don’t think my heart appreciates them!

It wasn’t long before I was caught and passed by several of the ladies from my running club. Whilst the competitive athlete within me desperately wanted to surge ahead again, the supportive coach in me was really happy that the women (some of whom I have been coaching) have made such great progress – go girls!

Thank you to my favourite photographer Paul Hammond for coming out and taking some fantastic pics out on the course despite being unwell. The pictures in the series below were taken by Paul.

Despite the recent abysmal weather (seemingly non-stop rain and hail), today was dry and warm. It was allegedly 4°C (39°F), but it felt like at least 16°C (60°F). I struggle to run in the heat and by 8km, I was really starting to suffer. My breathing was fine and although my left knee was hurting, I had hoped to run well, but the heat was making me feel ill. I’m starting to worry that I may be suffering from anhidrosis, which is a condition where people do not sweat when they are over-heating. Unfortunately, the treatment seems to be confined to ‘lifestyle changes’ 😦

Starting to struggle at 8km © Katherine Smart

As I headed back towards the community centre, I saw fellow club runner Steve, armed with his camera.

9km at last © Steve Robinson

Steve’s encouragement made me believe that I could start moving at the pace I do interval sessions…

I was slowing at this point, but had to keep smiling because of the crowds © Steve Robinson

…but alas, it was not to be. I really was unable to keep pushing and slowed down in the last 400m. I had managed to pass two male clubrunners, but in the final 100m they passed me. Grrr! I’ll get them next time 😉

My official time was 55:17, which was three seconds slower than last year. The results from Stubbington 10k can be seen here: http://www.sportsystems.co.uk/ss/results/Stubbington%20Green%2010K/1368

My intention was to do a 12.5km run to make it up to 14 miles today as part of my marathon training, but I felt so unwell that it didn’t happen. (I’ve done that for the past two years). I’ve rescheduled and will now do 14 miles after work on Tuesday.

I felt disappointed with my performance, but think that maybe I need to be kinder to myself at the moment and not expect too much. I want 2014 to be a year with PBs and achievements, so I’ll put today behind me and get back to training again tomorrow.

Since coming home, I’ve spent a long of time reading and thinking. One article that I read was ‘Why people have to squat differently‘. It explains that people’s differing abilities can’t always be explained as being down to flexibility, but may actually be a consequence of anatomical differences in people’s bone structures. I also read this fab post on The Oatmeal about creating things online: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/making_things The part about negative comments is so true… although I’m happy to say that I’ve rarely had a negative comment and I’m happy to accept that not everyone in life will share my opinion – as long as it’s expressed in a polite and constructive way, that’s fine!

Here’s to a new and more positive week x

I’ve seen the future (OK, I’ve seen what I’ll be wearing in the future!)

It’s been another hectic day, although I managed to leave after just 11 hours in the office today. This meant that yet again I’ve missed Friday evening swimming, although I’m so tired that I’m not sure I’d have enjoyed it anyway. Overall, it’s been a rest day (part from six miles on my bike as my daily commute). Anyway, all of this means that I’ve had time to sit down and read my email as well as waste some time online.

I’d like to thank Diana from local rivals Totton Running Club for sharing the following link on Facebook: Running: The Top five reasons to keep going. It’s take from The Guardian, so each point is corroborated by research. It’s also worth reading the comments as some interesting points are raised, although (unsurprisingly) I disagree strongly with the chap who argues that running in parks ‘ruins the ethos’!

SOAS Racing shared some photos of the exclusive Team SOAS kit on Facebook today

Sneak peeks at the Team SOAS kit

It looks awesome, and just the thought of it is enough to remind me to eat healthily!

After the New Forest Marathon in September 2013, I said that I didn’t want to do an autumn marathon again. I don’t like having to do long runs in the heat of summer. Don’t get me wrong, I love hot weather and would certainly appreciate some sunshine right now, but my body just isn’t made to run in the sun and it’s not fair on other people if I collapse… but… (you knew there was a but coming, didn’t you?)… I received this in my mailbox today:

Eden Marathon

It’s only a month after my half iron distance tri and two weeks after an Olympic distance tri, but it’s at home in Cornwall, and I’d really like to do it. It’s unlikely to be a PB course and it may be more sensible to go for the half, but I’m seriously tempted!

This weekend, I’ve got my first race of the year: Stubbington 10k. Last year, my running was going really badly and I only managed to do it in 55:14, whereas in 2012 I did it in 53:03. My 10k PB is 51:06, so I’d love to get close to that or at least achieve a course PB.

Next weekend, I’ve got my first long bike ride of the year. I can’t remember the last time I went out on my road bike, so I hope I haven’t forgotten how to ride it. I’m going with a group of friends, so it should be good fun… although I sometimes worry that it will be like this:

“I’m not riding with girls – they are slow and lack bike handling skills and heaven forbid one of them gets a flat!” Technically, I know how to repair a puncture, but so far I’ve never had to do it (I got one on my triathlon holiday, but was so cold that I stood by looking feeble whilst Alan fixed it for me), and as for my speed and bike handling skills, well, I needed to save some challenges for 2014 😉